The Great Debate: Medical Marijuana and the City of Los Angeles.
In the press, as of late, there is much talk about closing down Medical Marijuana Dispensaries. So much so that our fearless D.A. Steve Cooley has taken it upon himself to go to war with the dispensaries and the City Council that continue to try to regulate these establishments.
The issues that the City Council continue to struggle with is attempting to make dispensaries maintain a certain number of feet from public schools, parks, libraries and or any other places children could gather. However, a bigger issue seems to be lurking from behind.
That issue is the D.A Steve Cooley, and what I’m now referring to as his lack of understanding when it comes to the constituents that reside in the city of Los Angeles.
I’ll explain. (more…)
Panic Attacks / Michael Jackson / The Soothing Sounds of Elvis Costello
Some people are very lucky in mood and temperament. I am a high-strung, anxiety prone, insomniac, with a flair for panic attacks. Obviously, I am not one of the chosen people. If that make me a weirdo so be it, I am willing to own it and share it with whom-ever reads this. I don’t know why I’m such a lucky girl but I think it’s my lot in life to suffer. At one time I thought it made for really good art…now I think my genes just suck.
Anyway from time to time I get panic attacks. If you’ve never had one I’ll explain them to you. First – imagine you can’t breathe enough air in. Then start to focus on the fact that you aren’t getting enough oxygen. Next, think the more you inhale the better your oxygen intake will be. Then, start to freak out about what’s wrong with you? Start to wonder if you breathing this erratically is going to give you a heart attack? Then check your pulse, at this time your pulse is racing. Next you attempt to time it. Now as you count your rising heart rate, you begin to convince yourself that you are definitely having a heart attack and contemplate calling 911. It doesn’t matter that you are in good health and don’t have heart problems…what else could it be? More erratic breathing ensues – on the verge of passing out from hyperventilating and so on, and so on.
It’s really terrifying and no fun at all.
The worst one I had once lasted for an hour and a half and I thought surely I was about to die. I grabbed a brown lunch bag and breathed into it (like I’ve seen done in movies) and hoped that it would help. I still don’t know if it did, especially since I was basing my technique on something I’ve seen Gene Wilder do in a movie from the late seventies? Nevertheless, after I had consumed 8 bottles of water and a gallon of milk (my panicked reasoning was, there is H20 in water/liquid) I returned to normal. Now every once in a while I still get them but I try to control them before they turn into full blown – I’m going to die–attacks.
The latest and greatest was at work on a rather boring – nothing to speak of Thursday. All of a sudden I started to have some breathing problems. I was reading CNN and boom – I can’t breathe? I don’t know why, I don’t know how…but that’s the beauty of those little fuckers – out of nowhere and bam you are about to freak out and pass out. My first thought was – I couldn’t do this at work. It’s bad enough in the privacy in your own home, but passing out amongst people you work with sounds like a horrible nightmare that I don’t think I would survive – strictly thinking of the humiliation factor. I got up and walked around – attempted to thwart what was coming by talking to friends who could help. Then I decided that I should drive home…because that sounds so much better than passing out in the hallway? Sometimes I think my brain likes to fuck with me.