Colorado, 420, and Your Future

Because we’ve all been there right?
     Smoking weed, dropping acid, popping a pill, snorted blow…


     It can seem like oh-so-much fun and so very sophisticated when you escape the confines of high school and parents and otherwise well-meaning authorities who always told you drugs were bad. Everyone’s doing it. Can’t be all that bad. Right?
     Well… there’s always consequences. And some of those consequences can be completely unexpected. So if you’re a recreational drug taker, or on your way to becoming one… here’s a few things to consider.


1. Your kids are going to want to know what drugs you did.
     It’s difficult to imagine now, but at some point in the distant future, maybe even 20 years from now, your kids are going to be hitting their teenage years. And with that will come curiosity, questions and experimentation.
     If you’ve been a recreational drug user at some point in your life, you’re going to face a big choice. Lie about your use to your kids. Or be honest and risk that your honesty and experience means they perceive it as okay to take drugs and potentially do themselves some serious harm.
     After all, if you partied hard and took a whole load of drugs and came out a-okay, why shouldn’t they? Problem is, not everyone does come out okay. Back in youth, there was a three month period when two friends died from drug-related incidents. One friend got drunk, passed out on the couch and chocked to death on vomit. Another was boating at midnight doing lines of Special K and fell into the water. He didn’t make it back to shore.
     Your kids won’t relate to those stories. They’ll relate to you coming through mostly okay. That’s what they’re more likely to base their choices on.
2. At some point, you’re going to have to come clean, and face up to how you really feel about your drug use.
     In the midst of partying and having a good time it’s real easy to believe that you’re just having fun. That you’re living life to the fullest, making the most of your youth, going with the flow, expanding your consciousness, becoming one with nature man.
     However, any time we’re using a substance to change our reality, we’re subtly avoiding or denying the reality we’re currently living in and there’s a reason for that. What that reason is will be different for every single one of us, but trust me. There’s an underlying issue or 10 that’s driving your drug use. Eventually, you’re going to have to face those issues.
     The longer you leave it, the more you run and hide, the more you avoid and deny, the more difficult it will be when you finally face up to the music. Spend 10 years running, and you might spend 10 years clearing the crap.
3. Some jobs take past drug use seriously.
     If you are making the choice to use, then you should be completely up-front and honest about your drug-taking past, which for some people, it’s no big deal…but they aren’t going for jobs that make it matter.
     Some jobs—like anything do to with the military, FBI, CIA, police, fire—are tough to crack if you’ve got a past history of drug use. Sure, you might be 19 and have no intention of doing anything like the FBI, but you have no idea how your life might unfold and where you might be when you’re 29. Suddenly you might be applying for your dream job and discover that your year of hard partying post-high school rules you out forever.


     That’s a hard one to swallow.


4. You’ll no longer fit inside the normal parameters when you go for life insurance.
     And because you no longer fit inside the ‘normal parameters’ for life insurance, that means you have to pay more. You may be paying more for life.
     In some cases, past drug use and history of psychosis (drug-induced) means life insurance cost can be 30 percent higher than the normal. That’s a huge extra premium for be paying for the next 50 years or so, all because you had a damn good time in your twenties.
     Oh, you could lie, sure. Deny any drug use. But with the way information speeds around the ‘net’ now, guaranteed if you needed to claim on that life insurance, they’ll be looking for any reason to deny it.
5. For the rest of your life, even when you’ve been clean for years, decades, there’ll always be that part of you that remembers and maybe—just maybe—wishes…
     It may have been a long time now since you had a stonking great time while high. But you will still remember (well, hopefully….). You will still remember what it was like to have those first few E’s. You’ll remember those full moon parties on mushrooms. And you’ll remember lazy days spent by the pool smoking weed. Fortunately, you will also remember the come-downs. You’ll remember feeling like you just wanted this to stop now. You’ll remember the cost.
     Let yoga, meditation and life get you high—and keep you high. That’s enough to keep you off the drugs. But if you don’t have a life filled with natural highs, you’ll struggle when the going gets tough. There will be a part of you that remembers the easy high and wishes… maybe, just maybe…


And that’s dangerous.


6. The consciousness-expanding nature of some drugs means you’ll have to find more time-consuming, laborious ways to get back into that state of mind again.
     Cue yoga and meditation practice. So you loved taking mushrooms outside in nature and dissolving into a total state of oneness, allowing your mind to expand and expand and expand until you didn’t know where you ended and the world began. Everything looked shiny and new and sparkly and so very alive.
     Now you can’t just eat a handful of fungi to get there. Instead, hopefully you can be dedicated to yoga practice, or another healthy mind-centering practice spending time each day disciplining you mind so it can open and expand and you can again feel that sense of oneness with the world. For me, its wood, and especially making pens on the lathe. Let our mind wander off, not devoting 100% to focusing right at that task in hand…and now the knife cuts too deep and the wood goes flying off as a projectile headed right at your shiny new car (sounds like I’ve been there…). Mind centering, total immersion, cutting out the rest of existence around you, for a moment. That’s peace…. Meditation, yoga, prayer, painting, carving, sculpting, even journaling.
     For me, the beauty of this grounded, systematic way of moving toward Oneness is that it’s not dependent on anything outside of me. It’s something that comes when I connect to the deepest part of me and relax and open. It’s something within me. That can never be taken away from me, no matter what.


But it takes commitment, dedication and discipline.


7. Aging drug users just look….sad. And old.
     I see this in friends and patients who still party and drink the way like they used to in their twenties. They’ve aged, particularly around the eyes. Wrinkles, wrinkles and more wrinkles. Aging drug fiends like Courtney Love may be able to cover it all up with surgery, cosmetics and soft lighting, but the rest of us mere mortals will have to live with the ravages of drug use on our faces and in our bodies.
     Just look at photos of Lindsay Lohan a few years ago and compare them to now. Her drug and alcohol abuse shows. And over time, it will show even more.
     When you’re young, the flush of youth keeps you looking amazing no matter how you live. But over time, how you live determines how you look. Your life shows up on your face.
8. It may affect future travel plans.
     That minor recreational drug use may result in a minor drug conviction. No big deal right? Until you want to travel. Then it suddenly becomes a very big deal.
     I’ve got friends outside the U.S. with minor convictions for marijuana use who can’t travel to the U.S. No worries, they say, I never want to go there anyway. But what they didn’t realize was that to get from New Zealand to say Canada, they have to fly through the U.S., landing in either Los Angeles or Hawaii. That minor drug conviction means they can’t. They have to find an alternate travel route, which can sometimes cost a whole lot more money.
     Oh wait, Canada can also deny entry based on a drug conviction. Doh. Where to now? China? You have to register with the Police after you arrive if you have any kind of conviction. That sounds like fun.
     If you have been convicted of driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, you will probably be found criminally inadmissible to Canada as this is an offence under Canada's Criminal Code. You can try and you might even get away with it. I had a patient, convicted of a DUI, just one. (Just?) Travels to Canada for cheap meds. Drinks, drives, gets pulled over, and his USA DUI pops up when asked to see his passport. Come on...its just a simple scan these days on a barcode on his passport, which can be read by any police squad car. DUI is bad enough, but now Canadian felony for not getting the visa waiver for his prior conviction. Canadian jail time. Now all done paying for that crime, flies into LAX to finally come home. Arrested at the airport, some "charge" as he states, not related to any new crimes, like bringing in contraband, but now back to jail in the US for 30 days. Passport revoked. Travel plans eliminated. So what does he tell his two teenage daughters, who met him at the airport when he flies home, brandishing signs that say "Welcome Home Daddy"...And that was just (just?) alcohol.
     Bear in mind too that rules for entering countries change all the time, and generally they get tougher. You may be able to move around alright now with a drug conviction, provided you don’t want to go to or through the U.S., but that could change at any moment.
9. Drug-use can ruin your mental health.
     Okay, this is obvious. And is likely something you’ve been warned about. Take drugs and it ruins your health. Hard to imagine, or quantify though, especially when results may not show up for years. Sometimes though, there are immediate and terrible results. Some have made the dangerous mistake of mixing consciousness-expanding drugs like marijuana, mushrooms and acid with meditation and yoga. Cue psyche-explosion and multiple episodes of psychosis. That messes up mental health for a long time. Fortunately, with work, one is able to systematically work through those issues of the psyche and put that self back together with the help of drug-free yoga and meditation. But, many other people haven’t been so fortunate. Just check out your local residential mental health facility.


Now, those may be nine solid reasons to not take drugs, but I’m not going to tell you that. This is not about telling you what to do. No, what I want to do is make you fully aware of consequences so you can do your own self-inquiry and come to your own decisions. The next time you’re tempted to smoke weed, pop a pill, drop acid, snort blow… pause. Just for a moment. Take a breath or two. Feel yourself in your body. And ask yourself.


     Do I really want to do this?


     Do I really want to deal with the consequences that arise from this?


     Is this the best choice I can make for myself right now?


And if it is—go for it. Go for it with full conscious awareness instead of being driven by your unconscious desires and needs. And challenge yourself to stay conscious of your experience all the way through, from the initial flush of highness to the darkness of the come-down. Stay with it, stay conscious, feel it all, deeply.


Be fully present to your experience.


Be fully present to the consequences.....

Focus on Sleep

Welcome back to our blog. Just a quick note first...we want to welcome Sara Phillips, the newest member of our team. You will meet Sara as you come into the clinic, and will be welcomed by an incredible smile and warm personality, in addition to her pure talent. Welcome Sara!

So, many of our patients deal with sleep issues, and often it is difficult to find some decent answers without resorting to medications that have side effects. As with all health issues, the major key is the right diet, exercise, and making sure your hormones are balanced and working for you instead of against you. But here are some other thoughts, based on some recent research:

Sleep Strategies:

1. Keep lighting low
Don’t turn on any bright overhead lights, advises Health.com. Light interferes with the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Instead, keep a small night light or book light nearby.

A bedroom that will invite sleep should be dark, quiet, and cool, the National Sleep Foundation recommends. Eye shades, ear plugs, blackout curtains, and “white noise” fans and other devices all can help induce sleep.

2. Write it down
If you wake up with worry over work-related issues or other stressors, write down your concerns in a notebook that you keep at your bedside, suggests Caring.com. After your write it down, mentally cross it off the list in your mind and in the morning, write the item on a list of things to do. With repetition of this task you’ll convince yourself that putting your concerns on paper is the same as getting things done, the website says.

Trying to distract your brain from what’s worrying you by focusing on your breathing also can help, says RealSimple.com.

3. Stop restroom calls
Cut out liquids by 7 p.m. to avoid middle-of-the-night awakenings for the bathroom. Also, refraining from caffeine for six to eight hours before bedtime will help prevent the stimulant from interfering with sleep.

You might also want to skip the evening martini or glass of wine. While alcohol is a depressant that calms you and makes you feel sleepy, it also increases the number of times you awaken during the night and adds to the urge to go, according to experts.

4. Avoid electronics
Using the sleep environment for only sleep and sex will strengthen your association between your bed and sleep. Watching TV or working on your computer in the bedroom will only stimulate you, making it harder to fall asleep.

On the other hand, reading a book, as long as it’s not an exciting page turner or something that disturbs you, can help you get back to sleep if you wake up. Books of poetry, quotations, or meditations that you read in short installments are good choices, suggests Caring.com.

5. Can the clock
The last thing you want to stare at if you have woken up early is the glare of the digital clock. Turn the clock about face or stick it under the bed, advises Health.com. Repeatedly checking on the time will make you anxious and interfere with efforts to drift back to sleep.

Experts advise not stressing too much over occasional awakenings, which are normal for many people. "You need to accept that you will arouse some, so reassure yourself in the middle of the night that nothing catastrophic will happen if you are awake for a while," Dr. Susie Esthera, a specialist in sleep disorder medicine, tells RealSimple.com

6. Treat seasonal allergies
Seasonal allergy sufferers know the nasal congestion, runny nose, and watery eyes that can plague them this time of year are a sleep disrupter. Cut down on allergens like dust mites, mold, pollen, and pet dander by washing sheets, blankets, and washable pillows once a week in hot water, the National Sleep Foundation advises. Also, take a hot shower before bed to open congested nasal passages and wash away any allergens on your skin and hair. This also is a relaxing way to wind down for sleep.

Adapted from NewsMax, Dr Russell Blaylock

Supplements to try: There is some very exciting research published last month by the Life Extension Foundation on the effectiveness of milk peptides to help with sleep.

What You Need to Know:
*Over 30% of Americans suffer from chronic insomnia, while approximately 60 million experience problems falling asleep in a given year.
*The dire health consequences of sleep debt range from chronically elevated levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), insulin resistance, and increased fat storage to greater risk of mortality from all causes, including cancer and cardiovascular disease.
*A proprietary set of bioactive milk-derived peptides used widely in Europe has been identified that operate along the same neurological pathways as anti-anxiety drugs—without side effects.
*Published studies show they effectively combat the stress response, blunt elevations of cortisol, and relieve anxiety.
*Milk peptides decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, improve sleep efficiency, and increase daytime wakefulness.
*By improving several aspects of healthy sleep, milk peptides may offer protection against the many health disorders associated with sleep deprivation.

One Possible solution: Enhanced Natural Sleep from Life Extension. It contains milk peptides, a dual action melatonin, and Sendara™, a proprietary nutrient complex consisting of ashwagandha and Indian gooseberry extracts. See lef.org.

New Center for Medical Weight Loss

This past year, we have teamed up with the Center for Medical Weight Loss. The CMWL is the largest network of weight lossm or bariatric physicians in the country, with over 375 centers in 43 states. Our program is based on sound science, using in general a holistic apporach to weight loss that is very successful. 99% of the patients on our programlose the weight we predict, and 99% keep it off after a year, with 97% at two years. Patients lose anywhere from 17-21 pounds in 6 weeks, many lose much more. For me personally, it was 25 pounds in 5 weeks last April, and it has remained off ever since. The program includes extensive one-on-one counseling and physician monitoring to make sure you are successful both long term and short term. We have two Wellness Consultants we have added tour our Staff, Megan and Lisa, and both have been trained in NYC at the CMWL Headquarters on this exciting new program. Already, we have had over 75 patients come thru and all have done very well. To get started: Step 1. Schedule Your Consultation
Your consultation lays the foundation for your program. Your CMWL Doctor will learn all about your current weight loss goals and other factors such as your medications, individual body composition, and personal motivations that make you different from everyone else. The initial consultation is only $19 in most centers, including ours. Call us for more information at (805) 201-9135.

Step 2. Get A Personalized Weight Loss Plan
Your CMWL Doctor will give you a personalized plan at the end of your consultation. There is no obligation to proceed, but you will see that there is an approach for you to lose the weight you want in a safe and effective way.

If you would like more info on the Centers in general, you can go to www.MdBeThin.com.

We are Open!

We opened the doors on January 2nd, 2009. This has truly been a dream come true for me personally and professionally. Already we have a number of patients who have signed up for our unique practice and services. Our electronic medical records are in place, our insurance contracts are set, our furniture is here, and now we are starting to collect some of the local art for display in our gallery. Besides the membership programs, we are also taking gynecology consultations, hormone replacement analysis and treatment, and providing house calls to both members and nonmembers. We will be offering a limited substance abuse program in the near future, for patients who desire a more personal, confidential program than what is available in the many community treatment centers. Special thanks to Jennifer Thompson of Interior Motives, who did a wonderful job on the interior design. The facility is gorgeous! And of course, many thanks to Chris Will of Caliber CPAs who has been providing unwaivering support in all aspects of the new venture.

Most of all, thanks to my beautiful wife Lisa, for her patience, support and love, and for her belief that we could actually do this. This is intended to be a community resource that will be a benefit to anyone who comes our way. And, our promise was to give 10% of all our profits to the Wounded Warrior Program, to help fund the services offered by our communities to these special national heros is being realized. We have been able to send our first check!

God is good!

Welcome

Welcome to our blog! Just as an update, we have starting taking new patients now and are finalizing architectural plans for the office. We hope to be in the new office by January 1st, 2009. It will be absolutely gorgeous! The team has been putting together a wonderful plan than any visitor is sure to love. I look forward to your postings here...feel free!

Dr Johnnie Ham