Letters to the Editor

The Rich History of Healing with Cannabis

We are grateful to have found your publication and the exceptional job you do at educating and dispelling the myths and fear around the use of cannabis/hemp in so many healthful, environmentally friendly products.

History is rich in the use of cannabis with the earliest hemp crops traced as far back as 10,000 years and the use of cannabis from hemp for medicine dates to 2,737 BC. It is interesting that the government had predicted in 1916 that all paper would come from hemp rather than trees by the 1940s and according to reports 1 acre of hemp was equal to 4.1 acres of trees.

Why did we change course away from this eco-friendly plant that can be grown in different climates and requires a small fraction of water compared to other crops?

It’s unfortunate that many are taught that products from hemp are new and unproven when a look at history shows there is nothing new about it, we just lost our way. Excuse the lesson in history but the bottom line is we are thrilled for its return to the stage and to be a part of this movement to restore it to its rightful place. Many thanks to you and your team for all you do to help bring this about. — Shannon Ashamalla, Theracream.com | Santa Barbara, California

Armageddon Here We (Don’t) Come!

When the farmers of Santa Barbara County mustered up the tenacity to pioneer cannabis cultivation, I was both awestruck and thankful. Awestruck about the strength, bravery, resources, vision and intelligence required to get plants in the ground and thankful to their courage in bringing Prop 64 to fruition.

However, six years later and the sky never fell; crime never exacerbated, property values never tanked, traffic never increased, tourism never diminished, those peddling the Armageddon outcome of legalized cannabis are still attempting to hold court. And this couldn’t be more

blatant than what’s being hurled at the proposed Roots dispensary in Carpinteria. Opposition to the project are flinging the same fear-mongering we heard years ago, even though our economic and social indicators have now proven none to ever be true. Neighbors are being told to gird their loins and build safe rooms in preparation of impending violence and mayhem this beautiful, topshelf dispensary will trigger. Seriously, it would be almost comical if not for the emotional and psychological torture they’re force- feeding these people.

Education and facts are the only truth north we have in our quiver and I feel it’s important that we continuously share what we know to be true with all who will listen. THANK YOU CBTS for the opportunity to share what’s on my mind. — Tina Fanucchi Frontado | Carpinteria, California

Comfort from Cannabis

My wife is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. One of the side effects is nausea and as she cannot eat solid food or drink liquids any longer, she was left to suffer through it — basically adding insult to injury.

I am 76 years old and had never, ever been to a dispensary. With the guidance provided by CBTS staff I visited Sespe Creek Collective in Ojai . . . they were awesome! It’s a beautiful facility full of educated, kind and compassionate people. With the help of CBTS magazine and Sespe Creek Collective we have been able to curb most of my wife’s ALS related nausea by using transdermal CBD patches.

My wife is an RN and we both have faith that at some point in the future, when cannabis is removed as a Schedule 1 drug, researchers will find a treatment or maybe even a cure for ALS and other neurological diseases inside this unjustly segregated plant.

Thank you CBTS staff for your help! — Jimmie Guzik | Ventura, California