Patient of the Month – Aron Seymour
by Kayla Johnson
If you ask just about anyone involved in the cannabis industry in some way, whether as a patient or industry member, chances are, they’ll say that cannabis completely changed their life in one way or another. Whether it was the business opportunities, the potential benefits for their health, or both, cannabis opened countless doors for countless Oklahomans. Aron Seymour is one of those Oklahomans who says that cannabis didn’t just open doors, it helped him truly begin his life.
Seymour, who was born and raised in Oklahoma, currently lives in Grady County where he’s been helping to care for his mother, who was injured on the job as a U.S. Air Marshall, and says that the first time he used cannabis at eighteen is something he’ll never forget. “I was living in Austin at the time, it was the summer after I graduated high school. That was one of the best summers of my life, Red Light Special by TLC was playing when I hit that purple bong for the first time.” Even with his open-minded perspective on cannabis as a young adult, Seymour admits that as a child, he was warned of the dangers of cannabis. “I grew up Southern Baptist in the good ole days of D.A.R.E., and with being a young gay boy on top of it, the brainwashing really began early as to what was ‘bad’ for you.” Despite his experience with cannabis, Seymour, now 41, says that it’s only been within the last seven years or so that he has come to really see the medical benefits cannabis can offer. “I’ve been saying for over 20 years that it needs to be legalized and taxed, but I really wish we had had this medical program when my grandfather was dying. I didn’t understand the medical aspect in the beginning, but I’ve experienced the healing effects of cannabis for myself.”
Before he was able to find relief in cannabis, however, Seymour suffered through years of addiction to prescription painkillers, stemming from a series of injuries that started when he was 18. “My brother’s ex-father-in-law, who was a large man and active duty at Tinker, ran at me as hard as he could and bulldogged me into a minivan. It dislocated my shoulder anteriorly, and I had total shoulder reconstruction surgery on my 19th birthday.” After that procedure, Seymour found himself in and out of pain management for years, a familiar tale for anyone who’s had to struggle with an injury. Twelve years later, he tore his labrum and his cuff while at work, and six years after that, his cuff was torn again, when a drunk driver struck his vehicle at a stoplight in Oklahoma City. Seymour says after this last accident, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and severe IBS, after being sick without explanation for years,”I was labeled a drug-seeker for so long, and because I couldn’t use pain management and cannabis both, I was forced to stay addicted to these pills they had me on.”
Seymour had his third shoulder surgery in October of last year, and says that that day, his husband of two years left him, before the nerve-block had even worn off. When he became the fifth person in the state to be approved for a medical cannabis card, he knew he wanted to get into the industry, and when his ex left, it was the final push he needed. “The day he left me, I decided to start OKCannaCo, and I haven’t looked back.” Like so many, a year of working hard every day is starting to pay off, and Seymour says business is better than ever. “Every day is busier than the last, and everyday is better than the last. I keep waiting to be woken up and told this is all a dream, but I know it’s not.”
Beyond his passion for his business, Seymour has a drive to help people improve their quality of life. “When other patients inquire about cannabis, I ask if they’re taking medications, and what for. Obviously, some medicines simply cannot be replaced by cannabis, but if you can replace some of them and those side effects with cannabis instead, you can drastically improve your quality of life.” That includes his desire to see legal delivery service written into law. “I’ve begged Jon Echols and any other politician that will listen that we need to legislate delivery into SQ 788. We need it, end of story.”
His first legal purchase remains ingrained in his memory as well. “My ortho doctor was having to navigate the new opioid laws that took effect, and I didn’t have enough medication to help with the pain, so the next day, I went to the dispensary, and it happened to be the day after October 26, the first day for legal flower sales. It couldn’t have been more perfectly timed.” That first legal purchase made him aware of an incredible perk:” I don’t have the anxiety of being arrested anymore, or having to be sick while in jail. It’s freeing.”
Seymour acknowledged that the legal market has benefited his health by not only making cannabis legally accessible, but making different methods of consumption accessible as well. “With my IBS and Crohn’s, I’ve found that I can’t eat most edibles, but having access to things like THC capsules, or gummies that will coat my stomach in gelatin has changed how I medicate.”
Despite the opposition to cannabis that remains in the state, Seymour says that as a patient, his favorite thing is seeing other patients take the first steps to a healthier life. “There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not contacted by a patient, asking how to get their card, or to just listen to them talk about their health problems. That’s what I really love about this community; nobody looks down on you when you talk about your health, it’s really amazing to see and experience first hand.”
