When I was a in fifth grade, I won Honorable Mention for a science fair Exhibit called “Close Encounters of the Worst Kind.” My entire exhibit was a regurgitation of the information I found in 1980s publications stating that marijuana was a “Gateway Drug” to heroin, something that has been disproven many times over since then but is still a falsehood perpetrated by our government today.

I Smoked a little pot back in high school and college – always someone else’s. I smoked joints, tried some bong hits, and I ate a brownie once and remember laughing and bumping into walls. But the purpose back then was entertainment and escape.

One summer off from college, I worked in a head shop above a record store. I was educated about cannabis accessories, and well versed in recognizing undercover police officers trying to get me to say the products were for smoking “dope” so they could shut down the store. We marketed everything for “tobacco” use.

All of this to say, I’m not entirely ignorant about cannabis. Yet in my early 50s, I felt lost and embarrassed and somewhat afraid to look into this ancient medicinal plant to relieve the pain that … Continue reading..