tagged w/ Bhang
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President Bush's drug warriors must really, really want to protect their ability to throw non-violent marijuana users in jail.
The White House sent at least three party crashers to a press conference Wednesday with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who has introduced a pot-decriminalization bill.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy's "chief scientist" and two aides who were dispatched to provide instant rebuttal to Frank and the bill's cosponsors, all of whom acknowledged that marijuana was likely to remain very much illegal in the foreseeable future.
Given the bill's essentially non-existent chances of passage, ONDCP's Dr. David Murray's impassioned arguments that seemed more appropriate in Reefer Madness were greeted with plenty of puzzled glances.
Why did the White House feel it necessary to send at least three staffers to Capitol Hill to place in every reporter's hand a copy of its 20-page, color-copied "2008 Marijuana Sourcebook?" RAW STORY posed this question to Murray.
"It is our responsibility to be aware of policy developments," said Murray, who clarified that he had a PhD and was not a medical doctor. He explained that Frank's attempt to modify the controlled substances act was very much of interest to the Bush administration's pot prohibitionists.
The Marijuana Policy Project's Rob Kampia, who stuck around to listen to Murray's post-press conference diatribe, said he suspected ulterior motives behind the propagandistic pontificating.
"Nothing's going to happen on this before he loses his job," the decriminalization advocate said, acknowledging that Frank's bill won't move forward until at least next year, when President Bush -- and his appointees -- would be out of office. "This is him emptying the clip."
To its defenders, Frank's bill is a common sense move aimed at protecting letting states institute marijuana policies as they see fit, protecting patients in the dozen states that have legalized medical marijuana and generally telling the government to butt out of people's private lives. To its opponents...
"I don't think that it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time," Frank said of his bill, which would eliminate federal penalties for individual possession of up to 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) of marijuana.
Frank's proposal is aimed only at decriminalizing individual possession, so it alone would not end raids by the Drug Enforcement Agency on medical marijuana dispensaries in states like California. Frank said he's authored separate medical marijuana legislation that he would introduce in concert with the individual bill.
Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) criticized the government for wasting billions of dollars on a "phony war on drugs" that's done virtually nothing to actually stop anyone from using drugs.
One presumes that some of those billions were spent on the glossy Office of Drug Control Policy report with the Dr. Strangelovian title, "Marijuana: The Greatest Cause of Illegal Drug Abuse." Naturally, if marijuana were decriminalized, that wouldn't be the case, but such nuance is lost on drug war defenders.
The press conference also featured marijuana defenders pointing out that the drug has caused none of its users to die, unlike alcohol and tobacco -- both of which are legal.
"We do not arrest and jail responsible alcohol drinkers; this should be our policy with marijuana as well," said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The NORML representative was sporting a small gold marijuana leaf pin on his lapel, where miniature American flags are a more common Capitol Hill accessory.President Bush's drug warriors must really, really want to protect their ability... more
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Lotus rolled out a solar-powered and environmentally friendly concept car which is made up ganja, called Eco Elise, during the British International Motor Show.
Sports cars aren't supposed to be green. They're supposed to snort petrol, belch fire and cause innocent passers by to develop nasty chest infections. So when Lotus rolled up to the British International Motor Show in an a solar-powered Eco Elise made out of plants, it raised more than a few eyebrows.
See those brown bits on the car? That's foliage, that is. And not just any foliage--it's pressed hemp. Yes, hemp--what you make cannabis from. We've no idea if this car's designers had ingested some kind of "hemp" when they came up with the concept of a car made of ganja, but on closer inspection it's actually not a bad idea.
Hemp is a renewable, lightweight material that absorbs CO2 through photosynthesis, which is good for the planet. The particular brand of hemp used is ethically farmed and grown locally to Lotus, so the amount of CO2 needed to transport the raw materials is kept to a minimum. It's good news for the car itself, too. Hemp is very light compared to metal, which improves performance and promotes greener, more fuel-efficient driving. It doesn't compromise on safety, either--all the parts that are important for structural integrity are metal.
The solar panels in the roof are an interesting addition. They can't power the car itself, but they can drive the Eco Elise's electrical subsystems, including the iPod/MP3-compatible stereo. When it's in use, it can also take the strain off the car's alternator so it uses less petrol, and emits fewer harmful particles.
Aside from that, it's a normal Lotus Elise--which is a good thing. If you don't mind sitting in a cockpit surrounded by what could just as easily have been marijuana, and don't mind being constantly pulled over by police with sniffer dogs, we'd recommend it. Unfortunately, you won't be able to buy it anytime soon. It's a concept car, but Lotus promises that "certain features might find their way into future models".
Check the pics over the following pages.
Credit: Rory Reid/CNET UK
Lotus rolled out a solar-powered and environmentally friendly concept car which is... more
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A father of one was remanded to prison yesterday after he pleaded guilty to a possession of narcotics charge at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
Kenrick Estwick, 51, of 345 ‘A’ Field Sophia, is accused of having in his possession five grams of cannabis on July 26, at Hague, West Coast Demerara.
Estwick, the father of one, pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton.
The accused was represented by defence counsel Patrice Henry, who asked the magistrate to exercise leniency. He told the magistrate that his client is asthmatic and uses the cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Henry further added that, prior to this incident, his client never had any other run-in with the law, and as such asked that a non-custodian sentenced be imposed on his client.
Police prosecutor Desiree Fowler told the court that, on the day in question, the police, acting on information, went to Hague, West Coast Demerara, and located the accused.
She said a party of police conducted a search on the accused and a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems, suspected to be cannabis, were found. This was later confirmed at the Leonora Police Station, where the suspect was detained.
The magistrate then asked the defence counsel to tender a clinic card in court later today, when the case will be called again, to show that his client is indeed asthmatic.A father of one was remanded to prison yesterday after he pleaded guilty to a... more
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A noted rise in the cultivation and teen usage of marijuana in the Bahamas is prompting government officials to begin surveys once again in schools to find out how many youth are involved in the soliciting of illegal drugs and drug abuse.
According to Deputy Director Designate of the Anti-Drug Secretariat Terrance Fountain, studies in The Bahamas have shown that marijuana is the drug of choice by far, for teenage senior high school youth an issue he claims that has far reaching social implications far beyond high school.
In a recent interview with The Bahama Journal Mr. Fountain said that though The Bahamas has been regarded generally as a transit country for illegal drugs, he added that the cultivation of marijuana in recent times has gone up.
He said that this calls for great concern seeing that marijuana is proven to be the most popular illegal drug for teenagers and young men.
"While the last school drug survey was done in 2002 I don't suspect much would have changed in terms of experimentation with marijuana which by far is the drug of choice within our schools and among our young people," Mr. Fountain said.
He said that a high school drug survey is currently being organized and prepared for the coming fall school semester as many young people in schools are at risk to the drug.
Mr. Fountain who has specific responsibility for the National Drug Observatory, the statistics research and information arm of the Anti-Drug Secretariat, said that the issue of drug abuse cannot be properly addressed until proper research is done on the topic.
He said that from the last school drug survey it was discovered that between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of young people in The Bahamas had experimented with marijuana at least once in their lifetime.
He said that even within the school arena, some populations of students are more susceptible for marijuana use than others.
"We can't paint everyone with a broad brush, if this is a population that is more susceptible than our activities and efforts need to be directed towards that group.
"Not ignoring the others but putting the focus where the focus should be. As it is right now, it is more amongst males and older male young people," he said.
He added that the gender ratio of males to females going into The College of the Bahamas is also directly related to this occurrence.
Mr. Fountain said that the need for more drug research in The Bahamas is rising and added that his responsibility will be to supply information needed by the government and various other organized bodies.
"There will be a need for indicators at the national level to give an indication of where we ( The Bahamas ) are in our efforts in the fight against drugs. And that will put us in a position where we can plan more appropriately.
"We can assist the policy makers and it will put us in a position where we can monitor and evaluate and determine how effective we ( The Bahamas ) will be in the fight against drugs," Mr. Fountain said.
Mr. Fountain said that only when proper research is put into perspective will officials see whether or not anti-drug efforts in The Bahamas are assisting in the fight against illegal drugs.
He said that only then will the answers to many questions come such as: "What is going on with our students? Are the anti-drug efforts taking place in our schools bearing fruit? Is the proportion of people who experiment with drugs for the first time up or down? What proportion of those people who experiment will go on to continue to use drugs?"
Mr. Fountain said that one of the questions he asked the young people in the past surveys was 'where do you get your information form?'
He said that from the responses, he found that the older young people get, the more they learn about drugs from friends and get information on drug use from the Internet and other sources.A noted rise in the cultivation and teen usage of marijuana in the Bahamas is... more
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A Brief Summary of the Uses of Hemp
Our Challenge to the World: Try to Prove Us Wrong
If all fossil fuels and their derivatives, as well as trees for paper and construction were banned in order to save the planet, reverse the Greenhouse Effect and stop deforestation;
Then there is only one known annually renewable natural resource that is capable of providing the overall majority of the world’s paper and textiles; meeting all of the world’s transportation, industrial and home energy needs; simultaneously reducing pollution, rebuilding the soil, and cleaning the atmosphere all at the same time…
And that substance is—the same one that did it all before—
Cannabis Hemp…Marijuana!
Ships & Sailors
Ninety percent* of all ships’ sails (since before the Phoenicians, from at least the 5th century B.C. until long after the invention and commercialization of steam ships, mid-to late-19th century) were made from hemp.
*The other 10% were usually flax or minor fibers like ramie, sisal, jute, abaca, etc.
(Abel, Ernest, Marijuana: The First 12,000 Years, Plenum Press, 1980; Herodotus, Histories, 5th century B.C.; Frazier, Jack, The Marijuana Farmers, 1972; U.S. Agricultural Index, 1916-1982; USDA film, Hemp for Victory, 1942.)
The word “canvas”1 is the Dutch pronunciation (twice removed, from French and Latin) of the Greek word “Kannabis.”*
*Kannabis, of the (Hellenized) Mediterranean Basin Greek language, derived from the Persian and earlier Northern Semitics (Quanuba, Kanabosm, Cana?, Kanah?) which scholars have now traced back to the dawn of the 6,000-year-old Indo-Semitic European language family base of the Sumerians and Acadians. The early Sumerian/Babylonian word K(a)N(a)B(a), or Q(a)N(a)B(a) is one of man’s longest surviving root words.1 (KN means cane and B means two, two reeds or two sexes.)
In addition to canvas sails, until this century virtually all of the rigging, anchor ropes, cargo nets, fishing nets, flags, shrouds, and oakum (the main protection for ships against salt water, used as a sealant between the outer and inner hull of ships) were made from the stalk of the marijuana plant.
Even the sailors’ clothing, right down to the stitching in the seamen’s rope-soled and (sometimes) “canvas” shoes, was crafted from cannabis.*
*An average cargo, clipper, whaler, or naval ship of the line, in the 16th, 17th, 18th, or 19th centuries carried 50 to 100 tons of cannabis hemp rigging, not to mention the sails, nets, etc., and needed it all replaced every year or two, due to salt rot. (Ask the U.S. Naval Academy, or see the construction of the USS Constitution, a.k.a. “Old Ironsides,” Boston Harbor.)
(Abel, Ernest, Marijuana, The First 12,000 Years, Plenum Press, 1980; Ency. Britannica; Magoun, Alexander, The Frigate Constitution, 1928; USDA film Hemp for Victory, 1942.)
Additionally, the ships’ charts, maps, logs, and Bibles were made from paper containing hemp fiber from the time of Columbus (15th century) until the early 1900s in the Western European/American World, and by the Chinese from the 1st century A.D. on. Hemp paper lasted 50 to 100 times longer than most preparations of papyrus, and was a hundred times easier and cheaper to make.
Incredibly, it cost more for a ship’s hempen sails, ropes, etc. than it did to build the wooden parts.
Nor was hemp use restricted to the briny deep…A Brief Summary of the Uses of Hemp
Our Challenge to the World: Try to Prove Us... more
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February 1938 - Popular Mechanics Magazine:
“NEW BILLION-DOLLAR CROP”
February 1938 - Mechanical Engineering Magazine:
“THE MOST PROFITABLE & DESIRABLE CROP THAT CAN BE GROWN”
Modern technology was about to be applied to hemp production, making it the number-one agricultural resource in America. Two of the most respected and influential journals in the nation, Popular Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, forecast a bright future for American hemp. Thousands of new products creating millions of new jobs would herald the end of the Great Depression. Instead hemp was persecuted, outlawed and forgotten at the bidding of W. R. Hearst, who branded hemp the “Mexican killer weed, marihuana.”
As early as 1901 and continuing to 1937, the U.S. Department of Agriculture repeatedly predicted that, once machinery capable of harvesting, As you will see in these articles, the newly mechanized stripping and separating the fiber from the pulp was cannabis hemp industry was in its infancy, but well on invented or engineered, hemp would again be America’s number-one farm crop. The introduction of G. W. decorticator in 1917 nearly fulfilled this prophesy. (See pages 13-15 and Appendix.)
The prediction was reaffirmed in the popular press when Popular Mechanics published its February 1938 article “Billion-Dollar Crop.” The first reproduction of this article in over 50 years was in the original edition of this book. The article is reproduced here exactly as it was printed in 1938.
Because of the printing schedule and deadline, Popular Mechanics prepared this article in spring of 1937 when cannabis hemp for fiber, paper, dynamite and oil, was still legal to grow and was, in fact, an incredibly fast-growing industry.
Also reprinted in this chapter is an excerpt from the Mechanical Engineering article about hemp, published the same month. It originated as a paper presented a year earlier at the Feb. 26, 1937 Agricultural Processing Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Reports from the USDA during the 1930s, and Congressional testimony in 1937, showed that cultivated hemp acreage had been doubling in size in America almost every year from the time it hit its bottom acreage, 1930-when 1,000 acres were planted in the U.S. - to 1937 - when 14,000 acres were cultivated with plans to continue to double that acreage annually in the foreseeable future.
As you will see in these articles, the newly mechanized cannabis hemp industry was in its infancy, but well on its way to making cannabis America's largest agricultural crop. And in light of subsequent developments (e.g. biomass energy technology, building materials, etc.), we now know that hemp is the world's most important ecological resource and therefore, potentially our planet's single largest industry.
The Popular Mechanics article was the very first time in American history that the term "billion-dollar"* was ever applied to any U.S. agricultural crop!
Equivalent to $40-$80 billion now.
Experts today conservatively estimate that, once fully restored in America, hemp industries will generate $500 billion to a trillion dollars per year, and will save the planet and civilization from fossil fuels and their derivatives - and from deforestation!
If Harry Anslinger, DuPont, Hearst and their paid-for (know it or not, then as now) politicians had not outlawed hemp - under the pretext of marijuana (see Chapter 4, "Last Days of Legal Cannabis") - and suppressed hemp knowledge from our schools, researchers and even scientists, the glowing predictions in these articles would already have come true by now - and more benefits than anyone could then envision - as new technologies and uses continue to develop.
As one colleague so aptly put it, "These articles were the last honest word spoken on hemp's behalf for over 40 years..."February 1938 - Popular Mechanics Magazine:
“NEW BILLION-DOLLAR CROP”... more
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The Last Days of LEGAL CANNABIS
As you now know, the industrial revolution of the 19th century was a setback for hemp in World commerce, due to the lack of mechanized harvesting and breaking technology needed for mass production. But this natural resource was far too valuable to be relegated to the back burner of history for very long.
By 1916, USDA Bulletin 404 predicted that a decorticating and harvesting machine would be developed, and hemp would again be America’s largest agricultural industry. In 1938, magazines such as Popular Mechanics, and Mechanical Engineering introduced a new generation of investors to fully operational hemp decorticating devices; bringing us to this next bit of history. Because of this machine, both indicated that hemp would soon be America’s number-one crop! The Last Days of LEGAL CANNABIS
As you now know, the industrial revolution of the... more
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Marijuana Prohibition
Anslinger got his marijuana law…
“Should we believe self-serving, ever-growing drug enforcement/drug treatment bureaucrats, whose pay and advancement depends on finding more and more people to arrest and ‘treat’?
“More Americans die in just one day in prisons, penitentiaries, jails and stockades than have ever died from marijuana throughout history. Who are they protecting? From what?”
—Fred Oerther, MD, Portland, Oregon
Moving to Crush Dissent
After the 1938-1944 New York City ”LaGuardia Marijuana Report” refuted his argument, by reporting that marijuana caused no violence at all and citing other positive results, Harry J. Anslinger, in public tirade after tirade, denounced Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the New York Academy of Medicine and the doctors who researched the report.
Anslinger proclaimed that these doctors would never again do marijuana experiments or research without his personal permission, or be sent to jail!
He then used the full power of the United States government, illegally, to halt virtually all research into marijuana while he blackmailed the American Medical Association (AMA)* into denouncing the New York Academy of Medicine and its doctors for the research they had done.
*Why, you ask, was the AMA now on Anslinger’s side in 1944-45, after being against the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937? Answer: Since Anslinger’s FBN was responsible for prosecuting doctors who prescribed narcotic drugs for what he, Anslinger, deemed illegal purposes, they (the FBN) had prosecuted more than 3,000 AMA doctors for illegal prescriptions through 1939. In 1939, the AMA made specific peace with Anslinger on marijuana. The results: Only three doctors were prosecuted for illegal drugs of any sort from 1939 to 1949.
To refute the LaGuardia report, the AMA, at Anslinger’s personal request, conducted a 1944-45 study; “of the experimental group 34 were negroes and one was white” (for statistical control) who smoked marijuana, became disrespectful of white soldiers and officers in the segregated military. (See Appendix, “Army Study of Marijuana,” Newsweek, Jan. 15, 1945.)
This technique of biasing the outcome of a study is known among researchers as “gutter science.” Marijuana Prohibition
Anslinger got his marijuana law…
“Should we... more
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The Body of Medical Literature on Cannabis Medicine
Our authority here is the ‘Body of Literature,’ starting with ancient materia medicae:
Chinese and Hindu pharmacopoeia and Near Eastern cuneiform tablets, and continuing all the way into this century, including the 1966-76 U.S. renaissance of cannabis studies—some 10,000 separate studies on medicines and effects from the hemp plant.
Comprehensive compendia of these works are designated as the prime sources for this medical chapter, as well as ongoing interviews with many researchers. The Body of Medical Literature on Cannabis Medicine
Our authority here is the... more
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Therapeutic Use of Cannabis
There are more than 60 therapeutic compounds in cannabis that are healing agents in medical and herbal treatments. The primary one is THC, and the effectiveness of therapy is directly proportionate to the herb’s potency or concentration of THC. Recent DEA reports of increasingly potent marijuana therefore represent a major medical advance; but, incredibly, the government uses these very numbers to solicit bigger budgets and harsher penalties.
On November 5, 1996, 56% of California citizens voted for the California Compassionate Use Act (medical marijuana initiative) ending all legal state efforts to keep marijuana from being used as medicine by California citizens.
Arizona citizens, in November 1996, also passed, by an even greater margin—
65%—a drug declassification initiative that included medical marijuana, backed by, among others, the late U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater.
Arizona’s governor and legislature, exercising their veto override ability on their state initiative laws for the first time in 90 years, struck down this popular initiative passed by the people. Arizona citizens angrily responded by recollecting more than 150,000 signatures in a 90-day referendum period and promptly returned the medical marijuana initiative to the ballot for November 1998.
The following explains how people will benefit when the freedom of choice of doctors and patients is once again respected.Therapeutic Use of Cannabis
There are more than 60 therapeutic compounds in... more
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Cannabis Hempseed as a Basic World Food
In 1937, Ralph Loziers, general counsel of the National Institute of Oilseed Products, told the Congressional committee studying marijuana prohibition that “hempseed... is used in all the Oriental nations and also in a part of Russia as food. It is grown in their fields and used as oatmeal. Millions of people every day are using hempseed in the Orient as food. They have been doing this for many generations, especially in periods of famine.”
That was over 70 years ago. Today we know hempseed is the plant kingdom’s richest source of life-giving essential fatty acids, and may well be the cure for cancer and heart disease. Cannabis Hempseed as a Basic World Food
In 1937, Ralph Loziers, general counsel of... more
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ECONOMICS: Energy, Environment and Commerce
We have explained what hemp has historically meant to this country’s economy. Now, we must also consider the future of hemp.
We predict that the net effect of ending American hemp prohibition will be to generate “ripple effect” economics—a revitalized American agriculture producing hemp as the raw material for a multitude of industries creating millions of good jobs for skilled and and semi-skilled professional workers throughout America. The resulting wealth will remain in local communities and with farmers, smaller businesses and entrepreneurs like you! ECONOMICS: Energy, Environment and Commerce
We have explained what hemp has... more
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Myth, Magic & Medicine:
A Look at the Sociology of Cannabis Use Throughout World History
Contrary to popular perception,” marijuana” is not a phenomenon rooted in the 1960s.
Cannabis hemp is part of our global heritage and was the backbone of our most stable and longest surviving cultures.
Recent psycho-pharmacological studies have discovered that THC has its own unique receptor sites in the brain, indicating man and marijuana have a pre-cultural relationship—indeed, human culture could very well prove to be the blossom of our symbiosis with cannabis. (See Appendix)Myth, Magic & Medicine:
A Look at the Sociology of Cannabis Use Throughout... more
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The (HEMP) War of 1812
United States vs. Great Britain
Napoleon Invades Russia...
This is a piece of history that you may have been a bit hazy on when you were taught about it in school. You might well have asked,” What the heck were they fighting about, anyway?”
Here we present the events that led up to the Battle of New Orleans, which, due to slow communications, was accidentally fought on January 8, 1815, two weeks after the War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814 by the signing of a peace treaty in Belgium. The (HEMP) War of 1812
United States vs. Great Britain
Napoleon Invades... more
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Cannabis Drug Use in 19th Century America
Although by 1839, cannabis hemp products for fiber, paper, nautical use, lamp oil, food, etc., were possibly the largest agricultural and industrial businesses in America and, of course, throughout the world, the hundreds of medical uses of cannabis (known for thousands of years in the Orient and Middle East) were still almost entirely unknown in much of Western Europe and America because of the earlier Medieval Catholic Church’s suppression.
However, the 19th century saw a dramatic re-discovery of the benefits of cannabis drugs, which were the number-one medicine in America prior to 1863. It was replaced by morphine when the new injectable needle became the rage, but not before cannabis brought with it healthful elixirs and patent medicines, luxuriant Turkish Smoking Parlors and with them a fountain of literary creativity. Cannabis remained the number-two medicine until 1901 when it was replaced by aspirin. Cannabis Drug Use in 19th Century America
Although by 1839, cannabis hemp products... more
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Overview of the History of Cannabis Hemp
For the Purpose of Clarity in this Book:
Explanations or documentations marked with an asterisk (*) are listed at the end of the related paragraph(s). For brevity, other sources for facts, anecdotes, histories, studies, etc., are cited in the body of the text. Numbered footnotes are at the end of each chapter. Reproductions of selected critical source materials are incorporated into the body of the text or included in the appendices.
The facts cited herein are generally verifiable in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which was printed primarily on paper produced with cannabis hemp for over 150 years. However, any encyclopedia (no matter how old) or good dictionary will do for general verification purposes.
Cannabis Sativa L.
Also known as: Hemp, cannabis hemp, Indian (India) hemp, true hemp, muggles, weed, pot, spinach, marijuana, reefer, grass, ganja, bhang, the kind, dagga, herb, etc., all names for exactly the same plant!
What’s in a Name?
(U.S. Geography)
HEMPstead, Long Island; HEMPstead County, Arkansas; HEMPstead, Texas; HEMPhill, North Carolina, HEMPfield, Pennsylvania, among others, were named after cannabis growing regions, or after family names derived from hemp growing. Overview of the History of Cannabis Hemp
For the Purpose of Clarity in this Book:... more
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Now this really is a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, I’m thrilled to see that a study documenting the anti-cancer properties of cannabinoids is finally receiving some mainstream media attention.
On the other hand, I’m disappointed that its coverage is limited to a British tabloid that is better known for running anti-pot propaganda like this:
Cannabis killer knifed neighbour 100 times
via Metro.co.uk
A mentally ill man driven to violent frenzies by cannabis was sentenced to life yesterday for stabbing a man 100 times.
… Kashmiri, 50, of Tooting, south London, sexually assaulted the woman at her south London home in June, 2006, and returned five nights later to attack her.
… Kashmiri, whose violent episodes are triggered by cannabis, denied murder but admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.
Of course, I’m accustomed to reading “Reefer Madness” in the British press.
But I’m less accustomed to reading “Reefer Madness” when it comes from the mouth of an established medi-pot researcher like Dr. Wai Man Liu.
Cannabis may help the war on cancer
via Metro.co.uk
Cannabis could be used to treat many forms of cancer, new research suggests.
The drug contains an ingredient which slows tumour growth and prevents the reproduction of cancer cells, doctors say.
Its effects are seen in all cancers but particularly in those of the lung and brain, and leukaemia, it is claimed.
But scientists warned against smoking the drug, saying the only safe version was that created in the lab.
Researcher Dr Wai Man Liu said: ‘I’m in no way encouraging people to take up smoking the ganja – there would be more harm than good.’
Previous research has shown cannabis-based medicines can help cancer patients as a painkiller, appetite stimulant and in reducing nausea.
The drug has also long been used by multiple sclerosis and arthritis sufferers to reduce pain.
Its medicinal benefits come from the main active ingredient, THC. The latest research, by St George’s University of London, shows that THC can weaken cancer cells to make traditional chemotherapy more effective.
Dr Liu said: ‘It’s another weapon against the armour of cancer. We are quite close but need to jump through certain hoops. I believe it could be used in two to three years.’
Dr Joanna Owens, from Cancer Research UK, said the latest studies were encouraging but needed to be followed up with more trials. She added: ‘Making cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy or radiotherapy is a great concept but it is still early days.’
Having recently lost friends and family members to cancer, including one to leukemia, I can inform Dr. Liu that such a diagnosis — even when treated with standard radiation and chemotherapy — is a death sentence. For Dr. Liu to advise, with a straight face no less, that these patients would do “more harm than good” by smoking cannabis is a disgrace. Not only can cannabis alleviate cancer patients’ nausea and pain, elevate their mood, and increase their appetite, but also — as Dr. Liu’s own data demonstrates — it may help to alleviate the very disease that’s ravaging their bodies. Nevertheless, I suppose that Dr. Liu would rather have these patients shut up and die than expose the political hypocrisy surrounding criminalizing a plant.
Finally, as for Dr. Liu’s idyllic estimate that his pharmaceutically-approved pot-based anti-cancer drugs will be available in “two to three years,” don’t hold your breath (or, if you already have cancer, try not to die in the interim). I’m sure that these investigators made similar proclamations when they documented pot’s anti-cancer properties — in 1975!
Yet here we are 38 years later and the only ‘progress’ we’ve made on this issue is in the wrong direction — having moved from investigating the plant’s anti-cancer potential in animals to cells in vitro in a petri dish! Thank you Dr. Liu; now kindly get out of my sight.Now this really is a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, I’m thrilled to see... more
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The July 28 issue of The New Yorker includes a subtle, honest, and absorbing account of the gray market created by California's legalization of medical marijuana. Author David Samuels hangs out with a pot-wholesaling buddy for six months and through him meets growers, mules, dispensary operators, and patients. Samuels candidly describes how easy it is to get a doctor's recommendation (he gets one for "anxiety and depression") but at the same time offers reasons to wonder whether that should be considered a problem:
"People are talking about how it's being over-recommended and abused," [a defense attorney specializing in marijuana cases] said. "I mean, big fucking deal. It's not toxic!"...
Like many other dispensary owners I spoke with, Cindy derives particular satisfaction from providing medication to people who suffer from chronic diseases. Although she suspects that there is nothing seriously wrong with many of the young men who come in to buy an eighth of L.A. Confidential, she doesn't regard marijuana as a harmful drug when compared with Xanax, Valium, Prozac, and other pills that are commonly prescribed by physicians to treat vague complaints of anxiety or dysphoria....
Though [a doctor who writes recommendations] was always careful to observe the letter of California state law, he said, "My personal belief is that marijuana is a useful and relatively harmless substance and that adults should be free to choose whether they want to use it or not."
When adults have that freedom, the world that Samuels describes, in which marijuana carries a load of cultural and political baggage that has little to with its intrinsic properties, will no longer exist.The July 28 issue of The New Yorker includes a subtle, honest, and absorbing account... more
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BOSTON -- Conservative political commentator Robert Novak announced Monday he has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, less than a week after he struck a pedestrian with his Corvette and drove away.
Mr. Novak, 77 years old, fell ill on Cape Cod this weekend while visiting his daughter and was rushed to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he said he was diagnosed Sunday with the tumor.
"I will be suspending my journalistic work for an indefinite but, God willing, not too lengthy period," Mr. Novak, editor of the Evans-Novak Political Reports, said in the statement released by his publisher, Eagle Publishing.
Mr. Novak has been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. His assistant, Kathleen Connolly, told the newspaper that doctors hadn't yet done a biopsy to determine if the tumor was malignant.
She said Mr. Novak was alert and talking in the hospital's intensive care unit. Mr. Novak's office refused further comment to the Associated Press, other than to confirm the comments on the newspaper Web site.
Hospital spokesman Kevin Myron confirmed Mr. Novak was a patient, but said Mr. Novak requested that no further information be released.
Last week, Mr. Novak was given a $50 citation after he struck a homeless man with his black Corvette in downtown Washington. Mr. Novak kept going until he was stopped by a bicyclist, who said the man was splayed on Mr. Novak's windshield.
Mr. Novak is best-known as the longtime co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," where he bumped heads with liberal co-hosts from 1980 to 2005, when he left to join Fox News as an occasional contributor.
Mr. Novak was criticized after he was the first to publicly reveal the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame in a 2003 column. His column came out eight days after Ms. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, said the Bush administration had twisted prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.
Copyright © 2008 Associated PressBOSTON -- Conservative political commentator Robert Novak announced Monday he has been... more
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Mission Statement
Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access is committed to protecting the rights of veteran patients and healthcare professionals by advocating for safe and legal access to marijuana(cannabis) for all appropriate therapeutic uses and to encourage research on marijuana as a treatment alternative.
Goals
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To serve veterans as an educational resource on medical marijuana and access, and to garner their support on the issue.
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To encourage veterans organizations to support veterans’ rights to safely access medical marijuana and to issue policy statements that publicly voice this support.
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To work with prominent national veterans organizations through outreach campaigns that promote more compassionate legislative and administrative policies toward medical marijuana and it’s access.
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To encourage legislation to end federal prohibition of medical marijuana use.
Mission Statement
Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access is committed to protecting... more
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