By Ruth Hill R.N.
You hopefully have read my articles on medical cannabis in the past several months. Now I would like to tell you about myself and explain why I am convinced that medical marijuana or medical cannabis (MC), as we in the cannabis industry call it, will be the next medical revolution in treating diseases.
I graduated over fifty years ago from the University of Connecticut in 1966 with a baccalaureate of science degree in nursing. I remember vacillating back and forth over the safety of smoking pot. I am very into traditional medical practice. I taught nursing students in associate degree programs. Went to Teachers College Columbia University and received a Masters of Arts in Teaching.
In the sixties we walked slowly to call a code blue. Those were the days before “no code” orders were initiated, before advanced directives, patients’ choice, and patients’ right to refuse treatment.
I have a nephew who died at the age of 24 from opiate overdose. I cannot remember when I was not against marijuana. I even voted against prop 64. That’s how conservative I have been. The last 15 of my 50 years practicing nursing have been in hospice and infusion. I have been certified in hospice and palliative nursing for over twelve years.
Getting certified in any nursing specialty is a very hard and industrious accomplishment. When you encounter a nurse caring for you who is certified in any specialty, you are being cared for by a very dedicated and advanced skilled nurse. My encounter with MC came in the last eight months as I searched for an alternative to my escalating chronic back and neck pain.
I am also a writer, having written professionally in nursing journals, and newspapers on palliative care. In March I started writing about MC. The more research I did on this plant lead me to the millions of hidden underground people who use it and the scientific literature written in medical journals. MC is the new specialty. After drowning in books and lectures and being tested on MC, I am becoming certified. We should all be angry that the corrupt swamp in the deep state has forbidden physicians and pharmacists from prescribing this miracle herb.
A keyword search on PubMed using the term “marijuana” yields over 25,131 scientific journal articles in the peer-reviewed literature as of 4/17/14 such as the JAMA, Neurology, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, The Lancet, Nature, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Endocrinology, American Journal of Medicine, and others to the numerous to detail.
Since I have retired from hospice care I am devoting the autumn of my nursing profession to propagating the benefits of this plant in relieving disease and suffering, to physicians, nurses, and the public. It is a shame what the politicians, the media, and the lobbyist have done to keep this knowledge from us. There are many folks who get help to obtain a legal California Recommendation from a marijuana physician. Afterwards the person then goes to a dispensary and relies on a nonmedical person to determine what to purchase.
I now devote my nursing to the role of nurse cannabis navigator. I fill the huge gaps between you, the marijuana physician, who gives you the Recommendation, and the dispensary. If you have taken cannabis and it is not working I can navigate you towards products that are safe and effective.
I am also dedicating myself to pressuring our legislators into declassifying MC. There is a petition on the Whitehouse website for everyone to sign. We have until September 4th to get 99,999 signatures so we can put it on President Trump’s desk. I ask you to please go to this website: petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/resolution-support-de-scheduling-cannabis and sign the petition. Call Senator Kamala Harris and Congressman Raul Ruiz to get involved in this effort. Senator Feinstein is already ahead of her colleagues and has a bill to help remove the travesty of secrecy towards the American people. If you need any help learning about MC, want to use it, and/or do not know where to go for help please email me at hilruth@gmail.com. Continue to look for my articles in CV Weekly.
petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/resolution-support-de-scheduling-cannabis
