Here's how many of this pill I'm supposed to take every morning!
After fighting its physical dependence for months, I'm now only taking 1/9th of the Effexor (venlafaxine) dose they wanted me on. The side effects are starting to weaken their grip on me! I'm beginning to feel more natural, more myself, even happier. The PTSD is still untreated, I'm in a ton of pain, and the twitching never ends. But I'm not clinically depressed anymore, and it's time for the Effexor to get out of my system. Then, I'll be able to finish grieving my losses, and continue to heal.
To deal with the symptoms that the pills were helping me with, a large amount of cannabis extract has been necessary:
That's 20 grams of nearly pure cannabinoids for dabbing (vaporizing), one of the strongest and cleanest ways to get it. Street price is about $600 CAD for this amount, and it will last me one month. I have prescriptions for opiates, but won't use them. I was a psychiatric nurse for 10 years, and I live in Vancouver, one of the cities hardest hit by the opioid crisis, so I know what opiates do to a person.
If only coverage paid for this safe and natural medicine made of plant oil, like it pays for harmful addictive chemicals! Instead, I've had to give up almost everything else I buy, except rent and food, to stay functional.
Some people would say "you spend all your money on weed and then complain about it?" but those people likely just don't have the full picture. From my perspective, I'm unwell, but doing what it takes to get my health back, so I can continue to be a valuable member of society. If cannabis was treated as the life-saving medicine IT IS, prohibition would end, the price would plummet, and at the same time it would become fully covered by medical insurance, disability coverage, and so on.
Effexor saved me from a deep depression, but cannabis is saving me from them both. That's why I can say, literally:
I don't care how illegal they make it with their legalization, how many years they threaten to throw me in prison for, how much I get seen as a druggie, how much I have to pay, I'm going to ensure we have access to the cleanest and most potent cannabinoids available, and I'm going to dab my face off.
And I'm going to continue my full-time activism, on the street and on the blockchain, to finally #endcannabisprohibition!
DRutter
