{"id":5717,"date":"2016-03-18T08:21:03","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T08:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/?p=47989"},"modified":"2016-03-18T08:21:03","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T08:21:03","slug":"cannabis-as-totem-and-connector-an-interview-with-allison-ray-benavides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/cannabis-as-totem-and-connector-an-interview-with-allison-ray-benavides\/","title":{"rendered":"Cannabis as Totem and Connector: An Interview with Allison Ray Benavides"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/cannabis-as-totem-and-connector-an-interview-with-allison-ray-benavides\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Allison Ray Benavides is a forty-year old mother of two little boys and\u00a0lives with her husband Rob in San Diego County. Robbie is their oldest son, now aged six, and Oscar their youngest at three years old. Rob is a renowned tattoo artist, and Allison\u00a0wears his art all over her body. Tall and graceful, she has an easy elegance that belies her very interesting and often tumultuous personal history. Allison juggles their business, <a href=\"http:\/\/flyingpanthertattoo.com\/\">Flying Panther Tattoo<\/a>,\u00a0her two sons, cannabis medicine advocacy and a career as a medical social worker working in palliative and hospice care. We met several years ago through our main occupations of late \u2013 being passionate advocates for cannabis medicine, propelled by the successful treatment of our own children. I talked to Allison for a long time last week after she returned home from a trip to Utah to see family. I learned a little of her background and what brought her to being such a powerful force for good in the cannabis community.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-47990 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth1-225x300.jpg?a8203f\" alt=\"elizabeth1\" width=\"376\" height=\"501\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth1-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth1-768x1024.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth1.jpg 960w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth1-225x300@2x.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hey there, friend! Why don\u2019t we start with you commenting a bit on what\u2019s going down in Utah right now? Were you there because of all the fracas in the legislature with those CBD bills?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Actually, no. I was in Utah visiting relatives. I grew up in Orange County, California as a Mormon although I\u2019m not one anymore.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wow! I had no idea! Tell me a little bit about your background and what you think of the Mormon Church\u2019s stance on marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, I grew up in Orange County in a traditional Mormon home. I\u2019m actually directly descended from Brigham Young\u2019s first wife. I left the church when I was a young woman, but that\u2019s a long story for a different interview! As far as what\u2019s going on now in Utah with the marijuana bills and the Mormon Church\u2019s coming out against them \u2013 well \u2013 it doesn\u2019t surprise me. The entire crux of being Mormon \u2013 the entire reason the Church exists at all &#8212; is that Joseph Smith was told to restore the gospel by becoming a modern-day prophet. Now the prophet is the head of the Mormon Church, and he talks directly to God. The Mormon people define themselves by this notion of purity, and because it\u2019s a very patriarchal and authoritative system, they\u2019re not really allowed to think for themselves. You can\u2019t go against the prophet because that\u2019s going against God.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And this notion of purity, I guess, extends to the group? Is that why you aren\u2019t allowed to drink Coke or alcohol and, of course, drugs?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes. So many proscriptions \u2013 and every choice or decision you make determines whether or not you get into heaven. There\u2019s a lot of pressure to be Mormon, you know. And they\u2019re not going to be connected to drugs. I wasn\u2019t surprised that the CBD law initially passed, because those women who initially orchestrated it are powerful mamas, but once you start getting into THC \u2013 no.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So, given your background, what <em>was <\/em>your path to marijuana anyway?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It started when I found marijuana for myself. I\u2019ve struggled with depression since I was ten years old. Beginning in my teens, I self-medicated and used my friends\u2019 pills, illegal drugs and so on. I even hesitate now to talk about it because there was so much shame and confusion about it all. I\u2019d wonder, \u201cAm I a drug addict?\u201d I was profoundly depressed \u2013 even suicidal. It wasn\u2019t acceptable to medicate yourself that way, but because of it I knew eventually what it did to me, and it wasn\u2019t good. Today, I\u2019m more scared of morphine and prescription drugs than anything else. I eventually used marijuana instead of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs, because it really helped me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tell me a little more about that. When did you really start treating your depression and anxiety with marijuana?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was a college student at the University of California at San Diego, studying medical anthropology. I had always been told, remember, that marijuana was bad, that its effects on the brain were terrible, that I\u2019d fail in school and on and on. I went to a psychiatrist on campus, and he gave me a prescription for Klonopin for my anxiety. I\u2019d literally pass out after using it and couldn\u2019t go to class. When I smoked, I could go to class. I made straight As. Because I was studying medical anthropology, I was learning about all these different health systems and how medical systems collide with one another. I was learning about things like hegemony and authority, the whole \u201cwe\u2019re the ones with the answers\u201d mindset. It\u2019s like everything was being set up for me and what would eventually happen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What do you mean? Can you elaborate?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, where the story really began for us as a family was back when I was nursing my youngest son Oscar in the middle of the night. Robbie, my older son had not been diagnosed, yet. I happened to read an article about Jason David, the father of this young boy with seizures who was treating them successfully with marijuana. Now, remember my own son was \u201cnormal\u201d then, and I had no idea what was coming, but because of my own experience with marijuana, I just started crying. I was literally sobbing, so impressed and moved and proud of this guy Jason.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost like the story was written for you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes. Exactly. Two weeks later, Robbie had his first seizure. He was totally healthy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-47991 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth-169x300.jpg?a8203f\" alt=\"elizabeth\" width=\"381\" height=\"677\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth-169x300.jpg 169w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth-768x1365.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth-576x1024.jpg 576w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth.jpg 1080w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/elizabeth-169x300@2x.jpg 338w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 381px) 100vw, 381px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yikes. That\u2019s some serious synchronicity. What were you thinking aside from the obvious?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You know, we went the traditional route back then, and it was only later that I began to think about the strange synchronicity of the events. I am 100% certain today that I\u2019ve been guided \u2013 spiritually \u2013 on this path. The universe, God, whatever you want to call it \u2013 has guided me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What do you mean by that? You went the normal route in treating Robbie\u2019s seizures and then were guided to try something different?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, not exactly. Yeah, we went the traditional route first, the whole clich\u00e9. Robbie was diagnosed with the seizure disorder and came home on Keppra. The good thing about intractable epilepsy, the kind that resists medication, is that you find out pretty quickly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For people who don\u2019t know, about 30% of people with epilepsy don\u2019t respond to medication and continue to have seizures. They are considered refractory seizures, and the chances of them being stopped by subsequent medications drops rapidly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Exactly. Within three months, Robbie failed two meds, and then a month later we got a second opinion and a definitive diagnosis of Doose Syndrome. It&#8217;s also known as Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy and is characterized by difficult to control seizures. This neurologist in Orange County, here in California,\u00a0who had studied in India was particularly kind to me and so good with Robbie. He was an empathetic doctor who left me with a hug and something that I\u2019ll always remember. He told me, \u201cGood luck. This is going to be the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That must have been devastating. I think everyone\u2019s diagnosis story is one of the most powerful stories of a life. I know mine was, too. It\u2019s like your life is one way and then in a flash, another. A new life. Or like your kind doctor said, \u201cthe rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You know, the whole time that I was going through this, I was thinking of Jason and his boy. I honestly felt comforted that I had a Plan B. I had been actively pursuing this marijuana thing, even as I learned everything about epilepsy and traditional treatments for it. As a trained social worker and medical anthropologist, I just dove in and learned about all of it. That being said, though, it was the most desperate scavenger hunt of my life. Don\u2019t get me wrong. It was hell while we were going through the meds and Robbie was still seizing. It was horrible for our family. I honestly thought about driving off the Coronado bridge at times.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>How aware were you of what was going on in the marijuana community? It was all so new then, I imagine, and from my experience, dealing with a seizing kid is all-consuming. I\u2019m amazed that you had the time to learn about both simultaneously!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, I was watching what was going on in Colorado with Charlotte\u2019s Web and Realm of Caring. I watched Heather Barnes Jackson and her son Zaki, and \u00a0I felt that I shouldn\u2019t have to go through fifteen drugs like he did to get to the place to try cannabis for my son. It\u2019s weird to me that it\u2019s almost like my whole life up to that point was a set-up for that point. I just <em>knew, <\/em>you know? My own history as a Mormon, my depression and the marijuana that healed and continues to heal me, my background in medical anthropology and then, of course, my career as a social worker. My son then gets this disease whose cure \u2013 like magic \u2013 is\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Marijuana! Of course!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes. It\u2019s hard to believe and then, it\u2019s <em>obvious. <\/em>I had been so comforted by Plan B, and Plan B quickly became Plan A when we got off the waiting list and were among the first small group in California to get Charlotte\u2019s Web.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>O.K. Here we go. Tell me what happened. You started giving Robbie Charlotte\u2019s Web high CBD oil, and \u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He responded immediately and had his first seizure-free day on Christmas day. Over the next few months, we did a little dance with him and had to fiddle with the dosing, but he\u2019s now been largely seizure-free for 2 \u00bd years with only a few breakthrough seizures.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-47992 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/forelizabeth3-225x300.jpg?a8203f\" alt=\"forelizabeth3\" width=\"522\" height=\"696\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/forelizabeth3-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/forelizabeth3-768x1024.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/forelizabeth3-225x300@2x.jpg 450w, http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/forelizabeth3-768x1024@2x.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 522px) 100vw, 522px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even though I\u2019ve heard these stories over and over again, and even though our own story is similar as far as the efficacy of the CBD, it\u2019s always amazing to me. It\u2019s sort of like watching a baby being born. I\u2019ve always been a sucker for that, can hardly stop crying even when it happens on some television show! I\u2019m so glad for you and your family.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You know, I haven\u2019t really gone into it with you, yet \u2013 have only really suggested it, but this whole thing has been an intense spiritual experience for me. It\u2019s been the Universe telling me that here\u2019s this PLANT. In my work as an anthropologist, I studied totems. Totems are symbols that represent a group, and even though they\u2019re just symbols, over time they incorporate an energy and an ethos. I feel spiritually connected to the marijuana plant. I have an endocannabinoid system that is physically connected to it. As a social worker I connect where the plant connects.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s so beautiful! I want to stand up and shout, \u201cYES!\u201d because you\u2019re articulating so well my own experience. \u00a0Why don\u2019t you tell us a little more about this community that you\u2019ve nurtured and how it fits into this ethos of the the marijuana plant as totem?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I have a women\u2019s group that is also connected to it. My other passion is women and empowering them. We meet once a month and share our experiences and resources. With marijuana \u2013 it\u2019s bizarre. It was a beautiful thing. I could show up with all of my gifts and all my strengths and create this group. It really blew my mind. I couldn\u2019t believe that it unfolded the way that it did. I\u2019m learning that you have to collaborate with your community to use marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think I understand. I know from my own experience that I couldn\u2019t have continued to walk this cannabis journey for my own daughter without the support of those who were around me doing the same. Is that what you\u2019re talking about as far as your community?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, partly. I couldn\u2019t have gotten there without the support of my community. Facebook. Individuals, other mothers. Developing friendships and relationships. I\u2019m thinking, too, of the relationship between curing and healing. Curing fixes and healing integrates. Cannabis comes with something, it integrates. Depakote \u2013 the drug my son Robbie is on \u2013 it doesn\u2019t come with anything. Does that make sense?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It does. As a writer, I\u2019ve used as a sort of touchstone this saying about healing and curing \u2013 how the two are very different but also integral to one another. I think you\u2019re saying that this women\u2019s community that you\u2019ve created is an act of collaboration, that the marijuana plant afforded that collaboration and that it\u2019s that collaboration itself that is healing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes! Exactly. And you know what? Putting Robbie on cannabis healed me as much as it helped him. Our family was being destroyed by his seizures and the medications. I had no idea, either, when Robbie was first diagnosed, how many people I would lose. Preschools turned us down when they found out that they\u2019d have to administer emergency medication if he had a prolonged seizure. People didn\u2019t call me back. I was really craving connection, reassurance, friendship and a soft place to land. I started to think, <em>who are the people in this community that can help us? How can we make this easier for one another? <\/em>I gradually started meeting other women who were doing the same thing. We met one another in Glendale where we congregated one day to hear about Charlotte\u2019s Web coming to California. We networked on Facebook. I believe that the marijuana plant is, essentially, a connector, and that we just couldn\u2019t do it without these connections. This group of women is a powerhouse. I am inspired by them. It\u2019s been a blessing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You know, I\u2019m so struck by your beginnings as a Mormon, albeit a little depressed Mormon girl. Do you have any reflections about that?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, yes. I do reflect on that. You know, cannabis has reconnected me to the spiritual side of myself that I had lost from being damaged by the Mormon Church. Cannabis reconnected me to my family. I can honestly say that Robbie\u2019s diagnosis and the struggles we had trying to help him made us all crazy. If it\u2019s possible, we were almost a suicidal family. Healing Robbie with cannabis healed all of us. The women\u2019s community, my tattoo community \u2013 all these communities were afforded by cannabis. I am just so grateful.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>INTERVIEWER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Allison, this interview has just been mind-blowing. I am going to be visiting your women\u2019s community group meeting soon and wonder if you have anything else to add today? Maybe tell us a little about your website.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>ALLISON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hegemony is based on consensus. Part of my intention in nurturing the group and then creating my website is to be bold and to work toward a growing consensus that using cannabis is <strong>GOOD, <\/strong>that this is <strong>SAFE. <\/strong>That\u2019s a direct threat to the current consensus. We\u2019re beholden to pharmaceuticals because that\u2019s good for them. They don\u2019t like that we\u2019re pulling people to our side, that we can grow this plant in our backyard and make our own medicine. How that played out is that even our own Epilepsy Foundation affiliate here in San Diego refused to refer people to our group. I started a website so that people could find us. The epilepsy affiliate was not helping. They didn\u2019t get it at all. It\u2019s an oral tradition \u2013 see! My anthropology training! It\u2019s women coming over for a potluck and full glass of wine with tears and hugs to figure it out. It\u2019s a good model. It cured me and it cured my son.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Interviewer Notes:<\/p>\n<p>Allison is very invested in continuing to spread information about cannabis and offer support and community to those who are seeking it. <a href=\"http:\/\/pediatriccannabissupport.com\/\">Her website is Pediatric Cannabis Support,<\/a> and she wants you to know that it, and the monthly meetings, are places where people can come and find information and know exactly what to do and where to go to empower themselves to get that information. She says, \u201cI don\u2019t want you to leave our group with more questions. I don\u2019t want you to be desperate. That\u2019s so 2012.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I will be visiting Allison\u2019s group this month and reporting on it next week.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Allison Ray Benavides is a forty-year old mother of two little boys and\u00a0lives with her husband Rob in San Diego County. Robbie is their oldest son, now aged six, and Oscar their youngest at three years old. Rob is a renowned tattoo artist, and Allison\u00a0wears his art all over her body. Tall and graceful, she [&#8230;] <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,52,5303,5300,2421,5301,77,56,9,5304,1,3,738,5302,5305],"tags":[2628,2632,5309,5306,2427,5307,2655,2636,5310,3311,5308,5311],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}