I’m on it with the post about “How to Dab”, but please just give me a day or two. Until then, enjoy this deviation from the series on concentrates.
One Saturday afternoon, I find myself sitting around doing nothing in particular. I’m on the computer and half-watching CNN. There is an election coming up and just like everyone else I was tired of hearing about it, but then I hear on the TV that Sanjay Gupta is going to do a report from California about Medical Marijuana…so stay tuned! You bet I will.
Sanjay was reporting on the marijuana legalization efforts that were on the ballots in the 2012 elections. Colorado and Washington both had marijuana legalization on their ballots, which for many people was more important than the upcoming presidential election. I was very interested in what Sanjay had to say. He has clout, especially since some people in America erroneously think that he’s the Surgeon General. Even though these folks are wrong, I had been saying for years that until the mainstream media picks up on the cause of cannabis as medicine, the movement would stall. There was enough evidence out there, and the general public was coming closer and closer to the understanding that the hype, lies and propaganda the government had been dishing out for decades, but the message had not really made it to the mainstream as important. Our government has always had the benefit of the press as a loudspeaker. The cannabis movement does not.
In this CNN news report on that September afternoon, Sanjay was speaking with another doctor, Julie Holland, who wrote “The Pot Book“. They were discussing marijuana as medicine. I was so taken with her knowledge and candor that I immediately went online and bought her book. I think Sanjay did too. In fact, I think Dr. Holland was responsible for turning Dr. Gupta into a believer. This is not much of leap if you look at the timeline.
Sanjay was now on the hunt. After declaring that marijuana was NOT medicine in a TIME magazine article, back in 2009, titled “Why I would Vote No on Pot”, Dr. Gupta was having second thoughts and started doing his own investigation. Nearly 1 year after interviewing Dr. Julie Holland, Sanjay apologized publicly for his previous stance and right there on CNN he told the world that he had been wrong in his assumption that marijuana was not medicine. He then announced his new CNN Special Report called “Weed”.
This was BIG, and just what the movement needed. Sanjay said he had not really delved into all of the research available, and had, for most of his adult life, believed all the U.S. government’s propaganda and what the government said about their own research, which he had found to be a big lie. Sanjay told America that the government was lying and had been for decades. Wow! The cannabis movement just got legit!
So just about a year after I saw the interview with Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Julie Holland, Sanjay does an about face on marijuana as medicine. Timing. I really believe it was either her book, or meeting her in person that sparked Dr. Gupta to start investigating the claims that cannabis is a medicinal plant, but someday when I meet him I will ask.
The Pot Book is very compelling, well researched, and not just Julie’s opinion and conclusions, but rather a compilation of at least 50 contributors that range from billionaire to common folk and everyone in between. This is the most comprehensive book on cannabis out there right now, and if you have the need to educate anyone on the merit of marijuana, its history, and the government coverup of marijuana’s worth and its own conclusive research, this is the book. Even seasoned marijuana activists will fine a useful arsenal of topics, answers, and a host of medical research. I wish I had enough money to buy and spread this book all over America.
So that’s my theory. In person or not, Julie Holland didn’t just encourage Sanjay to get with the program, she also influenced ME to start writing to help spread the word to patients and to educate the uninformed on how to utilize cannabis to heal themselves. Thanks for the inspiration, Dr. Holland.
Here are some links for you, to The Pot Book and each of the three, (to date, and I’m sure there will be more), CNN documentaries on Cannabis as medicine.
The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis – Julie Holland, M.D. (This link it to the official book page and the website also contains some additional and very fascinating chapters as well as links on where to buy the book.
Weed – CNN August 2013
Weed 2 – Cannabis Madness – CNN March 2014
Weed 3 -The Marijuana Revolution – CNN April 2015