Becoming 'Granny Storm Crow'

[Jim Finnel]

I am a well-respected teacher's aide in my 60s. I start my day with 8th grade math. I quilt, paint, sculpt and am an avid genealogist. I enjoy posting on several websites. My husband is disabled and on SSI. We live in a tiny rural town in California with our two adult sons. Our lives are filled with computers and books. We are all compulsive educators- a family of quiet, intellectual geeks.

I lead a double life.

I am a secret, international, medical cannabis activist.

Even though I am "California legal", I hide in the shadowy world of the internet. As the mysterious "Granny Storm Crow", I influence cannabis-using people worldwide. Mostly what I do is I tell people about medical studies, but even so, I must hide my "secret identity".

Why all the smoke and mirrors? Simple- It would cost me my job if it were known that "Ms. Crow" even uses cannabis. As "Granny", I'd be lucky to just get ridden out of town on a rail! The educational field has little tolerance for "illegal" drug use, even when it's "legal". So why am I risking my job to use cannabis? And not only use it, but become an advocate for its medical use?

When I was three years old, I suffered a major head injury. Another child, perhaps five years old, tried to kill me with a hammer. I was left with dents in my skull and frequent migraines. By the time I was five, my bedroom had black curtains to block the light.

At 19, like many young adults, I tried cannabis. I liked it. It took me about a year to make the connection that, when I had cannabis, I didn't have migraines. The real proof came when my husband and I had been out of cannabis for a few weeks. I had what promised to be a very bad migraine coming on (auras and nausea), when a friend showed up unexpectedly with an over-priced baggie of cannabis. We bought it, of course.

To my amazement, the nausea faded along with the auras, as I puffed. The migraine melted away. I have used cannabis medically for over 40 years. It is still effective.

Some of you will say that the migraines may have just disappeared as I grew older. Sadly, that is not the case. I quit using cannabis for about three years when I started working for the local schools. The migraines came back with a vengeance. I used cannabis a few times a year, "bumming a joint" from a good friend when the pain was too bad.

Every time I used, I spent the next month in fear of a random urine test. It takes a month, or more, for leftover metabolites of THC to get out of your system. The THC metabolites don't make you high; they just show up on drug tests.

The migraines began to affect my work, so I saw a doctor. I got scanned and tested. I "just" had migraines. I read up on the side effects of the Imitrex that my doctor highly recommended (was pushing). No, thank you! Cannabis was faster, far safer and I knew it worked. I was no longer a "new" employee and the threat of being tested grew less each day. I made the appointment with the "cannabis specialist".

I could have stayed a hidden "closet user" very easily, except for one thing- I kept finding references to serious medical uses for cannabis. These were real medical studies, not some "stupid hippie" or reporter blathering. Soon, there were too many to remember. I grabbed a notebook and started printing.

The remarkably wide range of conditions that cannabis was used for sparked my curiosity- what else was it good for? I enjoy researching on line, but even I, as a medical user, wasn't prepared for what I found! Arthritis, Alzheimer's, diabetes, MS, Mad Cow, stroke, and so much more! There were hundreds of studies about cannabis helping so many things. My notebook filled rapidly as I actively searched for medical uses. Why wasn't this common knowledge?

I had the studies that answered questions posted about medical cannabis use, so I'd reply, typing in the URL to help them. Typing the URLs got old pretty fast. I put the list on my computer, so I could just copy and paste the URLs. I needed them quite often to answer the ever-growing number of questions.

I'm not the kind of person to "walk away" when I can easily help, but there comes a point when it gets to be a bit of a chore. So I set my list free on the web, inviting others to use it to educate those around them. The response was astounding. My list filled a need and people loved it.

I'm not a doctor, I don't have a PhD and you don't know me, so why should you listen to me? In fact, I don't want you to pay any attention to anything I've said about cannabis! It's just my opinion. And my list is just "copy and paste" and a bit of organizing. Pretty simple stuff, really. It's the information contained in the list that is important.

I am, above all, an educator and feel knowledge must be shared. I am inviting you to read "Granny Storm Crow's list" - use any search engine, it's there. I didn't create any of the studies or articles- I just gathered them together from PubMed and other sources for you to use.

Scientific studies report facts. Forget the all the urban myths and rumors, and make up your own mind using facts. Cannabis is medicine! Educate yourself!


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Salem-News.com
Author: 'Granny' Storm Crow
Copyright: 2009 Salem-News.com
Contact: newsroom@salem-news.com
Website: Becoming 'Granny Storm Crow' - Salem-News.Com

 

[Jim Finnel]

^ i was having a conversation the other day with someone who couldn't understand the concept that legal/illegal is not the same as right/wrong. i don't really have much respect for laws which have changed with regularity throughout history. right and wrong have never changed.

 

[bluemaxx]

thank you for this ,, it's given me much to think about, i have always used the excuse of positive psychological effects in order to justify my marijuana use and in the last several years have been swearing by it ,,,, think I'll dig a little deeper on it ,,, tnxs again ,,, max

 

[clayverde]

THANK YOU! Thank you so much for doing that and keeping up the fight. I too am a closet smoker. I am a 32 year old mother of 2 children who are both in gifted and talented programs. My husband is active duty Navy and has been for 15 years. We have been happily married for 13 years (almost 14 now) since we were 19 years old. I am currently going to college 3/4 time for my fine arts degree. I am in the process of completing my Mensa membership (more for the resume than anything). And I also smoke almost everyday. I despise the idea that pot smoker equals idiot or immoral or lazy in most people's minds. There are immoral, lazy and idiotic people in EVERY area of life, not just among pot users. I have severe issues with depression and pot helps me manage that (along with family and conventional meds) better than anything else I have tried - which is a LOT! Luckily, my husband is incredibly supportive, especially given the potential danger it could mean to his career should I get caught. Thankfully, there are people like you still fighting from behind the scenes to try and get the word out. If pot were discovered in the rain forest today, it would be heralded as a miracle drug for all it can do. But because it is already known and labeled and feared by small minded and ignorant (not stupid, but ignorant in the real meaning of the word) people, everything associated with pot is labeled evil. It is disgusting that so many people are hurting when pot can help them, never mind the possible meds and uses that could be derived from it, if given proper funding and testing. I would love to be more active and involved while staying off the radar, but I don't know how. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. In the meantime, know that there are people out there like you, who support you and feel like you do. I wish you the best - smoke often!

 

[Medical75]

Granny you are the deal. I admire ya ! I am trying to get medical cannibis legal in KY. I have MS . It helps my mussles to relax. I am having no luck thus far.. I may need to move to Cal.