In 2020, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) convened a task force to study racial inequities within the criminal justice system; the outcome is that the state should decriminalize cannabis altogether.

But that didn’t help Rebecca Forbes, who realized cannabis as medicine in 2010.

A poll conducted by Elon University in January of 2021 found that 54 percent of North Carolinians support the legalization of cannabis for adults, with a stunning 73 percent in favor of legalization for medicinal use – making the future hopeful.

With 18 states in the U.S. now legal for adult use, and 36 states ow legal for medicine as of this writing, the number of conservative states, such as North Carolina, that are still persecuting patients is dwindling, with anecdotal stories of healing becoming too obvious to ignore.As news of successful medicinal use circulates solely via word of mouth and on the internet, patients needful in illegal states are going ahead and finding relief with myriad ailments where traditional pharmaceutical treatments fail.

As I’ve written dozens of times, cannabis patients are doing the work ahead of legislators and those in the medical profession being educated. We end up educating our doctors by example.

From Oxy to Cannabis

After a miscarriage in 2008 in her 40s, a tumor was found on her adrenal gland following an abdominal CT scan. It’s important to note that because she did not qualify for insurance at the time, due to pre-existing conditions, the lymphoma wouldn’t be discovered until March of 2014 when her insurance was then forced to do the scan.

The subsequent diagnosis came after a biopsy at the University of North Carolina Cancer Center. Her cannabis use came before this diagnosis, successfully treating various conditions, including shrinking the tumor.

Before the lymphoma diagnosis, Forbes has prescribed Oxycontin for the chronic pain that soon led to further use of Vicodin and Lortabs, sharing that she became non-functional as a mother to her other children at home.”This type of tumor affects women my age,” she said. “It’s caused by an overproduction of cortisol – with the only option being surgery. Because of where the tumor was, the surgery was risky, so I declined.”As detailed in Medical News Today, the type of lymphoma finally diagnosed affects the white blood cells in the lymph system, which is part of the immune system.”Considered a severe condition, it’s typically not detected until it’s advanced, with an estimated 70 percent surviving a minimum of five years after receiving a diagnosis.

Follicular lymphoma is a type of NHL. Follicular lymphoma develops when the body produces abnormal B lymphocytes. This type of lymphoma is usually not curable, but chronic with 80 to 90 percent of patients living with it for up to 10 to 12 years. Meanwhile, her pain killer uses soon got the best of her, and she ended up sleeping most of the time.”I’d wake up drooling and couldn’t breathe,” she continued. “My body went into full edema – swelling up with water gain.

My gallbladder was failing, and I was going into congestive heart failure. The doctors told me I’d have ten years or less to live, and I knew I was going to die.”Forbes said she began hearing about Canadian Rick Simpson, the cannabis oil recipe he shared worldwide, and the seemingly miraculous healing that ensued globally.”I finally broke down and smoked a joint with my dad.

That was in 2009, after one year of suffering. Five weeks later, I was no longer taking any narcotics – just by smoking,” she said, still in disbelief herself. After watching Rick Simpson’s story, Run from the Cure, Forbes said she was still skeptical about the efficacy of using cannabis in this way but curious.”Knowing surgery to get the tumor wouldn’t work for me, using the oil made me feel like I could take my life into my own hands – so I wouldn’t die and have to leave my kids,” she said, teary-eyed. “But I was still skeptical because of all the bad press on cannabis for so long. You need to remember; I had never tried cannabis or any other drugs before I started smoking.”

Skeptics Beware

Early in 2010, a friend gave Forbes a quart jar of cannabis-infused canola oil. “He told me it might help me,” she laughed. “And me – with no faith at all, stuck it in the cabinet and forgot about it!” Months later, in July of that year, Forbes ended up in the emergency room in complete organ failure.”I was told I had 24 hours or less before my kidneys would fail. They told me to go home and say goodbye to my family,” she remembered. “I left the hospital against advice, went home and pulled the quart jar of infused oil out and took three or four huge gulps!”The infused canola oil probably tested upwards of 60 percent activated THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive compound in cannabis – knocking her out until the next day.

This is an excellent time to infuse the “start low, go slow” lesson when ingesting high THC activated edibles, medibles, or otherwise. But, the sheer panic of losing her life caused her to dose in this way. The good news is, you can’t die after overconsuming cannabis. You may feel as though you are. Add alcohol, and you’ll fade, or blackout, with many telling stories of out-of-body experiences. Heart palpitations are common, but it’s not adversely affecting the cardio system. It affects the central nervous system, making you feel like a cardiac episode.

Amazingly, after waking up the next day, Forbes said she took more of the oil in the same way.”After several days of this, I started feeling much better!” she exclaimed. “Now, I understand why they say cannabis treatments sound too good to be true. The healing is fast and noticeable right away. It made me kick myself for having that bottle of oil sit in the cupboard for as long as I did!”After just two weeks, Forbes’ doctors cleared her of organ failure, and she set out to make her oil.”I’ve been making my own infused oils ever since, and needless to say, 12 years later, I’m still alive and have seen three grandchildren come into this world,” she concluded.