Medical Marijuana

Your information is incorrect.

Marijuana is not recognized for medical purposes here in Ecuador.

That being said, the use of marijuana, in the home in private and having an amount under an ounce is not illegal. The difficulty is that the purchase of "manufacture" which includes growing, is a criminal act.

It is a catch-22.

Oh no! That's a deal breaker. I'm thinking fast and furious. Must be some ideas i can come up with. I'm not giving up this dream too quickly.

Thanks for the quick response, even if it was bad news

It pays to be stubborn. There is a bill legalizing marinuana in Ecuador- I think under debate now. I'm having trouble finding a date. International PRI is the source, so believable. Still might be hope.

Well, it´s not completely bad news.

I would suggest that you learn the techniques for making cannabis oil. The procedure is not difficult and the quality is something you can control with whatever oil you choose to use (with coconut oil being a preferred choice as it remains solid at room temperature making dosing easy.

There are a few steps, and a website I can suggest privately will help. 

Now, let me be perfectly frank about moving to Ecuador as one person with a diagnosis of bipolar to another: Moving to a foreign country, as lovely as it sounds, is NOT the cure all for everything that this condition causes and creates in our lives.  Being an expat, and moving and everything that follows that move, is a major cause of stress, and stress as you know is something we try hard to avoid.

Routines, a healthy sleep cycle, a strong support network, access to our medications, and the ability to perform necessary self care when in a crisis mode are all important to remaining stable and that is all important to experiencing the highest quality of life.

I have been here for over 10 years and over all it was a good decision for me.  I know many others for whome the decision was not a good fit.

If you would like to discuss this more specifically let me know. 

Susan

The bill decriminalizing small amounts of certain drugs is what I referred to previously.  It passed in 2015 under the old Correa Administration, but again to clarify, it only applies to POSSESSION and does NOT legalize purchase or manufacture.

Thank you for caring. I'm good. I know wherever you go, there you are. You are preaching to the converted. I've been in this dance for over 50 years. I've got my management techniques, but I'm not going to get myself in a corner where I could have a psychotic break, no matter how unlikely, and have no meds or help. But i think this is all solveable. I'm going to learn how to make tincture for sublingual drops. It will be a question of safely obtaining quality raw materials. No matter how long i'm there, i'm still a visitor and not happy about breaking the local law. It shows a lack of respect. I'm bipolar I with hallucinations and all. I never make big decisions without first thoroughly talking them through with my psychiatrist to make sure it's not a manic decision. She thinks moving to Ecudor would be very good for me, and us. One of the reasons she is OK is because i am comfortable in foreign countries. (She gets a kick out of what she calls my eastern approach to medicine) My mental health status is the least of my problems with emigrating. Nepal is my first choice (and where my spirit lives), and I'll end up there if this doesn't come through (but it will). Thanks again, sister. We were going to check out Loya first. Ya think?

I will point out a major benefit to living in Ecuador is that Seasonal Affective Disorder, the  effect of changing lengths of days with the onset of summer and the reverse, shortened days of winter, are limited in Ecuador as the day length is 12 hours of light all year round, the so-called "eternal Spring" which is more aptly an eternal equinox.

This has made a great difference in my life and has allowed  me to reduce the amount of medication I have needed over the past decade, along with lowered bodyweight which also allowed this change.

And I also use cannabis medicinally for both it`s euphoric effects and in helping deep sleep and for pain relief, which as you no doubt know, is a part of depressive illness not often discussed.

Tinctures are easily made and as I commented, dosing is possible as lipids will absorb THC and CBD/CBN to a set level and that is standard.  As well the level of cannabis here is what would be considered "mid grade" or in the vernacular "middies", seedless and grown hydroponcally or at least indoors under lights from standard mother plants.

Years ago I was quite active as a forum moderator on a Marijuana site (add com to marijuana and you have the site) and wrote under the nom de plume MamaBudz in the Health and Medicine as well as Edibles forum.  Of course this was back in the late 90s and early 2000`s before legalization had occurred and we were still fighting for it.  Now I can come out from behind the curtain so to speak and be much more public about my use, my previous work, and how the use of cannabis changed and improved my lif with this chronic condition we both live with.

Be well and stay in touch and do look at places like Vilcabamba and here on the coast where I live near Montañita.

All the best!

Susan

Namaste, Susan

Hi Susan,
Could you please email me at ***
Thanks. We'll be there on December 26 for our get the feel of the place trip. Yup. Flying on Christmas. I'm thinking one of those long necklace with the flashing Christmas lights for me. Husband refuses to wear reindeer antlers.

Well, you need a special medical card for buying cannabis products. Start with this