Nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite are other common ailments that MMJ patients are suffering from and using medical marijuana to alleviate its symptoms. MC Caregivers has multiple cards made describing how medical marijuana can help many different diseases and ailments. We took the time to make these as we feel it’s important to help educate ourselves our patients and those who are unfamiliar with the positive attributes of medical marijuana.

The following is taken from our Nausea, Vomiting and Loss of Appetite Card.

Cannabis has been found to be useful in treating conditions that cause nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. Conditions include various kinds of intestinal and kidney disease, opiate addition, drugs associated with cancer treatments and anorexia nervosa. Cannabinoids help stimulate appetite and alleviate pain associated with the symptoms of nausea.

In addition to treating chronic nausea, cannabis is also used as an anti-convulsant and anti-spasmodic. Spasticity and convulsions are two of the oldest established medicinal uses of cannabis throughout history. Used to treat epilepsy as far back as medieval Arabia and in sixteenth-century Southeast Asia. Since then, cannabis has been useful for a plethora of spasm inducing disorders including Multiple Sclerosis and spinal injuries. Many patients also feel they are better able to achieve control of their symptoms through the use of marijuana.

References: Marijuana Medical Handbook: Practical Guide to the Therapeutic Uses of Marijuana, Dale Gieringer, PhD and Gregory T. Carter 2008. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Well as Thanksgiving or “I’ll be on the couch because I ate too much, wait, pecan pie? Yes I’ll have a slice”-Day (as I like to call it) is approaching I thought I’d take a moment to say Thank you to all of the fine folks who help me out in making MC Caregivers so great. First and foremost a huge “Thank You!” goes out to all of the great folks who come here and have continued to. It really makes our day to see you and know that we’re helping you have a better life. There really isn’t anything better than knowing we are able to give you the open, honest, professional care that you deserve in our private, discreet location. We certainly do our best to live our motto, “The care you need from the people you trust”.

…and to my co-workers, “Thank you as well!” Your hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed. We are who we are because of you! Whether it’s rolling pre-rolls, writing down the daily log, trimming for hours on end while listening to music you’d rather not hear or baking brownie pops I appreciate it and I know I’m lucky to be on the same team. And to my other two Co-Owners I appreciate you too. We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time and will continue to grow (no pun intended) as well. Thanks Gents…

Undoubtedly as the Holiday season bears down on us like a snowstorm we should take a few moments to reflect on those important components of life.
Happy “I’ll be on the couch because I ate too much, wait, pecan pie? Yes I’ll have a slice”-Day from yours truly and MC Caregivers…and Thank You for reading this!

The recent vote to ban medical marijuana centers in unincorporated El Paso County is final! We defeated that attempt! We won (the No’s) had it by 900 votes out of 185,000(ish). So if someone ever tells you your vote doesn’t matter… they are incorrect. We did it and it took all of us to get organized and let our voice be heard. There are a few zoning hurdles to jump over yet, but, we are on the right path. I’ll post more information on as I receive it but there is a formal City Council planning meeting on 12.14.10. More information to follow!

Chronic pain is one of the most common ailments that MMJ patients are suffering from and using medical marijuana to alleviate its symptoms. MC Caregivers has multiple cards made describing how medical marijuana can help many different diseases and ailments. We took the time to make these as we feel it’s important to help educate ourselves our patients and those who are unfamiliar with the positive attributes of medical marijuana. The following is taken from our Chronic Pain card.

Chronic Pain
As many as one in five Americans live with chronic pain. A large number of them suffer from nerve-related pain. Such diseases may include diabetes, cancer, migraines, multiple sclerosis and HIV/AIDS. Survey data indicates that the use of cannabis is common in chronic pain diseases and several recent clinical trials indicate that inhaled cannabis can significantly alleviate pain. A pair of clinical trials recently demonstrated that smoking cannabis reduces neuropathic (nerve) pain in patients with HIV by more than 30 percent compared to a placebo.

Chronic pain is generally treated with opioid narcotics such as morphine, codeine, oxycodone, methadone, and other synthetic analgesics. Many of these drugs are addictive and some patients actually build a tolerance to them over time. Other patients complain of the incapacitated state that many of these drugs induce.

Like opiates, cannabinoids block the pain pathways of the central nervous system but through a differ¬ent neurochemical signaling system. Many patients find that cannabis can reduce or even replace the opiate drugs they used for chronic pain depending on their condition. They also report the ability to continue to work and function normally through¬out the day.
Cannabinoids found in cannabis have additional effects, specifically alleviating inflammation around damaged nerves and have been especially useful for the “phantom pain” associated with amputation.

References: Marijuana Medical Handbook: Practical Guide to the Therapeutic Uses of Marijuana, Dale Gieringer, PhD and Gregory T. Carter 2008. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

We hope that you never have to suffer from chronic pain, but if you do, there are alternatives and we hope you take time to seek answers to your questions. We’ll be here…ready to help!

So as the blog continues I thought I’d address a very common question: What’s the difference between Sativas and Indicas? Well I thought I’d answer that from the MMJ point of view as opposed to how they grow. (If that’s something that interests you please make a post and I’ll blog about that.)

So “you” walk into a center and you see all sorts of fun names like Super Lemon Haze, Vanilla Kush, New York City Diesel #3, Blueberry, etc… and it has you confused … sound familiar? Maybe … maybe not, but, the main aspect to remember is there are two main different categories marijuana can fall into: Sativa and Indica. All of these other names are the strains that have been named but that can be confusing on its own.

Sativas are typically associated with a more cerebral effect. It is uplifting and energetic. They give a feeling of optimism and well being. It also does a nice job providing pain relief for certain symptoms. As Sativas are typically high in THC content they can be a bit spacey or have a noticeable head high. Sativas are a great choice for daytime use. So as a good mnemonic device to remember think Sativa=sunshine or satisfied.
Indicas are typically associated with a pleasant body buzz. They are great for relaxation, stress relief and an overall sense of calmness and serenity. Indicas are quite effective for overall body pain relief and is often used in the treatment of insomnia. They are the late evening choice for many patients as an all-night sleep aid. Indicas are often associated with a couch lock effect…meaning you are quite content to simply sit still and relax on the couch. So as a good mnemonic device to remember think Indica= induce or indiglo.
Now, back to those fun names of the strains I mentioned earlier. Those are typically a cross breed of Sativas and Indicas. Here at MC Caregivers we research and do the due diligence to get the proper percentages of each so a patient will know the effects. Now there are 100% Sativas and 100% Indicas although those are harder to come by. If you’re reading one of our jar labels you’d see it’d list the strain name and then below that it’d list the percentage of the strain make up. For example: Our Super Lemon Haze is a Sativa 90/ 10. That means it’s 90% Sativa 10% Indica…so it’s predominately, by a vast majority, a Sativa. Now the New York City Diesel #3 is a Sativa 60/40…so not quite half and half but it’s more a Sativa than Indica although you’ll notice the best of both worlds.

Some centers just list whether it’s a Sativa or an Indica and that’s okay too…we’d want to know if the information is available and figure our patients do too. So if you’re curious about a stain’s effects don’t be afraid to ask!

Now as far as how did all of those strains get named???…I’ll have to get back to you!!

So on to the next blog…First I thank you for the kind responses you’ve been leaving! Really great to know people are seeking information. We’ve been sitting on the edge of our seat waiting on a final answer on the 1A ballot initiative to ban Medical Marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated El Paso County. The phone has been ringing with concerned patients as to what this means for them. I have the following email from Michael Elliot who is an advocate for this industry and the Campaign Manager for the No on 1A initiative.

“Dear Medical Marijuana Supporter,

It will probably be a couple weeks before we officially know whether we defeated 1A. Currently, we are winning by 331 votes.
However, 4,000 provisional ballots have not yet been counted. This process could take more than a week because each provisional ballot must be inspected. After the provisional votes are counted, an automatic recount may be triggered if the vote remains extremely close.
Though we have not yet officially won, I remain cautiously optimistic that we will win because the provisional ballots will probably not change the vote spread very much. Please know that we are making sure the counting process is being run fairly.
I will keep you updated.
One final thing: The “No on 1A” campaign was run on a very small budget. We initially thought the campaign would cost about $150,000. Instead, we ran a $30,000 campaign. Considering that 180,000 people voted in this election, and millions of dollars were at stake for this industry, this is a pretty small budget.
The campaign has gone into a bit of debt in order to win this election. We ended up essentially borrowing money to pay for radio ads and our get-out-the-vote drive. These purchases were absolutely essential to change public opinion and mobilize our vote.
Up to this point, we’ve raised about $23,000. We need to raise an additional $7,000 to pay off this debt. Please contribute – this campaign cannot function without your financial support. We need small, medium, and large size contributions. We are grateful for whatever you can give. If you are a patient, please consider $20. If you are a center, please consider $200; and have a donation jar at your center.
There are four ways to donate:
Donate online at www.citizensforsafercommunities.com.
Contact me to have someone pick up or drop off a check.
Send a check to Citizens for Safer Communities; P.O. Box 10482; Colorado Springs, CO 80932
Have a donation jar at your center.
Thank you for your support, confidence, and compliments, I will keep you updated.
Mike Elliott, Esq.”

So as you can see it is good news but we aren’t out of the woods yet. If you’re like us and interested in keeping our good thing going look in and see what you can do. We have and we thank you for any efforts you can help with.

MC Caregivers inaugural blog has been on my to-do list for some time now and I’m a rookie (read: never blogged about anything before) blogger and have been wondering what I’m supposed to write about or how to . I’m still not sure how to “write” a blog, although, I apparently am doing so right now…but, I do know what I’m going to blog about….Finally!

So without much further ado, it’s MC Caregivers’ pleasure to announce that we won all three Medical Marijuana (MMJ) categories in Colorado Springs Independent’s Best of 2010! We took gold in Best Center, Best Caregiver, and Best Edibles. Needless to say we’re very proud. But truth be told, we’re mostly grateful. There were over 8,000 residents that voted this year’s “Best Of”. That’s great…now, clearly not everyone voted in every category…that would have taken all day. But our patients took the time to go online or mail their ballots in. For that, we’re eternally grateful.
So that means a fair amount of you know who we are…and for those who don’t…here’s who we are. We’re a professional, private, discreet center that is patient focused. You may even have to call to get directions if you’re visiting our north central location (Vickers and Academy) for the first time. What does that mean? Well, our discreet location is not on the main drag so everyone will not see you walking into and out of our center. So you can decide who knows you shop for your sativa and indicia top-shelf strains, not everyone who drives by. We pride ourselves on being professional. You’ll appreciate our Zen atmosphere as you relax in our two free massage chairs. We offer classes from making your own canna butter/ oil to grow room set up to new patient basics. The classes are free but we do ask that you leave a $5.00 deposit to hold your spot for the Saturday morning classes. We return the $5.00 deposit and you may use it for any purchase in the center. We want you to be educated on the industry. We offer organic soil grown strains as well as hydroponic grown strains. We have all of our indica and sativa strains researched and listed to what percentage they are of each. Our knowledgeable staff will ask you when and how you medicate so we may suggest the strain that should work the best for you. We also offer bubble hash, edibles, books, lotions, medicating accessories and an assortment of other products. We like knowing our patients name as they walk in and give them a warm sincere greeting. After all, we have a lot to be thankful for and realize we’re here because of you and more importantly for you…

Welcome to MC Caregivers blog. We are just getting started and plan to post regularly. Please check back often!! Thanks!