“Whoa! You use cannabis?!?!”

“You don’t seem like a pothead.”

“I didn’t know you were a druggie.”

“Don’t you care about what others think?”

“Why?”

Ok first lets make this straight. Yes, I use cannabis on a regular basis. No, I am not the Devil.

It really started after my More Than Just Miles Project. I had just finished running 3,191 miles to drive awareness to a genetic disease known as Cystic Fibrosis. Over 161 days I would average around 20 miles a day running through high winds, rain, sleet, hail, snow storms, blazing suns, and humidity that you could cut with a knife.

Some days it would be 18 miles and some days it could be 50 miles. My very last day as I finished this project on the sand of Daytona Beach, FL starting from Seattle, WA was my longest run coming in at 23 hours and 18 minutes running 101 miles.

But thanks to the amazing support of Timothy Ettridge and thousands around the world I was done.

There was a celebration. TONS of awareness rose for CF and the beginning of a non-profit called More Than Just Me Foundation where we would use our love of adventure to drive awareness to different causes around the world.

As I planned my next project bringing in two of my buddies Mark Nolan and John Burkett where we would attempt to climb the Seven Summits, the highest peak on each continent, I started to feel unique pains throughout my body.

It wasn’t anything consistent. It was pretty much from putting my body through these adventures. It all started at a young age and I still remember when my mom would yell out the door as I leapt from our 15ft roof to the yard below “Tommy, you’re going to ruin your knees and back.”

In 2007 at the age of 25 I would ride my bike from Newport Beach, CA to Boston, MA and now I was done with running across the country and walking into a project that less than 1,200 had ever completed putting more stress and pain upon my 30 year old body (at the time).

Now I am 34 years old and we have climbed four of the Seven Summits and I wake up some mornings wondering if I have legs or not. Sounds strange but sometimes I can’t feel my legs when I wake up. I know, I know it’s a big warning sign, but I have learned how to adapt. Not to mention the pain in my knees and other joints throughout my body. I rub my legs until I start getting the sensation of my legs and then walk my happy ass to the bathroom to floss and brush my teeth, but then I notice that my face is falling off………

Wait….What?!?!?…..

Even with the amazing protection Sun Bum gives us at high altitude it gets cold and frostbite happens. Through these climbs my face has taken a number (insert joke here). So I grab my Green Goo for dry skin and apply it to my eyebrows, nose, and upper lip to moisturize my skin hoping I don’t have an awkward moment where skin falls off my face in the middle of dinner.

This isn’t a pity party. It’s an explanation.

I could have turned to pain pills and other remedies that I know would harm my body/mind or I could turn to an herb known as Marijuana or Mary Jane or The Dank or the Geeba or the Stanky Weed. No matter what you call Cannabis it is all mostly the same thing. Though it’s the same it can affect you in different ways depending how you use it.

Lets just get the negative out right now. If you smoke a joint, blunt, pipe, or bong then yes this will irritate your lungs and any smoke is bad for your lungs. If you use a vaporizer then it can help minimize that irritation, but everyone is different.

I personally am an Edible Enthusiast. This is where cannabis is inserted into all kinds of foods/candies that can be consumed, but you still get the benefits from the THC.

What if I told you that I don’t feel the pain that radiates through my body because I eat a little piece of Mind Tricks Toffee?

“LIARRRRRR!!! HE’S THE DEVIL!!!!!”

I’m no devil and I don’t sit her making any promises that it will cure you from your pain or anything, but I will say it makes my pain go away.

Recently I was in Oregon on Mt. Hood with some buddies and my body was really angry with me. I don’t know if it was the cold or the altitude or the recent abuse from my past adventures. I woke up and stepped out of the tent at 8k and didn’t want to even go up 20ft. I was in pain.

My fingers to my toes were just the start. Then add in the needle piercing pain in my knees. It wasn’t going to be my morning as darkness surrounded me for the early morning departure. I opened my bag of Mind Tricks and grabbed a delicious S’mores Toffee and popped it in my mouth. I continued to get ready throwing on my layers and boots and prepping my water, as we would be going to the summit of Mt. Hood.

By the time we looked each other over and took off my pain was starting to be reduced. I went from doubtful, grumpy, and pained Tommy to Happy Tommy.

Sure some will say its because you were high. Well yeah. I was high but being high doesn’t take pain away for me. Cannabis does. Not only that but it clears my mind and allows me to focus on the task. It also gives me an appetite at an elevation that makes you not want to even drink your water let alone munch down one of my NEO Snacks.

We have this concept that if you use cannabis then you must be a lazy druggie that just smokes weed and watches TV while eating on his couch.

What if we looked at a medicine that could not only help me but also help others that are in pain on a daily basis in a positive light? One of the biggest things for anyone with CF is to have an appetite. What if there was a natural medicine that could increase their appetite so they could get the proper nutrition.

Oh wait…….There is….

Living in San Diego or really out West cannabis isn’t even a concern. If you are walking on the boardwalk and smell it you don’t even think twice.

Sadly when I visit other places in the Midwest or East Coast and the same thing happens well……”Oh man do you smell that? Should we call the cops?!?!?”

Listen I’m not saying everywhere is like this nor am I saying to break the law if it’s not legal in your state. It is kind of messed up though that an herb that actually heals is illegal yet we have so many meds being fed to kids and adults that actually do damage to the body and mind. Thanks government.

No matter what though I will say this and say it consistently.

I support and am an advocate for cannabis use.

If you don’t know more about cannabis don’t be afraid to read more about it. Create your own opinion and not an opinion from someone else.

When I was younger I used to think Cannabis was the devil…..It was just lack of knowledge on my part.

I wouldn’t be able to finish the More Than Just Mountains Project without it.

I want to give a big shout out and huge thank you to Jetty Extracts and Mind Tricks as they have been amazing sponsors. They helped cover the cost for my trips to South America to train and if that’s not enough then I should let you know when we go into different countries for The Erin Effect and help orphans they are the first to ask if they can donate toys/food/supplies.

When it comes down to it realize that you have one life. It’s your life. Not your parents, not your friends, not others that you idolize. It’s yours and you only get one so I suggest that you take a deep breath and Live Your Life!

Love will always conquer all. The question is whether or not you are willing to love the stranger next to you.

(I was not high while writing this, though I debated it.) #coffeestrong

#extractyourself #marijuana #pot #cannabis #jettyextracts #mindtricks