I must say the last few days I have heard some serious HORROR stories from patients looking for, rather, in dire need of, a quality caregiver. It appears that more and more patients are finding that having their buddy or pre-MMMP card black market dealer as their caregiver is a HUGE mistake and in the end only hurts the patient.

For instance I had a fellow tell me his current caregiver told him he was allowed six plants in each stage of growth. I was absolutely taken back and damn near fell out of my chair. I couldn't believe that a caregiver would put that patient in harms way by having 12 plants too many. I told him the law states six plants total and makes no designation as to what stage of growth the plants are in. He almost lost it, he was an elderly gentleman that had property, a pension, family responsibilities, etc... and he was unknowingly committing a SERIOUS felony. He has obviously since remedy the situation and destroyed the overage plants but the simple fact that the person this patient put his trust into would do such a thing is just horrendous and appalling.

Another story I was told by another patient pertained to the number of bags the caregiver was allowed to dispense to the patient at a time. This patient was told by their caregiver that they were only allowed to dispense one (1) bag with up to one (1) ounce of cannabis in it. He was not allowed by the Montana Medical Marijuana Act to dispense mutliple bags and thus he could only dispense one strain at a time to the patient.

I just sat there in shock and awe shaking my head in disbelief. I pulled the law up and walked through it section by section with this patient and afterwards asked him, did you see anywhere in there that says anything at all about "bags". He was convinced he was being dupped and it was saddening because this persons c/g was his 25 year friend. Just plain sad.

Folks, caregivers are a dime a dozen but the Montana Medical Marijuana Act has safeguards built into it to ensure your the one that is the center of this specific universe - the Change Request Form.

If you have a caregiver that is decietful, shady, inconsistent, price flucuating, or one of the many other bs tactics being deployed by the black market caregivers, give us a call. We take pride in being the best in Montana and we'll prove it to you time and time again just a dedicated caregiver should for each of their deserving patients.

 

There has been a lot of information going around about the need for legislative changes that would enforce some sort of oversight on caregivers. The quandary is who is best suited to be ones to do the overseeing??...???

Department of Agriculture wants to get involved for caregivers that have nursery size grow operations. They have a lot of leeway as well as they can inspect operations and things along those lines.  I just hope that they understand cannabis is not the same as hay or grain and thus their books may need some overhauling to become current. I also believe they just want to get their piece of the pie via their nursery licenses, everyone wants some green and everyone wants control.

DPHHS is the obvious choice I personally think that they should create a task force that could inspect ops and ensure they are up to code and operating in a safe fashion. As I understand it they already have task force units in the DPHHS that go around doing inspections and quality assurance in day cares. Anyone have the exact details on this please use the comments section to accurately enlighten us all.

The one that should ABSOLUTELY NOT be in charge of overseeing cannabis caregiver operations is the law enforcement agencies. They have screamed for dozens of years that cannabis has NO MEDICAL value, with that said they can NEVER be the ones to control and oversee medical cannabis, they themselves have said that medical and cannabis do not go together as cannabis has no medicinal values. That simple belief would completely hinder their ability to be unbiased and subjective to the operations they would be overseeing. I don't mean that in a manner that they would not overlook certain things, I mean in the fashion that they always be looking for the illegal aspects and not the aspects that truly need overseeing, such as the operations nutrients and pest control applications. The inspecting entity doesn't need to have a "I want to arrest you" attitude, they need to take the approach of helping ensure that the patients are getting quality medicine.

Do we see police officers going into Madison Foods in Ennis and arresting them because of outdated cheese or veggies that are really fuzzy and they're not supposed to be? Don't think so... betcha if we made the grocers have to pay a fine to the police stations that the LEO's would be in there writing tickets left and right. With that said, I ask you, is that want we need for medicinal cannabis???..??

The wheels are churning on how they can "control" cannabis, make sure you contact your local officials and be heard about how the best way to ensure caregivers are providing safe medicine, but not in a fashion that is meant to scare and intimidate.

Well it has been a while since i have had time to sit down and add entries to our blog. A lot of driving for patient deliveries and setting up our physician clinic in Ennis this coming Thursday.

In the time I've been preoccupied a lot as been brewing in the news about cannabis, specifically the report that Tom Berry out of Round Up is going to be introducing legislation in the upcoming session which would only result in more restrictions on patients access to their medicine. There is some talk of limiting a caregiver to 5 patients under the guise of some thought that if you really are caregiving you can only focus on 5 or less patients. Well my rebuttal to that would be that a good caregiver is EXTREMELY hard to find and if a good one is available and has 300 patients, then so be it. The patients DESERVE the right to quality medicine through their caregiver as per the Montana Medical Marijuana Act.

The simple fact is that the MMMA was written and voted for because of the many thousands of patients in Montana that have debilitating conditions that get relief when using cannabis to treat their conditions.

Tom doesn't seem to understand that the law was written in a fashion that it would be self-maintaining in regards to caregivers. Patients are the absolute center of the law, a patient can change their designated caregiver with a simple form that cost nothing to submit. This simple process is the safety that was built into the law to ensure that patients are taken seriously and kept in the forefront of the law and its implementation with out state. Caregivers that are worth their weight in salt understand that a patient is the center point and that the caregiver is simply an assest available to the patient to ensure their easy access to their medicine while following the letter of the law. A quality caregiver is VERY HARD TO FIND, darn near impossible in some areas of our great state, why in the world would we want to limit access to the quality caregivers and force patients into having to designate a subpar caregiver?? It doesn't make logical sense to me. We strive to be the absolute best caregivers in the state of Montana all the while understanding and focusing our efforts on our patients and nothing else. Would punishing the patients on our waiting list because we are a quality caregiver service and have more then 5 patients really be benefiting the patients???..??!!! I highly doubt so.

The simplest analogy I can come up with would be, do we restrict the number of patients the manufacturer of hydrocodone is allowed to dispense their medicine too?...??..??? ABSOLUTELY NOT, it is made available in many locations and very easy to obtain. Why would someone be so callus as to introduce changes to the law that would limit their access to their medicine? It doesn't make sense if they are in fact understanding of the fact that cannabis is a viable treatment for many hundreds, if not thousands of ailments common to humans. Tom Berry received a brief but poignant email from me today stating something similar to this blog posting, I hope he will really take the time to reconsider his view on medicinal cannabis and its accessibility to the patients that need it before introducing legislation that is simply anti-cannabis (like his previous bills he has attempted to and/or submitted).

I call to action all Montanans and citizens of our great country that believe law is what We the people say it is, period and not something to be construed and twisted by ideologic elected officials. Remember Tom, you're only where you are to be a puppet for the constituents that put you into that office so you had better go out and listen to them, they want accessible cannabis under the law. Do not make it more difficult for them to obtain from a reliable, dedicated caregiver.

Don't have a lot of time as of late so the blog entries are in slow motion, but I was reading this and wanted to pass it along.

Check it out!

http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/medicalmarijuana/mmpregistryinformation.pdf

 

 

 

 

We bagged and tagged the harvested cannabis and will let it sit in the brown paper bags another 24 hours or so and then the curing process can begin. We took a little different approach to the trimming this go round by taking almost EVERYTHING off when we harvested and thus only have to do a little touch-up trimming once they are just about finished curing.

We have deliveries in Missoula today, so it will be a long day!

Wishes to everyone for a wonderful Thursday, and an even better Friday!

Hi All, I hope every ones 2010 has been stellar thus far.

This evening we harvested a few mature plants. JTR, NL & BB. We are very much looking forward to our seeds arriving so that we may begin that process. It is not unheard of for the process to take 6 months depending on many different factors ranging from genetics to environment through out the process.

We are going to mature any males we get and save the pollen, we are in the midst of planning and building a "male room" to accommodate this process. I can't wait to have a freezer full of pollen and live seeds of which I personally know the genetics. Maybe some Madison Valley Chronic will grow from this breeding endeavor :)

Well fingers are still mega-sticky so I had better go scrub them again with mechanic's goo :)

I was talking with a Montana licensed physician today regarding medical cannabis and had said the word "trichome", we all know what trichomes are and that they are not only relevant to cannabis as they exist through out botany. Well when I pronounced it, he was taken back and didn't quite understand what I had said and thought I had mispronounced it. I had told him that for the longest time I pronounced it tri-chome and sometimes even tri-chrome, adding the erroneous 'r', but a while back had discovered on reference.com that I was mispronouncing it and that it was actually pronounced trik-ohm. The doctor went to the website and listened to it being annunciated online and was pleasantly surprised and appreciative for the knowledge.

An interesting point about anything cannabis related, if you don't educate yourself, you'll end up knowing nothing or nothing but grapevine perception.

Check it out yourself.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trichome

Load the web page from the link above, then click the gray speaker icon next to the word as shown in the image below. It will highlight blue when you mouse over/click it.
*Make sure your speakers are turned on*

I was talking to a patient today and was told that they truly felt thankful to have cannabis in their life. They said their family had noticed a tremendous difference in their overall well being and general mood since incorporating cannabis into their medical regiment. They had reduced their opioid intake by 50% to date and that may continue to decrease as we continue working together to find the right strains that work for this specific patients physiology.

The last strain I had dispensed was a nice dense trichome covered Blueberry strain harvested at about 5-10% amber trichome coverage. This coverage of amber trichomes provides a more cerebral head high. If I had let the amber trichome percentage increase to 50-60% at harvest it would have produced a more couch lock, body high. Which we do at times as well.

The patient really enjoyed the Blueberry and we're now testing a couple other sativa/early harvested strains to lock in the ones that suit them best for their day-time usage.

It is truly wonderful to hear from patients the benefits they receive from cannabis.

We are just finishing up the details of our Hope Caregiver franchise opportunities and will be releasing them via the blog and website in the next few days.

Stay tuned, we have been at the forefront of medical cannabis in Montana for over a year now with regards to integrating patients, medicine, technology & caregiving so our franchise opportunities are sure to make a big splash :)

Hi all, hope everyone is doing well this evening.

The mrs and I just finished straining a batch of butter, so far things are looking nice. We added 4 ounces of button buds from JTR and Blueberry to a little over one pound of butter. We had simmered it for 8 hours last night and let it slow cool today in the crock pot then lightly reheated it so it was fluid enough to pour again for the straining. Boy oh boy, no matter how many times you've done this, the aweful smell of the cooking cannabis & butter is just horrendous, thank goodness we have a well ventilated room to do it in, PEEEWWWWW~!

 

 

 

 

We got the recipe from a forum friend over at Smokapelli.com, a Montana Marijuana Patient & Caregiver Only Forum, and was told it is a rather potent one and to inform all patients that want to try it to be cautious and go slow. The recommended dosage was a one (1) teaspoon for a 160 pound person, so adjust accordingly for your body weight.

It can take a little while to kick in for some folks, so truly do take it slow and give it time. A lot of patients I talk to state they usually get impatient waiting for it to kick in and end up smoking/vaping instead. With edibles, patients is a virtue :) Eat a cookie, brownie, muffin and wait, and don't worry if you wait 30-45 minutes, give it some time before munching another. Remember, each of us are different and the way that THC effects us each is different, so it may take your fellow patient 20 minutes to feel the effects and it could take you 45 to feel them.

Relax, enjoy and be patient.

Another word of wisdom if you're not familiar with edibles, plan out your time before munching down on anything with cannabis in it. Consuming cannabis via edibles can be much, much more intense then smoking or vaping you'll need to take this into account and make sure you don't have to be anywhere for 4-5 hours in the least, preferably the rest of the day/night Safety first!!

Welp, we intend to take pictures of the process the next time we do it so that we can post directions on our website/blog. Shouldn't be too long before we get back to it again.

Have a good night!

PS - Billings deliveries tomorrow!

This is a call to action for all physicians as defined by Title 37, Chapter 3 of the Montana Code Annotated¹ to stand up and find a way to become more accessible to the patients of Montana that have conditions that could qualify them for acceptance into the Montana Medical Marijuana Program. The law is clear as to what a debilitating condition is, so why is it so difficult for patients to find a doctor willing to sign the recommendation? The norm is that patients have to go outside their own primary care doctors and find an alternative means to get the signed recommendation.

Montana is not a highly taxed state or a state where the majority of the residents have a lot of capital at their disposal thus economics plays a large role in health care in our great state.

Cannabis is a viable, relatively inexpensive alternative to pharmaceuticals that they are comfortable administering themselves. Patients know when they are sufficiently medicated without having to pay for repeated visits to the doctor to have their dosages monitor. A lot of the news I am reading as of late appears to be heading down a road of "we can't control legal cannabis, so lets control the process by which a patient gains access to it, the doctors recommendation and forcing rules upon it".

This is blatantly wrong in our opinion. A doctor/patient relationship is not something that should be governed or maintained in a fashion that is destructive to the patient just because of the unjust attitude towards this miracle plant. We have to remember that this is not about control or money, it is about the well being of the patients that are benefiting from the medicinal uses of cannabis.

We tend to get side tracked nowadays when we discuss topics of contention, but the fact of the matter is that we have to recognize the reason the law exists and look at it from that sole perspective, not the perspective of our political party or our religious affiliations or anything else. The medical marijuana laws in the states that have them are for the sole benefit of the patient. Lets remember that and start making it more accessible to the patients that can so they can live their lives to the fullest.

Patients are actively seeking doctors willing to do consultation reviews for medical cannabis recommendations, not for another primary care physician, and we get daily calls for the names and numbers of doctors offering this service from all over the state. If you're a doctor interested in learning more about the Montana Medical Marijuana Program and how you can be an active part of it and the financial benefits associated with it, contact us today!

¹ "Physician" means a person who holds a degree as a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy and who has a valid license to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine in this state. Reference: Montana Code Annoted http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/mca/37/3/37-3-102.htm

We'll just finished harvesting the newly named #4 rack, all but the NL#5 looked nice and ready in the Jakks eyeclops scope :) We harvested 2 Jack the Rippers, 3 blueberries and 2 mental floss. For the cultivation system we use, one of the JTR's got as big as a soil grown one would have, just amazing.

Trimmed/pulled all the large fan leaves off and hung them to dry whole. We have such low humidity here in SW MT that I normally have to have my humidifier on high to keep my relative humidity between 46-55% but with winter I don't have to run it as often so there is no chance of drying to fast with these ladies.

Tomorrow I'll check the NL#5 again with the scope and see what the trichomes look like then.

We'll post some pictures tomorrow as well.

Until then - :)