Zahra Abbas has epilepsy and went through seizures multiple times a day throughout her life, despite taking four different prescriptions. A few years ago she tried medical cannabis to combat the seizures on the advice of her doctor. She had never tried marijuana before, but it didn’t take long to see results.
Three days of cannabis and her seizures had stopped completely.
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Cannabis was a last result for Abbas, who was scared by all the misinformation about the plant, misinformation that made it out to be a hard drug and to be avoided at all costs. Reefer madness is still alive and well, but all’s it takes is a little truth to stop it in its tracks. Abbas tried it because it had come down to either brain surgery or try pot first. It was weed for the win.
Now 30 years old, Abbas has taken up the cannabis cause and has been helping greatly in the efforts to free the plant. She speaks on panels and collects signatures for marijuana based ballot issues. This summer she is acting as an unpaid volunteer to get signatures for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol on the 2018 ballot in Michigan.
This brings Abbas all the way from pro-prohibition to full on legalization warrior. Though her use is medical, she believes everyone should have access to cannabis.
One of Abbas’ arguments for the naysayers is that while cannabis is seen by some as a gateway drug, it is actually helping people get off of other drugs. Cannabis is at the very least anecdotally known to help people get off opiates, combat alcoholism and even quit cigarettes. A new study came out of The University of California showing that indeed, people on pain meds were able to substitute cannabis for their pills with great success.
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While changing minds about cannabis isn’t a done deal, the majority of the nation approves of legalization, a majority of states have some sort of pro marijuana laws and support for the plant continues to rise. It’s stories like Abas’ that are capable of changing minds and it’s also studies like the one out of California.
Cannabis IS a gateway: to health, holistic well being and a higher quality of life.
