Oily tears

Hi, Ngaio, I enjoy your articles. I’ve never smoked it but once, finding it wasn’t my thing, but I have no issues with those that do. Which brings me to my question: I’m a 73-year-old male diagnosed with low-stage prostate cancer that will eventually kill me. Luckily for me, a friend with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer, not wishing to spend her final days in misery, elected to use the Rick Simpson procedure. In two months, the tumor had shrunk a third and there were no signs of other progression. Her last checkup showed no change in her status. After more research and being unimpressed with the traditional options available, I started the treatment two months ago. My question is how is one to tell that they are receiving the proper product? Is it based on faith? I feel like my next test in two weeks should show me cancer-free as proof that my product was correct. Do you have any idea as to the proper amount? How can you tell the strength, purity? I guess I’m asking for any information you may have on this confusing issue.

—Tom

Hello, Tom. I am sorry to hear that you have cancer and I am glad your friend is doing better. I hope the treatment works for you, as well. The thing about the Rick Simpson cannabis oil treatment, a.k.a. Phoenix Tears (phoenixtears.ca), is that while the anecdotal evidence is promising (your friend is doing better, I have a friend who beat cancer with it), there are no rigorous studies showing it to be effective. I am sure it will help you, though. At the least, it couldn’t hurt to try. As to your question about how to know if you are getting the right product, well, it depends. Your letter doesn’t say where you are from, but if you got your oil from a reputable dispensary in California, you most likely have the right stuff. Most clubs these days send their products to labs for testing, so you should be OK there. However, the FDA did recently send out warning letters to a few manufacturers of high-CBD products (http://1.usa.gov/19UhWoB) about making unsupported claims and not having very much CBD in their products. This all goes to show how prohibition is holding us back from doing serious research into how cannabis helps to fight cancer. I hope the Rick Simpson oil helps. Please keep in touch.

I’m making weed butter for the first time, and I’m seeing so many recipes with totally different steps and methods. Do you have any advice or favorite weed butter recipes? And what do you like to make with it when it’s done?

—Guy

Easy and quick: Put some butter and some ground-up cannabis in a crockpot set on low. Let it cook at least two hours or overnight. Strain it and chill it. Boom. Done. Use it like regular butter. Pound cake is always good, or just slather it on some toast and go about your day. Woot!