Back to California
I'm finally headed back to California to continue shooting "RxCannabis". I shot for three months last summer, getting over 80 hours of footage. You can see more about the project at www.myspace.com/harveystein. There is a full screen trailer at http://rxcannabis.blip.tv/.
First stop this trip was the ASA (Americans for Safe Access) Conference, in Burbank. According to their website, "the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research." Their website is full of information--political, medical, legal.
ASA is the largest service organization for medical marijuana patients, both in the 11 states where it's currently legal (for seriously ill patients), and in those where it's not, but people risk their freedom to use it medicinally anyway.
The Conference, at the Pickwick Gardens Conference Center, was inspiring and fun. Yes, there were some people who looked like stoners, but there were others in short hair, and even a few in suits. Workshops on activism and media messaging. Booths full of books, hemp products, bumper stickers.
Just like at any other conference, there was free swag, piled in the center of each table. Everyone's favorite--edibles! Before you laugh, remember that some medical marijuana patients must ingest their medicine several times a day. Smoking is the quickest method, but hard on the throat.
There were samples of rice crispy treats, peanut butter cups, truffles, and cherry-flavored tea. These are the edibles which people (usually law enforcement, or members of the "prevention community") freak out about--saying it's proof the medical marijuana industry is targeting our vulnerable children.
Which leads us to an article from yesterday's NYTimes, Anywhere the Eye Can See, It's Likely to See an Ad.If the article goes offline, I posted my two favorite images from it below. Ads for CBS fall shows stamped onto eggs, and ads for Children's Tylenol, printed into the paper sheets and paper pillow cases on pediatricians' examining tables.
The main ingredient in Tylenol is acetominaphen, which is in 100s of over-the-counter drugs, as well as dozens of prescription ones. The only problem is acetominaphen poisoning has become the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S. (about 500 deaths yearly). Many consumers don't realize they're overdosing on acetaminophen, because the FDA (the same FDA that refuses to acknowledge that marijuana has any medicinal uses at all) doesn't require that over-the-counter medicines containing acetaminophen to state so on the front of the package.
I think on a deeper, unconscious level, the prevention people freak out because a marijuana candy bar--even if legally available only to qualified patients--is the ultimate symbol that marijuana has been accepted into our "system". That it's been legitimized. And they're right in a way: If a product is allowed to enter the marketplace, then it's out of control, coming right at ya, from every direction.
That's the story. What do you think?
-Harvey
