I wake up early most mornings with thoughts in my head that fade away just after coffee.  This morning, I decided to run with those thoughts to share with my canna world.  

Often, I find people praising me.  They want to bless me, worship my kindness and whatever.  They seldom are aware how uncomfortable all this worship is.  I am merely an old woman, who does the best she can.  I have no special talents.  I run purely on passion and determination.

I need to encourage everyone to be all they can be.  It is simple to accomplish. You only need to decide that you are and will be kind.  You can choose tolerance as a battle cry and you can buck the system when it isn't working for your world.   I have this quote at the bottom of each email I send: "Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” – Henry David Thoreau.  It is there hoping that others will read it and then act on it.  

When I first got into the cannabis world, it wasn't legal in many places.  Yes, in Oregon, where I  live, it was medically legal, but still difficult to always follow the regulations to a T.  I choose to follow any current regulations when they are applicable to what I do.  If the regulations heed my ability to help; I dance around them.  I choose to freely give medicines to people who suffer from cancer.  It is my way of rationalizing not always adhereing to the letter of the law.  It is impossible to follow every regulation that those government officials choose to come up with.  Yes, I know we need laws to make sure there are no pesticides or mold in our plant material. I know children should be kept safely away from using any mind altering drugs and I know tax money is important for every State.  I also know that every person making more than 2,000.00 per month cannot afford a medical marijuana card costing them no less than a total of 375.00.  It cost 150-175 for a clinic to sign your papers and then the State of Oregon wants 200.00.  To someone fighting cancer, this can be a prohibited amount.  It is even hard for me to have an extra 400.00 living mostly on Social Security.  

I have made decisions in my life that make a life full of passion, love and hard work.  I simply choose to be kind, tolerant and busy.  It is no magic pill or even eating my infamous chocolate salty balls that give me the ability to live the way I do.  It is a decision that anyone is able to make.  

And....while I am at it; I don't understand the "yes butts" people continually use that hinders them in so many ways.  I hear so often, "I don't want to mask my symthoms because the doctor is trying to find what ails me".  What???  You are in pain, you can't sleep, you take vicodin or worse but you won't try cannabis because of what ????   I know so many much younger than me with health issues that are of their own doing.  Shot knees because they are in charge of carrying an extra 50 or more pounds up and down all day long, hips that squeek and hurt because they sit in a recliner 24-7 and the then there is the dreaded diabitis diagnoses, but you can't stop eating carbs that convert to sugar let alone leave the cake on the plate?  What is up with that?  

I am tired of hearing how lucky I am.  Yes, luck is part of it, but I eat green vegetables, watch my meat intake and I you won't find me sitting for hours at a time (unless I am on Facebook or Pinterest.)  I live my life with passion seldom succumbing to a pity party for myself.  My children live far away, I have had many of my favorite pets die on me, I am older than I'd like to think and I certainly do not have the finances that I think are necessary.  

I choose to be happy.  I choose to be kind and I choose to be all of who I am and then throw out the crap that gets in my way like revenge, hate and intolerance.  I am not special.  I have just lived long enough to figure out what works for me.  I don't have friends who find me a project for improvement or use me as a sounding board for their dissapointments in life.  Yes, I do listen to problems, but if those problems are a valuable part of who you have decided to be; please just don't come my way.  I have figured out that in my family history, there were people who decided that suffering was a valuable attribute.  I don't think it gave them the space to be kind or tolerant.  They were too busy working for the sake of work, suffering for the ability to complain and the list goes on.  I have decided to die knowing I had the best life I could.  I do not want to die realizing that my life was boring or lacking in passion.  

Now, that you know I am not possessing some amazing talent that you lack; just what will you do with that information?  It is up to each of us who we are.  Your mother, aunt or grandma did not make a permanent character trait inside of you that cannot be altered.  It is simply up to each of us to do what we can to be happy and throw the things out that gets in the way.  Wake up each and every morning grateful for what you have.  Your feet hurt when they hit the floor?  Wobble to the kitchen happy that you can still do the wobble.   I know I am preaching.  I know that it isn't often productive.  After all, I am without perfection.  I am always a work in progress.

I am not falling for all the praise some heap on me.  I can be irritating, irresponsible and even inconsiderate.  I am flawed.  So instead of thinking that I am special, go out to be special yourself.  Pass special on to others.  I think that sometimes it is just easier for us to think we can't be like someone else.  We stick on to them attributes that we are too lazy or unaware that can be part of ourselves.  

​Comment please.  I really think this is quite random and even may insult some of you or you just might want to tell me that you have chosen a good character trait to practice for yourself.  What word did you choose.  I chose "tolerant" years ago when I knew that I needed to work on that part of myself.  It became the fuel each and every day.  I am still intolerant of yes butts and racial prejudice so am I perfect yet?   I think not!

I am going to gather together here most (maybe all) of the formulas I have seen to figure out the dose strength of the medicines I have made.  We cannot always pay to have our product tested.  I pick the strain that I am going to use for the next year of medicine making to have tested.  I hopefully at least know what I have started with.  I take no credit for these formulas and trust that some might just know what they are doing.  It happens that the last two years my chosen strains have tested at 23.5 per cent THC.  Either we are consistent growers or the labs are just pulling a fast one on me.



THC content in edibles is measured in milligrams, which is a measure of weight. So if you have a half-ounce of marijuana flower, all you need to do is find the THC percentage and convert accordingly. Remember, homegrown stuff is a little harder to estimate, and although dispensaries put flower THC percentages on packaging, they’re not always as high as advertised. Assuming you have a decent estimate of your THC percentage, though, it’ll just take some basic math.

To make this easy, let’s say your half-ounce of flower tested at 20 percent THC. An ounce equals 28,349.5 milligrams, so half an ounce would be 14,174.75 milligrams — and the THC would account for 20 percent of that. If you extract all of the THC out of the flower while making some pot butter, then you should get around 2,835 milligrams of THC. How much butter you want to cook with in order to spread out all that THC is up to you. As far as personal use goes, consider that Colorado law limits recreational edibles packaging to doses of 10 milligrams or less.

I asked for a formula to figure out what each of my mini cupcakes would actually have in THC.  I got this answer from Michael McCord:   (Grams of concentrate starting) X 1000 = weight of starting concentrates in milligrams
(Weight of starting concentrates in mg / # of edibles at the end of baking process ) X .75 (unless you know the actual % THC content your oil has, then insert that here) = Final mg / treat. ​

IWith a strain called Afghan Goo it's about 18% THC. I was able to extract 7mL/grams so that equates to approximately 720mg of THC per 1mL/gram

Some comments from the Magical Butter page on Facebook:  Vance Grossie oil is measured by volume not weight..get a numbered syringe..

Justin Hephner yea Vance is right, liquids are measured by volume, not weight, in this case you would be measuring mililiters, not grams. With water the conversion is 1-1 , IE 1 milliliter of water is = to 1 gram of weight, but with oil the density is higher. When dosing with oil, you will almost always be dealing with milligrams of
weight and milliliters of volume.

Certainly there is a movement across our entire nation to legalize medical marijuana and often legalize recreational marijuana; which is "hip hip hurrah" time for many of us.  Along with newly legalized cannabis comes new rules and regulations.

Not surprising is that money is speaking louder than many of us who worked in the trenches to get our medicine legalized.  Those who have already found success in business are seeing a whole new way to make money with immediate entry into our cannabis world.   I could see Mrs. Field putting out cannabis infused chocolate chip cookies soon!  

I am a home cook with modest means with little funding to outfit my kitchen into a sleek professional cooking area.  I have no way to have an exact measuring system to make sure that each one of my cookies weighs exactly the same. Yes, I could carefully measure each dollop of dough I place on a cookie sheet, but it would add hours to my cooking process.  We all know that dough clings to spoons, measuring cups or anything we might choose to use.  It is very difficult to do any precise size of most of what I make in my home kitchen.  

The rules now insist that each of my carrot cup cakes or other edibles be the exact same measurement in grams.  My mini cupcakes come out at approx one half ounce or 14 grams and my regular sized ones are approximately just over one ounce or 29 grams.  BUT, not each one exactly.  As I drop my cream cheese frosting and nuts on each one, I run into yet another variable that I can't see a way of overcoming.  I have made myself obsolete for selling my edibles at a dispensary here in Oregon.  

I can still make sure that my tincture is in 1 ounce bottles and that might be a go, but I still need to test the product (bud or leaf) which locally cost 100.00.  That cost is expected to rise with new regulations for further testing.  So let's say the cost rises to 150.00 and then my product also needs to be tested that I make with the tested plant material; which currently has a price tag of 50.00.  I could easily have 200.00 for each edible I want to place in a dispensary for sale and if I can't be sure each piece of candy, cookie or cupcake is weighing the exact same; I am so busted.

These new regulations look good and assure safety for us all in knowing that what we purchase is indeed what we are paying for, but at the same time; they also insure that only someone with professional product making equipment will be able to satisfy the new rulings.  These new rules and regulations insure that only professional well funded companies can compete in the edible area of cannabis medicines.  I can see can see the writing on the wall.  Only money will beget money.  The creative chocolatier will have a tough time satisfying these new guidelines for what can be sold in a legal cannabis dispensary.  My chocolates are delicious and only getting better with practice, but you will not be purchasing any from a dispensary in 2016.

I can provide (so far) for other OMMP patients that hold legal medical marijuana cards, but I cannot legally provide any edibles to a legal recreational user.  In fact, at this time, I can only freely give them bud and I assume I could give them shake/leaf.  I cannot provide tincture, balms, bath salts or anything made with cannabis that could address any medical reasons they might like some, if they do not have the OMMP card.  This medical card from Oregon cost most approximately 375.00.  It is either 175.00 or 150.00 for a doctor to sign for a patient and the State wants 200.00 unless you are proven to be poor by having SSI or food stamps.  A poor person doesn't often have the approximately 200.00 to obtain their OMMP card.  I know cancer patients that are economically unable to come up with even enough money to donate to paying for their medicine.  Medicare pays 80 per cent of our senior medical bills.  You must have supplemental insurance to come up with the other 20 per cent.  Supplemental is expensive insurance.  My husband and I pay about 400.00 a month for both of us.  Twenty per cent of any cancer expense is a great deal of money for anyone!

My concern is for the poor who need medicine.  I am being more and more contacted by either a hospice patient or by medical personnel hoping I will help.  They know I  make excellent safe medicine.  Their hands are tied.  They hope I will step up to help.  I cannot write here whether I help or not; as it is illegal for me to do so.

I see the direction the cannabis business is going.  It will be controlled to make money in either taxes or for someone benefiting from the rules being made favoring professional businesses.  The Curandera has no place in big business.  She is delegated to the back room where you secretly take your ill grandma for help.  Be sure if someone should report her; she will be shut down.

In California, they are closing down ability for small cannabis gowers to grow even their own medicines.  Many counties have taken that step.  If you dare to break that rule, you could have your home taken by the government for daring to be outside the new laws.

We, in Oregon, can grow 4 plants as a recreational user.  OMMP card holders that only want to grow 12 plants are currently safe to do so, but if you should be a grower that provides for more than two OMMP card holders, you are screwed.  You will be forced to spend a lot of money on security, fencing, water rights and the list goes on.  This closes down many growers who cannot afford to comply with the new regulations.  The patients they grew for no longer have their medicine.  Only the rich will continue to be able to grow for patients.  No one gets rich growing for OMMP patients.  Yes, you might have some extra cash, but it doesn't compare to selling bud on the black market.  I believe it is common for many who grow for OMMP card holders make most of what they bring in supplying dispensaries or the black market.  Another factor ruining a good thing is that in 2015, a patient paid 50.00 to transfer their card to someone who could grow for them.  In 2016, that cost went up to 200.00.  Needless to say, many cannot even afford this extra expense.  I believe the OMMP program is on the way out.  There are no taxes on medical marijuana.  The State wants money.  The well funded cannabis businesses don't want us growing our own medicine or supplying it at low or no cost; when patients could purchase their medicines at a much higher fee from their businesses.

i know I am going on and on with no answers and little hope.  The new regulations and laws go on for many many pages.  I have a hard time even going through all of what may be expected from me as a OMMP card holder.  What does a seriously ill or one that suffers extreme pain even do with all this new information that we are expected to know? Most of the patients I know are seniors.  We are the new faces of marijuana.  We just want to feel better.  We don't want to have to report on a computer what stages our plants are at each month.  We are doing well to find our slippers and comfy clothes to wear for the day.

I keep going to our liquor rules and regulations that are so much less.  I can make my own beer and even give some to my friends and neighbors along with the line of relatives that now find me interesting.  I can make wine.  I make my own limoncello with fresh lemon zest and everclear.  I do all of this legally drinking what I want and sharing with whoever, but I cannot do the same with cannabis!  Cannabis doesn't kill like liquor can.  Children can be subjected to all of drinking our fool heads off and even are given sips without having Protective Services taking them away from us.  If we would give our child cannabis, one wouldn't be so lucky.  If I provide for an old cancer ridden man who has no money whatsoever; I am breaking the law.  Unfair, unjust and unwarranted is what it is.

Am I ranting?  I guess so.  I wonder how you feel about what is happening with the greed of cannabis possibilities?  I could write more about yet more regulations.  You can find the Oregon cannabis laws on ​https://public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/ChronicDisease/MedicalMarijuanaProgram/Pages/index.aspx

If you have concerns you can write, email or call your representatives.  If you do not use your voice, you can't think it will get better.  We need to unite for our rights to use our medicine!

I am sure you will hear more from me on this same subject.  I am choosing to be a cannabis voter this year.  I am sick of being on the fringe of any laws.  I want to be considered just the normal old lady up river who makes fine cannabis medicine for all.

On July 1, 2015, Recreational marijuana became legal here in Oregon.  Silly as it seems, one can now legally use it, but they cannot buy it anywhere!  The silliness is that the State apparently believes we Medical Marijuana legal growers and users are going to give away our medicine to those who simply want to get high.  I admit that on July 1, I loaded up a box of balms, oils, tinctures, chocolates and even some bud to give away just because I could.  It was a one-time celebration of giving gifts.

My first stop was to a friend who wanted to make brownies for a party being held to celebrate the day, but she had nothing to lace the brownies with.  I dropped off butter and a good supply of bud mud left over from making tincture.  Her neighbor got some balm and a bottle of infused honey.

I traveled over to deliver bud to a friend to take up to a patient in Gold Beach that was out of medicine.  I did that one for a donation.  I also supplied bud to another patient who donated to cover the cost.  She gave me an extra 20.00 to cover what I often give to someone ill.  I still had about an ounce of bud in my box left to give away.

I went to swim the laps I have decided my old body needs.  I mentioned my intentions of celebrating by giving away items.  After I got myself dressed, there were several fellow swimmers waiting at my car.  They got balm, tincture and chocolates.  My next stop was for lunch with a friend.  A nice man eagerly accepted some bud.  I loved being able to ask some stranger if they wanted some marijuana.  It felt free and liberating.  I felt normal!  I did feel pretty awesome giving away my product, but realized that I would not be doing this very often or maybe not again.  A group of guys traveling on their motorcycles got the rest of my bud so I went home with an empty box.  I hope those who got my treasures appreciated them and maybe even learned something about what marijuana medicine is all about.  I am after all a curandera and not a drug dealer tempting new suckers to get hooked to buy from me after realizing the goodness of the products they were lucky enough to be given.  My aim is to educate and to heal.

If  you are interested in the laws according to Oregon click on the link.  On Oct 1, 2015, our medical marijuana dispensaries will be able to sell marijuana to recreational users, but in the meantime; the black market will be raking in the money paying no taxes.  That is 3 months of summer time fun without Oregon benefiting any revenue from the new legalization.  What were they thinking?   I wonder if there is actually a reasonable reason for their indecision not to decide some basic elements for the legalization procedure?  I haven't really read anything but that they were not ready to decide.  Why not for Pete's sake?  Using pot to be legal in Oregon — but not selling it

Ever since, Oregon has legalized, I have noticed so much more movement in bringing the benefits of marijuana to many states. Both Texas and Florida are considering new points of view on marijuana.  Is it the tax money speaking or is the movement from the minds of reasonable law makers is the question.  I think it is tax money.  No state is willing to look at the revenues from Colorado, Washing and now Oregon without turning a bit green in anticipation of what they might be able to make with legalization.  Yes, economics is the grease in most of our decisions.  We like to think it is higher thinking, but is it?

Meanwhile, here in Oregon; we are free to indulge without ending up in jail or even getting a fine, if we use good sense and not do it in public.  Good things are happening.  I am finally able to feel quite normal instead of being classified as "an old hippie" or "deluded woman" who has no idea of the evils of reefer madness.  I can talk about marijuana in any group at any time without someone hushing me for fear that my comments may be questionable in the eyes of the law.  

Raw cannabis contains mostly THC-A (THC Acid) and CBD-A (CBD Acid). Decarboxylation removes the carboxylic acid and converts THCA to THC and CBDA to CBD. Heating marijuana decarboxylates it. This is why smoking marijuana is more effective than eating the same amount of raw marijuana. We don’t have an enzyme that decarbs pot for us.

Initially this concept of decarboxylation would not stick in my unscientific mind.  I forced myself to really pay attention; once  I realized why I night want  to do it. Most marijuana patients have the idea that if they don't feel a buzz from their medicine; it must not be any good.  Of course I wanted others to think I made excellent medicine.  I've since come to the conclusion that getting high is not a criteria for good medicine.  Happily many of the patients I provide for have the same mind set as I do.  I now choose to decarboxlate specifically for those wanting to be high while medicated or to obtain another goal like increasing the CBD content.

Cannabis must be decaroxylated if you’re making cannabutter or an oil infusion, tinctures, cannabis oil, etc. While THC-A and CBD-A have some healing effects, it’s overshadowed by THC and CBD. The former aren’t bioactive, the latter are.

To decarb cannabis, place dry material in a pre-heated oven. I use a Pyrex pie plate. Expect a 10% weight loss when you decarb (30 grams to 27 grams).  I use a oven Thermometer to measure my heat finding that my oven isn't always what it says.

For the maximum THC heat it to 245° F for 45-60 minutes and for CBD 245° F for 60-90 minutes. Heat the cannabis in a covered glass pyrex casserole pan. When properly decarboxylated, the cannabis will be darker, dry, and crumble easily. Your kitchen will smell.

Some suggest decarbing longer to maximize CBD levels. Long as in 2-4 hours. Ideally, one would do two tests: one would measure time (15 minutes - 4 hours) and the other temperature (240 - 340).

The steps to decarboxlate are varied depending on who you read information from.  I am a devotee to the Facebook page: Magical Butter Machine Users United.  I check there often finding that many of the people there have vast amounts of knowledge and experience when it comes to how to process marijuana for really good medicines. Vance Grossi from that group suggested putting the broken up marijuana into a pryrex 9 x 13 baking dish and then covering the whole dish with a large baking bag.  I closed mine up with a wooden clothes pin because of the very little bag I had available to tie a knot in or use another method.

Decarbing smells. Be forewarned and plan ahead. When done properly the cannabis will be dark and crumbly.  I actually find that keeping it in the bag and not opening it while still warm kept the kitchen not becoming a total overwhelming dank smelly place that I expected.

Because decarboxylating evaporates the terpenes, terpenoids, and other aromatics, I use 50% as much raw cannabis as decarbed. It’s much like finishing hops when making beer. I strive for what I call a cannabinoid cocktail, a.k.a. the Entourage Effect, a deliberately whole plant extraction process.

Source: http://leblanccne.com/decarboxylation/

Vance Grossie:when converting CBD..just be careful because you will turn your THC into CBN also and it takes far less CBN to give you sedative effects..so if it has a THCA amount it will probably convert to CBN with the CBD..another words you will sleep...

If you have further questions, please ask me.  I am willing to find more data that might make this decarbing easier to understand.

We live in a remote area that could be cut off from any ability to obtain her needed prescriptions. If a tsunami hit, or a road washed out in heavy rains, we could be in trouble. I knew that we had to find a way to be self-sufficient when it came to anything we might need. That included mom’s medications.

I bravely went where I thought I'd never be. I had a friend with a medical marijuana card, who told me who to call. I put that call in to start the process of wading into unknown waters. A local woman in my community gave me clear instructions on how to get started. I make every effort to pay her kindness forward.

OK, I got mom her license with no problems. We had to pay the higher fee since we did not qualify for any discounts. It was coming out to cost less than her medications, so I kept going still with no idea of how I would even obtain any marijuana. I imagined myself dealing with a shadow world of drug users.

The woman who gave me the needed information to obtain the card was heading up a monthly meeting for medical marijuana card users. My first Sunday afternoon at one of the meetings was truly an experience. First of all, I had to sign in showing proof that I could legally be in the meeting. Were there cops watching to see if any law breakers lurked about? What about those guys in the back of the room puffing on plastic bags? What in the world were they doing? Were they just pot heads or indeed patients in need of medication?

I wasn’t a patient myself and mom wasn’t able to sit in those folding chairs so I was there representing her. I tried talking to a few people but strongly suspected that they were wondering who I was. Until they figured it out, their reservations were apparent. This world of marijuana seemed to be full of doubts and paranoia about who was who. 

There were many kind people at the meetings. They all knew so much more than I did. It was obvious that it was still hard to connect the dots as to what I could do myself to help mom. I had only started climbing the learning curve. I needed a push. 

The meetings really helped me get over the first hurdle. They gave me bags of shake and told me how to make butter with it. I then made mom cookies that worked well for her. I made these cookies for the first two to three years. Being the compulsive cook I can be, I branched out to making chocolates using the strained shake from the butter. They worked well for mom too.  

Sometime in those early years, I managed to create some marijuana balm using a recipe that I found on the internet. I was still a “newbie”. I would watch YouTube videos but was put off by some marijuana videos made by “pot heads” using lazy language and seemingly not very serious about imparting information. I desperately needed to find a source of clear minded individuals who could help me learn what I must.  

I was seeking to appear to be “normal” while tip-toeing into the drug world that I had always judged “wrong”. Every family has had a bad experience with kids using weed. Our family had more than one family member who got caught up into drugs. We hated who they had become. And now I was seeking to go where they had gone. It was a struggle to find logic and even hope that this would work out for us. But, mom was doing very well using only marijuana. She didn’t complain of any more pain than she had using her other drugs. She was even a bit more pleasant to boot. Her doctor was encouraging me to give her another cookie instead of another pill.

Finally, I found a group of like-minded individuals! It took me forever to make contact, but I joined “Oregon Green Free”. They had a local group here in my area. In this group, I no longer felt I was the odd ball out. No one was high at the meetings. Outsiders could attend to find out information. It wasn’t a “drug group”, it was a learning atmosphere and just what I needed. My passion grew to be an advocate for the normalization of using medical marijuana.  

My journey has gone into high gear this past year. I now have a Facebook page promoting medical marijuana called 420 in the Kitchen. I have taught a cooking class for making tincture, balm and butter along with some individual cooking lessons. I have started a new group in our area for those who want interaction with the medical marijuana community. Our attempts to grow our own medicine has improved over the past three years. We are learning. Our leader for Oregon Green Free died this year. He was my mentor and my inspiration to keep going to get my new drug of choice legalized and normal. I cannot be Jim Klahr, but I can keep the work he accomplished alive.

Now you have the background as to why and how I got where I am today.