another reason that marijuana is good for you

[3mptin3ss]

i guess they recently discovered that marijuana may help ward off the developement of alzheimers disease.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/06/health/webmd/main2072101.shtml

"New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the progression of the disease by preserving levels of an important neurotransmitter that allows the brain to function.

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California found that marijuana's active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can prevent the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from breaking down more effectively than commercially marketed drugs.

THC is also more effective at blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimer's patients, the researchers reported in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

The researchers said their discovery could lead to more effective drug treatment for Alzheimer's, the leading cause of dementia among the elderly"

god grows our buds for us to use. the us government only made marijuana illegal so they could target mexican immigrant workers, and now its the interest groups who dont want it legalized. all those wack ass anti marijuana commercials are paid for by tobacco and alcohal companies, two of worst drugs that exist.

you can overdose and die from just about every single over the counter drug there is, yet you will never ovedose and die no matter how much bud you smoked.

this is gods true healing herb right here.

[Tom Yum]

There are medical benefits from the consumption of THC.

What would be interesting is to see how the body metabolizes it - that could reveal some information for scientists, consumers and the FDA alike. I think this work is allready done, but probably not well known?

With every drug, whether natural or lab-synthesized there are negative side effects as well....

The reason why it is illegal could have to do with that.

[3mptin3ss]

With every drug, whether natural or lab-synthesized there are negative side effects as well....

The reason why it is illegal could have to do with that.

well then why arent other drugs illegal as well? tylenol and aspirin are way more dangerous than marijuana is and you can get that anywere. you can easily overdose and die from tylenol and aspirin. its not possible to overdose or die on marijuana.

you dont think the all powerful pharmacuetical companies, along with the tobacco and alcohal companies dont have a say in this?

heres why marijuana is illegal bro.

http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html

"The Mexican Connection

In the early 1900s, the western states developed significant tensions regarding the influx of Mexican-Americans. The revolution in Mexico in 1910 spilled over the border, with General Pershing's army clashing with bandit Pancho Villa. Later in that decade, bad feelings developed between the small farmer and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. Then, the depression came and increased tensions, as jobs and welfare resources became scarce.

One of the "differences" seized upon during this time was the fact that many Mexicans smoked marijuana and had brought the plant with them.

However, the first state law outlawing marijuana did so not because of Mexicans using the drug. Oddly enough, it was because of Mormons using it. Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The church was not pleased and ruled against use of the drug. Since the state of Utah automatically enshrined church doctrine into law, the first state marijuana prohibition was established in 1915. (Today, Senator Orrin Hatch serves as the prohibition arm of this heavily church-influenced state.)

Other states quickly followed suit with marijuana prohibition laws, including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927). These laws tended to be specifically targeted against the Mexican-American population.

When Montana outlawed marijuana in 1927, the Butte Montana Standard reported a legislator's comment: "When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff... he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies." In Texas, a senator said on the floor of the Senate: "All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy."

Jazz and Assassins

In the eastern states, the "problem" was attributed to a combination of Latin Americans and black jazz musicians. Marijuana and jazz traveled from New Orleans to Chicago, and then to Harlem, where marijuana became an indispensable part of the music scene, even entering the language of the black hits of the time (Louis Armstrong's "Muggles", Cab Calloway's "That Funny Reefer Man", Fats Waller's "Viper's Drag").

Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana, as newspapers in 1934 editorialized: "Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice."

[HtTKar]

With every drug, whether natural or lab-synthesized there are negative side effects as well....

True, but usually when you consume drugs in their natural state there are fewer side effects. This is because there are enzymes in the plants themselves that help you digest these chemicals. For example Valerium(Jacobs Ladder) contains Valium, which is very calming on the nerves and can help you relax. There are no side effects when you drink this as a tea. However, its common knowledge that its bad to just pop some valium.

Personally I see no reason for marijauna to be illegal, it should be regulated. If you take Holland as an example they allow certian shops to sell marijuana. Possession outside these shops is illegal. But you can go into these shops sit, drink some beer and smoke some weed. They know that marijuana is a drug, and it should be regulated. And you know what? They have far less of a problem with people smoking weed. Most people look into these dark shops, see all these shady people, and keep walking. Their not ready to "join" that lifestyle.

[3mptin3ss]

look at this pic i found in the wikipedia.

[gregimotis]

"Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice."

DAMN that devil weed!

[Thai Bri]

You guys are a little behind the times.

Modern gear has been alteredt to include many high potency variations and, increasingly, these variations are being linked to mental health problems when taken by young people with developing minds.

Hey! I don't want to criminalise someone for trying out a bit of weed. But the old 60's attitudes of "it'll be alright" may no longer be true.

[3mptin3ss]

You guys are a little behind the times.

Modern gear has been alteredt to include many high potency variations and, increasingly, these variations are being linked to mental health problems when taken by young people with developing minds.

Hey! I don't want to criminalise someone for trying out a bit of weed. But the old 60's attitudes of "it'll be alright" may no longer be true.

i agree that young kids shouldnt smoke weed either. they should wait till they are adults to try it. i didnt start till i was 18. plus, smoking weed for kids under 18 can have huge consequences if they are caught. its not even worth it if you are under 18 because if you get caught you could be expelled from school, sent to rehab, or juvenile hall.

[3mptin3ss]

Modern gear has been alteredt to include many high potency variations

thats a good thing btw

[DickHardman]

Canadian Professors Can Smoke Pot at Work
By Natasha Elkington
Reuters
TORONTO (Nov. 14) - The use of medical marijuana has given two Toronto professors the right to something that many students could only dream of -- access to specially ventilated rooms where they can indulge in peace.

The two, at the esteemed University of Toronto and at York University to the north of the city, suffer from chronic medical conditions that some doctors say can be eased by smoking marijuana. They are among nearly 1,500 Canadians who have won the right to use the drug for health reasons.

Using human rights legislation, the two petitioned their employers for the right to light up in the workplace. They faced a legal struggle, but the universities eventually agreed.

"Without the medication, I am disabled and I'm not able to carry out meaningful and valuable, productive work," said York University criminology professor Brian MacLean, who suffers from a severe form of degenerative arthritis.

"It helps me to maintain my mobility as a physical problem but it also helps me to keep the pain at a distance so I can focus on my work," MacLean told Reuters.

MacLean's three-month battle to persuade York University to provide a light-up room, finally obtained this month, is short in comparison to University of Toronto philosophy professor Doug Hutchinson's year-long struggle.

"It took Professor MacLean a season, three full months, to get a similar accommodation and I believe that in Canada now, we should hope that the next person who gets the accommodation should not take more than a month," Hutchinson told Reuters.

MacLean says the three-month response time from the university put him in a vulnerable position both medically and professionally, as he smoked joints on the edge of campus, and thus on the edge of the law.

He now uses a special vaporizer that he says allows him to absorb the medical components of marijuana without the residues that come from smoking a joint.

Health Canada figures show that 1,492 people are authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes in Canada, although it's not clear how the law on using the drug tallies with Ontario provincial legislation that bans smoking in the workplace.

Canada, where laws on possession of marijuana are much less tough than those in the United States, has allowed the use of marijuana for medical purposes since 2001.

The government grows the drug in part of a zinc mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba, and sells it to authorized users at $5 Canadian, or $4.40, a gram.

[DickHardman]

Marijuana Appears To Protect Against Brain Injuries, Federal Researchers Find

July 9, 1998 - Washington, DC, USA

Research published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that naturally occurring compounds in marijuana may protect brain cells during a stroke.

Researchers at the National Institute for Mental Health found that THC, the chief psychoactive compound in marijuana, and cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive component that previously showed promise as an anti-convulsant, both appear to be potent antioxidants in laboratory studies. Doctors rely on antioxidants to protect stroke victims from exposure to toxic levels of a brain chemical called glutamate. Head trauma and strokes cause the release of excessive glutamate, often resulting in irreversible damage to brain cells.
Scientists asserted that CBD could hold advantages over other antioxidants because the compound is fast acting and nontoxic. "We have something that passes the brain barrier easily, has low toxicity, and appears to be working in animal trials," lead researcher Aidan Hampson said. "I think we have a good chance" to help patients with this compound.
The U.S. study follows earlier research conducted in Israel demonstrating that Dexanabinol -- a synthetic analog derived from marijuana -- protects healthy brain cells against glutamate. Israeli researchers declared this May that the drug will undergo Phase III human trials shortly. They hope to begin marketing the drug by the year 2000.
Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation, said that the new research strengthens the need for medical marijuana reform. "This research highlights the therapeutic value of compounds in marijuana besides THC," he said. "Patients find maximum relief from whole smoked marijuana because the plant contains several therapeutic properties unavailable elsewhere. Federal law must change to allow patients access to these naturally occurring compounds."
Federal law currently prohibits the medical use of marijuana and all the plant's active compounds other than synthetic THC.
Harvard Medical School professor Lester Grinspoon said this research represented the "tip of the iceberg" as far as the medical potential of the marijuana plant. "When science gets serious about investigating cannabis as a medicine, we will discover many more such findings," he said. Grinspoon also stressed that the scientific community has come full circle regarding marijuana's effects on the brain.
"The debate has moved from alleging that marijuana destroys brain cells to finding that cannabis is clearly neuropathic," he said.
The findings indicate that marijuana may also hold medical value in the treatment of brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, the team of U.S. scientists said.

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3853

[Neltharius]

Just for clarification, MJ is about 5x more potent now than it was in the 60's. According to psychological research, recreational users are more mentally healthier than regular users, abusers, and even non-users. The stuff taught in school and rehab about MJ being an addictive gateway drug is bullshit. Granted it releases dopamine, but the body only starts to stop the manufacture if too much dopamine is supplemented (i.e. guy smokes too much). My personal experience with it is that when I got stoned, I didn't feel too happy, I became lethargic as shit, and my left side was numb. Not to mention the heavy phlegm buildup and the perpetual coughing. Consider carefully before taking that hit. The experience is different for everyone.

[Toudiyama[NL]]

You guys are a little behind the times.

Modern gear has been alteredt to include many high potency variations and, increasingly, these variations are being linked to mental health problems when taken by young people with developing minds.

Hey! I don't want to criminalise someone for trying out a bit of weed. But the old 60's attitudes of "it'll be alright" may no longer be true.

Being near the Mekka of MJ ( Amsterdam) I know a bit about the strength of it. It has become stronger but not as much as is often claimed and not for all weed ( or as we call it wiet)
a shop in the center of Amsterdam will 6-10 different types of MJ, of which the majority will not be superpotent, also the shops will label them like for professional blowers only
Now even with more potent MJ, it should not matter as is combined with tabacco ( at least here they do) and will just put in less MJ

Outdoor weed hasn't changed much in potency, indoor weed however has.
Not only has it changed the potency, it changed the taste of it too
but hey that's another matter(does make habbit forming more plausable)

[DickHardman]

using vaporizers can increase lung capacity

Vaporizing For Enhanced Lung Capacity Technique

Although there are a multitude of ways in which to draw vapor from a vaporizer (and much will depend on the type/model of the vaporizer used) the technique used to absorb the maximum amount of THC is also the same way one would enhance lung capacity through exercise. The technique:

* 1.) Expel all air from lungs.
* 2.) Take very deep breath of air, filling from the abdomen up.
* 3.) Expel all air from lungs.
* 4.) Fill lungs to 2/3 their capacity from vaporizer, filling from the abdomen up, drawing from fast to slow
* 5.) Fill rest of lung with air and if applicable remove vaporizer from heat source, continuing to draw off of the vaporizer (in order to cool vaporizer, stopping vaporization when not in use).
* 6.) Hold breath a moment.
* 7.) Inhale one last bit of air.
* 8.) Hold breath a while (as long as comfortable/possible).
* 9.) Exhale slowly and controlled through the nose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporizer

[DickHardman]

Could Cannabis Quell Americans Addiction to Pain Meds?

Millions of Americans are living in pain; so many, in fact, that doctors now prescribe enough painkillers in a single year to medicate every person in the nation.

According to a disturbing new study by the Associated Press, Americans in 2005 consumed over 90,000 kilograms of powerful narcotic painkillers – primarily codeine, hydrocodone, and morphine, but also meperidine (Demerol) and oxycodone. In many cases, these drugs can be habit-forming. In some cases, their use can be deadly. (According to a separate AP report, the number prescription-drug fatalities has tripled from 1998 to 2005, with oxycodone being one of the drugs most often linked to drug deaths.) But what if there was a safer, cheaper, and potentially more effective alternative available for pain management – one that greatly reduced the user’s risk of dependency, and one that was incapable of causing a lethal overdose? For a handful of Americans there is. That medicine is cannabis.

In twelve states, patients may now use cannabis therapeutically under state law. Many of these patients use cannabis for pain relief. Recent clinical trials show why. Most recently, investigators at San Francisco General Hospital and the University of California’s Pain Clinical Research Center assessed the efficacy of inhaled cannabis as a treatment for HIV-associated sensory neuropathy. (Neuropathic pain – colloquially known as ‘nerve pain’ – affects an estimated one percent of the world’s population and is typically unresponsive to both opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications.) Researchers reported that patients who smoked low-grade cannabis three times daily experienced, on average, a 34 percent reduction in pain.

Previous studies assessing the use of cannabinoids as analgesics have demonstrated that they can also alleviate the neuropathy associated with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. In fact, Canadian health regulators just approved the use of an oral cannabis spray for the treatment of cancer pain.

Survey data from numerous studies also indicates that medicinal pot users typically require fewer pharmaceutical drugs than their non-using counterparts. For example, in June investigators at Columbia University in New York reported that HIV patients who used cannabis therapeutically made fewer requests for over-the-counter medications, such as pain relievers and anti-nausea drugs, than subjects administered a placebo.

Evidence also demonstrates that cannabis has an adequate safety profile, particularly when compared to other pain medications. For instance, long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – such as ibuprofen and naproxen – is one of the leading causes of stomach ulcers and stomach bleeding, with some reports estimating that their use contributes to over 100,000 hospitalizations and 16,500 deaths annually in the United States.

The use of narcotic painkillers like oxycodone (OxyContin) to treat chronic pain also poses serious health risks – including death by overdose and addiction. Recently, a federal judge in Virginia ordered OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma L.P. and three of its executives to pay over $634 million in fines for misleading the public about the drug’s risk of addiction. By contrast, few users of cannabis – less than ten percent, according to the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine – ever become dependent on the drug, and no human case of fatal overdose has ever been attributed to pot.

Finally, cannabis is far less expensive to the consumer than most prescription painkillers. For example, Americans spent $4.7 billion dollars on OxyContin between 2002 and 2004. By comparison, pain management with medical cannabis may cost patients as little as $40 per month – perhaps even less if they choose to grow their medicine at home. In states like California, many medical cannabis patients have the option to participate in locally sanctioned not-for-profit organizations, which provide patients’ access to medicine on a sliding scale based on what they can (or can’t) afford.

According to the American Chronic Pain Association, one in three Americans lives in persistent pain. For many of these people, pain relief is a wish and not reality. It’s time for Congress to grant these patients legal access to a non-toxic alternative that can help them alleviate their pain and suffering.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/armentano-p/armentano-p15.htm