37 patients in Costa Rica with diseases such as cancer, lupus, fibromyalgia, hernias or chronic pain consume between 8 and 15 drops of medicinal cannabis oil (marijuana) each day. This mitigates the symptoms of treatments such as chemotherapy and alleviates other side effects that conventional medicines generate.
The Cannabis oil is provided free of charge by the Costa Rica Alchemy movement, a non-profit association that began the artisanal production of the oil eight months ago, using a proven recipe in other countries and with raw materials, which they say are donated by the members of the association.
In an interview with CRHoy.com, Rebeca Arias, Vladimir Chavez and Mónica Valverde, three of the 37 patients who are currently consuming the product, claim that since the first month of constant use of cannabis oil, they began to notice positive changes in their health status and psyche.
Vladimir Chavez was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer and for six months he has been consuming cannabis oil, with results that, according to him, restored his hope and his desire to live.
Chavez says he learned of medical cannabis through his son and since then, other cancer patients he knows as well as his doctors – with whom he receives chemotherapy – are surprised at his progress. Inclus, or markers of tumor burden in your body were reduced by more than 80%.
The organizers of the association say they already have a waiting list of more than 100 patients who also seek the product eventually while negotiating with some legislators to help them push bills that allow legalization of cultivation, production and distribution of cannabis for medicinal use.
“I found the relief I looked for 12 years”
Rebeca Arias investigated medicinal cannabis when her mother was diagnosed with cancer and suffered devastating effects as a result of chemotherapy. After getting the option in Europe, her mother rejected the use of the product, however, she tried it as a remedy to the constant pain in her spine after a traffic accident.
Monica Valverde is one of the patients with lupus that belongs to the association, her disease is autoimmune, that is, her own system attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake, causing severe pain and whose treatment, like chemotherapy, leaves even worse consequences in her body.
According to her, cannabis oil is “her last option,” since the synthetic drugs she has taken over the past 13 years have altered her body’s functioning and her life and sleep cycles.
How do they make it?
The process of producing medical cannabis oil is relatively simple, required only is marijuana in its natural state, olive oil and alcohol. The association produces two types of oils, a “light” that is made in a few hours and another with greater cannabis load, to treat severe pain and that leads to a process of concentration of the plant for up to 10 days.
Diego González, secretary of the association explained that with 100 grams of pure marijuana, they can produce up to 12 droppers with 20 milliliters each, which they distribute monthly among the patients registered to the movement.
“We do not sell the oil and we do not buy the marijuana to produce it, since this would be illegal (a crime). We are a legally registered association with the authorities that manage everything through donations and we seek to take the product to more and more people with chronic diseases in the country,” he explained.
Among the properties attributed by its manufacturers are the anti-inflammatory, relaxing, sedative and antibiotic effects of the CBC, CBD, CBN and CBG components of the plant.
According to the spokespersons of the organization, although marijuana is a substance prohibited by national legislation, this conflicts with international treaties signed by Costa Rica that are above the law and that the country must comply with, such as the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of the United Nations, which excluded marijuana and its derivatives from the official list of narcotics.
Source (in Spanish): Crhoy.com, Facebook
