Yesterday afternoon Mitch and I watched the second part of the Sanjay Gupta special about medical marijuana and it was incredibly interesting. Watching it had a very emotional impact on me for many reasons.
First of all, I am truly happy to be alive to see this huge change in the way people can be treated for many illnesses as well as for pain management. I cried for the families that have to uproot their lives because the state and federal governments are not yet on the same page (but I am confident this is just a learning curve and all will be on the same page sooner than later). I felt a lot of frustration over the fact that our government continues to classify this as a drug that is highly addictive and has no medical value (a class A drug) yet holds patents for medical uses of the plant. What?? I felt thankful that a man as well respected as Sanjay Gupta has made it a mission to fight for change and has “doubled down” on his support of making medical marijuana available for all that might benefit from the medicinal components.
Suffice to say, I cried for the entire hour. Tears of joy and celebration, tears of anger and frustration and certainly tears of sorrow as I watched parents watch their own children struggle with countless seizures, but now hold on to hope and in many cases, finally a possible treatment better than any traditional medicine has yet been able to provide.
I always like to blog about all things plant-based on Thursdays, so I really only went off topic a little today, since marijuana IS a plant, after all. If you haven’t seen this special, I am sure it will air again so check your local CNN listings.
FYI, last night I made the easiest bean burgers. I mashed a 15 ounce can of black beans (rinsed and drained), added some diced, lightly sautéed assorted mushrooms and garlic and enough bread crumbs to hold the patties together. The key to keeping the patties firm is definitely to refrigerate them for at least an hour before cooking. This made 4 nice size patties which I sautéed in a drop of oil for about 5 minutes on each side. Inexpensive, high in fiber, low in calories, high in non-animal protein, and easy peasy, I not only have leftovers, but will be making them again soon and often.
As you go through your Thursday, I hope you will give thought to your food choices and consider a meatless meal or 3. Once you realize that you don’t need an animal protein to complete your meal, the rest is only limited by your own imagination.
