Warren relieved over arrival of cannabis oil
(CNS): After a two-year campaign to persuade the government of the benefits of amending the law so that doctors could prescribe cannabis oil, getting the legislation and regulations needed, encouraging local physicians and pharmacists to get on board and sourcing a legal way to import the medicine, this week Dennie Warren Jr was finally able to collect 60 millilitres from Foster’s pharmacy for his wife, who is battling stage four lung cancer.
The oil was sourced from Jamaica and Warren was quick to thank everyone who played a part in making it happen. But there is no doubt that it was his determined advocacy, research and hard work that resulted in the Cayman government taking the bold step to make the extract legal and available on prescription. Warren sees this as a first step towards more legalisation.
Comforted by the fact that his wife finally has the medicine they believe is her last real hope of survival, Warren is turning his attention to the election campaign. The issue of cannabis will form a key part of his bid to win the seat of George Town West.
Warren is the first politician in Cayman to run on a very specific policy platform. While he has other ideas for a number of areas, his main goal will be to place the legalisation of cannabis cultivation on the local political agenda. Warren is firm in his commitment to persuade the political elite that the Cayman Islands can take the lead in what many believe will soon become a multi-billion dollar industry.
If the people of GTW support him, Warren, who has already demonstrated his powers of persuasion, intends to spend his time as an elected official persuading those with the power for change that this could be the long-elusive third leg to the local economy. A wide legal regime could offer many more people in need access to the drug and real opportunities for medical research to explore the full potential of the much-maligned and misunderstood plant.
“Things are happening so fast now,” Warren told CNS Friday, after what has seemed like an age waiting on the arrival of the oil. “My eyes are now looking toward cultivation,” he added. “It’s not just about the necessary quality control of the drug but there is no reason why Cayman cannot grow the plant. Why import the oil when we can grow and produce the product ourselves, creating jobs, business opportunities and spin-off sectors?”
While the oil is now available and legal in Cayman if it is prescribed by a doctor, not all of the medical profession support its use. And there are still other significant barriers to some patients who could benefit from the oil for a range of conditions.
Warren wants to see a wide education and awareness campaign about the potential of cannabis oil as a medicine for numerous chronic conditions as well as cancer. In the meantime, he is happy to advise anyone who believes they could benefit from the treatment and is inviting people to post questions on his Cannabis Oil Cayman Facebook page or to call him directly on 345-926-0716.
Category: 2017 General Elections, Elections, Health, Medical Health, Politics
Everyone wants to believe in medical/political conspiracies and miracle cures for loved ones, especially pseudoscience “cancer quacks” unethically exaggerating claims of cannabis as the ultimate cure for a serious ailment that will afflict 39.5% of us. With all due respect, Dennie is not an oncologist.
Dr. Donald Abrams, a well-known cannabis advocate, cancer and integrative medicine specialist at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Mount Zion in San Francisco and an oncologist for more than three decades, observes:
“[After] 33 years of being an oncologist in San Francisco, I would guess that a large proportion of the patients I have treated have used cannabis. If cannabis definitively cured cancer, I would have expected that I would have a lot more survivors.
The fact is that cannabis is a helpful medicine for many cancer and treatment-related side effects – nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia. Dr. Abrams’ opinion reflects a consensus within the credible oncologist and cancer scientific community: there is no doubt that cannabis is effective at treating cancer-related symptoms and treatment-related side effects, but the jury is still out on whether cannabis can actually “cure” cancer.
If there are licensed Cayman Islands doctors prescribing the various forms of CBD Oil as an interchangeable universal “cure-all” for cancer, the Cayman Islands Medical Board should act swiftly to protect our jurisdiction from medical malpractice insurance backlash. There simply is no medical basis to prescribe CBD oils in that manner. Licensed doctors shouldn’t be prescribing medication based on the anecdotal evidence of pre-human trails on rats, however encouraging those results may seem.
I don’t want our health insurance premiums to skyrocket because some greedy Cayman pseudo-doctors are eager to trade their ethics and medical licenses for quackery. We will get a very bad reputation very quickly if we’re not extremely careful.
Congrats, you can move to UK with a Cayman passport! This way you and perhaps others will not hinder the Cayman citizens natural healing paths, weather it be by personal choice (recreationally) or regulated with force (“medicinally”).
Please do more research – We know you need it.
Congratulations Dennie! I am so impressed by the fact that you never wavered from your position. If we had more citizens (and politicians) like you, we would actually get something done. All the best to you and your family.
Medical & Recreational use of this should be respected as a means of open treatment, especially if locals are to be given an opportunity to take part in the gamble. Else we are just engaging in setting up a Government Ganja oil dispensary shop.
Why? Because Cannabis is already here…its BEEN here. Oil has BEEN on the streets and is still there. Refining oil has BEEN taking place in Cayman – extractions alike! People are just slow.
The benefits far outweigh the detriments, a few obvious are:
– Creation of jobs.
(Through dispensaries, oil refineries and even annual seminars like CayCann!)
– Reduction of criminal records.
(Ridiculous how many of us have cannabis {dead plants} on our records and are then left for dead without Jobs…)
– Managing & treating psychosis, anxiety, depression, etc…
(Many psychos & real druggies are here – local & expat alike! You say you want to Help?)
– Keeping foreigners “medicated” to work in their high jobs
(So they continue paying WP fees to Gov! Synergy?)
Therefore, please cease the Tom Foolery about medical properties only for those who “need it”. Truthfully, Cannabis can without doubt help EVERYONE who is alive today in some form of way if they use it.
Thank you.
I want to test it myself for everything else except cancer sleeping problems, anxiety problems,,Alzheimer in family,,Blood pressure troubles..So How Can I get my hands on some…
Ms. Bush you would surprised of how fertility the Cayman Islands would be come once the right Government is in place , would be able to grow anything then .
Surprise, surprise, the oil was sourced from Jamaica!.What would be enlightening for the public is to learn if this product has any effect on his wife’s condition, hopefully it will, but viewed dispassionately, it probably won’t.
Im NOT referencing genuine criminals but, how many people are locked up for FAR LESS POTENT (almost bush useless grass) flowers in Northward? How many have records for dead flowering plants (Marijuana) and cant work amongst Bankers, Gas pumpers, even Gov garbage men?
OK, So once regulated and taxed the Cannabis industry will be praised and glorified? Because the Gov said it is? So you believe it now and could not just a year ago? Do you all REALLY care about your health or people, hmm?
The same folks who used to despise you walking up the street..lining up at Fosters pharmacy to get cannabis ganja oil?
LOL – woah. Lead by example.
Time to put a STOP to those canoes. A destructive force.
HOW NIAVE. Legalizing ganja wont stop the canoes that ferry people, guns, ammo, stolen jewelry/gems, and cocaine to the Cayman Islands market. If anything, legalizing ganja gives added legitimization to the other problems that piggy-back on the active transshipment economies. Pot is just one of the many illicit products. It is Cayman’s laissez faire attitude towards “ganja” that has permitted all of these other problems to flow in, not least of which, refueling drug canoes/subs for Billions in cocaine that transit our waters every year. So lucrative that we have Cayman-owned tankers idling just off in international waters for this very purpose. Guess who owns those?
Totally agree that we should legalize ganja and regulate it like tobacco and alcohol.
Cayman’s topography, combined with minimal rainfall, does not create a conducive climate for ganja cultivation. That,most likely, is the reason why the Jamaican canoes continue to make the journey on a regular basis.
Wrong!
We do have effective water supply systems for farming which aid in the growing of vegetation Lorna.
Congratulations Dennie, one step forward in the right direction for Cayman.
Actually Lorna Bush, Medical cannabis needs to be grown indoor. In a controlled environment. Anything else is simply bush weed.
No it doesnt
Free from pesticides, herbicides and any soil borne contamination I hope.
This country desperately needs this “third leg to the local economy”. New types of businesses are never even being explored by the country leaders. One of the businesses I have mentioned once, is essential oils distillation and extraction. Selling highly valuable locally produced product to visitors and residents can bring a steady stream on income. Eliminating the middle man and guaranteeing authenticity and quality will allow to demand premium prices.
I’ve always held the view that any political candidate who embraces and espouses the de-criminalization of ganja use and possession of personal amounts will be sure to get elected. Perhaps Mr. Warren should expand his position on medical marijuana usage to include same, highlighting the obvious benefits to society which other jurisdictions which have taken such steps have already identified – i.e. reduced court and incarceration costs to the public, reduced damage to users’ reputation employment opportunities, possible revenue opportunities for Government.
I am not saying that relief for Cancer is not important . But it’s not like everyone in the Cayman Islands is effected by it , but alot more is effected by unemployment , Immigration policy , high gas prices, and corruption , health insurance . Why are no one addressing those topics ? To me that’s a very slim platform to run on .
Please let us know how your wife is responding to this treatment. We will be very interested to know her progress. Thanks
Congratulations Dennie! Your hard work finally paid off. Good luck to you and your wife with her recovery and good luck in the elections.
Hard Work? Well, its inevitable that the GOV dabbles in the most rewarding global industry SOONER or LATER (by 2020 yeah) – they just needed a good frontman and he is now in that position friend.
Congratulations Dennie. You always fight hard for what you believe in. This time your fight was a lot closer to home than before. But you have taken personal and family pain and turmoil and turned it into yet another opportunity to improve the lives of your people! God bless you, your wife and children. May this treatment prove to be the cure that she has been waiting for. Keep fighting for your people my brother. Lion.