Not so long ago, I shared my post-TEDx Boulder 2013 thoughts on one of the talks that evening. It was by Josh Stanley and the talk garnered the evening’s only standing ovation. As one of the two states in the nation that’s adopted recreational sale of marijuana (along with the impending hefty 15% excise tax), that’s been Colorado’s conversation du-jour as of late.
But the Boulder community started another conversation on September 21, 2013 — one started by Josh Stanley and his brothers many years ago when marijuana was approved for medical sale. See, the Stanley brothers have become some of the state’s most respected and prolific growers of medical marijuana. But at TEDxBoulder 2013, Josh Stanley told a different story about medical marijuana.
It’s a story that won’t get you high. But it will give you a buzz.
Marijuana — and its non-psychoactive compound — is improving the lives of children suffering from pediatric epilepsy.
Imagine being a child who suffers from hundreds (yes, hundreds) of seizures a day. You can’t do the things “normal” kids do. Your parents can’t even get to know you because you’re all embroiled in the fight to stay alive, coherent, and conscious. You’re so pumped full or pharmacopia that your blood should be sponsored by a drug company a la a NASCAR ride.
And then a bunch of guys in Colorado come along and cultivate a plant that — contrary to popular belief — isn’t designed to get anyone high.
It’s designed to give you your life back. Let you be a kid. Help your parents get to know you and put you and your family on the path of becoming a family.
It’s designed to give you a childhood, the one you’ve been robbed of by some freak incident of biochemistry.
Today, we’re sharing Josh Stanley’s TEDxBoulder talk as we promised we would. Watch the story unfold and discover how “marijuana” isn’t the dirty word that many make it out to be.
But hey — we’re from Colorado. We knew this, right?
