Posted by Jon, onehumanbeing on October 4, 2008
Marijuana comes in an amazing and often bewildering varieties which smell, taste and affect a person in very different ways. As a person who uses marijuana as medicine I need to know those differences so that I can use the herb that’s best for me and my condition, which is bi-polar II disorder. My needs are different from the glaucoma patient or the person who smokes herb to relieve their back pain.
When I first started going to MMJ Dispensaries here in Long Beach I found it to be a very confusing situation – instead of just getting some “pot” from a dealer I now had 20 varieties with names I had never heard of – GDP, OG Kush, AK-47, Trainwreck, Shiskaberry… I mean, I just want some herb to get me through this depression – I’m not buying a bottle of wine or something. Everything looked and smelled great – now I’m confused, overwhelmed by choices, and feeling rushed…
I tried asking the folks behind the counter, but they were mostly dispensing buds and not health advice. Since then I’ve become fascinated by the different strains and varieties and how they differ from batch to batch, grower to grower, and which strains work best for me.
Medical Marijuana jars at local dispensary – Long Beach, CA – June, 2008
As part of The MMJ Project I’m including a working model of a menu from a MMJ dispensary here in Long Beach, California. Thanks to the fine people at CCLB – CannaCollective Long Beach for allowing me access to their jars of herb for photos and for providing samples for reviews.
For a while (we’ll see how much time this takes away from other projects) I’ll be documenting the changes in menu selection with photos and informal, subjective reviews of MMJ I have the pleasure of sampling.
I’ll be posting menus in the forum section. The actual CCLB menu is maintained on weedtracker.com and is accessible to MMJ patients.
Jon, onehumanbeing
Originally Published June 14th, 2008
Posted by Jon, onehumanbeing on
Introduction: Back in November of 2003, after a year and a half dialogue with my doctor I finally got my MMJ recommendation. My doctor is a Kaiser doctor, so that is part of the reason it took so long… the other was that marijuana as medicine was a very high personal hurdle for her to get over.
Here’s what I wrote shortly after getting the good word…
The Man On The Other Side Of The Wall
On Tuesday night, November 18th, I got home from work, sat in my big chair, kicked back, and for the first time in my life smoked marijuana legally. Within minutes the herb was soothing the chemical hell of the mania I was enduring. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was, in my own living room, smoking pot legally. After all these years of self-medicating my disorder, finally I was legit, the doctor had given me his recommendation, no, his strong recommendation that I use medical marijuana.
I couldn’t wait to share my good news. I called some friends and shared my story of my yearlong journey with my psychiatrist and the doctor I met with today. These are people I’ve smoked marijuana with before. They know what a hassle the drug war is. Yesterday I was one of them. This morning when I woke up I was one of them. If the Federal Government takes a disliking to me, I’m still one of them. But somehow, during the course of my conversations I realized that I had been smuggled out of the country, and now I was the man living on the other side of the wall.
One of my friends said, “Wow, that’s really great for you, Jon, I wish…” and he sounded like someone wishing for the far country. It breaks my heart. I think I can imagine what it must have felt like to be smuggled out of East Berlin into West Berlin, and knowing that people just like you should be where you are. I didn’t realize when I walked into that doctor’s office on Tuesday morning, that it was actually a tunnel under the wall. I walked into that office from the East Berlin of the drug war and walked out in West Berlin. The city is still surrounded, but that is about to change. Freedom has to win. The wall will come down.
But for now, that wall is standing, looking as solid as ever, and I’m a confused immigrant trying to find my way around. How do I go about handling this situation? How do other people who use medical marijuana handle their situation? When and where can I smoke when I need to medicate? Do I now have a greater freedom of movement just like with the other prescription meds I take? It’s a strange new world to me, just a few days old.
So what’s it like on that side of the wall, you might be wondering? Well, when you grow up afraid of the secret police, the fear doesn’t go away over night. I still feel reflexively like I’m on the other side of the wall, I’m sure that will change with time. I keep turning the doctors words over in my mind “I’m strongly recommending that you use medical marijuana.” When being a criminal is the last thing you want to be, those are the best words you can hear. I’ll figure out how to do my shopping in this new city soon enough, but for this moment, I’m just smelling the air of freedom.
I know the city is surrounded, and I know they have the blockade on. But I’ve been smuggled out to live, die and pray with those that breathe the air of freedom, even if it’s just for a moment. Ich bin ein Berliner.
Originally written November 22, 2003
Posted by Jon, onehumanbeing on
Welcome to a work-in-progress called The MMJ Project.
This work is a multi-faceted look at, and participation in, the medical marijuana movement – specifically here in Southern California – starting from my studio in Long Beach.
This work is very subjective as it documents this moment-in-time as medical marijuana is poised to either reach a tipping point and help bring an end to federal marijuana prohibition, or we’ll fall back into the senselessness of the Drug War that has ruined so many lives over the last 70 years.
My hope is that we’ll end federal marijuana prohibition – but right now I feel the need as an artist to document this moment, however it goes.
This project will involve my personal experience with medical marijuana, and I’ll be using words, photos, drawings and collages, video and other elements to try and tell my story the best I can.
This is also a public experience and interactive work and I look forward to collaborating with others over the course of this project either online, through project souvenirs, and in person.
The MMJ Project is designed to be organic in nature and I expect it to grow and change as it progresses. Like all journeys, I expect that things will not turn out like I’ve imagined or planned, but even better and more amazing – and that’s what makes it worth going, instead of just staying home with my maps, plans and daydreams.
- Jon, onehumanbeing
Originally Publish in June 2008
