Life Changing Events and Exercising My Right to Grow Cannabis as a Canadian.
Wow, yesterday was a very historic "turning-point" kind of day for me and I'm sure many others share this exact same sentiment.
First let me say that, it was so much fun and incredibly exciting to see Steem and many other crypto-coins increase in value...substantially in the space of 24 hours. My sense of the matter, and what I'd like to think is that this market change, literally has the power to transform the lives of numerous folks, all over the world.
That's worth celebrating, in and of itself, don't you think?
Here's to the continuation of this trend and more lives made a little easier with each day that passes!
The other exciting news that yesterday brought, was that I was successful at starting the process of exercising my right to grow cannabis for myself as a medical cannabis patient in Canada.
This constitutional right was won last March, when four medical cannabis patients took the federal government of Canada all the way to the Supreme court of Canada.
In a "David versus Goliath" case, this small group of chronically ill patients won both an injunction to stop the government from destroying personal medical cannabis gardens (which were previously permitted) and they won the right for any medical cannabis patients to grow their own as long as they obtain a grower's license from the government.
I was never one of the original, pre-2012 "grandfathered cannabis growers". As such, I've never had a legally recognized license to grow for myself.
When I decided to register and get my personal medical cannabis license (which was 2 years ago) no-one was being permitted to grow their own. The court case hadn't been tried yet and only the patients who possessed this "grandfathered licensing" could grow. The rest of us were informed that we could only buy cannabis from a government sanctioned grower which the government labelled as their recognized Licensed Producers.
Ultimately, the Canadian government tried to create a cannabis monopoly and force all medical cannabis patients to buy their plant medicine through one of their "approved corporate growers". (Many of which are large corporations now, with traded stocks, level 17 vaults and high security. It's a billion dollar industry.)
Yesterday, I met with a "new to me" cannabis doctor who reviewed my application to obtain a cannabis grow license.
This is my second cannabis doctor. My first doctor who I quite like, will not endorse independent growing licenses. This is actually very common among Canadian cannabis doctors because many are choosing to accept kick-backs, in back-room deals that are struck between the Licensed Producers and themselves. It is the cannabis-friendly doctors who assign patients to a Licensed Producer in the licensing process...not Health Canada, which is the government arm of the current system.
When patients exercise their right to grow, they take their power back, produce their own medicine and line way fewer pockets in the process.
No one receives residuals or royalties from monthly medicinal cannabis purchases because growers no longer need to buy their material.
To obtain my grower's license, I had to track down a doctor who would review my case, confirm my prescription and sign my application. I also had to pay the doctor $339 for this service. This amount is determined by the daily prescription of cannabis prescribed. If the prescription is more than 10 grams per day, the fee climbs to over $1200.
This hoop jumping all happened in a video-conference, yesterday. Now my application, with all the "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed, gets sent into Health Canada, for finally approval or rejection. I was advised to send my application file to them by registered mail so that it can be tracked and verification can be noted, once received. This just provides an extra level of security and the ability to trace the documents until they are received.
On average, the turn-around on the approval of grow licenses is taking approximately 4 months before an actual paper license is issued and awarded.
I'm now in the "waiting on Health Canada" portion of the process, but when approval is received I will legally be permitted to put seeds in soil and grow up to 40 cannabis plants, at a time.
To say that I am happy about this new turn of events is an understatement.
It feels like freedom is just around the corner for so many people and it's such a good time to plant seeds, literally and metaphorically speaking.
I welcome your comments and invite you to follow me on my journey.
They cant keep it down forever. Its obvious to a majority out there now whats really going on. The threshold has been hit and its changing everywhere you look. They are trying to keep control as they lose parts of it.
Agreed @jaime6! Thanks for commenting. I really don't want the small Mom and Pop dispensaries and shops to be pushed and squeezed out of the market. We need all the educators we can get, who know the herb and can teach others how to use it effectively.
Like most markets these days they will because of rules regs fees permits and all that is required to run anything anymore. Ive heard to run a lemonade stand fully legal it should cost roughly $50k. The best course of action is to do it yourself and not rely on the market to get what you want when you can just grow it yourself. Its the only way, the best way and good for the soul! Garden!!!
I couldn't agree more. It's so rewarding to grow for yourself and the people that you care about.
Ive been growing for many years now. I would only go to a club for something very specific . Otherwise do it yourself. Save money and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Here in CA its of course sort of been un-taboo for many years now anyway. Other places not so much but just be smart, be careful and you should be fine no matter where you are located. If there's a will there always is a way!
I agree. Now the hunt is on for me to collect/buy seeds as quickly and as diversely as I can. The next control hoop is that the government is trying to make everyone who they have permitted to grow, buy genetics from them only. Pricing is wild...5 clones $750....just pull my nightie down when your done. LOL!
i got mine from sensibleseeds.com. Worked great with the low end stealth shipping and i got my most favorite strains. I highly recommend!
Thank you @jaime6! I will look that company up. Do you have 3 top favourites?
Great story! Favorite line; "When patients exercise their right to grow, they take their power back, produce their own medicine and line way fewer pockets in the process."
Unfortunately, least favorite aspect of the article was the fact that you had to go through all of those hoops to plant a seed!
It is so crazy, when you really think about it!
The tradition of growing cannabis is thousands of years old. It is our duty to keep it alive.
Great article! Look forward to more☺
Thank you for taking a minute to comment @dozjia and welcome to Steemit!
Thank you for the warm welcome. I look forward to seeing you grow ☺(pun intended)
I'll do my best to help you @dozjia and also try to keep giving updates as I go on my grow.
This is so awesome!! Congratulations on moving forward in the process. Sucks that it has to be a process at all. With the world becoming more wise to the fact that the war on drugs is a joke. Especially a plant that doesn't require chemical tampering. Kudos to you and look forward to seeing some of your beautiful plants when you're all official.
Thank you @whotiewho! Cannabis prohibition is one of the biggest crimes committed against humanity. I look forward to the day that everyone has the freedom to grow this plant for themselves, if they choose.
I couldn't agree more. I look forward to the day as well. The big thing being choice. I am also a big advocate of using hemp to replace paper, plastics, cotton and crude oil.
Hemp is a precious resource that has been taken from the hands of the people too...one could argue that it is superior to other natural resources because of its extreme versatility.
I agree. The versatility is astounding. It amazes me that it once was widely used throughout the US. It being rendered illegal through the "Reefer Madness" movement backed by the cotton companies is a shame. I hope it makes a big comeback soon with more of the world going green and the stigma around cannabis fading.
I wish you luck in obtaining your medical license and will be interested to see some new recipes and pictures once you can get a garden started! Your gonna be eating herb in salads with forty plants :)
Hahaha! I know this sounds funny but I plan to incorporate the leaves into my juicing protocol. I'm going to try to use as much of the plant material as I can. I typically eat bitter greens everyday so my palette is already use to "Strong green flavours". :)
I live in an area where it has been legal for a few years. Several of my friends are into juicing the leaves. Makes some pretty tasty smoothies! Their main concern was not knowing what pesticides were used on the plants but that is solved when you can grow your own. I would like to figure out a way to use the stems but the only idea i've had is to make paper or rope. Both of which seems to be pretty labor intensive.
It really is a shame that there isn't an immediate use for all the leaves and stocks that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to produce...so much of this material is just being shredded and composted. Surely, it could be used to feed livestock or something...
That is one of the weirdest things in this world. Weed is illegal? Well a lot of countries are now making it legal, but still a long way to go. Keep working and you will get there. I might stop by some day ;)
Thanks for commenting @arsenal49! Where are you coming from?
(Full legalization is set to be implemented in July 2018.)
You're welcome. I'm from Denmark. We have a small "city" inside the city of Copenhagen. It is called christiania, where they kind of have their own rules. In Christania they sell weed, a lot! The police know about this and have tried to shut it down multiple times, but they failed. Or they did not in fact, but 24 hours after the police raid it opens again. They generate millions a day. Is crazy. You can google and see some pictures of it. It is a lovely place, especially in the summer.
That sounds fantastic! Have your written a blog post about "Christania"? I'd love to read about that from your perspective. :)
I might do it some day :) It is a very magical place!
If it's not dangerous for you to go...I think it would be a fabulous post and that others all over the world would be really interested in seeing photos of it and reading about how that community operates. I know that I would be. ;)
Maybe I can make a post about tonight, if you promise an resteem :p I will figure something out. Maybe just a short one :)
Ok! Deal. Just write me a comment here once you've posted. Even if you don't get to it for a few days. My feed is so buried right now with over 200 new posts. I've never seen the volume of new posts like this before on Steemit.
Great perseverance @rebeccaryan!
Thank you so much @natureofbeing!
The whole "war against drugs" thing is rediculous. It only serves the established drug producers, may that be a legal corporation or some drug barons in Mexico.
And as much as I like to believe in the stupidity of politicians, I suspect that there is method behind it all. Especially if it comes to Weed. Because its not called Weed for nothing - it actually grows like weed. The production costs next to nothing, compared to the market prices. Fancy hitech greenhouses are totally unneccessary really. If its farmed in a cost effective manner, it would perhaps cost 2$ per kilo. But thats of course not what the current producers want.
That's exactly it. The average price per gram through a government approved Licensed Producer is $12 that makes a kilo worth $12,000. (Wow that's a huge cost!)
Yeah, such prices are rediculous, thats why they try to make it look like rocket science to grow hemp. In fact it has been grown in huge amounts for millenia, to make ropes and lots of other things.
But even with the method applied in Canada (I saw it on TV), at a price of 12,000$ they make 11,500$ profit. Thats why its grown in a place like Canada at all - nobody is growing bananas or coffee in Canada, because its not cost effective.
It will be an interesting "costing" exercise for me. I know what I was currently spending through the LP system to buy plant material and of course, I'm keeping track of what I am spending to get my grow set-up complete, so once I get a few growing cycles under my belt, I'll know how much I am actually saving. The next big thing for me is to track down seed/genetics. The government is trying to force genetic buying through their LP system and they are charging $750 for 5 clones! Ridiculous is an understatement.
Well, the climate in Canada is not exactly optimal for hemp. It likes warm weather and long sun hours. A cold winter does not really matter, since the plant is one yearly.
I don't know what regulations you have in Canada, regarding import of seeds ect.
Since it was made illegal almost everywhere it may be difficult to find a source for seeds. The Netherlands might be a possibility, they are quiete relaxed about hemp as well. In the middle east you can propably buy a whole sack of seeds for a few dollars - but not via mail order, of course.
The breeding of mutated hemp is nonsense in my opinion. The normal stuff is strong enough as it is. Who knows what other effects the modifications cause, apart of more THC content. Not a good idea, I think.
We really need a Steemit cannabis seed swap or bank. Not sure how that would work exactly, but it would be a good way to preserve genetics and protect strain efficiencies. :)
I wish I lived there. Growing your own. Is really great.
Makes no sense. If you need more meds a day, you pay more for a docters visit?
Anyway Im happy for you.
Goodluck
Thanks @markush! It doesn't make any sense. It feels like all we have really done is traded one cartel for another one. Legalization isn't the end of prohibition...just another form of control with heavy taxation. It won't establish a free and fair market for the sale of flowers.
Interesting story.... Cannabis is totaly prohibited in my country. Five months ago Indonesia National Anti-Narcotics arested a young husband which planted many cannabis plants. Whereas this young husband planted that cannabis for therapy because his wife was seriously sick (rare cancer) after thirty days had aressted, his wife dead. Actualy with cannabis therapy, his wife was get better.
UGGG! That's exactly why this plant should be free for all people, without persecution. It is valuable plant medicine that saves life. I'm so sorry to learn about this outcome for this couple. So sad. :(