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Nat Geo ...opinions please


Hipshot
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Hello fellow clusterheads.

I have a dilemma and could use your help, thoughts and opinions please.

I volunteered for the show and have talked with Lisa, a producer for NatGeo. It seems that I am the only "older looking, not a doper looking" volunteer. They also like me because I hate the effects of busting. I did insist that BOL would be mentioned and discussed. She agreed wholeheartedly.

I have agreed to show my face, tell my story and be filmed having a headache and taking LSD or mushrooms. They want to depict a day in the life of a clusterhead.

I have given this lots of thought.

They even want to reenact me getting a present from my mailbox. 8-) 8-) 8-)

I told them I didn't think that would be wise and her response was: "That's a big part of the story, a picture is worth a thousand words.." how you guys get your medication...

I talked to a friend on this board and he says HELL NO as far as the mail goes. He indicated that I would probably piss a lot of people off...WTF

I am in this to perhaps help someone...maybe make a difference, I certainly don't want it to backfire. I will have my sh*t in order. My house will be sanitized as well as my computer.

Most everyone who knows me knows full well what I do to save my life. If someone doesn't understand...F 'em.

Do you think I should do this? Lee Ann is hesitant, my two kids are proud of me...and now I don't know what to think.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Dan

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Dan,

I would share your concern.  The focus should be on the condition and treatment.  Not focus on how to get drugs in the mail...  Right out of the box that sounds like bad light on our condition instead of getting the word out.  Thinking it through more it could cause a reverse affect if legislators think people could get schedule I drugs in the mail.

I for one am excited Natgeo is doing a special on our treatment, but not excited as to how so many shows these days are built on sensationalism instead of good reporting.

Good luck on your decision,

Jeff

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I'm also guessing that it wouldn't be wise - I think that crosses the line, depicting you engaging in a whole other level of illegality that shouldn't be flaunted.

I also think it's BS that showing you getting a present in the mail is a big part part of the story, and in her misguided zeal she's carelessly trying to insist on something that could bring a s**tstorm of trouble.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then they can get a picture of you saying that an angel came to your aid.  8-)

Devil on my shoulder: "On the other hand....maybe no law enforcement agency has any desire to prosecute someone effectively treating their worst pain known to mankind......?"

Angel on shoulder: "Not worth the risk!"

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Thanks guys. Jeeber, if I wasn't happily married to Lee Ann I'd want to marry you :o

Great reply

Don't get jealous bonkers.

So far I agree with what's been said and again, thanks.

I didn't mention it but I will also show my little farm...it should be good timing. I figure I should show and tell everything that is useful without going too far. The too far part is what I'm unsure of.

I think showing me growing my own medicine and taking same is pretty powerful stuff. Much more impact than going to the mailbox.

They initially wanted to show the use of LSD which I have not tried and I made that clear to her.

I figured since an angel fixed me up, and since I hate being on shrooms I'd do LSD. Two birds with one stone.

Lisa mentioned to me this morning that mushrooms or LSD would work with them.

As far as the law, I'm sure for the most part they have better things to do. On the other hand...angel in my shoulder...I will have nothing in my possession for quite some time after this deal airs, if indeed it does. I want to get our points across with the most impact. The producer described it as telling a story through pictures.

I am not a "get on camera" kinda guy...believe me. I find it hard to believe that i am their best hope in the whole damn world. I will take any encouragement you have to share.

I want to emphasize the mind bending effects of mushrooms and the lack thereof with BOL.

Mostly I want to pay it forward and enlighten the ignorant. ::)

Dan

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Well last I heard kaboom, next in line after Lee Ann is actually Hipshot's O2 tank with boobs, so I'm afraid we all may be outa luck.  :'(

I heard that when Bonkers learned that Hipshot would take the boobed O2 tank over him he was weeping uncontrollably for a month straight.

Crossing any lines yet?  :D

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Well, my friend, I think it's great that you've consented to be the Poster Boy for our most worthy cause. It seems to me though, that NatGeo is trying to pull the wool over your eyes with their insistence that you provide them with all the sordid (read illegal) details regarding our methods of production and distribution. Sensationalism is what sells newspapers - and TV programs. You'd think that the public broadcast by a media outlet as highly respected as NatGeo, of the most effective treatment yet found to treat the most painful condition ever suffered by mankind, would create enough sensation in itself, without the need to jeopardize anyone's access to the substances required for that treatment or the freedom of the "Angels" willing to supply them... whew.

Eyes on the prize. I hope everyone's in agreement that ready access to BOL for any ClusterHead in the world and the universal acceptance and understanding of its effectiveness by the Medical Establishment is our ultimate goal. Our immediate goal is to get the word out that Psychedelics and high-volume oxygen hyperventilation will work in the meantime.

I think Jeebs hit the nail on the head: "It's not worth the risk." Not to anyone's freedom and not to our ability to produce and distribute NECESSARY TREATMENTS to sufferers of this horrible affliction. If NatGeo's price to publicize our cause is the public exposure of anyone's unjustly criminal activities, phuckem!

Ron

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Mostly I want to pay it forward and enlighten the ignorant.

Thank you!

I agree with all thatÂ’s been said here that amounts to, Why take a risk? My biggest concern from what youÂ’ve said, Dan, is about risks you would be taking. (I also figure that Bob W and the producers have already thought of everything IÂ’ve thought of, and will not put you at risk, so in large part what IÂ’m saying here seems like itÂ’s likely to turn out to be unnecessary.)

The post office processes almost 600 million pieces of mail every single day. I strongly doubt that it’s going to start screening anything in any new or more diligent way for a few shipments of mushrooms or LSD. So I don’t feel very worried about that general issue, even though I agree (a) why take the risk and (B) you going to your mailbox doesn’t sound like must-see tv.  I guess it also seems to me that even if they don’t show you checking your mail, if they just say that some CH people are fortunate enough to get gifts in the mail when they need them, it will likely have the same effect on USPS policies as actually showing it—whatever that effect may be, which I would predict to be close to zero unless some radio or tv nutjob (don’t make me name names) decides to make a few more million dollars by persecuting someone else.

But how are they gonna do all this so you are protected? I mean, being on camera taking illegal drugs (or admitting to taking them) does not seem wise. I was figuring they were going to blur out your face—but how would they show you having a CH attack if they did that? 

Just from a curiosity standpoint, I wonder how effective that having-an-attack scene would be, anyway.  Won’t people who are watching, who don’t know what it’s like, just figure you’re exaggerating it for the cameras?  Why wouldn’t they have some “hidden-camera” footage of someone else, like what’s already on yotube—seems more convincing.  But like I say, I’m not the expert.  My concern is for you.  And like I also said, I trust that some rational person involved in the production is helping you look out for your interests.

I also presume that they will be talking about the ineffectiveness/downright backfiring effects of typical CH "medications," so that the need for the shrooms/acid/LSA is clear to viewers.  Part of your story, I'm assuming.

All that said, it does seem that putting a human face (which Bonkers assures me is a more-or-less accurate description of yours) on CH could make a big, big difference for a whole lot of people, and—if the risks are properly managed—would be so very much worth it.  Thanks for doing it.

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I was too fast for ya CHF. Thanks for your insight.

To my knowledge I can be seen doing something illegal...like taking mushrooms or smoking a big fatty. As long as I don't get caught with "it" on me I think i would be ok. Can they get me if they know I had a garden some months in the past...some years in the past???

The other Explorer showed the people tripping their asses off and I have to assume that they weren't arrested for it.

I know...ASSUME...bad thing to do I suppose.

I think I would be in the clear and if not there is indeed something wrong in Denmark.

Thanks for your thoughts, thats what I'm looking for. And thanks for the thanks.

Can you smoke in jail? haha

Dan

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We are almost 1000 members. Clusterbusters gonna be googled ALLOT of times after that show. It would be sad if a mushroom farm is what they have in they're mind as they read. Because that is the way most of the parents to my daughters friends gonna react at least. Even when seeing an attack, they won`t be ok with someone producing illegal drugs. Then sympathy for this condition disappear and the credibility is gone. And they gonna have strong opinions along with a bag of crisp`s on theyre couch. Ok, not everyone but you get my point. Where i live, Mushrooms have the same penalty as Heroin. I take a risk every time i order RC seeds as well actually.

I thought they wanted to show that we need this as a med, like BOL. And how much trouble this cause in our lives not to get what we need. Why they want to do it that way?

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Your security aside :)

I think showing that clusterheads have to partake in criminal activity to get proper meds would generate goodwill and cred towards BOL. If BOL will be mentioned as the unobtainable nonpsychedelic brother of LSD, that is...

But I would prolly leave that up to other more anonymous people in the film if I was Hipshot.. :) Or I would have them distort my face.

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I see your concern Ting, but you assume those parrents think that every clusterhead out there produce shrooms or take lsd. I don't think they will. I think NatGeo will emphasize that this is the solution for some people, not lay this out as being every clusterheads life.

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Hipshot is right and you`re right. Dan, i agree f...em, this has to be done at one point, why not now. Someone has to be the first ones to be looked at (we have our evil cluster eye to look back at them anyway).

I was thinking like a coward, we`re not cowards. My daughter gonna do just fine with her friends parents.

Go Dan, i stand right behind you!! (Not hiding though ;))

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You guys are brave souls. I'm even uncomfortable with this message thread be public info.

Dan, I think they picked the right person. You know the issues like the back of your hand and you're open, honest, and most importantly, likable. Not that I like you, but, well, just sayin. This is a really important event!

-Chris

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Agreed with the opinions here.  My only concern is that natgeo NOT add sensationilism, or focus on 'how to get drugs'.  That could easily back fire.  We NEED these treatments.  Living with CH is a death sentence realized for some sooner than later.  We certainly don't want public opinion getting the perception we get a 'little headache' and that's an excuse to use illegal drugs. 

There's a fine line between acceptance and tollerance.

I definitely support you Hipshot!  Just hoping they're not trying to turn the show into a focus on drugs instead of the condition and what drugs work and don't work.  I guess there's a level of faith we have to put into natgeo, to get the word out.

Jeff

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There's a fine line between acceptance and tollerance.

Just hoping they're not trying to turn the show into a focus on drugs instead of the condition and what drugs work and don't work.I guess there's a level of faith we have to put into natgeo, to get the word out.

Better way to say what i ment.

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Thanks everyone.

I suppose the bottom line is...I will do my best to put a good face on our affliction and what we  have to go through and NatGeo will do their best to make a show. There will be no mailbox shot...just a mention of angels amount us :)

BOL is going to be my focus and indeed it is what I am committed to somehow making available to all of us.

I will do my best to get Lisa to understand our plight and get her on OUR side.

Thanks for helping me out.

Dan

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Dan you're da Man!!! (but then, haven't you always been?)  ;)

With your mindset and attitude, I think everything will work out just fine.  There are a lot of people here who have your back, and we all owe you a debt of gratitude.

Thanks Dan!

bobb

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Depending on the innate goodness of others to watch out for my best interests is a mistake I've made most of my life. I think if I were you - and I'm not - I'd get it in writing that the emphasis of the show would be on the devastating nature of Cluster Headache and the lengths sufferers are willing to go to to find relief. Expensive operations that sever nerves or implant electrodes deep inside CH'ers brains. Folks who've never in their lives broken a law who risk serious jail time by taking or supplying others with illegal drugs. Those who resort to suicide when they can no longer tolerate the pain.

Magic Mushrooms and LSD just happen to work better than anything else. If ice cream had the same magic, no one I know would be dropping acid. It's also true that no one would watch - or make - a show about ice cream: the miracle drug. I'd like to see BOL painted as the miracle drug. An exotic drug derived from LSD but without its attendant hallucinations. A legal drug that could be available by prescription but that is currently prohibitively expensive due to the difficulty of its manufacture and the illegality of its precursors.

I'd hate to have anyone shown growing psilocybe mushrooms or taking LSD with a wink and a smile. There should only be sadness at the extremes sufferers are willing to resort to for some respite from the pain. This is a real opportunity to gain public awareness and support. It could just as easily backfire and make us look like drug-seeking whiners unwilling to put up with a little headache.

Ron

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