Higher Profile: Granny Storm Crow, Grass Roots Advocate

For more than ten years Granny Storm Crow has been compiling studies on cannabis from around the world, maintaining a comprehensive database online. She does this to inform, evangelizing the fact that the plant has indeed been studied in depth for decades, contrary to the mantra, “We need more studies.”

Granny Storm Crow’s List, which began with 60 pages published on her 60^th birthday in 2007, has grown to more than 6,000 pages of links to articles, studies, and published papers on cannabis.

Many advocates for cannabis use pseudonyms in the space to hide their identity. Most do it for legal reasons; either they live in an illegal state, they work within a federally funded organization, or they work in the medical field – which, ironically, is against the rules in the U.S.

Granny took on the pseudonym due to a past school district job and to protect the job security of family members.

“I was a well-respected teacher’s aide when I began this work,” she explained. “Even though I am legal in my home state to use cannabis as medicine for a real ailment, schools forbade its use and I had to hide in the shadowy world of the internet, as I influenced followers world-wide.”

Advocacy via Pain

With every story of advocacy there’s a backstory with a history of illness, accidents, and subsequent struggles to be well. Granny Storm Crow’s story is no different.

“When I was three years old I suffered a major head injury when another child – perhaps five years old – tried to kill me with a hammer,” she shared. “I was left with dents in my skull and frequent migraines. By the time I was five, my bedroom had black curtains to block the light.”

By the time she reached 19 she tried cannabis and liked it. It took about a year for her to realize that when she smoked cannabis she didn’t have the migraines. The nightmares that had plagued her since childhood also disappeared, quelling symptoms of severe PTSD from the accident.

“Some will say the migraines may have just disappeared as I grew older, but that’s not the case,” she continued. “I quit using cannabis for three years when I began working for the school district, and they came back with a vengeance. I’ve been using cannabis medicinally for more than 40 years now, and it’s still as effective.”

The List

“To most folks, the List as appears as this huge, unchanging monolith of information,” she said. “But, the information is constantly changing. Abstracts become full studies, and vice versa; URLs are changed and moved. It’s a constant job to update and can be mind-numbing, but the golden nuggets of information I’ve found make it worth the work.”

The List is divided up into sections, with news articles comprising the first section, and a mini-dictionary of scientific terms to help the reader decipher the studies themselves.

“Most of us old-timers had to learn about cannabis bit by bit from scattered sources,” she informed. “I’ve found that news articles often contain details the official abstract of the study may not cover, so they are worth reading. I’ve also made it easy to use by adding a Beginners section that gives all the basic information.”

New studies covering the past four years are found in Section 2, dating from 2015 through Mid-August of 2019.

“It’s the biggest section simply because new studies are coming out at an amazing rate now!” she exclaimed. “This section can be the most useful for students, medical professionals and patients.”

A large Cultivation section with articles on farming cannabis dating back to 1789 is intriguing. She also has hundreds of recipes listed under Methods of Use, with information on both ancient and modern techniques for farming and remedies made with cannabis listed under History.

Got Omega-3?

The most compelling information comes from Section 3, with details about Omega-3 and subsequent deficiencies in the Endocannabinoid System (eCS).

“The information on Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency and Omega-3 is quite thought provoking,” she continued. “In my opinion, the eCS and its genetics is the future of medicine. Diets in the western world are actually deficient in Omega-3, depleted further by our use of Omega-6 oils in our diets and in processed foods.”

The earliest study found with this problem is from the National Institute of Health’s Pub Med site (#21278728), titled, “Nutritional Omega-3 Deficiency abolishes endocannabinoid-medicated neuronal functions.”

In other words, in an Omega-3 deficient diet – or, as Granny says, the average western diet – the CB1 receptors (and likely others) are left “uncoupled” from their G-proteins. Granny explains it as, “like a radio with a loose wire – you get no music; and when your endocannabinoid system ain’t working right, nothing is working right!”

The most chilling finding in this scenario is the last sentences in the abstract at hand, “Finally, the dietary-induced reduction of CB(1)R functions in mood-controlling structures was associated with impaired emotional behavior. These findings identify a plausible synaptic substrate for the behavioral alterations caused by the n-3 PUFAs deficiency that is often observed in western diets.

Meaning, our emotional health is suffering along with our physical health, since we’ve been led away from the garden. 

To drive the point home, excessive amounts of Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), as found in today’s western diets and majority of our cooking oils, promotes the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases – and increased levels of Omega-3 exert the exact opposite effects.

“So, violence and ‘behavioral alterations’ are commonplace, with most Americans walking around with a nutritionally damaged Endocannabinoid System – and the majority of doctors and medical professionals in the country are completely unaware of the situation, and offer no help at all.”

Copy & Paste for the Greater Good

Knowledge is power, and the woman known as Granny Storm Crow has spent years combing through mind-bending studies for our benefit.

“Above all, I’m an educator and feel that knowledge must be shared,” she concluded. “My list is just copy and paste and a bit of organizing. Pretty simple stuff, really. It’s the information contained in the list that’s important.”

Some of the most outspoken advocates in the cannabis space don’t have degrees in medicine or political science, they are driven by knowledge and truth. 

“I’m not a doctor, I don’t have a PhD and you don’t know me – so, why should you listen to me?” she asks. “The answer is in the list. If you promise to read and learn, I’ll promise to continue to update and keep it out there for the greater good.”

To access Granny Storm Crow’s List visit, https://grannystormcrowslist.wordpress.com/ 

Follow Granny Storm Crow on Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/GrannyStormCrowsList/