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resurrged · 6 years ago

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’ SHE GRITS HER TEETH / BITES THE DUST / COUGHS UP BLOOD as if she means to. her palms press patterns of minuscule pebbles, scarring vast constellations in her calloused hands. she pauses & stands, spits copper liquid and rises again. LIFE THRUST UPON HER / AS MANY HAD BEFORE / HOW MANY PLACES MUST SHE CALL HOME ? she lost count after the fifth

BACKGROUND.

↳ first, there was freedom, though it trapped nonetheless. a foster child waiting for her first feast to raise her life. picked up off the streets and prone to distant caresses, she knew nothing else of living and took what could be given.

next, there was power, though it sat symbolic at best. her hollowed ribs were stuffed with riches, her skin softened with petrissage. she was spoiled to the core by a man who kept her secluded, watching from afar as she remained blissfully ignorant. the sole person she could ever make happy, she clung to his praises & at first felt hysterical at his loss.

then there came the vicious, the lowlives you often hear about. they wanted her for the support, and used her presence as an item. sometimes she would feel more of a slave than a child. other times she was so ignored she wondered if her form was but flawed phantasm. her father figures came in tattered & bruised, her mothers only left to peruse. there was yelling & fighting and it was all she could do to learn to stand her own ground.

in the end she became solitary, fighting ends meet as soon as she could. she’d lived through slums so long it became second nature to stick among them. she grew conniving and selfish, understanding the toxicity of her past. one way or another, the world was going to stop dictating her actions.

she is fifteen when she comes across a group of kids in her way. though not much younger than she, her edge over them is spotted within moments. carrying supplies and taking them by surprise / it leaves her with no more than a stained fist & one more week of easy survival.

what she doesn’t catch is how one of the boys hadn’t moved, while his friends seemed to disperse. she comes back to a body, still near unconscious ( too sore, she assumes, to move ), and lets no more than a sigh leave her as she drags it into darkness. he wasn’t meant to die, and suddenly she worries they were no more than adolescents filing through these parts of town for some unlikely twist of fate.

in the end the boy wakes up, weary at first but willing to cooperate with the one constant in this foreign place. he says his name is MARCEL, and explains how he & his group were sent off to complete a job. she can’t help but laugh at the simplicity. ( KIDS ! to work over this ? there’s power in numbers, sure, but four idiots won’t make a mind ) . she sighs and offers some food back to him, and soon enough they get to talking like old friends. in feigned begrudging stance, she offers to help him find his friends ( ‘friends’ that receive quick scolding with the face of her palm before being set in stone, mind you. ) and before she knows it, a bit of advice turns to returning paths and she is an accomplice in their primitive work.

in four years time they seem that much further from their task ( ‘ FIND THE REISS CHILD & BRING HER BACK TO US ALIVE ’ ) but a lead pops up quick one night, and ymir’s there to latch on. they speak of a hidden child, forced into a life that isn’t her own. with a bitter taste in her mouth she shares her theory on this ‘ KRISTA LENZ ’ , and it looks like the next thing they’ll set off for is her school of study. infiltration was their strength, and they were finally on path for their goal.

BEHIND THE PLOT.

↳ these are all just things that ymir wouldn’t necessarily know, but fit into the actual idea of this au.

the reiss family was seemingly wiped out, but so were their assets. i.e. no one knows where the hell all the expensive stuff they owned went and historia is their last surviving heir, so logically they assume some some of system was set up to let her inherit it ( after turning 18, it’s safe to assume she would just be keeping it on the low or something along those lines ).

plot twist of them going after historia for information they’ll later find out eren has because i’m weak for that founding titan parallel. the idiot probably got the storage location from his dad & didn’t know what it was so he just /shrug.

will most definitely grow attached to historia & the rest of the modern!104ths as is destined ty & gn.

TIDBITS.

HOBBIES | she’s fucking obsessed with soccer, and entirely up-to-date on any news relating to all things Sport. probably plays a lot of shit recreationally when she gets the chance. i can’t even expand on this because of how little i know irl lmao so just have that headcanon as is. she also absolutely despises reading and has a little trouble with it. she loves watching action / horror though, and would secretly enjoy cheesy romcoms on her own time. she isn’t the biggest on asia media but you can bet your ass she looks at / reads yuri manga.

MAKEUP | definitely one of those ‘no-makeup makeup’ hoes. she almost always does her brows bc she got none, and tightlines her eyes. might wear concealer or lipstick if she’s feeling fancy but unless someone else does her makeup for her, she’d never step anywhere near something more complicated. also carries burts’ bees chapstick everywhere she goes, but never fucking uses it and just bites off dry skin like a savage.

HABITS | incredibly messy but insists she knows where everything is. cracks her knuckles a lot (i hate it). definitely the type to wake up & not feel satisfied until every bone in her body pops out. she never writes anything down (even as a memo on her phone) and forgets about as often as you’d expect. anyone who knows her most certainly has the “do this for me” “k” “... you gonna write that down” “it’s good i got it” “no you don’t write it down” conversation way too often. also insists on walking everywhere to save money. even if it’s like an hour away and pouring. on her own, she likes clearing her head by hanging around empty parks. they’re typically abandoned or otherwise unnoticeable, just odd places she finds from all that walking. if you get close enough to her, she might take you to them, and insist you use the playsets with her.

#° ⌜ VERSE 3.0 // ❛ ⁱⁿ ᵇᵃᵈ ˢʰᵃᵖᵉ !#im not even done with this but i gotta dip & i juST NEED TO POST THIS ALREADY FKC #i love getting it in my head that i need to do this One Thing first and then never doing the Thing

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hriemens · 4 years ago

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Little Love

Little Love: A Journey through Space, Time and Love

A ten-minute play by Hendrik Riemens.

{Lights up on Mary and Jerry, who are frantically pacing back-and-forth in the middle of their living room. Something they find traumatic has clearly just taken place. They are centerstage right}

Mary:

Oh Jerry, I’m worried.

Jerry:

I know Mary, I know. I’m worried too, believe it or not.

Mary:

He’s just never behaved like this before. This is so unlike him.

Jerry:

What can I say Mary? We raised a strong boy. A rebel. A rolling-stone. He obeys no man and kneels to no creator.

Mary:

But to do something like this? Something so violent, so rash, so insensitive? I just, I can’t believe it.

Jerry:

I’m sorry honey. And I’m even sorrier to tell you it’ll probably happen again/

Mary:

OH NO! {Nearly faints, but like, not at all. She’s fine} If he slams another door in this house I’ll really faint!

Jerry:

Perhaps it’d be best if we give him some alone time.

Mary:

Or perhaps we should talk to him, show him that we’re there for him and that we still love him.

Jerry:

Oh drop the act woman! It’s not the end of the world for Christ’s sake. Mary you gotta keep it together. We need to show a firm hand right now... Jesus H. Fuck, you really put the mother in smother, you know that—

{Jerry gets interrupted as lights go out on Stage Right and immediately lights go up on Stage Left, where downstage, a lot closer to the audience than his parents, appears a young boy}

Ezekiel:

I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse my father. He’s just one of those people. But, to his defense, so is my mother... hm... {Begins to ponder which of his parents is actually weirder} You know, I guess they’re both pretty peculiar. Oh, wait, where are my manners, I’m so sorry, Hi! I’m Ezekiel, the 10 year old child of Jerry and Mary Cook. If you didn’t quite understand what you just witnessed earlier, allow me to clarify: I just slammed a door on my parents for the first time. What you saw seconds ago was the inevitably-ugly aftermath. However, it’s all their fault. You see, my family can be a very volatile combination when we’re all together, thus we try to refrain from spending time together outside of daily meals, family reunions, etc. It’s not as bad as it sounds, really. We’re not a bad family, we don’t dislike each other, not at all. We care about and love each other, really, but just... put us all in a room together and you may as well be trying to recreate scenes from the Potsdam Conference. {Whispers} For those of you that don’t know what the Potsdam Conference is, it means Stalin, Truman and Churchill in the same room. {Whispers a little lower} For those of you that don’t know who Stalin, Truman or Churchill are, please leave right now. So, as I was saying, I think this might be the moment where some background on the three dynamic Cooks might help give you a better understanding of the bigger picture. Let’s begin with Mary Cook. {Spotlight on Mary Cook, who is standing stage right. She’s got a big smile on. Oh Mary} My Mom’s quite simple: of the two, she loves me the most, for she always dreamt of having her first-born be a boy, something her school-mates used to make fun of for some reason. Growing up she really wanted to be a musician, and unlike most successful musicians, actually went to school for it. But, you know, once Jerry shagged her up and I came into the picture, it was time for dreams to become reality and my mom decided to give up music in order to raise me full time. As it happens, it was a very good decision, for I turned out to be quite the handful. On the flip side, one of my favorite childhood memories is me “bathing” in the kitchen sink as I watched my mom cooking while she sang Josephine Baker’s “Don’t Touch Me Tomato” {In the background, Mary Cook begins to lightly but beautifully sing “Don’t Touch Me Tomato” by Josephine Baker}. Next, there’s Jerry Cook. The 8th of the eight Cook boys, my Dad’s always felt like he’s had to show {Imitating Jerry earlier} “a firm hand.” Because of this he’s got quirky rules behind what a man has to do to be respected, such as:

{Spotlight on Jerry Cook who is standing next to Mary Cook, yet they are not conscious of each others’ closeness. Jerry begins to demonstrate}

Jerry:

A respected man is he who takes a spoonful of vinegar like it’s a glass of water. A respected man is he who walks on rocks and other sharp and potentially-skin-cutting objects barefoot. A respected man is he who depends on no jacket during the winter, for the cold is only felt by the weak. In fact, a respected man is he who is never cold. That’s simpler. Maybe I should just say that?

Ezekiel:

He’s also not very smart, and only named me Ezekiel because he told his very religious in-laws that his favorite Bible passage was Ezekiel 25:17. Sadly enough, despite watching Pulp Fiction numerous times with subtitles, he still mis-spelled my name on my birth certificate, so I’m technically named “Ezikil.”

Lastly, there’s me, Ezekiel. I’m no genius, but I do have a photographic memory, which has meant that in my last 10 years of life I’ve jumped one grade level, making me the youngest member of my 6th grade class. I’ve won five Spelling-Bees at a national level. I speak three different languages, English, Spanish and French, which really comes in handy every time my dad tries to miseducate the rest of my already-uneducated family by lying and saying stuff like “Adieu” is “goodbye” in Spanish. But, most importantly, I remember perfectly every passing second of my life since I met my soulmate the first day of school in 6th grade Algebra, Georgina Duke {Lights off on Jerry and Mary Cook, as the spotlight moves center stage wherein stands Georgina Duke, a pretty blonde girl, wearing a pretty dress. She’s your typical Middle School crush. You can picture it yourself}. You see, despite all the great background information I’ve just given you on my myself and the two maniacs that have both birthed and raised me, the root of this story lies in Georgina Duke. Georgina was like no one I’d seen before in my life, she was angel-like {Georgina Duke puts on a Halo}, and her hair flowed like a peaceful river {Georgina shakes her head, which moves her hair like a “peaceful river”}, and her voice was even prettier than my mom’s {Georgina says “Hi”}.

Georgina:

Hi!

Ezekiel:

You see? Beautiful! And, as it turns out, Georgina is a visionary just like me, and when I confessed my undying love for her behind the school bleachers on the 2nd week anniversary of my having seen her angelic face in Algebra class, she said:

{Lights up on centerstage, where Georgina and Ezekiel stand in front of bleachers. Ezekiel is on his knees holding a Ring-Pop}

Georgina:

Oh my god Ezekiel, no man in my life has ever been as romantic as you. Who cares what others might think. I might be 11 years old and you might be 10. But you know what? To hell with society. Time is relative and age is just a number. Now give me that Ring-Pop you sly devil.

Ezekiel:

Georgina, as long as you’re by my side, you will have as many Ring-Pops and Capri Sun juice packs as your little heart desires.

{Lights back to Ezekiel on downstage left}

So, since there was clearly nothing in our work lives that would interfere with our love for each other, and we were clearly prepared to take our relationship to the next level, Georgina and I decided to put our passion and longing for each other to the test:

Ezekiel and Georgina:

We shall wait until our four month anniversary to finally kiss each other.

Ezekiel:

To little surprise, our love-candle’s light never dimmed or weakened. On the contrary, it only shined brighter and burnt slower as we got to know each other intellectually. For example, we found out that Georgina and I have a lot of the same hobbies, which in my eyes only made her more beautiful. These hobbies include (As Ezekiel states the hobbies, the centerstage Georgina and Ezekiel re-appear and they demonstrate what all the hobbies look like): astronomy, stamp collecting, cartography, playing the board game “Risk” competitively, playing the board game “Monopoly” recreationally, watching Youtube videos of Neil deGrasse Tyson, and last but not least, making fun of our parents.

{Lights out on centerstage Georgina and Ezekiel}

Now, as the big day drew closer and closer, Georgina and I set certain ground rules and expectations to make the occasion picture perfect.

{Lights back on centerstage Georgina and Ezekiel}

Georgina:

It must be in a private location

Ezekiel:

And an intimate one as well

Georgina:

There will be no touching of anything other than the face

Ezekiel:

And for sanitation reasons must not last longer than 22 minutes. Agreed?

Georgina:

Agreed

Ezekiel:

Are your parents out of town that day?

Georgina:

No. Yours?

Ezekiel:

No. Nevertheless, my parents go to the supermarket every Wednesday from 3 to 4:30. I could just tell them I’ll take the bus home

Georgina:

And we go to your house

Ezekiel:

Together

Georgina:

And we kiss there

Ezekiel:

Yes

Georgina:

Yes

Ezekiel:

Are you comfortable with that?

Georgina:

Yes. Are you?

Ezekiel:

Yes.

Georgina:

Agreed then. Your house from 3 to 4:30.

{Back to stage left Ezekiel}

So, as I told you a while back, the mental breakdown my parents were having at the beginning of our journey through space, time and love, was all their fault, for moments before Georgina and I were about to taste each other’s sweet sweet angelic lips, I heard two dreaded calls:

{Lights up on centerstage Georgina and Ezekiel, in Ezekiel’s bedroom, about to kiss. And, lights up on stage right Mary and Jerry}

Mary:

Ezekiel, baby, is that you?

Jerry:

E-Z, boy are you home?

Georgina:

Are those your parents?

Ezekiel:

I swear Georgina, they weren’t meant to be home.

Georgina:

We agreed on privacy and intimacy Ezekiel.

Ezekiel:

Worry not my Princess. I’ll take care of this. {Centerstage Ezekiel exits his bedroom to face his parents} Mother and Father, I asked that I not be disturbed till the latest hour of supper for I’ve gotten my first ever A- today in school. Please, keep your adult shenanigans to the minimum as I’m in dire need of peace and tranquility. That’ll be all. Thank you and goodbye {Centerstage Ezekiel goes back into his room and promptly slams the door shut. Instead of checking up on him, they begin to have the dialogue sequence from the beginning of the play. His plan worked. Lights back on stage right Ezekiel}

You see, if Jerry and Mary had just been in the supermarket like they were supposed to, I would have never had to slam my bedroom door on them or even lied to them—I obviously didn’t get an A- on anything, I mean, cmon. But hey, sometimes you gotta risk it {Lights back on centerstage Georgina and Ezekiel}, to get the biscuit {Centerstage Georgina and Ezekiel kiss. As previously agreed, only touching each other’s faces}.

The End.

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theladydeath · 7 years ago

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Court: NPC Files

fc: Miguel Gomez

twin brother to Catrina

B A S I C S;

Full Name: Nopaltzin

Title: none

Society Name: Andres; known as The Jaguar in Vampire circles

“Human” Name: Andres Guzman

Shortname: Dre

Species: Vampire

+Subspecies: Tēcuani Variant

+Sire: none

Age: 19/425

Date of Birth: Mid December

Hometown: Teotihuacan (now Mexico)

Ethnicity: Mexica (Aztec)/ Spanish; “Mexican”

Nationality: Passport says “American” this year

Gender: Cisgender male

Pronouns: Him/ Her

Orientation: Asexual/ Greyromantic

Marital Status: Widower

Occupation:

+ President of Immortal Corps, a supernatural run business with the goal in mind to help conceal the presence of supernaturals and allow them to return to normal society. ImCorp owns a string of other businesses, including restaurants, a bank, laboratory facilities, private hospitals, import/ export business, and an immensely popular chain of strip clubs called Honey Bees. Languages: Natively speaks Nahuatl. Reluctantly speaks Spanish (castilian and latin american) The benefit of the telepathic hivemind shared between her coven gives her the ability to utilize and understand any language learned by anyone in the link.

Accent: Southern Californian with a harder "Mexican" edge

P H Y S I C A L;

Hair: Black brown; often shaved short

Eye Color: Nearly black

Heightt: 5'8"

Weight: 170 lb

Build: Muscular but lean, athletic

Scars: Vampire bites on her hips, arms, and thighs; one long scar from her lower belly to her chest

Body Modifications:

Traditional, acquired in his human life:

+ Tattoos: eagle across his chest, beak open to the west; jaguar on his back + Piercings: both lobes, stretched to 00g/ hardly the size of a dime, stretched lip piercing, almost the size of a quarter + Scars: the constellation he was born under is burned into the skin on his wrist

Modern

+Tattoos: ... a lot. its a lot +Piercings: none

Clothing Style:

+Day to day: More on the 'punk' side, shredded jeans, leather or denim jacket, lots of black

+Business: Well tailored suits, mostly in steel grey

Usual Expression: Calm but alert. A little grouchy

H E A L T H;

Physical Ailments: No Record

Neurological Conditions: Minor combat PTSD (firearms and sudden loud noises trigger it)

Allergies: No Record

Sleeping Habits: Its a mystery

Eating Habits: Tends to live off coffee, synthetic blood, and cigarretes

Exercise Habits: Regular running and gym visits, sparring, playing soccer

Emotional Stability, scale of 1-10: 9; Difficult to rattle

Sociability: Extremely sociable; Charming and personable- when he wants to be

Drug Use: Marijuana, recreationally

Alcohol Use: None, recovering alcoholic

Personality Type: Chaotic Good

A B I L I T I E S;

Hivemind: Like a closed circuit network, can access the minds of her fledglings and other coven.

Immortality: Age, sickness, and most physical injuries will not kill her

Regeneration: Limited healing. Cannot regrow limbs or major organs but most other wounds will heal in a few hours to weeks.

Telepathy: Primarily between other vampires; Can tap into a human if she tries

Teleportationn: Can near instantly transport between any spot so long as A: It is in her psychic memory (places she frequents) or B: She has a beacon (can be a voice, mind, or object).

Hypnosis: Entrances victim by sheer force of will. Can “erase” and alter memories.

Physical Override: A psychic ability of reaching out and overriding a person physically, forcing them to act out her will. Generally used to quell fights by forcing all parties to kneel.

A B O U T; [Locked]

#Court; NPCs #Jaguar in the Night; Andres #Day and Night; Catrina & Andres

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dispensaryca-blog · 6 years ago

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The Largest U.S.-Focused Marijuana Deal To Date Has Closed -

It's truly incredible how far the marijuana industry has come in such a short amount of time. Just 24 years ago, Gallup polled adults in the U.S. 25% favored legalizing pot nationally. There were also no states that had legalized medical or recreational weed, and not a single country worldwide legally allowed adult-use cannabis.

Fast-forward to 2019, where now two out of three Americans in Gallup's annual poll want to see marijuana legalized. What's more, two-thirds of all states have given the green light to medical pot, with 10 allowing adult consumption. To our north, Canada has become the first industrialized country in the world, and second overall behind Uruguay, to legalize recreational weed.

That's one heck of an about-face in less than a quarter of a century. With the cannabis industry now considered a legitimate business model, it's moving on to the next logical phase of its development. Image source: Getty Images. To put things mildly, there are way too many marijuana companies in Canada and recreationally legal U.S. A large number of competitors means the possibility of grower overproduction, leading to long-term oversupply. We could also see aggressive pricing practices that could eventually weigh on operating margins. While competition is going to be a good thing for the consumer, we as investors would like to see a reasonable level of competition, rather than companies that rush the gates, so to speak, for cultivation and retail licenses.

As we move headlong into 2019, we're liable to see this consolidation in North America taking shape. This past week, the largest U.S.-focused marijuana deal to date officially closed, and it had vertically integrated dispensary iAnthus Capital Holdings (NASDAQOTH:ITHUF) acquiring MPX Bioceutical (NASDAQOTH:MPXEF). 630 million.

Each MPX shareholder is also receiving one common share of the newly formed MPX International Corporation, which will hold all of the non-U.S. 682 million, but this deal won't be completed for many more months. This makes, for now, the iAnthus acquisition the largest U.S.-focused deal in history to have actually been completed. Image source: Getty Images. The deal itself targets a push by vertically integrated dispensaries to enter new states as quickly as possible.

Not only is it costly and time-consuming to open dispensaries, but there are also the added costs of developing grow farms and/or processing facilities to control every aspect of the marijuana supply chain. Remember, weed is still a Schedule I substance in the United States, meaning interstate transport isn't allowed. That means dispensaries that want to internalize their costs and control product quality must be willing to also operate grow farms in the states where they're conducting business. In addition, applying for cultivation licenses, processing licenses, and retail permits can be costly and take time. If vertically integrated dispensaries like iAnthus can speed up this process by acquiring these licenses and permits, all the better.

Following closure of the deal, the company now has its footprint in 11 states, with 19 open dispensaries. However, the combination with MPX lifts iAnthus' dispensary license count to 63, providing an ample runway to expand its retail presence. According to iAnthus, the combined company has 210,000 square feet review of speed greens licensed grow space but is targeting 600,000 square feet. This near-tripling in capacity matches up well with the more than tripling in store count expected in the years to come. With iAnthus' operation increasing in size from six to 11 states, we plan to take advantage of this opportunity by unveiling unified national retail and product brands across the organization.

We realize that as the cannabis market continues to grow, the need for strong national brands only increases. With our ambitions to be the leader in the U.S. Image source: Getty Images. Which dispensary is next? With real consolidation under way in the vertically integrated dispensary space, the big question has to be, "Which company is next?" While this remains nothing more than an exercise in dart-throwing, one possible target is Trulieve Cannabis (NASDAQOTH:TCNNF). Arguably the biggest obstacle to consolidation is valuation. 1.3 billion market cap, Trulieve Cannabis would appear to look more like a buyer than a company to be acquired. In fact, Trulieve did recently acquire two businesses, one in California and one in Massachusetts, that'll allow it to expand into these recreationally legal states.

But Trulieve also has a dangling carrot that pretty much any dispensary would love to get its hands on: its laser focus on the Florida medical marijuana market. Trulieve also has ample grow farms within the state and is able to put more than 125 company-branded products in its dispensaries. It's worth noting that Florida has awarded cultivation licenses to just over one dozen companies, making the market especially exclusive, and therefore attractive to a potential acquirer. Once again, I'm no fortune-teller. But if consolidation is to continue as expected in the U.S., Trulieve Cannabis could potentially find itself as the next prime target.

What do you do? Where are you going? How long are you staying? And what is the purpose of your visit? When a Canadian enters the U.S., according to U.S. U.S. for a valid reason, says Green. While it is illegal to use cannabis in the U.S., so is presenting fraudulent documents or misrepresentation, which includes lying to a border official. "Never, never, never, ever lie to U.S. While a person who works for a cannabis company should not volunteer that information, if asked they are going to have to provide some kind of answer to satisfy the official, says Green. Leonard Saunders is a U.S. The Immigration Law Firm in Blaine, Wash.

He told Business In Vancouver that when asked about cannabis, if involved in the industry, the best thing to do is say nothing. Saunders says he knows of at least 12 recent cases of cannabis executives receiving lifetime bans. Once legalized, cannabis will be sold in government-run LCBOs in Ontario. Trina Fraser, co-managing partner at Brazeau Seller LLP, says U.S. LCBO cashiers in the same category as cannabis industry executives. Fraser says she spoke to Homeland Security officials about whether someone like her, who represents clients in the cannabis industry, would have trouble travelling to the U.S. "illegal purpose for entry" for which she could be denied entry.

Denial of entry for those connected to cannabis companies "is the exception not the norm," says Fraser. The problem is there is no clarity and so much discretion that people like her are subject to the whims of a random border agent. "It just seems to be so willy-nilly and so haphazard," she says. "If they happen to be in a really bad mood and have a bee in their bonnet, that could lead to questions being asked that you're not able to answer in a satisfactory way. On June 21, Bill C-45, which legalized cannabis, received royal assent. Bringing cannabis across the border into Canada will remain illegal once the law takes effect, however, even if arriving from a jurisdiction where cannabis is legal and if it is for medicinal purposes, according to the Government of Canada.

To safeguard their health and quality of life, patients with debilitating chronic pain require special accommodations and protections in society, a principle which the field of physiatry has helped to establish and champion in the decades since its founding. Following a year-long hospitalization at Walter Reed Army Hospital, 13 spinal surgeries, and a re-injury in a motor vehicle turnover collision, Mr. Tuck developed 'failed back surgery syndrome'. He suffered from severe daily chronic pain, a neurogenic bladder requiring intermittent self-catheterization, and chronic muscle spasms. He managed his debilitating symptoms with prescribed use of morphine and benzodiazepines. He reported that his morphine dosage had not escalated over 16 years of daily use because he had also relied on the palliative and proven analgesic properties of whole plant cannabis as an adjuvant medicine for pain relief.

This prospect terrified Mr. Tuck, and in the midst of worrisome legal proceedings in 2001, he fled to Canada and sought asylum following his arrest, as the medical utility of cannabis had recently been federally recognized there. I saw Mr. Tuck again at a hearing in the Federal Magistrate's Courtroom later in the day. I observed his slow and deliberate gait as he shuffled into the courtroom. One leg was significantly more rigid than the other. His facial grimacing was consistent with expressions of extreme pain and discomfort. The Magistrate scheduled a hearing for the following day. The next day, I returned to the Courtroom for Mr. Tuck's hearing.

Mr. Tuck again appeared to be in significant pain and discomfort. During the course of this hearing, the Magistrate asked me to address the Court briefly. I stated my name and home address and my affiliation as President of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. I told the Court that I would be able to serve as a liaison to Seattle's hospital system for Mr. Tuck. I committed to seeing to it that he would receive his needed medical care. The Magistrate bonded myself and Mr. Hiatt to the court, and Mr. Tuck was released into our custody with the understanding that he would receive medical care and then report to the jurisdiction where he faced charges in California. Due to AP media presence, news of Mr. Tuck's medical condition and his conditional release appeared in 50-100 newspapers across the country.

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