Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jul 2015
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Ukiah Daily Journal
Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback
Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581
Author: Carole Brodsky
NOTE: This is the second in a six-part series of articles covering 
the establishment of the one of the first tribal cannabis farming 
projects in the United States. The Pinoleville Pomo Nation is 
providing Ukiah Daily Journal readers with a first-hand, exclusive 
look at the people, the processes and the philosophical underpinnings 
of this groundbreaking project.

MAKING MEDICINE

 From the bark of the white willow-the basis of aspirin, to the 
sticky resins of the poppy-the precursor of morphine, plants form the 
basis for many of the medicines found on household and pharmaceutical shelves.

But one plant-cannabis-continues to polarize communities and 
countries. Despite testimonials by countless thousands who use 
everything from social media to ballot boxes to assert the medical 
benefits of cannabis, its efficacy and proper medical utilization is 
still hotly debated.

To complicate matters, the plant's federal classification as a 
Schedule 1 substance places cannabis alongside heroin and a handful 
of other substances judged to have absolutely no medical value, 
making the prospects for large-scale studies on cannabis virtually 
impossible, until or unless cannabis is rescheduled.

Because of this lack of conclusive research, empirical, anecdotal 
evidence, as reported on CNN during Dr. Sanjay Gupta's 3-part 
cannabis series, becomes the default for patients attempting to 
determine if cannabis can provide them with solutions for pain 
relief, cessation of seizures, assistance with post-traumatic stress 
or support living with cancer or other medical conditions.

For nearly two years, the Pinoleville Pomo Nation has been collecting 
their own cannabis data that included observed, anecdotal evidence 
from tribal members and information garnered from state-of-the-art 
medical cannabis farmers, cannabis genetics specialists, physicians 
and scientists. The outcome of their findings is a groundbreaking 
cannabis growing and processing operation-the Pinoleville Medical 
Cannabis Collective-which appears to be the nation's first and only 
tribally-run, medical cannabis operation.

The story begins with tribal members Salvador and Shareen Rosales, 
who utilized cannabis to heal and improve the quality of life for 
several elder family members. Like many Mendocino County boomers, 
Salvador admits he's inhaled a time or two. "I'm familiar with 
cannabis," he chuckles. "I also learned organic gardening from my 
grandfather, and my wife's great-great grandmother was a herbal doctor."

The Rosales family found themselves caring for several aging 
relatives in a short period of time-relatives suffering with 
conditions with grim prognoses. "My father-in-law had cancer last 
year," says Salvador's wife Shareen. "We visited a local cannabis 
dispensary to find something to help his nausea. He'd also developed 
gout on his toes. I saw some cannabis salve and purchased it to see 
what it contained. I told Salvador, 'I could make this myself,' and 
we did. I started using our salve on my father-in-law's ulcerated 
toe. It healed in about two weeks," explains Shareen. She provided 
other forms of cannabis medication to Salvador's father, with 
positive results. "He's off Oxycontin and morphine. In January, his 
kidneys were failing. By March, after using cannabis medicine, they 
had returned to almost normal," Shareen continues.

The Rosales family recounts another astonishing cannabis healing 
experience that they documented with photographs. Salvador's 
grandfather is 82 years old. He lives on the Round Valley 
Reservation. "He worked at the mill all his life," says Salvador. "He 
has Type 1 diabetes, and unbeknownst to us, he had developed a severe 
leg ulcer." For three months, the tribal health center provided 
prescription creams and administered antibiotic injections, but the 
infection continued to spread and worsen. "My granddaughter saw him 
sitting on the front porch. His leg was wrapped up, but she saw blood 
pooling on the ground," Salvador continues. "She called us to tell us 
what she was seeing and we headed to Covelo immediately."

The first photo of the lesion shows a horrific, oozing sore: a 
3-by-3-inch, festering gash located just above his ankle. "We removed 
the bandage and applied the cannabis salve. Grandpa was scared the 
cannabis was going to go into his bloodstream. I assured him no, 
you're not going to get stoned," Salvador smiles.

"We got Grandpa off the antibiotics and topical medications 
immediately. The cannabis acted as its own antibiotic and analgesic. 
In 30 days, the wound was healing from the inside out. He was totally 
healed in six weeks," says Shareen. Additional photos confirm her 
statement- a deeply scarred but completely healed leg is all that 
remains of the infection.

The Rosales family continued to use cannabis preparations for other 
family members. "I rubbed salve on my Grandmother's arthritic back. 
It enabled her to move around and increase her range of motion," says 
Shareen. "We used it for my mother who had spinal meningitis. She had 
developed a yeast infection, head to toe. Two days after applying the 
salve it was gone. When the nurses said she was ready to pass, we 
were able to calm her using a CBD (cannabadiol) capsule. We got 
permission from her doctor to squirt the cannabis medicine it in her 
mouth. Her mood improved so much. We had wonderful, quality, 
conscious time with her before she passed."

"We all know about the high rate of diabetes for Native Americans. My 
eyes opened when I saw the healing process of cannabis, especially 
dealing with my own family and seeing the results in our tribal 
members. I researched the other healing properties and studied 
patient testimonials," says Angela James, Vice-Chair for the 
Pinoleville Pomo Nation. "Before the project started, I was caring 
for my Grandpa who had diabetic ulcer issues. Had I known about 
Shareen's salve, I would have definitely used it on him," she explains.

Word of the positive experience the Rosales family had with cannabis 
spread throughout the tribe and synchronized with the community's 
interest in incorporating cannabis into their economic development 
projects. "Not everyone in the tribe was initially for this project. 
But the more we learned and the more we saw, the more we unified. We 
saw the evidence for ourselves-cannabis healing our own tribal 
members," James concludes.

"Once you see the results for yourself, there are no words to 
describe how cannabis helped our family. It was absolutely amazing," 
Shareen concludes.

NEXT: United Cannabis Corporation- a look at one of the nation's 
premier medical cannabis processing operations providing consultation 
to the Pinoleville Tribe.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom