Georgia Dad Vows To Grow His Own Medical Marijuana

[Robert Celt]

The issue of medical marijuana cultivation will get major attention in this year's Georgia legislature. One man, an hour from the Capitol, is addressing it his own way.

Mike Buffington is what you might call an amateur gardener. "I don't even like mowing grass," he confessed to 11Alive's Matt Pearl.

He owns some Bonsai plants, Colorado ferns, and one empty pot.

"This is my pot ... waiting on the pot!"

That pot will soon hold medical marijuana, and Buffington's not shy about saying so: "It's just a plant! That's the point. It's just a plant."

He runs the Jackson Herald and has stated his plans in editorials.

"I smoked a bit of medical cannabis," he read back to Pearl. "It didn't kill me. I turned around and wrote my article this week under the influence of whatever I was under the influence from."

"If it takes growing pot in my house to bring attention to the issue, so be it," he said.

Last year supporters rejoiced as Georgia lawmakers legalized medical marijuana possession. But they didn't legalize cultivation or sale, so the only way Georgians can possess it is by breaking the law.

Buffington doesn't seem concerned: "We have a new jail, and the food's pretty good there, so I'm not particularly worried."

He worries far more about his son. Clark Buffington started having seizures at age six. He's now twenty-one years old.

"He's tried every drug on the market," his dad said. "He's had two brain surgeries."

"We've tried everything possible, and his seizures are still uncontrolled."

That's why Buffington the parent — and publisher — is willing to raise some mayhem. If the legislature steps up, he'll make his new plant a present.

"If they let me grow it, and the bill goes through, then I'd love to donate it to the governor," he said. "He could decorate his office!"

After he first stated his intentions, Buffington heard from a firm in California willing to send him the medical marijuana seedlings. He, of course, doesn't have the technology to turn the leaves into the actual medical oil. He says, that's not really the point.

News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Georgia Dad Vows To Grow His Own Medical Marijuana
Author: Matthew Pearl
Contact: 13WMAX
Photo Credit: None found
Website: 13WMAX

 

[Richard Richardson]

Here is Mike's editorial - Medical marijuana part 2 - JacksonHeraldTODAY

Thursday, January 14. 2016
I’m writing this editorial a few minutes after having smoked medical marijuana. But I’m not high, or as some phrase it, “stoned.”
Last week I wrote about my plans to grow a marijuana plant as an act of civil disobedience to Georgia laws that prevent the growing of cannabis plants for medical research. Evidence suggests that some compounds in the cannabis plant, particularly CBD, are effective in helping several serious medical conditions, including seizures.
Since I have a son who has suffered uncontrolled seizures for 15 years, this is an issue that I have a personal interest in. If there is a compound that might help him and others who suffer from seizures, then I don’t care if it’s from a marijuana plant or a jalapeno pepper.

Last year, the Georgia Legislature took the first step in addressing this issue by passing Haleigh’s Hope Act that allows Georgians who have a special medical card to possess up to 20 oz. of medical cannabis oil that is low in THC, the active ingredient that gives the “high” of pot smoking. That oil can also be used for other conditions beyond seizures, including Parkinson’s, MS, Crohn’s Disease and cancer.
But there’s a problem: While Georgians can now possess medical cannabis oil, there is no facility in the state to grow, process and extract the CBD. The oil has to come from other states that allow such medical research.
The Georgia Legislature began meeting this week and Rep. Allen Peake, who introduced Haleigh’s Hope Act last year, has introduced a companion bill this year that would allow the growing and processing of medical cannabis in the state. Gov. Nathan Deal, however, has opposed that.
Given that political logjam, I decided to grow a pot plant in protest of the state’s current prohibition on growing medical cannabis.
The response has been overwhelming. I’ve heard from a number of people and done several radio interviews. Every comment I’ve gotten has been positive.
When I first decided to grow a pot plant, I had planned to just grow some street pot since seeds for that are easily available.
But after last week’s article, I found a couple of sources for the seeds of high-CBD cannabis and one West Coast medical cannabis firm offered to give me some seedlings of high-CBD plants. There is a huge amount of interest in the state about this issue and people are much more aware of it than I thought.
So now I plan to grow the real thing, a marijuana strain that has been hybridized to have high CBD and low THC for medical use. And if Gov. Deal changes his mind and supports Rep. Peake’s legislation, I’ll give my cannabis plant to the governor as decoration for his office.
For those not familiar with “medical cannabis,” marijuana isn’t just one kind of plant. There are hundreds of hybrids, some focusing on high THC for recreational users who are looking for a “high,” while others have low THC and high CBD for medical use. Like many people, I had no idea that such a variety of cannabis existed until I began to research this issue closely.
One of the problems with medical research on marijuana is that the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency has classified cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, the highest and most regulated drug schedule. Marijuana is listed along with heroin, LSD and ecstasy.
Many other dangerous drugs, however, are Schedule 2 and less regulated. Those drugs include cocaine, OxyContin, and Demerol.
There’s an obvious disconnect in that: Why is marijuana considered more dangerous than OxyContin or cocaine?
That DEA classification is what has led Georgia and other states to be reluctant to open the door to medical research on cannabis. If the feds reclassified cannabis to a more reasonable Schedule 2 or Schedule 3, it would spark a tremendous amount of medical research across the nation.
You have to wonder why President Obama, who has used executive orders to implement a variety of policies around Congress, hasn’t used that power to order the DEA to reclassify cannabis.

After last week’s article, a local gentleman who is involved in medical cannabis research contacted me. He gave me some medical cannabis in a “vape pen” and said maybe I could try it and report on its effects.
A vape pen is an electronic device that heats up a liquid for inhaling. This particular vape pen is charged by plugging it into a USB port on a computer.
So that’s what I did this week. I charged the pen, then attached it to the cannabis oil and took five strong puffs just before writing this editorial. While I can tell that I’ve smoked something, the low THC cannabis oil didn’t give me a “high.” I’m not a pot smoker and five strong hits of a high THC oil would probably have made me loopy and unable to concentrate enough to type these words.
The CBD cannabis didn’t seem to hurt me. In fact, I had a headache before inhaling the CBD oil and now the headache’s gone.
Vaping is just one way to deliver cannabis oil and is generally used for those needing immediate relief from pain. For children, the oil is usually administered orally.
Readers here can judge for themselves if the medical cannabis made my writing better or worse.
In the coming weeks, I’m going to concentrate on getting my cannabis plant growing. I’ll update readers on its progress (with photos) and on the progress of Rep. Peake’s legislation that would allow medical cannabis to be legally grown in Georgia.
Let’s hope both flourish in the sunlight.

Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.

 

[420 Warrior]

As much as I applaud this guys defiance of the law and piss poor legislation, it's quite obvious that he has much more to learn about becoming an activist for the cause. He doesn't seem to know just how far the rabbit hole goes here and I'd love to get him here learning every aspect of what it is he's writing about here.

I'm getting pretty tired of hearing about these low THC, high CBD strains and people being misled to believe that CBD is the answer to treatment when in fact the it's all the compounds found in Cannabis that work together to treat ailments properly.

Don't take this the wrong way because I really like this guys efforts but he's obviously very new to the Cannabis world and really needs further education and all the facts before he starts spouting out things that have no facts to back up his claims. I just don't want to see this guy going to prison on felony charges just because he's pissed off at a failed system. We're ALL pissed off but how will it really help his kid by getting himself locked up? That's not a very smart strategy if you ask me...just sayin...?

I think I'll try to get in touch with this guy myself and give him a little heads up about how much he needs to know before he starts being counterproductive for the cause and invite him to become a member here at 420 Magazine so he can educate himself further before he keeps on writing articles about failed Cannabis legislation.