The medical marijuana movement is on a roll!

Kelly N Patterson

Grab your rolling papers, because marijuana may be coming to a clinic near you, sooner than you think!  To catch you up, starting with some of last year’s breakthrough successes in the enlightened marijuana movement:  New Jersey and Arizona joined 13 other sensible states in passing laws to legalize medical marijuana; 5 medical marijuana dispensaries will be opening in the nation’s Capitol this year (Yahoo! I would much prefer MY mayor smoking pot than crack!); 3 marijuana-friendly governors were recently elected in Hawaii, Connecticut and Vermont; new local initiatives in Wisconsin and Massachusetts have put medical marijuana on the legislative table; after much court-room drama, California improved their archaic decriminalization laws for minor marijuana possession; and even the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs acknowledged marijuana's therapeutic value in their latest policy.  But wait, there’s more! 

2011 is only 4 months old, and already this year, every member of Seattle legislative delegation to Olympia—all ten representatives and all five senators from the 34th, 36th, 37th, 43rd, and 46th Districts—has gone on the record to say that they support taxing, regulating, and legalizing marijuana.  On March 3, Rhode Island State Representatives Edith Ajello, Christopher Blazejewski, Peter Martin, Larry Valencia, and Donna Walsh introduced HB 5591, a bill that would tax and regulate the sale and distribution of marijuana within Rhode Island.  And this year, both Delaware and Illinois will have medical marijuana laws on voters’ tables.

To add to our 2011 buzz, See Change Strategy, an independent research firm, released (the first-ever) financial analysis of the legal medical cannabis industry in the U.S. on March 23.  This report, based on interviews with more than 300 industry leaders, projected the total legal medical cannabis market at $1.7 billion in 2011.  Stop!  Let that sink in:  $1.7 BILLION just in 2011 alone. 

Needless to say, this eye-brow raising report made mainstream news:  from the Wall Street Journal to The Huffington Post, and was even mentioned in the monologues of mega-popular late night hosts, Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno.  Yes, money talks!  Our economy, not to mention our health care system, could really use some of that money.

So in addition to mainstream America watching the marijuana debate on both CBSNews and ABCNews, the National Cannabis Industry Association, the first national organization dedicated to advancing the interests of cannabis-related businesses, held a pow-wow at the National Press Club, Capitol Hill, on March 30, with the See Change Strategy people and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) to discuss the federal legislative needs of the industry—critical, especially, for the hundreds of small businesses and thousands of employees in the industry.

All of this recent activity both on Capitol Hill and on American television sets confirms the 2010 Gallup poll that 46% of U.S. adults support making marijuana legal (an all-time record level of support!) And just so you know, statistically, support for  legalizing medical marijuana has been increasing by 1.5% to 2% annually, especially among Generation Y, so we should be looking at majority support, nationwide, in as soon as 2013 easy! 

I had a Pulitzer-prize winning, tear-inducing, heart-clutching, march to the Capitol conclusion to this piece but then, well…I got high.

Earn money and support children's educational programs as a Wise Friend!

Wise Heart Books is actively seeking “Wise Friends” to independently sell our value-based books:  Earn money, while at the same time, supporting the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation children’s educational programs.  NOTE:  In the vein of Hair Club for Men, I don’t just work for Wise Heart Books, I am a member! (I am already a Wise Friend, myself.)

A little background:

Wise Heart Books is a socially conscious company designed by educators, parents, and artists to create books and educational materials that nurture the whole child: body, mind and spirit. Each book contains an important message for children, such as building a strong and healthy body or cultivating positive thoughts and habits, or developing love for oneself and the world around them.

Wise Friends are our special Wise Heart Books representatives, introducing our value-based books and our holistic mind-body-spirit philosophy to family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and their local communities, while earning money at the same time. This is a grassroots, stress-free, fun way to earn some extra income for you and your family, selling life-enhancing books and educational materials.

Wise Friends can easily earn commissions from 20-40% of retail value-- all while working at home, when it is most convenient for you and your family.  Wise Heart Books can be sold online; at local community events; at local religious institutions and schools; at a local farmer’s market; via local businesses; or even at a neighborhood party—we are calling them “Wise Reading Parties.”

Wise Heart Books provides Wise Friends with practical, effective online and traditional marketing resources, tools, and support to assist you every step of the way. And yes, it is free to become a Wise Friend—there is no start-up investment cost.  In theory, you could sign up today—announce it on your FaceBook today; sell some books today; and start making some commissions today!

For all the details, please visit our site http://wiseheartbooks.com/ and click on “Join Wise Friends and earn!”  Then read through the Wise Friends 101 and you will get how it works and will also see all the ways you can market these books online and/or old skool, at your convenience.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@wiseheartbooks.com   And even if you are not interested in becoming a Wise Friend, but decide to buy one of our books, know that my code is 1201!  And of course, please pass this onto anyone you think might be interested!

Thanks, I am hoping this is a win-win-win situation for everyone—you, the nonprofit I serve-- Bien de Mujer/ the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation, and all the children who benefit from our programs.

Thank you for all your time and consideration,

Kelly N Patterson

Preparing for the launch of Wise Heart Books’ Wise Friend Program

Over the past few weeks, I have been working with the good folks at Wise Heart Books to engineer, compose and implement what we are calling our “Wise Friends” program.  We are simultaneously about to launch a series of value-driven children’s books (first in English, Español el próximo mes que viene! ) known as Wise Heart Books, as an income-generation tool for women, and simultaneously, to generate funds for our women and children’s community and education center in La Carpio, the slums of San Jose, Costa Rica.  (For more information about our work in La Carpio, visit here.)

Wise Heart Books is a socially conscious company designed by educators, parents, and artists to create books and educational materials that nurture the whole child: body, mind and spirit. Each book contains an important message for children, such as building a strong and healthy body or cultivating positive thoughts and habits, or developing love for oneself and the world around them.

The idea is that women “join” or sign-up as a “Wise Friend” (it is free!); Wise Friends are our special Wise Heart Books representatives, introducing our value-based books and our holistic mind-body-spirit philosophy to family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and their local communities, while earning money at the same time. This is a grassroots, stress-free, fun way to earn some extra income for a woman and her family, selling life-enhancing books and educational materials. 

Wise Friends can easily earn commissions from 20-40% of retail value-- all while working at home, when it is most convenient for them and their family.  Wise Heart Books can be sold online; at local community events; at local religious institutions and schools; at a local farmer’s market; via local businesses; or even at a neighborhood party—we are calling them “Wise Reading Parties.”

Thus, I have spent the last few weeks putting together a comprehensive but simple, user-friendly training manual which covers everything from making a business plan 101 to hosting a “Wise Reading Party” to online marketing 101 to help women get their businesses up and started.  And of course, these tools can be used for any business.

All sales of Wise Heart Books go directly to the Wise Friend who facilitates the sale, and to support children’s holistic educational projects around the globe by The Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation. 

If you would like to learn more, or become a Wise Friend, please visit: http://wiseheartbooks.com/friends.html

So what do you write?

 Everyone asks me this question.  My answer?

“I write about whatever interests me; whatever makes me giggle or cheer; whatever disgusts me or befuddles me.  I write about topics I am passionate about, and every once and a while, I try to draw attention to an issue that I think needs some more public contemplation.”

Here’s the story:  I am former Reuters Health and Sciences Reporter (Sub-Saharan Africa division.)  Yeah, ever heard of AIDS in Africa?!!  Well, then, you already know my work; but please do not hold this against me—ask anyone at Reuters, I went AWOL.  

I was also one of the original (read: paid, regular) writers for Sodahead.com, but as it turns out, I was too “liberal” and “cerebral” for the audience they ended up attracting.  Sodahead.com readers and users preferred to read about Brittney Spear’s latest nail polish for dogs, or question clichés like “Does size really matter?”, rather than appreciate the irony of Obama nominating a former pesticide lobbyist, Islam Siddiqui, to be Chief Agriculture Negotiator, or read my praise for Sherman’s Travel taking on the Gay Love Boat advert campaign.

To demonstrate the breadth of my writing style and tone, not to mention topics, I have put together a little Kelly montage:

 Damn you environmentalists!  Now I have to re-plan my funeral! 

http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/damn-you-environmentalists-now-i-have-to-re-plan-my-funeral/blog-216761/

 AIDS in Africa: How Gender Issues Are the Lubricant for the Pandemic

http://seanamo.tigblog.org/post/285235?setlangcookie=true

 

 Men, are you a perpetrator of bad sex?

http://www.sodahead.com/living/men-are-you-a-perpetrator-of-bad-sex/blog-184160/ 

Tanzania: This Bus Departs at Nine O’Clock

 http://www.tangodiva.com/index.php?page=features&j=1&cat=2&story_id=395

Pass the peace pipe!  November is National Native American Heritage Month 

http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/pass-the-peace-pipe-november-is-national-native-american-heritage-month/blog-195873/?page=2

Running away to Egypt (at Age 9)

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Kellykarma/211462/

 

 A Tale of Two Beaches: Playa Pelada and Playa Guiones

http://nightstylecr.com/magazine_detailed.php?id=10&table=news

 

Interpreter, please!

http://www.intravelmag.com/inept/298-interpreter-please-learning-zulu-in-south-africa

 

What to do when you only have 365 days left (a monthly planner)

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Kellykarma/211180/

For a whole collection of personal narratives and even some bad poetry:
http://www.writerscafe.org/Kellykarma

And here is another interesting fact:  I have been the Alternative Recreation Reporter for the San Francisco Examiner for 2 years now.  Therefore, I already have a huge following of hippies, Burners, Eco-heads, Rainbow Family members, Indigo Children, artists, Tantra teachers, yogis, and other various sub-cultures: 

  http://www.examiner.com/x-2454-SF-Alternative-Recreation-Examiner

Anyway, on to my vital stats:

Current Work: Part-time Communications and Development Coordinator of  Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation, Costa Rica (http://www.wwd-f.org/index.html) and Marketing Coordinator for Wise Heart Books (http://wiseheartbooks.com/ )

Current Blogs and Social Media Networks:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2454-SF-Alternative-Recreation-Examiner

http://thenonprofitguru.wordpress.com/

http://biendemujer.wordpress.com/

FACE BOOK: Kelly N Patterson

http://www.linkedin.com/in/kellynpatterson

Women's Wellbeing and Development Foundation/Bien de Mujer’s Annual Children’s Christmas Party

We could not have asked for better weather conditions on Tuesday, DEC 19—sunny and warm, our first blessing of the day—perfect for our Annual Children’s Christmas Party at the Centro de Recreo UNA, located in Barrio Santa Luiza, near Heredia.  As early as 7 AM, volunteers (our second blessing!) began to trickle into our house and load up 4 vehicles, including two trucks donated by Himalaya Aryuveda Distributors, worth of donated gifts, food, decorations (thank you, Haley Cooney!), and about 8 volunteers.  Again, so many blessings!

Over 160 children, and their mothers, arrived on 3 festive buses from La Carpio (the slums of San Jose, Costa Rica) just shy of 9 AM.  Several group games, a mini-moon bounce, and a huge inflatable slide, with a side of cookie and juice snacks, were ready for the onslaught of excited (this is a gross understatement!) kids.   The children were divided into two groups—half went to participate in outdoor group games and the playground first, while the other half went to the pool! 

Gratefully, several other volunteers joined us later in the morning, including Craig and Agnes Lamb, and our “official” party-photographer, Ellen Lazare.  While the kids were playing and mothers cooking lunch, we set up the “sala” for the afternoon Christmas Music Show (a beautiful performance by students of the University of Costa Rica orchestra); for Santa’s visit; and of course-- the distribution of gifts!  While the children were swimming in the pools, flopping around on large inflatable things, or playing fooz-ball and ping pong in the recreation room, the mothers prepared and served a lunch picnic of arroz con pollo and juice.

After lunch, everyone gathered in the sala for a sing-a-long Christmas music concert and the much-anticipated visit from Santa, with two of his helpers.  During the concert, ice cream and cake were served.  A special little birthday cake was made for Fabiola who just happened to turn 15 yesterday!  Then the madness began… as Santa handed out over 170 gifts to each child!  Each present was individually wrapped and addressed to each child.  CHAOS! 

The party ended about 3 pm—each child armed with a gift, a little snack bag of candy and fruit, and a HUGE smile on his or her face.  Just so you know, the children were truly grateful—endless “Gracias” and lots of hugs, even tears both from kids and mothers in gratitude.  It was truly a special day, not just for the kids and their mothers, but for us as well.  This is what love looks like.

A heart-felt thank you to everyone (and there are many!) who contributed in some way to this very memorable event.   

Kelly N Patterson

Can't buy this at Wal-Mart! Wise Heart early children's books, the Smart Values Series

I cannot recall any of the holiday gifts I received when I was 2, 3, 4, or even 5 years old; however, I do vividly recall the books that were read to me over and over (and then later, the books I learned to read with), and I even remember their message. For example, “Green Eggs and Ham”, by Dr. Seuss, is one of my life mantra’s:  Try everything at least once (even cliff-diving in Hawaii, or moving to Africa when you are 18 years old!)  Or , what about a book as simple as “Goodnight Moon”?  And who can forget “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein, or Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are”?

I know you are all being flooded with holiday gift discounts, sales and such, but this year you have the opportunity to give a brand new, conscientious series of early children’s books, called Wise Heart Books.  People cannot buy these books at Borders, Target or Wal-Mart, so no worries about a gift faux-pas! 

The Wise Heart Books’ “Smart Values Series” is a collection of five delightful stories that help children understand the positive and transformative nature of good values. Each story describes how certain values – such as generosity, cleanliness, and honesty – can change us for the better and just for the holidays:  you can get all five books for only $24.99.  Or you can buy them separately for only $6.99 each (but this does not include shipping and handling—which makes me question, what exactly do they mean by handling?!!!). 

To take a peek for yourself of these artistic new books before they hit Borders, please visit: http://www.wiseheartbooks.com/

On top of your gift to your favorite niece or your colleague that just had a baby boy, the proceeds to go to the Women’s Well-Being and Development Foundation (http://www.wwd-f.org/index.html)  youth educational programs in La Carpio, the slums of San Jose, Costa Rica.   We are currently in the process of developing 3 slum houses into an eco-friendly community play, learn and community center.

And only until Christmas, are we offering this deal:

5 books for only $24.99 (this is 20% off the regular price!!!)

$6.99 a book

(does not include shipping and handling)

Free shipping for orders over $50

To order or for more information: http://www.wiseheartbooks.com/

Need help with the La Carpio Children’s Annual Xmas Party!

On DEC 17, we, at the Women’s Well-Being and Development Foundation (http://www.wwd-f.org/index.html ), are holding our annual Children’s Christmas party for the children we work with in La Carpio, San Jose, Costa Rica.

The children look forward to this event all year round, as well as their parents.  And this year, we are expecting a total of 200 children and parents!  We still need resources to purchase food, decorations, rent buses, and of course, gifts for the kiddies.

There are many, many ways you can help:

• Of course, money donations are always valuable: http://www.wwd-f.org/help.html#online
• Donations of gifts, worth no more than 5,000 colones (or $10 USD) each please (so the kids feel they all get “equal” value gifts) and this year, we are trying to individualize gifts, so each child feels individually acknowledged.
• Donations of pastries, chocolates and sweets for the kids.
• Party decorations (even if we can just borrow some Xmas decorations!)
• Music: A sound system with DJ (but live music is preferred!)
• Face Painters, clowns, magicians, balloon artists, children’s entertainment, games
• Photographer and Videographer
• Set Up and Clean Up for the party

 If you have any questions, concerns, or brilliant ideas as to how to make this the BEST Christmas EVER for these kids, please contact me directly at kellyofthepattersons@yahoo.com

Pura vida,

Kelly of the Pattersons