Reflections ►
The Heart of Cannabis
Comes to The Heartland and we have a cannabis army !
by Dolores Halbin , contributing writer
We all have a handful of those special friends , the friends that when we see their name pop up on the phone , we are excited and happy to answer ! There is some sort of endorphin release before we even say hello .
Mary Lynn Mathra , RN , veteran , and founder of the organization “ Patients Out of Time ” ( POT ), is on that very short list of people for me . So , when her name popped up on my phone last August while I was out walking the dogs on the back 40 , I told the dogs to go play and sat down on the fencepost and answered .
As it turned out , Mary Lynn , fondly known around the cannabis world ( literally , around the world ) as ML , was going to be coming through the Midwest on her return trip from the Northwest to her home state of Virginia and wanted to “ stop by .” Wow .
“ Sure ,” I told her . “ Stop on by !” I couldn ’ t have been more excited if it were Santa Clause wanting to drop in on me . More thrilling was the news that “ Patients Out of Time ” was considering Missouri for the 2022 Biannual Cannabis Education Conference . Mary Lynn wondered if I would like to show her around . Two days later , I was giving my dear friend a tour .
It ’ s been a long time since I went on a sight-seeing tour of Kansas City , and I had forgotten what a beautiful city we have , full of art and fountains and steeped in historical architecture . We got to see Big Ben , the world ’ s biggest steam engine , while touring Union Station . By day ’ s end , we had settled on June 9 – 11 , 2022 , at Unity Temple on the Plaza for the conference site and the Sheraton Hotel across the street for lodging .
In what can only be serendipitous timing , MoCannBizCon was happening in St . Louis that same weekend , which was right on ML ’ s way home . With just a few messages , I sent
54 February 2022
her out the door to St . Louis to meet with pretty much all the members of our state who are involved in cannabis . There would have been no other way to introduce her to literally everyone who can help bring this conference in and meet the obligation of being the host city at one time with absolutely no notice . Put on your black sunglasses , folks . We ’ re on a mission from God .
Dr . Dustin Sulak , is a rock star among the medical cannabis community . He will be speaking at the June conference at Unity Temple on the Plaza .
“ Patients Out of Time ,” founded in 1995 , is the oldest , longest-running medical cannabis advocacy , education , and activist group in the world . The doctors who know and study cannabis worldwide , including our beloved Father of Cannabis , Dr . Raphael Mechoulam from Israel , would come to speak and teach at the POT conferences .
I was first introduced to the organization in 2016 , when Jeff Mazensky and I were asked to come to Baltimore , MD , and speak on a “ Victims ” panel . As most of you know , Mazensky , a military veteran of the Air Force , served 22 years of a life sentence for cannabis . A heroic effort by the Missouri grassroots organization , Show-Me Cannabis , gathered over 200,000 signatures for his release in 2015 . We traveled to Baltimore along with
Your ’ s truly at the 2016 Patients Out of Time Conference with Chris Mazensky on my left , and Jeff Mazensky to the right .
Jeff ’ s son , Chris , under the condition that our “ Victims ” panel be renamed the “ Survivors ” panel .
The real victims , like my husband , aren ’ t around to tell their stories . The 300,000 still incarcerated for cannabis aren ’ t around to tell their stories , either . Jeff and I survived , although we were both still reeling a bit , trying to navigate the waters of our new lives — his as a free man , mine as a widow and a convicted criminal .
My sentencing hearing had just happened on the spring equinox — time served . Now , two weeks after standing in front of Judge Journey in Bates County , MO , awaiting my fate , here I was standing around a campfire in the back yard of one of Baltimore ’ s historic homes between two of the brilliant minds of cannabis . On my left , Dr . David Bearman from California , and Dr . Roger Pertwee from Scotland , on my right , had spoken earlier in the day .
Dr . Bearman tapped me on the shoulder and said , “ Excuse me , nurse ,” and passed me a joint , one of those big ones they sell at dispensaries . I had never seen or held a joint that big . I wasn ’ t able to medicate during any of my trial proceedings for fear of a drug screen , but that was all behind me , I was a convicted criminal now , so I graciously took the joint .