Interview with Jaka Bitenc (SKSK)
Who are you? What are you doing? What is your personal experience with medical cannabis, and what do you feel are the differences when comparing regular medications (pharmaceuticals) with medical cannabis for your condition.
I am an activist, a father, a human, fighting for his health and also for the health of others in Slovenia. At the moment I am part of a team that is touring around Slovenia and informing as many people as possible about the benefits and usefulness of cannabis. We are tying to change the laws, which are pretty much the same all over the Bakans and do not make any sense. I use cannabis because I’ve had diabetes for the last 23 years and my body doesn’t absorb insulin sufficiently, so I have no other healthy alternative. At the moment I use only 30% of insulin, because insulin kills off all the healthy beta cells in our bodies. I assume that this is being done on purpose by the pharmaceutical industry to get as many insulin addicts as possible.
The hash (cannabis) oil, that we do, is helping me in many ways. First of all, it calms down my body by lowering the adrenaline levels so I can think more clearly. It also stimulates my pancreas to produce the insulin on its own and by doing that it indirectly lowers my blood sugar levels.
Of course, the most succesful therapy is wholesome, taking care with a proper diet, energy frequencies etc.
Can you notice a difference in the Government’s and public opinions regarding medical cannabis, between the time prior to the start of SKSK’s activities and now?
The main motive to found the SKSK was most certainly my diabetes, for as long as I have it, I had to suffer injecting insulin with those needles, which was killing me and making an addict out of me.
I did not have any legal problems, apart from the fact, that I had to make many adjustements to the club statute before the office was satisfied with the result. The opinon of the governemnt on the other hand is clear, self supply is not allowed, we should be happy to be able to inform the public. Here in Slovenia, it is like in most places around the world. We have secret agents and all sorts of stuff people see in the movies.
The public opinion has changed a lot since 2010. The media have started to write about the benefits of cannabis. It happened for the first time in Slovenia, that a civil campaign managed to gather 28.000 signatures for three draft laws – we made it all together!
What is your membership policy and how many members SKSK have?
Members of our club are only medical patients. We cannot afford any other policy untill the law is changed. The number of memebers is increasing daily, so I cannot give an exact number, but I can say there are more than one thousand patients in the club.
What is the main goal of SKSK?
The aim of the club is to help medical patients, whom the official medicine cannot help as well as to change the law in such a way that it will allow self-supply of Cannaibs here in Slovenia.
Can you say something more about the activities of SKSK?
We have meetings with patients, we give lectures on cannabis history and medical use as well as presentations of the draft laws around Slovenia. Similarly, we help patients from abroad. We help establish small cannabis clubs around Slovenia and are trying to live in a parallel system, because we are not satisfied with our official position.
Can you emphasize some positive examples of medical cannabis use?
Cannabis is proven to heal 105 diseases, meaning all autoimmune diseases. It is very important to start the therapy as soon as the diagnosys has been made. cannabis oil lowers the blood sugar levels, holesterol levels, blood presure levels, it dillutes the blood and improves our sleep, our digestion – which is essential fot the treatment of HIV and different cancers. This is only one part, for cannabis consumption has too many beneficial effects to list them all in a short answer. We would need to explain the endocannabinoid first, the most complex metabolic mechanism of our bodies…
What is your opinion regarding cannabis and our future?
There is no turning back any more. We are getting new evidence each and every day. The future is bright and we are optimistic.
Interview by Žarir Simrin