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I woke up that morning with a migraine. You know when they come on WAY before you open your eyes, it’s sure to be a rough day. For me, and thousands of people like me, pharmaceutical medications only make symptoms worse. I groan my way out of bed and head to the local dispensary to get the medication I need to make myself comfortable.

When I got to In Harmony Wellness, I was greeted by name by the same receptionist that’s always there. The Co-owner, Tina Valenti, usually smiles warmly when I pop my head into her office but this time, she frowns and motions me inside. Apparently, I looked like I felt. I step inside the business office and its just what you would expect. A giant whiteboard scribbled with ideas, a foreboding looking safe and a desk riddled with paperwork, where Tina is digging through drawers. She hands me a packet “It’s my last one, but you look like you could use it.” She says, that comforting smile returning to her face. It’s that EmergenC fizzy drink in raspberry, coincidentally my favorite flavor. It promises to deliver 1000mg of vitamin C straight to the chin of whatever is dragging me down.

I slump into a chair as she rattles off a list of things that may help my obvious misery. She offers a couple of herbal remedies, but not the kind you would think. Traditional Chinese Herbs and a product called “Cold Snap.” She slaps down a handful of throat lozenges and reminds me not to use them without eating first. “They can make you sick to your stomach” She warns. I make a meager effort at humor by announcing that she might also have something that helps with nausea, alluding to the room down the hall where jars of high-grade medical marijuana, medicated edilbles and tinctures are stored and dispensed.

Without going into the politics of everything and without standing on any podiums or shouting from any treetops let me say this, I need dispensaries. Unable to grow my own because of allergies and arthritis, I need to utilize the talents of people who are capable of such things. I need to know that there is medication available for me, be it for a wicked migraine or for my auto-immune disease. I need the option to have tincture if I cant smoke or hash if I just need to sleep. I need edibles, a fine art I have yet to master, for when there are young children in the house and smoking is out of the question. I need quality medication and as a patient in Colorado, I need Care-giving dispensaries.

In Harmony wellness has several great qualities that I have yet to find anywhere else. First and foremost, they are consistent. Co-owner Derek Cumings, has unparalleled talent for turning medication into delicious goodies with unrivaled medicinal benefits. Their meds are always great, but more importantly, their edibles always taste the same. The Cannabits hard candies will taste the same today as they did a month ago. The tincture will be the same potency and though the candies inside the brownies may change, the taste and quality never have.

Secondly, they genuinely care about you as well as the community around them. They ask about your symptoms and even recommend specialty products to treat what ails you. They take care of their neighbors with food drives and community outreach programs. (Dont forget to bring in some canned goods for the Windsor Food bank, a drop box is located right inside their front door. )

Lastly, their prices are so fair that you almost feel like you are ripping them off. A rare emotion when dealing with this costly medication.

In short, there is something different about In Harmony Wellness. Something Sincere. I’ve claimed to have a favorite dispensary before, its true. But as they say, time reveals the truth and while I support my former favorites in spirit, I simply cannot rely on them being consistent with their product. In Harmony provides the consistency I am looking for, while retaining the high quality I desire. Reading the bills that have been proposed by Romer and Massey, I think mostly of In harmony. Should legislation take these legitimate, patient focused care-giving businesses out of our community, it will mostly hurt the patients they strive so hard to care for.


Visit In Harmony Wellness at 4630 Royal Vista Circle #12, Windsor, CO. Open from 10:00am to 6:00pm Monday through Friday, 10:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday, and closed on Sunday.

You can reach them at 970-222-5555, or via email at inharmonywellness@gmail.com. Follow them on Facebook by clicking HERE!

© 2010, AntiSoccermom. All rights reserved to the original author unless stated otherwise.

10 Things Every Parent, Teenager & Teacher Should Know About Marijuana

[ Reprinted in the public interest without permission from a flyer by the Family Council on Drug Awareness. This flyer is being distributed at public functions such as concerts, school gatherings, trade shows, and craft shows. Any typographic errors, unless noted, are mine. The author of this post has no affiliation with any agency or persons related to this document, and refrains from editorial comment. ]

1 Q. What is Marijuana?

A. “Marijuana” refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant [1], which contain the non-narcotic chemical THC at various potencies. It is smoked or eaten to produce the feeling of being “high.” The different strains of this herb produce different sensual effects, ranging from sedative to stimulant.

2 Q. Who Uses Marijuana?

A. There is no simple profile of a typical marijuana user. It has been used for 1000s of years for medical, social, and religious reasons and for relaxation [2]. Several of our Presidents [3] are believed to have smoked it. One out of every five Americans say they have tried it. And it is still popular among artists, writers, musicians, activists, lawyers, inventors, working people, etc.

3 Q. How Long Have People Been Using Marijuana?

A. Marijuana has been used since ancient times [4]. While field hands and working people have often smoked the raw plant, aristocrats historically prefer hashish [5] made from the cured flowers of the plant. It was not seen as a problem until a calculated disinformation [sic] campaign was launched in the 1930s [6], and the first American laws against using it were passed [7].

4 Q. Is Marijuana Addictive?

A. No, it is not [8]. Most users are moderate consumers who smoke it socially to relax. We now know that 10% of our population have “addictive personalities” and they are neither more nor less likely to overindulge in cannabis than in anything else. On a relative scale, marijuana is less habit forming than either sugar or chocolate but more so than anchovies. Sociologists report a general pattern of marijuana use that peaks in the early adult years, followed by a period of levelling off and then a gradual reduction in use [9].

5 Q. Has Anyone Ever Died From Smoking Marijuana?

A. No; not one single case, not ever. THC is one of the few chemicals for which there is no known toxic amount [10]. The federal agency NIDA says that autopsies reveal that 75 people per year are high on marijuana when they die: this does not mean that marijuana caused or was even a factor in their deaths. The chart below compares the number of deaths attributable to selected substances in a typical year:

Tobacco………………………….340,000 – 395,000
Alcohol (excluding crime/accidents)………….125,000+
Drug Overdose (prescription)…………24,000 – 27,000
Drug Overdose (illegal)……………….3,800 – 5,200
Marijuana………………………………………0


*Source: U.S. Government Bureau of Mortality Statistics, 1987

6 Q. Does Marijuana Lead to Crime and/or Hard Drugs?
A. No [11]. The only crime most marijuana users commit is that they use marijuana. And, while many people who abuse dangerous drugs also smoke marijuana, the old “stepping stone” theory is now discredited, since virtually all of them started out “using” legal drugs like sugar, coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, etc.

7 Q. Does Marijuana Make People Violent?

A. No. In fact, Federal Bureau of Narcotics director Harry Anslinger once told Congress just the opposite – that it leads to non-violence and pacifism [12]. If he was telling the truth (which he and key federal agencies have not often done regarding marijuana), then re-legalizing marijuana should be considered as one way to curb violence in our cities. The simple fact is that marijuana does not change your basic personality. The government says that over 20 million Americans still smoke it, probably including some of the nicest people you know.

8 Q. How Does Marijuana Affect Your Health?

A. Smoking anything is not healthy, but marijuana is less dangerous than tobacco and people smoke less of it at a time. This health risk can be avoided by eating the plant instead of smoking it [13], or can be reduced by smoking smaller amounts of stronger marijuana. There is no proof that marijuana causes serious health or sexual problems [14] but, like alcohol, its use by children or adolescents is discouraged. Cannabis is a medicinal herb that has hundreds of proven, valuable theraputic uses – from stress reduction to glaucoma to asthma to cancer therapy, etc. [15].

9 Q. What About All Those Scary Statistics and Studies?

A. Most were prepared as scare tactics for the government by Dr. Gabriel Nahas, and were so biased and unscientific that Nahas was fired by the National Institute of Health [16] and finally renounced his own studies as meaningless [17]. For one experiment, he suffocated monkeys for five minutes at a time, using proportionately more smoke than the average user inhales in an entire lifetime [18]. The other studies that claim sensational health risks are also suspect, since they lack controls and produce results which cannot be replicated or independently verified [19].

10 Q. What Can I Do About Marijuana?

A. No independent government panel that has studied marijuana has ever recommended jail for users [20]. Concerned persons should therefore ask their legislators to re-legalize and tax this plant, subject to age limits and regulations similar to those on alcohol and tobacco.

For More Information, Write:
Family Coucil on Drug Awareness
P.O. Box 71093, LA CA 90071-0093


FOOTNOTES TO THE TEXT:

1. The same plant, known as hemp, has an estimated 50,000 non-drug commercial uses including paper, textiles, fuels, food and sealants, but these uses are also banned by existing laws. Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, federal documents and historical records.

2. Coptic Christians, Rhastafarnians [sic], Shintos, Hinus, Buddhists, Sufis, Essenes, Zoroastrians, Bantus, and many other sects have traditions that consider the plant to have religious value.

3. Their personal correspondence and records reveal that U.S. Presidents Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and others smoked hashish, as did Benjamin Franklin and Mary Todd Lincoln. President John F. Kennedy is also reported to have smoked marijuana to relieve his back pain. Many of America’s greatest leaders and Founding Fathers (including George Washington) were hemp farmers. Sources: National Archives, published reports.

4. Archeologists report that cannabis was possibly the first plant cultivated by humans – about 8000 B.C. – and was used for linen, paper, and garments. Source: Columbia University, _History of the World_. It was being smoked in China and India as early as 2700 B.C.

5. Turkish smoking parlors were popular in both Europe and America. as well as the Middle and Far East, as recently as the turn of the Century.

6. The exhaustive Indian Hemp “Raj” Commission report (1986) by British authorities found no reason to restrict its use. But the notorious yellow journalist William Randolph Hearst fabricated and published horror stories about marijuana that were eventually investigated and shown to be lies, but not until long after the marijuana prohibition was enacted in 1938. Source: Larry Sloman, _Reefer Madness_.

7. Laws against marijuana were passed a year after the invention of a machine to harvest and process hemp so it could compete commercially against businesses owned by Hearst, the DuPonts and other powerful families. Source: Jack Herer, _The Emporor Wears No Clothes_.

8. Marijuana does not lead to physical dependency. Costa Rican Study, 1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; Nixon Blue Ribbon Report, 1972, et. al.

9. Source: Psychology Today, Newsweek, et.al.

10. Source: All univerity medical studies: UCLA, Harvard, Temple, etc.

11. Costa Rican Study, 1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; “The legal drugs for adults, such as alcohol and tobacco…precede the use of all illicit drugs.” Source: National Academy of Sciences.

12. The FBI reports that 65-75% of criminal violence is alcohol related. “Pacifist syndrome” testimony was given by Federal Bureau of Narcotics Director Harry Anslinger before Congress (1948). However, the “Siler” Study conducted by the U.S in Panama (1931) reported “no impairment” in military personnel who smoked marijuana while off duty.

13. “The only clinically significant medical problem is that scientifically linked to marijuana is bronchitis. Like smoking tobacco, the treatment is the same: stop smoking.” Source: Dr. Fred Oerther, M.D.

14. Coptic study (UCLA), 1981; “There is not yet any conclusive evidence as to whether prolonged use of marijuana causes permanent changes in the nervous system or sustained impairment of brain function and behavior in human beings.” Source: National Academy of Sciences.

15. Source: Dr. Tod Mikuriya, _Marijuana Medical Papers_. Marijuana could replace at least 10-20% of prescribed drugs now in use. Source: Dr. Raphael Mechoulam. Marijuana was a major active ingredient in 40-50% of patent medicines before its ban.

16. 1976

17. 1983

18. The U.S. Government reports that the oral dose of cannabis required to kill a mouse is about 40,000 times the dose required to produce symptoms of intoxication in man. Source: Lowe, _Journal of Pharmacological and Experimental Therapeutics_, Oct. 1946.

19. In another famous study, Heath/Tulane (1974), wild monkeys were brutally captured, then virtually suffocated in marijuana smoke over a period of 90 days. Source: National Institute of Health.

20. Examples: the “LaGuardia” Committee Report (New York, 1944) and President Richard Nixon’s Blue Ribbon “Shafer” Commission (1972).

“Prohibition…goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”

– Abraham Lincoln December, 1840

This pamphlet was researched and produced as a public service by the Family Council on Drug Awareness P.O. Box 71093, LA CA 90071-0093

Additional copies available from:
BACH, PO Box 71093, L.A., CA 90071-0093 35 cents apiece, Ten for $2.00, 100 for $10

© 2010, AntiSoccermom. All rights reserved to the original author unless stated otherwise.