From Red to Pink - Part II: The Backstory
Written By Lindsey Gunter
THE BACKSTORY: Have you ever seen that movie, “The Wolf of Wall Street”? You know the part where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is dragging himself for dear life to his car on quaaludes? Yeah, some of us watch that and can’t laugh nor stare in disbelief; we only remember seeing our loved one(s) like that in real life. Watching that scene immediately transported me to the parking lot of my middle school in Houston.
My dad, who was having a major back spasm and seizing inside the open trunk, was asking me to not tell mom I had to drive us home (again). I was waving the rich girls of the local neighborhood off with a smile, dismissing the situation as handled, just so they could walk the short distance home to their own lovely, messed up lives where they threw themselves down flights of stairs to frame new stepmothers.
Can a Nurse Flourish in the Cannabis World?
Written by Natalie Goldberg
I am in the midst of a major transition. A few years ago, I took a job as a cannabis nurse. I felt burnt out by psychiatric nursing after having dispensed opiates and narcotics to patients that showed up monthly with little to no improvement in their health, despite years of trying. Feeling indifferent about being a nurse took over my entire attitude. At the time, I was living far from my hometown because of an attempt at living in a recreational-cannabis state. Unfortunately I ended up working in a non-recreational state. Inspired by my loneliness and defeat, I decided to look for work back home in Florida.
It was 2019 and Florida’s medical marijuana program had really taken off. When I found a clinical position for medical personnel, preferably a nurse, to provide treatment and education on the endocannabinoid system, I freaked out. I interviewed and they were excited that I was a fan of cannabis and that I could also give vitamin injections, so they hired me. I was in shock. My life changed in seconds as I began the transition from psych nurse to cannabis nurse.
Cannabis: A Fearless Light in the Shadows of the Psyche
Written By Kaitlin Coghill
There is a fear of cannabis that comes from a place of not knowing. There is a “not knowing” of how the plant works, or how “safe” the plant is, or how illegal it is, or how it’s supposed to feel and look and taste. But greater than all of these “not knowings” is the “not knowing” of who we really are beyond our earthen layers. The biggest fear of cannabis is rooted in the fear of learning the truth about ourselves and our lives, and, even more terrifying, feeling that truth in our bodies.