Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1442004
35 caregiver focus cannapatientcare.com december 2021 | cannabis patient care happier. Veterans experience feeling like there's actually people in their corner that care about them. When you talk about a thousand patients on a site, you now get people talking to each other and sharing some stories and building a camaraderie with each other, which is what the mil- itary is used to. When they lose all that quality and just hit the streets, they've lost all their brothers and sisters. This is an important thing of what we really love about CARE Waialua. We've provided this camaraderie so that when they come in, they see each other and they go, "hey". We have events together where we get everybody together and meet people who they can call when they have problems. With us, they have resources. That's the most beautiful thing about co-operatives, there's just so many resources that can be built into place that doesn't tax each veteran, each individual to say, 'hey, I've got to worry about my plants or I've got to wor- ry about getting there.' They don't have to worry about those things. They get to say, 'hey, I'm going out to the farm today be- cause this just makes me a better person. I'm losing weight, I'm getting in shape, I'm learning how to eat better. I'm talking with people who are healthy and happy and not going through the problems I have,' which is another issue—when the vets talk to each other, they're all stressed out. They don't have the capacity to say, 'hey, I need a healthy vet around me.' I think that is proba- bly one of the largest benefits I've seen with a co-operative farm of our size. It's just been—on any patient day when they come in to get medicine or any working day, you just see the euphoria. I mean, the smile on their faces are like they have a second home to go to, it's just astounding. It really is astounding and it makes you feel good as a person, as an owner of a business, or a co-operative that you are making changes. I grew up as an Air Force brat, so I didn't really get taught the beliefs of being part of society, giving back, helping people, trying to come up with better politics, and being a civil serv- ant. I've been taught this all over again and it's turned me into now a fighter, a lobbyist person that cares about people, a person that listens to people. It's really done benefits for me as well as my farm staff. It's changed us all as whole. Q: What resources do you provide to veterans and also others interested in the medical cannabis industry? A: Hanley: We provide the skills to be able to grow your own plants, to understand what it takes to run a farm, and what it takes to manage people. I think our people that volunteer at our farm, all of them get a better understanding of that as far as moving forward, as far as being able to run their own cannabis business. That's what we put in people's mind, but it's a little bit diffi- cult because there's no resources here to do that. We are plan- ning for that, and we are attempting to do that to provide jobs to lots of people, to provide greenhouses to lots of people so people can get their own businesses started. I think the most impor tant par t is it just provides that sense of camaraderie, learning how to grow, how to use the proper medicine, how to co-operate with other people, how to have compassion for other people, even though you might be going through your own problems. Don't just write the whole world off and say 'this place sucks.' Look towards the future and go, 'hey, it doesn't really suck, it's just how you're perceiving it.' We try to teach people, everything is what you make it inside yourself, but it's easier said than done when you're dealing with a lot of chronic prob- lems, such as depression or even sadness. Waking up every day with anxiety, those things are not easy, and I've dealt with those myself. Once you start to get a handle on those things and identify them, you don't really need heavy psy- chology to do that, you just need people around you that are hap- py, understanding life, and understand what you're going through. I think that's been the biggest plus for people coming on our farm is they get educated on how to grow and so if they end up doing something on their own, they won't fail and they get educated. It's moving. It was way worse 100 years ago. Let's move on and let's keep it moving on. Let's be positive people in society so we can help make a difference, also if you're chronic and you're unhappy and you're trying to get through every day of life, we are understanding to that as well. We understand that it's really difficult to get through life and that you can't change society. One thing is that you can't expect people to volunteer in conservation if people don't have a roof over their head or they're living in poverty or they are homeless. Working for a resource management facility, people who take care of land and take care of endangered species, there's been a huge part of me that goes, 'Wait a minute, our socie- ties aren't healthy. So how do we get people out to care about our critters, our endangered species for a better lack of words if they're not even healthy and happy?' That has really taken me back quite a few steps to try and fix other things. Q: What do you hope to see happen in the next 5 years regarding veterans and access to medical cannabis? A: Hanley: My dream and my vision is to see thousands of registered cannabis businesses across Hawaii that can provide jobs to veterans, that can provide jobs to locals, and can invest in healthy communities. That is really my dream and my vision as we're moving forward. We've had politicians out to our farm, and they come there thinking, 'What's this all about?' When they leave, they're as- tounded. I think we have the ear of the politicians going on right now, which I'm very excited to say, 'Hey, we're missing something here. This is actually a healthy thing and can help a lot of people so we can move forward starting to build healthi- er communities.' This has been one of the keys to my vision and the cog to transforming our society in Hawaii.