---

From: Norml Canada <normlcanada@gmail.com>
To: canada@norml.net
Sent: Thursday, September 8, 2011 11:48:45 AM
Subject: Re: NORCAN: FYI: Medical Marijuana and the Seniors Who Rely on It

Craig could do it...I think.  My plate is full, we are working on two new
events for October, Ottawa and Oshawa..Resolving 2011.  Have a good day all,
K

On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 11:26 AM, <boris@mapinc.org> wrote:

> I think it is worth trying to contact the US photographer about it to find
> out more. should I , or would someone else, make the call?
>
> > Thoughts from others re: looking into re-using those US photos or having
> > some similar Cdn photos taken?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > -Craig
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Norml Canada <normlcanada@gmail.com>
> > To: canada@norml.net
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 6, 2011 2:48:36 PM
> > Subject: Re: NORCAN: FYI: Medical Marijuana and the Seniors Who Rely on
> It
> >
> > Liam in Oshawa is excellent photographer, medicinal, breast cancer
> > survivor.
> > Ben Fudge is her husband and they have access I would imagine to some of
> > the people you are suggesting.  I doubt the article will constitute more
> > than one, maybe two photos.  Let me know if I should contact...cheers, K
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 2:33 PM, FrankD <franksdiscussion2@yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Boris,
> >>
> >> If it will be too co$tly, or maybe regardle$$, let's $end out a
> >> photographer in Canada to meet with, and photograph, Canadian $enior$
> >> who
> >> are u$ing med-mj. Photograph$ like that could really increa$e the impact
> >> John'$ article.
> >>
> >> Obviously we'd want to choose people who look as mainstream as possible
> >> --
> >> so as wide a demographic as possible can relate to the person (not
> >> dismiss
> >> them as "other", or "fringe" or "an old hippy").
> >>
> >> Do any of you already know of some good candidates to photograph? If
> >> not,
> >> we could put out a request on CCC or FB. There are many photographers
> >> out
> >> there who want to put their ability to use for the CLR movement.
> >>
> >> -Craig
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >> From: "boris@mapinc.org" <boris@mapinc.org>
> >> To: canada@norml.net
> >> Sent: Tuesday, September 6, 2011 12:13:13 AM
> >> Subject: RE: NORCAN: FYI: Medical Marijuana and the Seniors Who Rely on
> >> It
> >>
> >> I suspect you would have to get rights from "the nation", and that is
> >> assuming the nation still owns the rights. they might only have the
> >> rights
> >> for that one article, or they own the full rights. either way they would
> >> probably want $$ from zoomer as they are a magazine as well, but the
> >> author of the article might also have the rights to license it to
> >> zoomer...
> >>
> >> would need to talk to the nation, and/or the author. Would need some leg
> >> work one way or the other
> >>
> >> > Great stuff. Thanks Craig. I agree. What kind of permission would we
> >> need
> >> > to allow Zoomer magazine to reprint some of those photographs? John
> >> >
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: owner-canada@norml.net [mailto:owner-canada@norml.net] On
> Behalf
> >> Of
> >> > FrankD
> >> > Sent: September 5, 2011 3:43 PM
> >> > To: NORCAN
> >> > Subject: NORCAN: FYI: Medical Marijuana and the Seniors Who Rely on It
> >> >
> >> > John, thought this would be of interest to you regarding the Zoomer
> >> mag
> >> > article.
> >> >
> >> > EXCELLENT photos! Great to see images of elderly consumers. Very
> >> > NORML-izing!
> >> >
> >> > -Craig
> >> >
> >> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/162947/slide-show-medical-marijuana-and-senior-citizens
> >> >
> >> > Slide Show: Medical Marijuana and the Seniors Who Rely on It
> >> > The Nation and Steve LaBadessa
> >> > August 30, 2011Â Â
> >> >
> >> > Medical marijuana and seniors (1 of 8)
> >> > The biggest users of our medical system are senior citizens, and it
> >> should
> >> > therefore come as no surprise that when medical marijuana first
> >> > became available in California, seniors were some of the first to try
> >> it
> >> > out. Seniors are finding that medical marijuana works on a large
> >> > variety of illnesses that modern medicine has yet to effectively
> >> treat.
> >> > They claim it’s effective for everything from asthma to the
> >> > recurrence
> >> > of polio. However, being legal and effective doesn’t make it
> >> any
> >> > less
> >> > controversial. Seeing a grandparent smoking marijuana can be a shock.
> >> > Â
> >> > Chris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access says that 50 percent of
> >> > medical marijuana users are over the age of 50 and fifteen states
> >> > currently have medical marijuana laws. In the images that follow, by
> >> > photographer Steve LaBadessa, meet the seniors who use medical
> >> marijuana
> >> > and read them explain, in
> >> > their own words, why they rely on it to lead pain-free and productive
> >> > lives.
> >> > ---
> >> > Patricia Troy, 65, of Santa Rosa, CA (2 of 8)
> >> > When I was much younger I had a terrible migraine headache and on a
> >> > lark someone gave me some marijuana. It went away and I was laughing
> >> and
> >> > having fun. As it wore off the headache came back.
> >> > Â
> >> > Now, I have fibromyalgia. I have a drawer full of pain pills the
> >> > doctors gave me. They turned me into a zombie. Medical marijuana is so
> >> > much better. There are so many different kinds of marijuana; you find
> >> > the kind that suits you.
> >> > Â
> >> > My family says, “There goes Pat doing her thing again.†With
> >> > my
> >> > daughter early on I told her there are certain drugs that were OK and
> >> > certain ones to stay away from. I recognized it as a kind of a rite of
> >> > passage for a young person. I think marijuana is perfectly safe.
> >> > ---
> >> > Marcy Dolan, 71, of Rohnert Park, CA (3 of 8)
> >> > I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 36. The MS drugs
> >> > they have are for younger people. Over 50 years old, they don’t
> >> > work the way they should. The biggest issue is the nasty muscle spasms
> >> in
> >> > the
> >> > arms and legs. I have spasms internally as well.
> >> > Â
> >> > For the MS I had to take this drug Neurontin, which made me feel like
> >> I
> >> > was underwater. I had to take larger and larger doses to do the
> >> > simplest things. I couldn’t live that way anymore, so I
> >> stopped. I
> >> > was
> >> > using marijuana at the time and I noticed when I didn’t smoke
> >> the
> >> > pain
> >> > returned.
> >> > Â
> >> > I don’t sit in a hole and float away listening to music.
> >> > It’s for my
> >> > health and life. I’m so glad to be able to use it. It has
> >> enabled
> >> > me to
> >> > live a normal life. I’m not a person who sits at home.
> >> I’m
> >> > out there
> >> > living a life.
> >> > ---
> >> > Kumari Sivadas, 64, of Sebastopol, CA (4 of 8)
> >> > I’ve had chronic back pain since 1997. That’s when I
> >> started
> >> > using
> >> > cannabis. It relaxes the spasms in my back. I tried other medications
> >> > and I was slurring my words, they totally spaced me out. I
> >> couldn’t
> >> > drive my car even with a small dose.
> >> > Â
> >> > I can be clear and functional with cannabis. I ingest using suckers.
> >> > It works deeper on my muscles. I medicate four times a day with the
> >> same
> >> > sucker.
> >> > Â
> >> > I can stand in line at Safeway now. I had experienced so much pain
> >> > before I had to lean on things. I have a very active lifestyle now, I
> >> do
> >> a
> >> > lot of dancing, yoga every day, walking and swimming.
> >> > ---
> >> > Doc Knapp, 62, of Forestville, CA (5 of 8)
> >> > There are fifty or sixty different active components in cannabis.
> >> > THC is the famous one. It’s also the most mentally stimulating
> >> one.
> >> > Other components are muscle relaxants and pain relaxants. They
> >> > don’t
> >> > stimulate your mind that much. You don’t take them to get high.
> >> You
> >> > want a more productive day. Different varieties of cannabis have
> >> different
> >> > components and different effects.
> >> > Â
> >> > I have scoliosis. It can be managed with prescription drugs or it can
> >> be
> >> > managed with cannabis with far fewer side effects. I do a
> >> > combination of both. I make a real effort to minimize prescription
> >> drugs
> >> > because they’re toxic.
> >> > Â
> >> > I started using cannabis medically when I became more educated about
> >> > it. The more I learned about it, the more I thought, “This just
> >> > really
> >> > makes sense.†I’m a nurse, I have some idea of how
> >> > medications work.
> >> > It’s about the safest drug you can take.
> >> > ---
> >> >
> >> > Diana Shannon, 58, of San Jose, CA (6 of 8)
> >> > I suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD. It was
> >> hard
> >> > for me to breathe. My doctor gave me an inhaler. That worked at
> >> > first. Then he gave me another inhaler. I went through inhaler after
> >> > inhaler. I was still having difficulty breathing. Then one morning I
> >> > misplaced my inhaler. A week later I noticed I was breathing better.
> >> (I
> >> > had started taking cannabis). I realized that the cannabis was a
> >> better
> >> > medicine for me.
> >> > Â
> >> > I did some research on the Internet. I found out about different ways
> >> to
> >> > ingest it. I discovered a volcano, a vaporizer. It's wonderful. It
> >> > lets me breathe deeper, it does what an inhaler should do.
> >> > Â
> >> > My family thinks I’m a little wacky, but they understand that
> >> > I’m
> >> > improving. They’ve always been against marijuana. They want to
> >> turn
> >> > their backs to it.
> >> > ---
> >> >
> >> > Odtumea Obtumah, 55, of Oakland, CA (7 of 8)
> >> > My dad was a Pentecostal minister in Wisconsin, so when I first
> >> > went to the dispensary I felt guilty. I bought into the negative hype
> >> of
> >> > reefer madness, that you shouldn't smoke pot. I had this debate in my
> >> > head about all this weird stuff that I heard from when I was a kid. I
> >> > had no expectations, but much to my surprise, it worked.
> >> > Â
> >> > I played a lot of sports, football in college. I have a reconstructed
> >> > right knee. I also have no cartilage in my left knee. The cannabis
> >> > works like a lubricant for my knees. In the morning I eat it in a
> >> > brownie or in my coffee. In the evening I smoke it before I go to
> >> sleep.
> >> > ---
> >> >
> >> > John Shannon, 64, of San Jose, CA, in greenhouse with wife Diana (8 of
> >> 8)
> >> > I had polio in 1952. I had paralysis and was in an iron lung. I was
> >> > subsequently cured but the symptoms came back in 1992. My muscles
> >> would
> >> > cramp and release, it was twenty-four hours a day. It’s called
> >> > vacillation. I volunteered for experimental antispasmodic drugs. At
> >> one
> >> > point I was taking eighteen pills a day. They ended up damaging my
> >> > pancreas.
> >> > Â
> >> > I started using cannabis because it was the only thing I’ve
> >> tried
> >> > that doesn’t affect the rest of my system. It’s a very
> >> > effective release of that muscular pain. My primary physician at
> >> Kaiser
> >> > authorized my use of cannabis. She’s enthusiastic about my use
> >> of
> >> > it. I've done this with the knowledge, consent and advice of my
> >> doctors.
> >> > They see the results.
> >> > Â
> >> > For more from The Nation on the drug war, view the slide show From
> >> > Prohibition to Prop 19.
> >> >
> >>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> > Attachment: http://norml.net/attached/43p0eMywIFeTs.html
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> Attachment: http://norml.net/attached/98ItpUVfPUlZw.html
> >>
> >
> > --
> > Kelly Coulter
> > National Campaign Co-ordinator
> > NORML Canada
> >
> > 613.331.5895
> >
> >
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Attachment: http://norml.net/attached/1860TNRSz8g9kY.html
> >
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Attachment: http://norml.net/attached/66dmWhxMXYph28.html
> >
>
>

--
Kelly Coulter
National Campaign Co-ordinator
NORML Canada

613.331.5895

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attachment: http://norml.net/attached/1155xHB55losllM.html