Saying Goodbye to Cannabis Warrior Nurse Ed Glick

She wasn't afraid to jump into the chaos and do challenging work if it meant a good outcome for patients

Julia Effie Glick and Todd Dalotto, happier days at a Corvallis Knights baseball game this summer. Photo: (Author)

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - R.I.P. Julia Effie Glick. One of my dearest friends and comrades passed yesterday after suffering from kidney disease.

Many in the cannabis community knew her as Nurse Ed Glick who was a tireless proponent for the rights and ethical treatment of seriously-ill patients who use cannabis.

She was intolerant of a system that lacked compassion and decency and picked her battles wisely, like petitioning and legally challenging the Oregon Health Authority's rigged process of (not) adding medical conditions to the OMMP (thanks Leland R. Berger for supporting this case all the way).

She was one of the first to educate patients about how to access medical marijuana through the new OMMP program in 1999 by going around the state with the first OMMP Program Manager, Kelly Paige.

Her education and advocacy for medical marijuana patients continued through organizations she started such as Contigo Conmigo, Healing Flower Center, and patient support groups as well as helping to found the Cannabis Nurses Association, and never ceased until her body did.

As Nurse Ed, she was one of the most dedicated volunteers at the Compassion Center in our early years (2000 to 2005 or so). She helped design our medical services, assisted the famous Dr. Phil Leveque, Dr. Alan Cohn, and other wonderful doctors, reviewed medical records, and conducted a research study.

When she did intake and vitals for patients at our clinic, she helped nervous patients feel safe, supported, loved, and informed. She really made a big difference in patients lives by all the "little" things she did.

She spent many years working as an RN at Good Sam Hospital in Corvallis, going against the grain of their anti-marijuana policies against both patients and healthcare providers.

She wasn't afraid to jump into the chaos and do challenging work if it meant a good outcome for patients, but she also knew when withdrawing from unhealthy dysfunctional systems and retreating to her secluded cabin in Minnesota was necessary. To her, staying at Good Sam would have been as unnatural as a woman living in a man's body.

Ironically, she sought care from Good Sam in the last couple years of her life. Naturally, it was the administration she had a beef with, not the caring competent nursing staff.

She was as strong of a cynic as she was a powerful optimist. Her keen insight and passionate articulation of her unique perspective was invigorating and often challenged me into action, even if that action meant coming up with an equally passionate argument from a different angle.

I was planning to see her one last time tomorrow, and am sorry I wasn't in time. However, Julia was kind enough to prepare me and other loved ones for what was to come (thanks for the pressure cooker and all the cool stuff you left me).

She left entirely on her own terms, and that's exactly how she lived. I fortunately had the chance to say goodbye several times this summer, including this great memory of us at a Corvallis Knights baseball game this summer.

Julia, I'll miss you greatly! You saved and improved many more lives than you have ever known about. The world is a better place because you were in it!

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Valera Ainsworth October 14, 2017 1:00 am (Pacific time)

Beautiful tribute.

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