Child Seized for Medical Marijuana in Oregon Returned Home After Public Outcry

Last weekend, the New Year rang in with smiles and tears of joy for an Oregon couple accused of child neglect over a legal medical marijuana harvest and a mother’s mental health. Kitrina’s daughter, Kaylynn, was returned home by Oregon Child Protective Services, the day before the Holiday weekend. The only reason Kaylynn was returned home was because Kitrina Nelson fired her court appointed public defender, Cole Sahleen. Like hundreds of other families who have told their stories to Health Impact News, Kitrina found that the court appointed attorney wanted her to play along while he made a pretense of advocating for her. Regardless of her limited knowledge of the law and court proceedings, and with a little guidance from the judge, who expressed surprise at the crowd of people that showed up to view the court proceedings, Kitrina successfully represented herself and cross examined her own case. After more than 3 hours of testimony and evidence, Judge Hung ruled that the state had no case against her, and that Kaylynn was to be returned home. Russ Belville documented the exuberance of emotion from the family upon hearing the ruling: "The sight of an average American family collapsing in each other’s arms weeping tears of joy for the return of their one-year-old daughter/cousin/granddaughter after 10 weeks of state captivity was the greatest holiday miracle I’ve ever experienced." Serra Frank reports: "Once again, I personally witnessed that an educated parent is the most powerful person in a courtroom!! Mama Bear roared and CPS ran around in circles! Justice and logic won the day...." Billy Fisher from the Fight for Lilly Foundation concluded: "Once a parent can see past the intimidation of the unknown in the court system, they can do anything. But it matters how you stand! I am so proud of Kitrina. She stood. She fought. She won. They have to Bring Kaylynn Home!"

Government Attempting to Clamp Down on Medical Cannabis States While Allowing Opioid Pain Killers to Flow into Black Markets

While other nations are allowing medical allowances for cannabis or beginning to see the potential for cannabis applied medicinally, here in the USA dark clouds are forming federally that threaten existing medical marijuana states. Meanwhile, the real drug epidemic of opioid painkillers goes not only unhampered, but encouraged by the same dark clouds in Washington, D.C. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has hampered legal action against pharmaceutical drug trafficking while the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment that protects medical marijuana states is in jeopardy. A recent 60 Minutes investigative report with a former DEA whistleblower reveals the likely motive behind the recent attacks against medical cannabis and the proliferation of the opioid pain killer epidemic.

War on Drugs: Government Approves Patented Synthetic THC but Still Classifies Natural Cannabis as Dangerous and Illegal

The pharmaceutical industry is pulling out the stops lobbying government officials and influencing those that are inclined toward prohibition, to protect not only their synthetic THC interests but also their vast exclusive pharmaceutical market. Increased cannabis use is intruding on the pharmaceutical industry's turf. It has been implied and most of us could see it coming, but on November 22, 2017, it became official. The DEA placed synthetic THC, Dronabinol, the medicinally powerful compound that creates the high in marijuana, as a Schedule II controlled substance, yet whole plant cannabis remains as a Schedule I controlled substance. The most basic irony is the idea of synthetically creating one compound of a natural plant and making it legal for medical applications while banning the plant from which it was copied synthetically, even making its use illegal. Unfortunately, this is business as usual with the pharmaceutical industry.

Judge Orders Children Home in Kansas Case with Navy Dad Who used Medical Cannabis

Raymond and Amelia Schwab didn't know what to expect when they went into a Kansas courtroom on Tuesday, August 15, 2017. The Colorado couple has been fighting to get their children back since the Department for Children and Families (DCF) seized custody of them in April 2015. During that time, they have been told that their parental rights would be terminated, that their children would be returned home, and everything in between. It has been an emotional roller coaster, and 5 of their 6 children have been in foster care for more than 2 years. (Their oldest son was 19 when his younger siblings were taken and therefore avoided foster care.) Raymond Schwab, an honorably discharged Navy veteran, and his wife Amelia took to Facebook Live with an update for thousands of their followers, many of whom have been praying for their children to be returned to the family. The update was a mixture of good news and bad news - the children are supposed to be returned home, just not immediately. They were told that the children should be home by Christmas.

Shona Banda Forced to Leave Kansas to Continue Using Medical Cannabis that Saved Her Life

Two years ago, a woman with two children was celebrating her renewed life after cannabis oil had taken her out of her deathbed from terminal Crohn’s disease. She had undergone 16 surgeries and several toxic pharmaceuticals, one dangerously experimental. The doctors had finally given up. Shona Banda’s health had worsened until she was bedridden and “waiting to die,” until she started using cannabis oil. The results were miraculous. Shona Banda became a medical cannabis advocate in her home town of Garden City, an hour from the Colorado border, in a dangerous state, Kansas, for that type of activity. After surviving a terminal illness by using cannabis, she was arrested in 2015 and faced a potential sentencing of 30 years in prison. Her son was taken into custody by CPS. Her trial dragged on for two years before she survived the legal system by accepting a second plea deal arrangement earlier this month, August, 2017, despite her initial feeling that she could win the case.

Cannabis – The Complete Opposite of What the Government Tells Us

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. Surprisingly, for the past half-century, the NIH has paid Israeli researchers millions of dollars to study the effects of the medical cannabis. What has been the return on investment for that long-standing partnership? The American people have the right to know, right? When there is 2.3 million patients in the US relying on the plant as their medicine (legally), we need the best evidence there is to warn about dangers, but also teach about the benefits! Just recently I witnessed a child with an active seizure receive an intranasal spray that was cannabis based. The seizure stopped within seconds. Medical cannabis is not a joke. There have been tremendous gains in understanding the medicinal properties of this plant in all of its divine molecular artistry. As of this year, several pharmaceutical “cannabis-like” synthetic drugs—all in the name of patents—have been approved with more than a half dozen to follow. And yet, the actual plant remains highly illegal from a federal vista. We are paying another country to do cannabis research, so pharmaceutical companies can develop drugs that mimic cannaboids that allegedly have the same or similar beneficial outcomes, yet bring more harmful side effects. There is nothing wrong in providing a product to consumers. It is criminal, however, when the government lets big pharma cash in on cannabis-like drugs and at the same time keeps hundreds of thousands of our citizens locked up in jail for just possessing the plant (which made the drug for pharma in the first place).

Medical Cannabis Ideal for Recovering from Stroke or Other Brain Injury

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Someone has a stroke every 53 seconds. Most are ischemic, which deny blood and oxygen to brain tissue cells due to blood vessel constrictions or obstructions. Hemorrhagic strokes, which occur from leaking or burst brain blood vessels, are in the minority. Strokes do cause brain and neurological damage since a portion of the brain is denied blood and oxygen long enough for brain cell death and tissue damage. Most medical professionals consider the damage irreparable. This irreparable damage is a leading cause of disability, often involving speech, which is sometimes partially overcome with costly and extensive rehab. Often major damage comes from the effort to rapidly restore blood flow for ischemic stroke victims, known as reperfusion, in order to keep the victim alive. Recent research in China using pure cannabidiol (CBD) discovered it is a safe deterrent that at least minimizes permanent damage from strokes. From that study comes this conclusion: “In summary, our results suggest that CBD exerts a potent neuroprotective effect against ischemia/reperfusion injury by attenuating intracellular oxidative stress, enhancing mitochondrial bioenergetics, and optimizing glucose metabolism via the pentose-phosphate pathway, thus strengthening the antioxidant defenses and preserving the energy homeostasis of neurons.”

Evidence that Medical Cannabis Can Cure Cancer Continues to Grow

Recent scientific research in France has determined cannabinoid receptors exist on mitochondria cells. This news has not reached mainstream media outlets and seems to be underreported even by alternative health sites on the internet. This author only recently discovered the information after doing several articles on cannabis for curing many diseases, especially cancer. The internal endocannabinoid system with its two sets of cannabinoid receptors, C1 nervous system receptors and C2 immune system receptors, was discovered over two decades ago. These receptors allow cannabinoids from cannabis to attach their health giving attributes to various internal physiological systems. But the French mitochondrial discovery seems to be the key to understanding why cannabis is able to handle several different diseases, including cancer. Without this, skeptics can become more skeptical about all those cannabis cure reports and think of cannabis as snake-oil medicine and an excuse to get “high.” Also, many others will be duped into using mainstream medical methods that have very poor cure histories with many adverse side effects before desperation drives them toward cannabis or any other alternative method.

Tennessee Dad Who Lost Children due to Medical Cannabis that Saved his Life Continues to Fight for Children’s Return Home

Michael Brooks is a Tennessee dad whose children were taken from him by Child Protective Services after he used medical cannabis to treat his Hepatitis C. After conventional medical treatments failed to cure his terminal Hepatitis C, he turned to medical cannabis and soon his Hepatitis C was in remission. But unfortunately, Tennessee DCS used his medical cannabis treatment as a reason to take away his children. His health deteriorated rapidly when he stopped using the treatment in the attempt to comply with requirements by Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) in order to get his children back. He was set to have his rights terminated last month, but his case was continued. Michael took to Facebook Live on June 26, 2017, to record a video for his followers, and it looks like things may be turning around for the Brooks family. His health has begun to improve and there is again hope of his getting visitation back. On Facebook Live, Michael said that he had been taking CBD oil, or cannabidiol oil and Moringa oil for the past two weeks. CBD oil is legal in all 50 states, as it contains almost no THC, the chemical that gets one "high." His body has responded so well that he has been able to throw away his other 20 medications. In the Facebook Live video, Michael Brooks said that he expects to go to court on July 19, and he is hopeful about getting visitation with his children back.

Vaccine Damaged Child Medically Kidnapped when Parents Refuse Toxic Chemicals and Choose Organic Foods

On May 19, 2017, 4-year-old Chase Walker-Stevens, a vaccine-injured child with severe cerebral palsy and epilepsy, was forcibly removed from his parents because they had chosen to wean their son off all pharmaceutical products and treat him holistically with organic food. In a video taken minutes after Chase was stolen, his father, Marc Stevens, wept as he told friends and supporters how police had stormed into the hospital, locked him into the bathroom and snatched Chase from his mother’s arms, before arresting her. During the distressing six-minute footage of events which has gone viral and has now been viewed over 3 million times, we can witness for ourselves how supporters of the family are pepper sprayed by the police as they watch the child’s mother, Cini, being dragged from the hospital kicking and screaming. Today, Chase is being looked after by complete strangers in another state, whilst his parents have been kept in the dark as to where their son is.