The medical uses just keep coming

The Journal of Biological Chemistry has a paper in it's May 5 issue by a team of Japanese scientists that takes a look at the effect of cannabinoids (compunds found in marijuana) on the immune system. They found a mild suppressive effect, which could mean that cannabinoids are effective in treating inflamitory diseases (like arthritis). One thing that was not mentioned, but could be relevant is potential applications for treatment of autoimmune disorders. It's been established that there is a genetic link with autoimmune disorders, and I'm wondering if this might be related to decreased endocannabinoid production. If that's the case, then Marijuana could have potential applications for everything from Diabetes to Chron's Disease. Too bad the federal government won't allow american scientists to study this kind of stuff.

There's absolutely nothing...

...like blatantly ignoring the will of the voters to get you elected, right? Colorado Attorney General John Suthers seems to think so. "If I saw a poll tomorrow that said 75 percent of Coloradans were in favor of this measure, I'd still be against it," he is quoted as saying in the Colorado Springs Independent. "This is not something that I come to because of my assessment of the political winds. I've been on this side of the debate for decades."

It doesn't really matter what the people want, appearantly. Our elected officials know better, and we need them to protect us from ourselves. Now, the measure in question is a controversial one- decriminalizing marijuana, but what the issue is should be irrelevant. Our elected officials should be held to the same standard as any other worker in any other job. When you show up for work, shelve your personal views and do your job- in this case representing the views of your constituents.

I love it...

The editors of Scientific American get it... The New York Times gets it... but the FDA? NIDA? ONDCP? They just don't get it. Actually, they probably do get it- they just believe that if they keep repeating the same lies over and over and over, eventually the American people will buy in to them.



Who benefits from the war on drugs?- here's the short list:

• The Pharmaceutical Industry


• All of the beauraucrats that depend on the "War on Drugs" for their jobs (Read that as the entire staffs of NIDA, ONDCP, DEA, and all of the various and sundry other agencies that participate in the "War on Drugs"


• Defense Contractors (Making money selling x-ray scanners for the border checkpoints, FLIR gear for every police/sherriff helicopter in the country, etc, etc)


• The prison industry (and yes, it is an industry)

"If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on."

~ Terence Mckenna

I love it when people get it

Originally published in the UCONN Daily Campus: Editorial: Government must legalize marijuana - Opinions

FDA toes the party line....

Yesterday, the FDA released a statement reiterating its official position that Marijuana has no medicinal value.

The NY Times had a couple of interesting points in their article covering this, specifically: "The Food and Drug Administration statement directly contradicts a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific advisory agency. That review found marijuana to be 'moderately well suited for particular conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting.'"

Let's face the "ugly" truth: marijuana is less dangerous than almost any other substance humans ingest (including asprin). I understand that a bunch of beauraucrats are just trying to keep their jobs, but doesn't the FDA have a higher duty to the American people to tell the truth? These people need to remember whose tax dollars pay their salaries.

Food For Thought

This being the week of 4/20, I'll be posting things that I find relevant to our nation's nonsensical prohibition of cannabis. To start off, consider this quote from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand:

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can be neither observerd nor enforced nor objectively interpreted--and you create a nation of lawbreakers--and then you cash in on guilt. "

-Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged

An alternative view on Global Warming

Is Global Warming even really happening? If it is, is it a bad thing? Read This and consider that in reality, the jury is still out on many of these issues. Remember that scientific models can't *prove* anything. A guess by a scientist as to what will happen to our climate in the future, no matter how well-credentialed the person is, is still just a guess.

BTW- this applies to lots of things besides global warming. Take, for instance, marijuana prohibition. Marijuana does not cause people to move on to harder drugs. It does not cause brain damage. (in fact, cannabnoids have been shown to have neuroprotective effects, and in some cases to even stimulate neurogenesis). Consider this a wake up call. Repeating a lie over and over does not make it any more true. The government is using your tax dollars to lie to you. Fight back. Be informed. Separate yourself from the herd.

Permanent brain damage? No Kidding

This guy had a 25 pill-a-day extacy habit. Holy shit!