MJ Lifestyle Issue 01 Digital

HOW DO
YOU
TABOO?
BY ALLISON RAY BENAVIDES
Where are you right now? As
you sit reading this article
in MJ Lifestyle magazine,
where are you? On the
subway? In the break room at work? In the
bathtub after you put the kids to bed? Can you
leave this article out on the coffee table when
your parents come over? If you are in public, are
you reading this on your phone to be discreet?
Cannabis has been in hiding herself, but not
by any choice of her own. The DEA locked her
up like a common criminal, alongside heroin
and bath salts. I imagine her as Rapunzel,
falsely imprisoned at the top of a high, stone
tower. Instead of lowering her long hair out
the window to catch her lover’s attention, she
releases her sweet and sour scent into the breeze.
Her distinctive fragrance could be overlooked
as a defensive skunk, interpreted as a warning
sign to turn back. But to those of us who know
her, we lovingly follow her scent like Pepé
Le Pew. Devoted and determined, thousands
have attempted to scale the tower to break her
free. But surprisingly, it is our children who
ultimately reached her. She loves our children.
Nothing has set fire to Cannabis the way our
babies did in 2012. Efforts to legalize Cannabis
for medicinal or recreational reasons had been
slow to make progress over decades. But then
a brave father in Modesto, Jason David, gave
a high CBD strain to his young, suffering son
Jayden. In one dose, he stopped thousands
of seizures and changed the world forever.
In perfect mythic fashion, it took the purity
of a child to reveal her most sacred purpose.
Cannabis undeniably heals, and Jayden doesn’t
care about the taboos he innocently turned
inside out.
But our social order still does, despite
countless public opinion polls showing an
increased acceptance of Cannabis. In 2012, 48%
of Gallup respondents supported legalization. By
2017, support had grown to 64%. Additionally,
Quinnipiac University National Poll found 94%
of respondents support medical marijuana. Yet
even though over half of the United States has
passed some sort of Cannabis legislation, strong
stigmas and barriers remain.
While a growing consensus has caught her
scent, it takes infrastructure time to catch
up. The longstanding laws and policies that
have defined her and us can continue to have
disastrous consequences when transgressed,
particularly for parents. As much as I hate to
acknowledge it, even in progressive So Cal
pediatric patients have been removed from
their homes by Child Protective Services within
the past year when their parents declined
pharmaceuticals and pursued Cannabis. So
while it’s incredibly important for these same
reasons to be open about our lifestyles, it is also
important not to get too far ahead of ourselves
—Cannabis hasn’t been freed from the tower
yet.
Allison Ray Benavides,
LCSW is a medical social
worker living in San Diego
and working in the field of
death and dying. She has a
deep respect and gratitude
for all wisdom traditions
and is most inspired by her
work when women, nature,
Spirit and healing come
together. When her threeyear-old
son was diagnosed
with intractable epilepsy in 2013, he was lucky to find seizure
freedom with high CBD. She is the cofounder of a support
group for San Diego families navigating the uncharted
territory of pediatric Cannabis together.
To learn more visit PediatricCannabisSupport.com
ISSUE 01
68