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Independence Day
Transmutation : All things are equal in creation , and through acceptance , those things which might be experienced as poison can be eaten , ingested , integrated and transmuted into the energy of fire ...
~ The Medicine of Snake
Part 2 of 3
Dr . Lisa Roark — A Story to Tell
by Dolores Halbin , contributing writer
Last month ended when the good doctor Lisa Roark and her husband Griff had just gotten off the plane for a vacation in Mexico and much needed R & R — post Amendment 2 ( A2 ) battle , application process for opening a dispensary in Cassville , MO , finished ! Yippee ! But alas , their trials and tribulation had indeed just begun anew .
Snakebites
Before getting to the hotel , day one of their “ vacation ” to Mexico , Dr . Roark received a 4:30 a . m . CST email from the exec they hired to write and submit their dispensary application . The email simply stated he wasn ’ t going to submit their application . Deadlines looming , the next 48 hours were high adrenaline international panic , eventually resolving with an agreement from the exec to do what he had been paid to do , but the first half of their vacation was gone , and the stress hormones were circulating . They salvaged their remaining days in Mexico , blissfully unaware her second snakebite was waiting to happen before they got home from the airport , this time by the media .
DHHS and Telehealth
“ Shortly before leaving on the trip , I was contacted by a media source for my opinion of telehealth . As a physician , I knew we needed telehealth , and I had been vocal about it ,” Dr . Roark said .
For those not around back then , initially , the language from DHHS required on-site visits . There was a huge educational push by physicians and nurses to expand patient access through telehealth . DHHS listened to reason and moved pretty fast to allow telehealth . However , several investors early on had not considered DHHS changing their
minds , investing heavily in the early language requiring on-site visits — those who did so lost a lot of money , which brought out some sour grapes .
The article Dr . Roark came home to out and out accused her of “ running a pot mill to collect money to give anyone and everyone marijuana .” The interview source was eventually identified as one of the disgruntled industry people with one of those doomed business models who had a friend who was a reporter .
Dr . Lisa Roark
“ I was devastated ,” Dr . Roark sighed . “ Telehealth gives more patients access ; it ’ s a no-brainer , so of course I said hell yea ! The article was so hurtful . I was completely blindsided . Up to that point , I thought we had all been working together . I thought wrong . It ’ s hard when your heart is with your patients and the plant , and the realization hits that others are not .”
Cannabis is Going to Kill Me
The second wrong thought shared by many — stress would decrease after A2 passed , which in retrospect , was naive . We had crossed the finish line only to discover this wasn ’ t a race but a triathlon .
“ My nervous system was on overload and had been since I came out for A2 in March of 2018 . I remember thinking after I read the article accusing me of running a pot mill , ‘ Cannabis is going to kill me .’”
At one point , anger took over . “ I have experienced being an angry person in my past , but I worked really hard to get over it ,” explained Dr . Roark . “ And now I was overwhelmed with anger again , and I didn ’ t like it .” With the anger , depression , hurt , and resentment inside of her , and the unending work day-to-day ahead of her , the long-term persistent exposure to stress hormones was about to get real .
44 August 2023