https://www.al.com/news/2022/02/how-a-birmingham-police-officer-found-a-new-career-in-cannabis.html

Kristy McKinney’s career change from law enforcement to cannabis farmer involved much more than just swapping out her badge for a license to grow.

The former Birmingham police officer had to learn all about cultivating plants and producing CBD while reckoning with her old job and making arrests for marijuana. At times, she struggles with guilt over her role in a War on Drugs she now believes unfairly targeted both marijuana and Black men.

“It’s very unethical for us to be profiting off this plant when we haven’t even attempted to figure out a system for getting these people home,” McKinney said.

Although McKinney began her law enforcement career thinking marijuana was a gateway to more dangerous drugs, it was police work that led indirectly to her change of heart. It started in 2017 when McKinney responded to a call about motor vehicle break-ins.

A victim said thieves had hit two of his vehicles. McKinney had just returned to patrol after six years in the detective bureau handling burglaries. She knew investigators, and the victim, needed her to nail this report.

Disaster struck when she stepped out of the Ford Explorer and collapsed.

“It was like my body exploded on the inside, the pain was so strong,” McKinney said. “When I came to, I was in the street.”

McKinney had recently taken medical leave for a hysterectomy and thought the pain was related to surgical complications. However, medical exams ruled that out and instead pointed toward another culprit: a spinal injury caused by an on-duty car crash several years earlier.

McKinney found herself stuck in medical limbo, unable to get surgery without first receiving approval from the city, a process that became lengthy and contentious. Her neurologist referred her to pain management.

That started McKinney down the path from Birmingham to the hemp farm in St. Clair County where she lives today.

Refusing pain pills

Her injury caused constant pain and made it difficult to walk. Doctors offered her opioids and shots designed to block the source of the pain. As an officer, McKinney was afraid of becoming addicted to prescription opioids. After three or four months of treatment, she felt edgy and different.

“I explained to my pain management doctor that I had turned into something that I recognized,” McKinney said. “And what I had recognized was what I had experienced patrolling the most underserved communities. I had started to experience that lack of care and concern for other people, and that was not acceptable for me.”

McKinney stopped taking the pills. That caused her to lose access to pain block injections offered at the clinic. Pain management agreements often require patients to prove they are taking opioid medications instead of selling them. So, a patient like McKinney who tests negative for opioids at appointments risks termination from care.

It seemed like doctors could only offer opioids for pain. Then a friend mentioned a colleague, who had left a nursing to grow cannabis in Colorado. At that point, McKinney was finally willing to consider it.

She opened her computer and started doing research.

“That night saved my life,” McKinney said. “I don’t know how much longer I could have laid there. I don’t know how much longer I would’ve laid there suffering. I may have had 180, 200 Lortabs on the bedside table. The doctors kept prescribing them. They said there’s nothing else. We don’t know how to treat you. I went through five pain management doctors.”

After researching and traveling out of state, McKinney found that CBD and medical marijuana treated her pain more effectively than opioids. By 2018, she had retired as a police officer and changed her mind about cannabis, the plant family that produces both marijuana and its non-intoxicating cousin hemp.

She applied to cultivate hemp and plans to extract and sell CBD oil.

As this was a long article, I've left parts out, but link to the full article is at top.

This is just one story out of many that shows how perception can change when the pain is your pain. The "bad guy" that is cannabis becomes an ally and a force for good when the truth is brought to light.