ass-kickers

Today I’m wearing my ass-kickers. Lucretia gave them to me. They’re brown leather, pointy-as-hell and studded, in a Goth sort of way, with crosses every which way having absolutely nothing to do with religion, unless there’s a religion for irreverent, foul-mouthed dragon moms who challenge the status quo, who write their president telling him about their pursuit of an illegal substance (medical marijuana) to give to their seizure-racked child, who aim to eradicate the evils of ignorance, greed, the lust for power and who simply want to make things right in the world. As you can see, I've put them to good use.

That’s right. I’m setting out to kick some major butt today with a handful of other dragon moms who have children with medically refractory epilepsy, kids who, despite being loaded full of powerful antiepileptic drugs, continue to suffer regular seizures that disrupt their development and their ability to live life feeling good and moving forward. We are meeting at an undisclosed location to talk about medicinal cannabis: medical marijuana. It is legal in our state, Maine, and approved for use to treat epilepsy. What seems to elude us thus far, however, are the following: 1) the right strain of cannabis high in cannabidiol (CBD) and low in tetrahydrocannabinol (TCH) so as to avoid the psychoactive effects; 2) accessible, trustworthy labs to test the strains for toxins and ratios; 3) laws that don’t limit the amount of medical marijuana we can possess for our sick kids; 4) laws that don’t inhibit our ability to travel out of state with our children and their meds without risk of arrest for drug trafficking; 5) understanding whether a strain high in CBD and low in THC is necessary (some argue that the non-active form of the plant with its CBDa and THCa—both in their acid form having not been heated during processing—is as safe and effective, if not more so than the active form); 6) understanding what dosing is appropriate for our children; 7) whether to grow and tincture the cannabis ourselves or whether to purchase it from another licensed caregiver (grower) or dispensary.

The fact that the FDA has classified cannabis as a schedule 1 drug (including its CBD, which is non-psychoactive) and therefore illegal at the federal level, has stymied decades of research that could have proved priceless for the use of medical marijuana to treat pediatric medically refractory epilepsy, the worst form of epilepsy due to its heinous impact on development, its path through the land mines of pharmaceuticals and their heinous side effects and its ability to kill our children. It sickens me that cannabis, with its perfect score of ZERO known deaths, has been so maligned while pharmaceuticals—legal, readily available, easily obtainable and covered by health insurance—cause tens of thousands of deaths each year.

So, watch out. Don’t mess with this chick. I’ve pulled on my ass-kickers and if you really want to get in the way of me helping—healing—my child, I suggest that you bend over.