Thanks for sharing that video, Todd. I believe you are correct in how Lester views you in his life. We all have Danny Grinspoon to thank for helping pave the way for the legalization of cannabis for medical use. We are thankful we are able to honor his memory today. Cheers to Danny!
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There are so many studies that it is hard to point to one of them, and for the longest time I did not believe that cannabis cured my cancer, I believed that it helped me with keeping food down, keeping my spirits up, helping me sleep, helping me with the mental anxiety of facing end-of-life issues, and simply, it made me smile at a time when smiling was very difficult.
Now after the discovery of the ECS, I do believe that cannabis use, or moreso, cannabinoid exposure and turning on the ECS - so to speak - could well be what caused me to go into spontaneous remission.
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Hey there, @memberdirectory, this AMA with Todd McCormick is off and running strong! I want you to jump in and join the party! Ask Todd those questions or even just take a sec to say thanks for helping to make this industry a reality! 
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Thank you for your kind words, I feel like I am just doing my part.
As for a specific mode of delivery, I like joints, but I feel like eating it is the best mode of delivery for most medical conditions, because you can have more precise dosing.
I would also say that dabbing oils has a significant place in providing medical relief. I use to joke that Elvy Musikka, the first woman to receive medical cannabis from the federal government for her glaucoma condition, would come over to my house and smoke all of my stuff and never get the relief she needed, which is why she had to constantly smoke joints. But once she started dabbing oils, I would see her relaxed and taking much longer intervals between needing another toke.
So I do believe that the high concentrations of cannabinoids in oil is proving both safety and effectivity of cannabis.
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Prior to the criminalization of cannabis in the 30’s and the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Harrison Act, over 75% of patent medicine contained cannabis in some form. Needless to say, cannabis has been a part of society for millennia, and humans had their ECS stimulated regularly. It has been alleged that there may have been some medical conspiracy to starve the ECS in an attempt to manifest other medical maladies; the purpose being big pharma could continue to reap massive profits… Do you believe that starvation of the ECS could, in fact, help bring on medical complications?
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Hey @todd.mccormick Welcome to Growers Network! Thanks for hosting this very enlightening AMA!
Your story is AMAZING! I am astonished to read how your mom went against the grain and provided help for you at such a young age. I love the fact that she smoked with you. I bet that was a great bonding and mind blowing experience for you as a child. Thanks for sharing your story with us!
I am really excited to hear the questions that our members in our community have to ask you. Even if it’s just to say Thanks for Everything you have done for this industry.
@Growernick started a thread last week asking parents on the forum “how do they talk to their kids about cannabis?” and after reading your story, my questions for you are… Being so young when you first started using medical cannabis, how have you approached this topic with your kids or others’ children who are dealing or have dealt with asking questions about cannabis? What advice do you give other parents who are considering the use of medical marijuana for their children?
It’s an honor to be speaking with you. Thanks in advance!
~ 
Kareenabis~
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Excited to have joined Growers Network, and for this AMA! Good Afternoon Todd & Nick! Happy Growing!
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Not at all, it would be giving 20th-century doctors too much credit to think that they knew about the ECS decades before it was discovered.
In fact, one of the most persuasive arguments for keeping cannabis legal came from Doctor William C Woodward, who was both a doctor, and also happened to be the lawyer for the American Medical Association in 1937, who wrote against the marihuana tax act:
American Medical Association
Bureau of Legal Medicine and Legislation
Chicago, July 10, 1937
Hon. Pat Harrison, Chairman, Committee on Finance, United States Senate
Washington D.C.
SIR: I have been instructed by the board of trustees of the American Medical Association to protest on behalf of the association against the enactment in it present form of so much of H.R. 6906 as relates to the medicinal use of cannabis and its preparations and derivatives. The act is entitled “An Act to impose an occupational excise tax upon certain dealers in marihuana, to impose a transfer tax upon certain dealings in marihuana, and to safeguard the revenue therefrom by registry and recording.”
Cannabis and its preparations and derivatives are covered in the bill by the term “marihuana” as that term is defined in section 1, paragraph (b). There is no evidence, however, that the medicinal use of these drugs has caused or is causing cannabis addiction. As remedial agents, they are used to an inconsiderable extent, and the obvious purpose and effect of this bill is to impose so many restrictions on their use as to prevent such use altogether. Since the medicinal use of cannabis has not caused and is not causing addiction, the prevention of the use of the drug for medicinal purposes can accomplish no good end whatsoever. How far it may serve to deprive the public of the benefits of a drug that on further research may prove to be of substantial value, it is impossible to foresee.
Continued…
Wm. C. Woodward,
Legislative Counsel
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Thank you very much, I have been asked this question a lot, and my advice is always simple, be truthful.
Children are going to grow up to be adults and I am glad that my mother was honest with me and that helped shaped me to always be honest.
Using cannabis with my mother was indeed bonding, although I do not recommend parents do that with children who need cannabis as a medicine, we now know that we all have an ECS and that cannabinoids control a lot of elements of our bodies function. I think the parents have to take a front seat approach to their children’s (and their own) health and research what might help their children the most, depending on the condition they are facing.
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Todd,
In today’s cannabis climate where we see a lean on the main stream marketing to single out cannabinoids, such as CBD or THC. What do you think of the debate between full spectrum use, and single cannabinoids use as medicine? What about other cannabinoids and do they have medicinal use?
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As a student of Doctor Grinspoon, he has emphasized to me many times that he feels the word “entourage” is a mischaracterization, and that whe term “ensemble”, is a better fit to describe what is happening with the multiple molecules working together.
Marinol was or is, a single molecule drug tha never really had the same effect as whole raw cannabis, and I believe that is because it lacks the ensemble effect.
However, I do believe that science will show us that specific cannabinoids will be useful for treating specific conditions, such as we are seeing with CBG reducing inflammation.
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Hello Mr. McCormick
Thank you so much for your time and speaking with us. I was curious if you had given any thought to the light radiation risks being endured by today’s modern growers. Indoor, outdoor and greenhouses expose growers to tremendous amounts of light radiation and there are currently no safety standards for growers.
Again, thank you so much for your time and what you have done, and are doing, for the community.
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I find it interesting, I have had sunglasses hanging outside of my grow rooms since the 80s, and I really like what method seven has done with correcting the color spectrum under HPS lights, but, that said, being in the sunshine is one of the elements that I like the most about being a gardener, I recognize there are potential hazards to overexposure, but, where would we be without the sun.
Interestingly, indoor grow lights have also helped me deal with living in horrible weather environments, such as New England and Amsterdam, as the gray clouds and lack of sunshine would always leave me feeling a little bit down, getting under my lamps would always brighten my day.
However, I do think that now that companies are providing employment opportunities to people, that they should have to provide protective gear, as they do in any industry.
I would like to see more research on any negative effects working on the full spectrum LEDs could have, which is what I currently use to illuminate my garden.
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I think this is a much more accurate characterization of the effect, anyway. Henceforth, we shall all abandon the common vernacular “entourage effect” in favor of the term “ensemble effect”. Let’s ditch “strain” while we are at it!
With all the new research into cannabinoids alternative to THC and CBD, do you see the market for whole-plant extracts growing? Conversely, do you predict a market for new products containing extracts of isolated CBG or CBN the way we have seen the CBD market explode in recent years?
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I totally agree with you, I think Lester was 100% correct and he felt as if there was a loss in translation to English by the amazing, Raphael Mechoulam, as English is not his first language.
I think that the correct terminology will creep into the culture as we have seen have happen with the word cannabis, the better people understand it, the more correct they will be.
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Next we should lose Indica and Sativa…
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Many flower brands (i’m thinking Canndescent specifically here) have already ditched the classic morphological classifications in favor of the effects the flowers have on the body and mind. I think you may see the days of Indica and Sativa fading into history…
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This was the actual Good Housekeeping magazine that my mother discovered while sitting in a doctor’s waiting room.
While I was researching the documentaries, I decided to try to find the issue that she may have stumbled upon, and this is it.
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That Good Housekeeping look like it’s in remarkably great shape for being from the 70’s! Cool find!
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HAHAHAHA…that is literally what I was thinking!
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