Hydrolife Magazine April/May 2016 (USA Edition)

heal
As a result of what happened to me, I became more involved
than ever in the cannabis plant, in alternative methods of
healing, in other patients and in the development of safe
pesticides that would not add cancer-causing agents to what I
now believed was a medical cure for a terminal illness.”
At that point, I had seen all I needed
to see, and started to apply the balm to
my neck as well as my back. My next
surgery was scheduled on the Ides of
March—March 15, 2010—three months
after my second cancer diagnosis. I was
so nervous for my surgery that I named
my new Rottweiler Caesar, in honor of
the Ides of March and the day Julius
Caesar died. I was thinking that if I died
in surgery, I could live on through my
new puppy. It sounds crazy now, but this
is what fear and cancer does to the mind.
I remember my friend Nate Vasquez being
there as I went under, the same man
who was there the first time I came out of
surgery in 2007.
I was in surgery for approximately
four hours. When I came out of surgery
and read the results of the post-surgery
biopsy report, it was incredible. Four
of the tumors in the lymph nodes of
my neck were completely benign, but
the one behind my carotid artery was
still malignant. The report basically
said to me that every tumor the CBD
balm came into contact with was cured,
and the one it couldn’t reach, behind
my carotid artery where it couldn’t be
touched, was still cancerous. I had been
90% cured. I continued to use the cream
and took radioactive iodine treatment
as a counter measure. As I write this
story in early 2016, I am still, to this day,
cancer-free.
The news of what happened to me
became a high-profile story in the
media—so much so that I was asked to
be the keynote speaker at the Capital in
Washington, DC, on 4:20 that year. Doctors
validated my medical results in the
newspaper and on TV. For many, it was
the first credible report of its kind.
As a result of what happened to me, I
became more involved than ever with
the cannabis plant, in alternative methods
of healing, in other patients and in
the development of safe pesticides that
would not add cancer-causing agents
to what I now believe is a medical cure
for a terminal illness. I started my own
study, and partnered up with two doctors
who were members of the alreadyestablished
Colorado Compassionate
Physicians, a local office dedicated to
helping those in the community find
alternative methods of pain relief. We
set out to arrange free doctor visits for
anybody dealing with a possibly terminal
illness. Our goal was to get these
people recommendations for medical
marijuana, and either cover the cost of
their medication or provide it at cost.
I also got heavily involved with the
State of Colorado and even took over
a group looking to get House Bill 1284
passed. House Bill 1284 was a dead bill
at the time and had zero support from
law enforcement or the growing community.
It was a gray-area bill that allowed
patients to use and grow of marijuana,
but did not allow for the sale of pot. So, a
person could grow pot and provide it for
patients, but selling it to others was still
considered illegal. Not only were people
not able to get the medicine they needed,
they were losing their freedom under a
law that was subjective and ambiguous.
I took over this task force after meeting
with Senator Chris Romer’s office at
the state capital. They informed me that
they trusted this task to others, but they
never got behind it and the bill had little
support. I quickly got to work organizing
the Colorado Grown Community. This
rag-tag group of growers, business owners,
law-enforcement officials, doctors,
patients and lawyers started a dialog
and began taking the bill apart to make
it work the best we could for all parties
concerned. I wanted to be part of the
solution, so I financed and paid for the
endeavor myself, including covering all
the legal fees.
We worked day and night, disseminating
our information to the House and
Senate members across party lines.
Subsequently, the once-dead bill passed
(with some revisions) and the boom of
medicinal cannabis—and now recreational
marijuana—began in Colorado,
once it was legalized and legitimized.
Colorado became the first state to legalize
the sale of pot as we know it, and
now, thousands of patients of all ages
continue to move to Colorado every year
to get the lifesaving medicines they
need, without the fear of legal repercussions
or any negative stigma.
Along with my crusade to legitimize
Colorado’s cannabis industry, in 2012 I
founded Pure Nutrients to help develop
safe pesticides and fungicides that not
only protect the plants, but protect the
patients, while providing growers with
a safe alternative to chemical pesticides
that works better. I was tired of manufacturers
not telling growers what they
were putting in the products that were
being used on plants. It made me suspicious
that hazardous, cancer-causing
chemicals were being used on cannabis
and our food crops with little or no care
or disclosure to the end user.
This is a fight we are still fighting at
Pure, and one we intend on winning. The
cannabis plant, in my opinion, saved
my life, and in return, I have and will
continue to do the same for it.
54
grow. heal. live. enjoy.
myhydrolife.com