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Sierra Riddle's story is a prime example of the sadness of our culture in today's world. She is trying to help her son, Landon, fight for his life against cancer (a disease with no known cure) the best way she knows how and with the least pain and harmful side effects. She is basing her decisions on strong evidence; not just anecdotal, but controlled scientific studies. Sierra is doing what any reasonable person would do in her shoes.Unfortunately, many reasonable people have still not been provided with the facts and research about Cannabinoid therapies and treatments and thankfully for them, they are not required to walk in a mile in those painful shoes.

We try to make other people's private decisions for them in today's America. This is a violation of those people's Civil Rights, but we allowed them to be taken away from us by not remaining vigilant. We are all born with those rights. We all deserve to keep them. They are the same ones that are being fought for by minorities and disenfranchised peoples across the political spectrum. We fight this fight so hard and we support each other because if we don't, who else will?

Unless you are fighting or have fought cancer (whether your own or a loved one's), you know you can't properly understand this woman's struggles and you know that other people should not be trying to make these decisions for her. Sierra is not a mother saying that she is going to stop chemotherapy and start praying or hoping or using medicinal herbs that have little or no proven effectiveness. Sierra is a reasonable person being advised by other reasonable people based on both anecdotal and scientific evidence of success. 

This evidence isn't from an obscure institution in northern Russia (no offense, my northern Russian friends). It can be easily found in studies published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and conducted at well-respected educational research institutions such as the University of California (among many others). Cannabinoid research managed to reach the main stream decades ago, but our elected government still refuses to heed the wisdom in these studies and end the War on Cannabis.

Cannabinoid therapies and treatments are valid treatment options according to scientists and medical professionals the world over. I am not speaking in hyperbole. This is scientific fact. I continually read studies of the curative properties of THC and CBD from all corners of the civilized world, especially with regard to cancer. More and more former cancer patients are telling me that they firmly believe that they would not be alive today without cannabis and hundreds of scientific studies continue to support this belief.

We can't take away other people's valid treatment options out of bias and discrimination toward a plant! How any American raised with the principles of American freedom instilled in them can imagine why allowing our government to take away our rights so easily is acceptable behavior is beyond me. This is a freedom that is supposed to be better than the rest of the world, we regularly brag about that. It is a freedom that has to be fought for to be sustained. What kind of example are we setting?

Please, if you haven't already, take a moment to read the article below and please sign the petition it refers to on Change.org. If you have already done this, please encourage others to do so. The fight for Civil Rights continues with every single step, no matter how small. Even if you aren't concerned about your Civil Rights now, your life can change in an instant. We'll be there for you if it ever does. Please be here for us now.

Thank you and please smoke responsibly,

Skyler Cannabaceae
Author
The Cannabis Salvation Blog

Sierra & Landon's Story
Change.org Petition

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This blog post originally appeared on The Cannabis Salvation Blog