Some things will change your life forever

Marijuana clip

Good or Bad?

IS MARIJUANA GOOD OR EVIL?

REDLANDS - Marijuana might be good medicine. It was a staple crop of our forefathers, and "thousands" of products are made from hemp, from the sails of the first boats ever built to modern-day dynamite, according to editor-in-chief of High Times magazine Steve Hagar, a former writer for the New York Daily News.

On the other hand, the majority of Americans don't agree that marijuana should be legalized, including a Bob Stutman,a former Drug Enforcement Agency agent who debated with Hagar on the issue Tuesday night at the University of Redlands' Orton Center.

The event, moderated by government department chairman Ed Wingenbach, drew a large crowd, most of who seemed to cheer on Hagar's many jabs during the "Heads vs. Feds" convocation.

Hagar, sporting a denim jacket and dark jeans, began the debate, expanding upon five points he felt were important for his side.

"It's good medicine. It's been used for everything from epilepsy and multiple sclerosis to AIDS," Hagar started off. "I could keep going and going, because there are so many more disorders and diseases. I didn't say it will cure them. But I know people who can walk today and who are alive today because they used marijuana as a medicine."

Hagar berated America's "for-profit-based healthcare system," pharmaceutical companies and insurance agencies for handing out synthetic, mind-altering chemicals to people, many younger than 2, and suggested that pharmaceutical companies and their allies shy away from marijuana because which would make it difficult for them to rely on it as a source of reliable income.

"From Maine to Florida, from Texas to Alaska, marijuana will outgrow any plant in the world," which would be counterproductive to the companies that run the controlled drug industry, he said.

"Hemp is good for the environment," Hagar said, inferring that four times the amount of hemp could be grown on one acre than an acre of trees within a 20-year span to produce paper, for instance.

"The books in your library will disintegrate in your lifetime, yet the Gutenberg Bible is still around. Why? Because it was printed on hemp paper," he said.

Breaking off on a tangent, he claimed that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp, and that "all the soldiers who fought at Valley Forge wore uniforms made from hemp. I bet they never taught you that in high school, eh?"

He also claimed that Congress outlawed marijuana for "racial" reasons, claiming that black people used it to seduce white women.

Another reason Hagar wants to legalize marijuana "has to do with the fact that we have the largest prison complexes in the world," he said, chastising what he felt was a ridiculous system that puts many drug users in prison.

"We also need to stop funding corruption," Hagar said, claiming that $500 billion "buys a lot of dirty cops" in the illegal drug trade. Hagar said that "the real price of marijuana - if it's legal - is $1 a pound, and is cheaper to produce than soybeans or wheat; yet it sells for $5,000 a pound. This will never end 'til we stop funding criminal cartels."

Hagar's final reason for wanting a change in marijuana's legal status is because "it's part of my culture."

Hagar, who was once a routine Lutheran church-goer, explained that marijuana had spiritual components that were the basis for religious experiences within his circles, and related his experiences attending the first Woodstock back when he was completely broke, only to find a culture where everyone shared everything.

Stutman, former head of the Drug Enforcement Agency's New York City division, wore a red-and-white pin-striped dress shirt and dark dress pants.

He accused Hagar of presenting "opinion and innuendo as fact," and offered his own set of facts.

He reminded his opponent that Tamoxifin ( used in breast cancer treatment ) and penicillin are both naturally based products that pharmaceutical companies manufacture. He pointed out that if marijuana became a legally controlled substance, it would have the same controls as alcohol and other products: it's illegal, for instance, to produce alcohol-based "moonshine," and Stutman doubted that anyone would be found producing their own penicillin.

"Politically, 72 percent of Americans will say we don't need another recreational drug legalized," Stutman said. "Just because it's natural doesn't make it good. We do a lot of stupid things on this issue," and in agreement with Hagar, said "I don't think people should be thrown in prison for using any kind of drug."

He chastised Hagar's suggestion of letting American voters determine that marijuana's legalization could be a good thing - though he also noted that "the day the majority of Americans want marijuana legalized, I'll be all for it."

Stutman suggested a scenario in which a doctor could recommend Tetracyclin or penicillin for a medical condition, only to have the doctor say, "Why don't you put it up for people to vote on to determine which is best for you?"

Stutman said that Canada legalized hemp eight years ago, but a lot of hemp farmers there went bankrupt "because no one bought the damned stuff."

"If it's as great as Steve says it is, why isn't everyone wearing hemp clothes?" particularly in Europe where it's more widely accepted.

"My guess is that it's not as feasible as he says it is."

Stutman poked fun at Hagar's declaration about hemp being part of his "culture," and pointed out that Americans didn't approve the early incorporation of polygamy within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"Just because it's done in the name of religion doesn't mean you can do it," Stutman said.

Stutman also claimed that Hagar left out disclaimers that marijuana causes "physical dependence, and interferes with the ability to think and reason."

Stutman suspects that early marijuana use years ago lead his sister to eventually succumb to lung cancer at the age of 44.

Stutman attacked Hagar's suggestion that smoking medical marijuana was beneficial.

"First, I think smoking anything is a bad idea," Stutman said. "I also think it's stupid to suggest that, in order to obtain the two chemicals in marijuana that are known to be beneficial, you have to take in the 433 other chemicals that aren't."

The debate concluded with closing statements and questions from the audience.

Hagar did not agree that "anything that causes dependence" should be outlawed.

"We'd have to outlaw eating junk food; we'd have to outlaw watching TV or making love," Hagar said. "We may as well make everything that causes dependence illegal."

Hagar agreed that smoking anything "is bad for you," and described other ways to ingest it, via "putting it in tea, or brownies, or vaporizers."

Hagar accused Stutman of marijuana even though "I know he's never tried it" ( the one time during the debate that an otherwise stern Stutman broke into a huge grin ) and extended an all-expenses-paid trip to participate in the Cannabis Cup Nov. 18 to 22 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, suggested bringing his wife, alluding to Hagar's earlier comments that people who are high have a more enhanced sexual experience.

Stutman politely declined, expressing his disinterest in "being with a bunch of 55-year-old hippies who can't get it up without smoking a joint."

He then responded to Hagar's jab about debating the detriment of smoking marijuana without having tried it, saying, "We should probably have the state ban all neurosurgeons who haven't had their brains operated on."

Danielle Zimmerman, a junior entrepreneurship and art major from Jamesville, Calif., felt that Hagar more articulately related his points to the mostly university audience.

"Steve killed it. He had the whole thing going for him, and was the stronger debater," she said.

Tim Bolin, a junior philosophy and sociology major from La Quinta, agreed.

"A lot of what the other guy said wasn't really relevant. Steve's style was more likeable and less confrontational," Bolin said.

Tristan Murray, a student at Riverside Community College studying European history, said, "The editor of High Times had the better argument."

Aaron Bergman, a freshman music major from Vashon Island, Wash., decided that the debate hadn't changed his mind that marijuana should be legalized.

"Nothing's changed my opinion. Both were good presenters, and at times one or the other had the stronger argument on different things, but they both did well," he said.

Brett Aho, a sophomore French, German and international relations major from Bremerton, Wash., had a bias going into the debate.

Aho, who is in the process of starting a chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at the university, was one of several students who asked questions during the question-and-answer session.

"I guess I'm a little biased," he admitted, "but as I listened to the debate, I liked Steve's perspective, and his argument was more eloquent. The other guy responded by working his way around the questions. But in the end I did feel there were balanced arguments on both sides."

Harry Kurland, a senior business major from Palo Alto, felt that Stutman had the clearer head in the debate.

"The DEA guy had a strong argument, because the marijuana guy was just presenting opinions, like, 'It's good for thousands of diseases,' but never cited any medical reports," Kurland said. "Also, he never brought up the negative aspects as to why it could be illegal, like with the dependency issues and the diminished motor skills. He ( Hagar ) had the cooler debate, but what he said didn't make it right."

Medical use

Marijuana Is A Lung Cleaner And Expectorant

Cannabis is the best natural expectorant to clear the human lungs of smog, dust and the phlegm associated with tobacco use.

Marijuana smoke effectively dilates the airways to the lungs, the bronchi, opening them to allow more oxygen into the lungs. It is also the best natural dilator of the tiny airways of the lungs, the bronchial tubes - making cannabis the best overall bronchial dilator for 80% of the population (the remaining 20% sometimes show minor negative reactions).

Statistical evidence showing up consistently as anamalies in matched populations - indicates that people who smoke tobacco cigarettes are usually better off and will live longer if they smoke cannabis moderately, too.

Millions of Americans have given up or avoided smoking tobacco products in favor of cannabis, which is not good news to the powerful tobacco lobby-Senator Jesse Helms and his cohorts. A turn-of-the-century grandfather clause in U.S. tobacco law allows 400 to 6,000 additional chemicals to be added. Additions since then to the average tobacco cigarette are unknown, and the public in the U.S. has no right to know what they are.

Many joggers and marathon runners fell cannabis use cleans their lungs, allowing better endurance.

The evidence indicated that cannabis use will probably increase these outlaw American marijuana users' lives by about 1 to 2 years yet they may lose their rights, property, children, state licenses, etc.. just for using that safest of substances: MARIJUANA




Marijuana Helps Asthma

More than 15 million Americans are affected by asthma. Smoking cannabis (The "raw drug" as the AMA called it) would be beneficial for 80% of them and add 30-60 million person-years in the aggregate of extended life to current asthmatics over presently legal toxic medicines such as the Theophylline prescribed to children.

"Taking a hit of marijuana has been known to stop a full blown asthma attack." Personal communication with Dr. Donald Tashkin, December 12, 1989 and December 1, 1997. The use of cannabis for asthmatics goes back thousands of years in literature. American doctors of the last century wrote glowing reports in medical papers that asthma sufferers of the world would "bless" Indian hemp (cannabis) all their lives.

The inhalation of cannabis smoke causes bronchial dilation lasting up to one hour. The bronchodilator effect of orally injested THC lasts up to six hours, but is not so powerful as smoking cannabis. THC aerosols are not as effective as smoking cannabis because aerosolized THC has an irritating effect on the air passages.

THC in a micoaerosol has proved to be up to 60 percent effective as a bronchodilator, with minimal mental effects and no parasympathetic effects. Other research demonstrates that THC defends against the encroachment of emphysema and suppresses coughing. Cannabis has been used sucessfully in the treatment of whooping cough.

Today, of the 16 million American asthma sufferers, only those living in California, Arizona and Nevada, with a doctor's recommendation can legally grow and use cannabis medicines, even though it is generally the most effective treatment for asthma.


Sleep and Relaxation

Cannabis lowers blood pressure, dilates the arteries and reduces body temperature an average of one-half degree, thereby relieving stress. Evening cannabis smokers report more restful sleep. Using cannabis allows most people a more complete rest with a higher amount of "alpha-time" during sleep as compared with prescription or sleep-inducing patent sedatives.

Prescription sleeping pills (the so called "legal, safe and effective" drugs) are often just legislation to restrict these often abused compounds. (L. A. Times April 2, 1991)

Unlike Valium, cannabis does not potentate the effects of alcohol, It is estimated that cannabis could replace more the 50% of Valium, Librium, Thorazine, Stelazine, and other "-zine" drugs and most sleeping pills. It is unconscionable that over the past 2 decades, tens of thousands of patents have committed their own children, aged 11 to 17, to be treated by massive doses of so-called "-zine" drugs in order to get them off pot, at the urging of parent groups, the PDFA, the feds and administrators and doctors from federally approved, private and high-profit drug rehabilitation centers.

Often "-zine" drugs do work to stop these youths from using pot. They also stop a kid from loving his or her dog, and children stand a 1 in 4 chance of suffering from uncontrolled shaking for the rest of their lives. "But at least they're not high"

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said that 20-40% of "-zine" drug users have or will develop permanent lifetime palsies (shakes), November 1983. These prescription neurotoxins are chemically related to the pesticide and warfare nerve gas Sarin.

Hundreds of private drug-rehabilitation centers and their leaders keep this policy alive and in front of the media, often quoting discredited reports from NIDA or DEA because they earn fat profits selling their useless or destructive "marijuana treatment" for children.

After all, a relapse just means using marijuana again after a number of bouts with an "authority" This is mind control and and attempt to destroy individual free will.

Rob Fowler story

from http://www.geocities.com/medicalmarijuana2003/index.htm

Welcome to my website. I am a regular smoker or what I call a pothead. I've been smoking marijuana now for about 7 or 8 years. I have met a lot of people who think weed is from the devil. Well I disagree. Marijuana is the safest drug out there including prescription. There is not a recorded death in history caused from marijuana.



Marijuana is it a bad thing? I say not. Hi, I'm Rob Fowler and I have been smoking weed for about 7 or 8 years now, I am 25 years old. I have just recently been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. I do not sell weed, never have and never will. I have always said its not worth it, I just wanna get high and be happy. You see marijuana hasn't wrecked my life but this wrongful charge has. Marijuana, in its natural state is the most therapeutic medicines known to man. I know this, thousands of doctors know this and even many politicians know this, but it is still illegal.

As I said I have been smoking weed now for about 8 years. It has not changed me as a person in anyway. I have never had any ill effects from it and that's the truth. The only thing that I have noticed from weed is that my short term memory isn't as good. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. The things I can't remember aren't usually important anyway's. I don't care if I can't remember all the faces I saw at the mall. If its important to me I can remember it just fine.

As far as marijuana hurting me mentally, well it hasn't happened. I can learn just as well, even better today than I could before I starting smoking weed. I know people that believe marijuana causes brain damage or the ability to learn, yet they have known me for at least 10 years, but can't prove that by me. Some have even admitted to saying, yes marijuana has not effected your ability to learn or do things. If I want to do something I'm going to do it high or not high, and marijuana isn't going to effect the outcome.

I suffer from a disease called depression. I have all my life. I have talked to some people about this and I'm in agreeance with them that there is no cure for it. The cure is we have to learn how to deal with it, so we can go on with a normal life. Now I'm not saying that the solution is getting high, but for me it helps. I also have trouble expressing my feelings but weed help me open up more. I have seen a doctor about it and he prescribed there legal drug "Paxil" When the doctor gave it to me he told me that I had to be very consistent with it. He game me a big list of possible side affects. What he didn't tell me is that once your on this drug you can't come off it or you will be in worse shape than when you went on it. (not true with marijuana)

Anyway's before I was aware of that I decided that I would give it a shot. After taking it for about 2 weeks there were some problems, big problems. This problem I was having was in the list of side effects the doctor gave me and of course the worst one got me. Impotence. So I threw those pills as far as I could. Well before all this happened I wasn't a very big fan on drugs the doctor prescribes and you can bet that hasn't changed.

So you see marijuana isn't a bad thing like it has been declared but a good thing. What really gets me is how we as society we see weed different from alcohol. Alcohol is excepted as a recreational drug when it is actually the worst drug of them all. Alcohol has killed so many people, wrecked so many lives but it is still ok. When people drink they can become a totally different person which is not true for weed.

So all I'm trying to say is that we should open our eyes and realize that weed isn't a bad thing. Let's stop wasting money trying to wipe it out when it can't be done. Let's spend that money on the things we need to make us a better society.

If you come across anything on this site you disagree with or think I have been mislead, be sure to let me know. I am an open minded person and am willing to take your thoughts into consideration. Feel free to email me at robfowler24@shaw.ca

Nimeni Altu - inca o poveste

Iisus si drogurile

Iisus, foarte ingrijorat din cauza consumului de droguri , trimite apostolii dupa diferite droguri , sa le aduca pentru a le analiza. Dupa doua zile...



- Cine e?
- Sunt Pavel!
Iisus deschide usa.
- Ce ai adus Pavele?
- Hasis din Maroc!
- Foarte bine! Intra.
- Cine e?
- Sunt Luca!
Deschide usa Iisus.
- Ce-ai adus Luca?
- Cocaina din Columbia!
- Foarte bine!
- Cine e?
- Matei sunt!
- Ce-ai adus Matei?
- Marijuana din Jamaica!
- Excelent fiule..!
- Cine e?
- Ioan!
- Ce-ai adus Ioane?
- Heroina din Afganistan!
- Bravo!!!
- Cine e?
- Andrei!
- Ce-ai adus Andrei?
- Extacy din Amsterdam!
- Excelent ! Haide intra..
- Cine e?
- Iuda sunt! Iisus deschide usa.
- Ce-ai adus Iuda?

- FBI !! Toti cu fatza la perete!!!

Research

Amazingly, MAPS is the only organization that is attempting to resolve the controversy over medical marijuana via the FDA research route.

MAPS' goal is to initiate and fund a serious drug development research program aimed at proving to the satisfaction of the FDA that marijuana is safe and efficacious for specific medical uses and should become a legal, FDA-approved prescription medicine.

Prior to initiating a serious drug development research program that would require an estimated $5 million and 5 years, MAPS first needs to obtain access to an independent source of supply of marijuana that is legal for medical research. MAPS, in association with Prof. Lyle Craker, UMass Amherst Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences, is in the midst of what is now a six year struggle seeking DEA permission to establish a medical marijuana production facility to grow high- potency marijuana for FDA-approved research.

At present, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has a monopoly on the supply of marijuana that can be used in research, provides low-potency material, and only makes it available to projects it approves. MAPS needs its own independent source of supply since NIDA's arbitrary and lengthy review process for providing marijuana essential to research can derail any drug development plan. NIDA has refused to supply marijuana to two MAPS-sponsored protocols that the FDA had already approved.

Despite NIDA obstructionism, MAPS has been able to provide some analytical data about the constituents of the marijuana vapors produced by vaporizers to Dr. Donald Abrams, UC San Francisco. Dr. Abrams has used this data as part of his successful application to FDA to conduct a study evaluating subjective effects, cannabinoid blood levels, and carbon monoxide levels in subjects who smoke marijuana and then at a different time inhale marijuana vapors from a vaporizer.

The initiation of FDA-approved clinical research with a marijuana vaporizer was MAPS' second prerequisite to starting a serious drug development research program, so that clinical research could be conducted both with smoked and vaporized marijuana. That way, we'd be able to produce data that would compare the risks of smoking v. vaporization and could address the Institute of Medicine's recommendation for a non-smoking delivery system with a system that works with the plant itself. At present, only the ending of NIDA's monopoly on supply (which it doesn't have for MDMA, LSD, psilocybin or any other Schedule 1 drug) stands in the way of an active effort to develop marijuana into an FDA-approved prescription medicine.

Clinton and Obama on medical marijuana

.

The Marijuana Policy Project is noting that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave the following responses this past Saturday when asked by Oregon’s Willamette Week about her stances on medical marijuana:


What would you do as president about the federal government not recognizing Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Program as legal?
We’ve got to have a clear understanding of the workings of pain relief and the control of pain. And there needs to be greater research and openness to the research that’s already been done. I don’t think it’s a good use of federal law-enforcement resources to be going after people who are supplying marijuana for medicinal purposes.

So you’d stop the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s raids on medical marijuana grows?

What we would do is prioritize what the DEA should be doing, and that would not be a high priority. There’s a lot of other more important work that needs to be done.

Should medical marijuana be covered by insurance?

I don’t have enough information to know anything about that.


In contrast, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said the following during a March 22 interview with Gary Nelson, editorial page editor at the Mail Tribune of Medford, Ore.:


“When it comes to medical marijuana, I have more of a practical view than anything else. My attitude is that if it’s an issue of doctors prescribing medical marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma or as a cancer treatment, I think that should be appropriate because there really is no difference between that and a doctor prescribing morphine or anything else. I think there are legitimate concerns in not wanting to allow people to grow their own or start setting up mom and pop shops because at that point it becomes fairly difficult to regulate.

“Again, I’m not familiar with all the details of the initiative that was passed [in Oregon] and what safeguards there were in place, but I think the basic concept that using medical marijuana in the same way, with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that’s entirely appropriate…

“I would not punish doctors if it’s prescribed in a way that is appropriate. That may require some changes in federal law. I will tell you that — I mean I want to be honest with you — whether I want to use a whole lot of political capital on that issue when we’re trying to get health care passed or end the war in Iraq, the likelihood of that being real high on my list is not likely… What I’m not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue simply because I want folks to be investigating violent crimes and potential terrorism. We’ve got a lot of things for our law enforcement officers to deal with.”

I am pretty sure they were questioned by somebody looking like this,

America's Real cash crop

from economylive.org



The U.S. produces around $35 billion worth of marijuana annually as the country’s largest cash crop. The information was revealed in a study conducted by Jon Gettman, a public policy analyst, which has put the marijuana production bigger than corn and wheat combined. The study further revealed that the five U.S. states, California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii and Washington, are producing more than $1 billion worth of marijuana each.

California’s production alone accounts for about $13.8 billion, according to Gettman, who had led an unsuccessful struggle with the government demanding to remove the marijuana from a list of drugs believed to have no medical value. On the other hand, the U.S. authorities refrain from confirming the study’s conclusion on the volume of country’s marijuana crop. However, they confirmed that the government has estimated overall drug use at $200 billion annually.



Obviously the report authenticate that marijuana has become a pervasive and inalienable part of the country’s economy. Gettman further alleged that the contribution of marijuana to the gross domestic product of the U.S. has been overlooked while debating effective control over it.

In the mean while, the official version acknowledged that it is a serious part of the economy however rejected any speculation of an economic argument for legalizing marijuana.


The report further disclosed that the marijuana production has increased ten times in the last quarter century despite a comprehensive anti-drug effort by law enforcement.

Anyway, maybe we'll see this for real, one day: