The Truth About Marijuanna

[shadyteamstaff]

The prohibition of cannabis may have more to do with the moral, political and economic than scientific arguments. Learn more about the effects of it and its influence on the history of civilization.

Why marijuana is prohibited? Because it is bad for health. Really? So why bacon is not banned? Or amphetamines? And tell by the way, no serious harm to health was demonstrated for the sporadic use of marijuana. The war against this plant was much more motivated by racial factors, economic, political and moral than by scientific arguments. And some of those reasons are unmentionable. It has to do with prejudice against Arabs, Chinese, Mexicans and blacks, frequent users of marijuana in the early twentieth century. Owes much to the interests of powerful industries of 20 years, selling synthetic fabrics and paper and wanted to get rid of a competitor, hemp. Also has roots in the successful strategy of U.S. domination over the planet. And, of course, is related to the Judeo-Christian morality (and mostly Protestant-Puritan), which rejects the idea of pleasure without merit - for the same reason in the past are condemned masturbation.

It is not easy to talk about it - I admit it took me an entire day to compose the paragraph above. The topic is so loaded with ideology and people have such profound convictions about him that any invitation to debate, any insinuation that we are dealing with the problem hardly ever is interpreted as "apology on drugs" and thus punishable by jail. The fact is that despite the misinformation dominant, we know much about marijuana. It is cultivated for millennia and hundreds of research has been done on the subject. What I tried to do was to condense in these pages the knowledge that humanity has gathered about the drug in the millennia that coexists with it.



Why is it forbidden?

"The crushed body of the girl lay scattered on the sidewalk one day after plunging from the fifth floor of an apartment building in Chicago. Everybody said that she had committed suicide, but in fact it was murder. The killer was a narcotic known in America as marijuana and history as hashish. Used in the form of cigarettes, it is a novelty in the United States and is as dangerous as a rattlesnake. " So begins the article "Marijuana: assassin of youth" published in 1937 in the journal American Magazine. The scene never happened. The text was signed by a government official called _______________. If marijuana today is illegal in almost all the world is no exaggeration to say that he was largely responsible.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, marijuana was released, although many people saw her in a bad light. Here in Brazil, marijuana was "a black thing," smoked in Candomblé to facilitate the incorporation and within the confines of the country by farmers after work. In Europe, it was associated with Arab immigrants and Indian intellectuals and bohemians to the annoyances. In the United States, who smoked were more numerous Mexicans - half a million of them crossed the Rio Grande between 1915 and 1930 in search of work. Many thought not. That is, in much of the West, smoking marijuana was relegated to marginalized groups and viewed with distaste by the white middle class.

Few knew, however, that the same plan that gave the lower classes smoke had enormous economic importance. Dozens of remedies - from cough syrups to sleeping pills - containing cannabis. Almost all production of paper used as raw hemp fiber, removed from the stem of the foot of marijuana. The textiles industry also depended on the cannabis - the hemp cloth was very widespread, especially for making ropes, sails, fishing nets and other products that require a very tough material. Ford was developing fuels and plastics made from oil seed marijuana. Hemp plantations took immense areas in Europe and the United States.

In 1920, under pressure from religious groups, Protestants, the United States enacted a ban on production and marketing of alcoholic beverages. It was Prohibition, which lasted until 1933. It was there that Henry Anslinger appeared in American public life - suppressing the trafficking of rum that came from the Bahamas. It was there, too, that the marijuana entered the lives of many people - not just Mexicans. "The ban on alcohol was the catalyst for the boom in marijuana," says the English historian Richard Davenport-Hines, an expert in the history of narcotics in his book The Pursuit of Oblivion (The pursuit of oblivion, still no version for Brazil). "As it became more difficult to obtain alcoholic beverages and they were more expensive and worse, little cafes that sell marijuana began to proliferate," he wrote.

Anslinger was promoted to head the Division of Foreign Control Committee of Prohibition and its task was to take care of bootlegging. It was then that he realized the climate of antipathy against marijuana that took the nation. This climate that has worsened with the stock market crash in 1929 that the nation sank into recession. In the south there was a rumor that the drug gave superhuman strength to the Mexicans, which would be an unfair advantage in competing for scarce jobs. To this is added up hints that the drug induced promiscuous sex (perhaps many Mexicans had more partners than an average American prude, but this has nothing to do with marijuana) and crime (with the crisis, crime increased among poor Mexicans, but marijuana is innocent of this). Based on these rumors, many states began to ban the substance. At that time, marijuana has become the drug of choice for jazz musicians, who claimed to be more creative after smoking.

Anslinger clung tighter to flag prohibitionist, struggled to spread the myths and marijuana in 1930, when the government, preoccupied with cocaine and opium, he created the FBN (Federal Bureau of Narcotics, an office modeled on the FBI to deal with drugs ), he articulated to head it. Suddenly, an obscure bureaucratic office, Anslinger became the charge of drug policy in the country. And the more substances were prohibited, he would have more power.

But it is unlikely that the crusade was motivated only by a thirst for power. Other interests should be weighed. Anslinger was married to the niece of Andrew Mellon, owner of Gulf oil giant Oil and a major investor of the equally giant Du Pont. "Du Pont was one of the most responsible for orchestrating the destruction of the hemp industry," says author Jack Herer, in his book The Emperor Wears No Clothes (The Emperor is naked, even without translation). In 20 years, the company was developing several products from oil: fuel additives, plastics, synthetic fibers such as nylon and chemical processes for the manufacture of paper made from wood. These products had one thing in common: fighting for the market with hemp.

It would be a considerable boost to the nascent industry is the huge synthetic cannabis plantations were destroyed, making hemp fiber and oil seed market. "Marijuana was prohibited by economic interests, especially to open the market for nylon fibers for natural," said lawyer Walter Maierovitch, an expert on narcotics trafficking and former national drug secretary.

Anslinger had a powerful ally in the war on marijuana: William Randolph Hearst, owner of a vast network of newspapers. Hearst was the most influential person in the United States. Millionaire, ran their companies in a monumental castle in California, where Hollywood stars got to tour the private zoo or take laps in the indoor pool adorned with Greek statues. It was here that Orson Welles was inspired to create the protagonist of the film Citizen Kane. Hearst notoriously hated Mexicans. Part of that perhaps we should hate the fact that during the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the troops of Pancho Villa (which, incidentally, made frequent use of marijuana) expropriated a huge your property. Yes, Hearst owned land and used them to plant eucalyptus and other trees to produce paper. That is, he also had an interest in American marijuana was destroyed - and with it the industry of hemp paper.

Hearst began in the 30s, an intense campaign against marijuana. His newspapers began publishing articles about the drug followed, sometimes claiming that marijuana made Mexicans raping white women reporting that other 60% of crimes were committed under the influence of drugs (one number drawn from who knows where). At that time, the story emerged that smoking kills brain cells, a myth repeated today. It was Hearst who, if not invented, at least popularized the name marijuana (he wanted a word that sounded very Hispanic, to allow direct association between the drug and the Mexicans). Anslinger was a constant presence in Hearst newspapers, which told their stories of terror. The public got scared. In 1937, Anslinger went to Congress to say that under the influence of marijuana, "some people embark on a delirious rage and commit violent crimes."

Members voted to ban the cultivation, sale and use of cannabis, without taking into account the research that claimed the substance was safe. It was forbidden not only drugs, but the plant. The man simply stripped the right of the species Cannabis sativa exist.

Anslinger also acted internationally. Created a network of spies and started to attend meetings of the League of Nations, predecessor of the UN, proposing treaties increasingly hard to suppress international trafficking. He also began to meet leaders of various countries and bring them the same arguments terrifying that worked with the Americans. It was not difficult to convince governments - already in the 20s in Brazil would adopt federal laws marijuana. Europe has also embarked on a wave prohibitionist.

"Drug prohibition serves to governments because it is a form of social control of minorities," says political scientist Thiago Rodrigues, a researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on psychoactive. It works like this: marijuana is of Mexican, Mexicans are a class uncomfortable. "Because you can not prohibit anyone from being Mexican, it is forbidden to something that is typical of this race," said Thiago. So you can keep under control all Mexicans - they are always threatened with jail. Therefore the prohibition of marijuana was so successful in the world. The Brazilian government found that most great tool to keep blacks under control. The Europeans also worshiped power to frame its immigrants.

The ban was turning into a form of international control by the United States, especially after 1961, when a UN convention has determined that drugs are bad for the health and well-being of mankind, and therefore were necessary and universal coordinated to suppress its use. "This has opened up for U.S. military intervention," he adds. "It became an opportune pretext for Americans to enter other countries and pursue their economic interests."

A structure was erected to keep the world interested in the illegal drug, marijuana between them. A year later, in 1962, President John Kennedy fired Anslinger - after no less than 32 years ahead of the BNF. A group formed to examine the effects of the drug found that risks of marijuana were being exaggerated and that the thesis that it led to harder drugs was flawed. But there came decriminalization. On the contrary. President Richard Nixon hardened over the law, declared "war on drugs" and created the DEA (in Portuguese, Duress Office of Drugs), an organ more powerful than the BNF because, in addition to setting policies, has the police power .



Marijuana is bad?

Here's the question that has been done long ago. After more than a century of research, the most honest answer is: does but very little and only for extreme cases. Moderate use will not hurt. The concern with this issue of science began in 1894 when India was part of the British Empire. Nevertheless, there was the suspicion that the bhang, a cannabis-based drink very common in India, causing dementia. British religious groups demanded a ban. He graduated from the Indiana Commission on Drugs Cannabis, who spent two years researching the subject. The final report recommended against the ban: "The bhang is usually harmless when used sparingly and in some cases is beneficial. The abuse of bhang is less harmful than alcohol abuse."

In 1944, one of the most popular mayors of New York, Fiorello La Guardia, has ordered another search. Amid the hysteria of marijuana Anslinger, La Guardia decided to check what the real risks of this killer drug. The scientists he auditioned with prisoners (something common at the time) and concluded: "The prolonged use of drugs does not lead to physical degeneration, mental or moral." The work went unnoticed amid the din of prohibitionist Anslinger.

From 60 years, several studies were commissioned by other similar governments. Reports produced in England, Canada and the United States advised a relaxation in laws. None of these studies was sufficient to force a change. But the most telling experience about marijuana and its consequences was conducted outside the laboratory. In 1976, Holland decided to stop arresting marijuana users since they bought the drug in licensed coffee shops. Result: The rate of the users still comparable to other European countries. The young heroin addicts has fallen - it is estimated that by taking the hands of traffickers of marijuana, the Dutch broke the drug of the heavier and thus hindering access to them.

In recent years, the potential evils of marijuana were carefully scrutinized - sometimes by competent researchers, sometimes by people more interested in convincing others of your opinion. Below is a summary of what is known:

Cancer
Not been shown no direct relationship between marijuana smoking and lung cancer, trachea, mouth and others associated with the cigarette. That's not to say there is not. For too long, the risks of smoking have been neglected and only the last two decades it became clear that there was a time bomb armed - because the damage become apparent only after decades of continuous use. There is a fear that is similar to a bomb exploding in the case of marijuana, whose use has become popular since the '60s. What is known is that smoking marijuana has virtually the same composition of a common cigarette - the only difference is the active principle. No cigarette is nicotine, marijuana tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. It is also true that smoking marijuana is more risky behavior than the cigarette, inhales more deeply and safely uses no filter the smoke longer in the lungs (which, incidentally, they said, does not increase the effects of drugs) .

In contrast, much of the marijuana smokes a lot less and stops or reduces consumption after age 30 (early stop is known to be a way to dramatically decrease the risk of cancer). In summary, the casual user of marijuana, which is the most common, need not worry about a big increase in cancer risk. Who smokes more than a joint a day for over 15 years should think about stopping.

Dependence
Somewhere between 6% and 12% of users, depending on the research, develops a compulsive use of marijuana (less than half the rates for alcohol and tobacco). The question is: is that marijuana is the cause of addiction or just an escape. "Addiction to marijuana is not an issue of substance, but the person," says psychiatrist Dartiu Xavier, coordinator of the Counseling and Treatment of Addiction, Escola Paulista de Medicina. Dartiu Second, there is a clear profile of marijuana dependent: in general, he is young, often anxious and possibly depressed. People who do not fit it do not develop the habit. "And that can fit both become addicted to marijuana and sex, gambling, internet," he says.

Many experts point to the fact that marijuana is becoming more dangerous - as it becomes more robust. Over the past 40 years, was made a breeding, crossing plants with high THC content. Varieties have emerged as the skunk. Last year, shipments of marijuana were seized genetically altered in Eastern Europe - genetic engineering is used to increase power, which could increase the potential for addiction. According to pharmacologist Leslie Iversen, author of The Science of Marijuana great (The science of marijuana, without translation to Portuguese) and consultant to the theme of the House of Lords (the Senate English), these fears are exaggerated and the concentration of THC was not that big.

In addition to this discussion, the fact is that for those who are dependent, marijuana is very bad. This is especially true for children and adolescents. "The guy with 15 years with the personality is not formed. Disproportionate use of marijuana can be very damaging to him," said Dart. The greatest risk for adolescents who smoke marijuana is amotivational syndrome, the name given to the complete loss of interest that the drug causes in some people. Amotivational syndrome is much more frequent in young and really disrupts their lives - is almost sure to bomb the school and family crisis.

Brain damage
"Marijuana kills brain cells." This phrase, repeated for decades, is nothing but myth. Billions of dollars have been invested to demonstrate that THC destroys brain tissue - sometimes with research that ministered doses of elephant in mice - but nothing was found.

Many experiments were done to evaluate damage in cognitive user of marijuana. The biggest concern is with the memory. It is known that the user of marijuana, when smoked, is left with the short-term memory impaired. Are widespread reports of people who have ideas that seem brilliant at the "cheap", but can not remember anything the next moment. This is because the short-term memory malfunctions under the influence of marijuana, and without it, the long-term memories are not fixed (it's because of this "disengagement" from memory that the user loses track of time). But this damage is not permanent. Just stay quit that everything works normally. The same goes for the reasoning, which slows down when you smoke too often.

There are studies with "heavy" users and old, those who smoke several joints a day for over 15 years, showing that they come out slightly worse in some tests, especially in memory and attention. The differences, however, are subtle. In comparison with alcohol, marijuana has a huge lead: drinking too much and causes irreparable brain damage destroys memory.

Heart
The use of marijuana dilates blood vessels and to compensate, accelerates the heartbeat. It offers no risk to most users, but the drug should be avoided by those who have heart.

Infertility
Research has shown that heavy users has reduced the number of sperm. Nobody could prove that it can cause infertility, impotence much less. It is also clear that sperm return to normal when you stop smoking.

Immune depression
In the '70s, it was discovered that THC affects the white blood cells defend the body. However, research has found no link between marijuana use and incidence of infections.

Madness
In the past, it was believed that marijuana caused insanity. This was not confirmed, but it is known that the drug may precipitate seizures in those who already have psychiatric illnesses.

Pregnancy
Some studies reported a tendency for children of mothers who used a lot of marijuana during pregnancy with lower birth weight. Others have not confirmed those suspicions. Anyway, it is best to avoid any psychoactive drug during pregnancy. Without doubt, the most dangerous of these is alcohol.



Marijuana is good?

In general, no. Most people do not like the effects, and claims that the herb because it is "natural" does well, they are just nonsense. Others love it and report that it helps to increase creativity, relaxation, improve mood, decrease anxiety. It's inevitable: each one is.

The medicinal use of marijuana is as old as marijuana. Today there are many studies with cannabis to use it as medicine. According to Iversen English pharmacologist, there is no doubt that it is a useful remedy for many fundamental and for some, but there is some exaggeration about its potential. In other words, marijuana is not the salvation of mankind. A major challenge for labs is trying to separate the effect of the drug's medicinal psychoactive effect - ie create a pot that does not make "cheap". Many researchers are coming to the conclusion that this is impossible, apparently, the same chemical properties that change the perception of the brain are responsible for the curative. This fact is one of the limitations of marijuana as medicine, as many people do not like the mental effect. In Brazil, as in much of the world, the medical use of cannabis is banned and thousands of people use the drug illegally. Meet some of the uses:

Cancer
People treated with chemotherapy often have terrible morning sickness, possibly so terrible that they prefer the disease to the remedy. There are medications to reduce nausea and that they are efficient. However, some patients do not respond to any legal remedy and respond wonderfully to marijuana. This was the case of the brilliant writer and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, who last month finally lost a battle against cancer 20 years (more about him on page 23). Gould had never used psychoactive drugs - he hated the idea of interfering in the functioning of the brain. Here's what he said: "Cannabis has worked like magic. I did not like 'collateral damage' that was the mental blur. But the joy of not having crystalline nausea - and not experience fear in the days preceding the treatment - was the greatest encouragement in all my years of chemotherapy. "

AIDS
Marijuana makes you hungry. Anyone who smokes knows it (indeed, this is one of its drawbacks: it fattening). No medicine is so effective at restoring the weight of HIV carriers as marijuana. And that may prolong life a lot: it is believed that maintaining weight is the main requirement for an HIV-positive do not develop the disease. The problem: cannabis has an action remains poorly understood in the immune system. It is known that it poses no danger to healthy people but can be a risk for people with AIDS.

Multiple Sclerosis
This degenerative disease of the nervous system is terribly uncomfortable and life threatening. Patients feel a deep muscle spasms, severe pain and their bladders and bowels work very badly. It is believed that it is caused by a malfunction of the immune system that causes the immune cells to attack neurons. Marijuana relieves all symptoms. Nobody understands why it is so efficient, but speculation is that has to do with your little understood effect on the immune system.

Pain
Cannabis is an analgesic used on several occasions. The reports of relief of menstrual cramps are the most promising.

Glaucoma
This disease is characterized by increased fluid pressure within the eye and can lead to blindness. Marijuana lowers intraocular pressure. The problem is that to be an effective remedy, one has to smoke every three or four hours, which is not practical and, of course, is harmful (this dose of marijuana would leave the patient ever "stoned"). There are promising studies using eye drops made from marijuana, which would act directly in the eye, without affecting the brain.

Anxiety
Marijuana is a little aggressive and take medicine against anxiety. This, however, depends on the patient. Some people get better after smoking, while others, especially those not very familiar with the drug, have the opposite effect. There are also reports of successful treatment of depression and insomnia, where the remedies available in the market, while more efficient, are also much more aggressive and have greater potential for addiction.

Dependence
Two Brazilian psychiatrists, and Elisha Labigalini Dartiu Xavier, had an interesting experience. Encouraged for crack users smoke marijuana in the process of quitting. Result: 68% of them left the crack and then spontaneously stopped with marijuana, a very high rate. They say marijuana is a drug tailored to combat addiction to crack cocaine because it stimulates the appetite and combating anxiety, two serious problems for cocaine addicts. Elisha Dartiu and intend to continue research, but are having trouble getting funding - hardly a public agency will invest in a work that bet on the benefits of marijuana.



The past

The first recorded contact between Homo sapiens and Cannabis sativa is 6 000 years ago. It is the mark of a hemp rope printed on shards of clay, China. The use of fiber, not only strings but also in various tissues and then in paper manufacturing, is one of the oldest uses of marijuana. Thanks to him, the plant's original country north of Afghanistan, in the foothills of the Himalayas, became the first cultivated by the man with non-food uses and spread throughout Asia and then Europe and Africa.

But there is a use of marijuana may be as old as the hemp fiber, medicinal. The Chinese have known for at least two thousand years the curative power of drugs, as evidenced by the Pen-Ts'ao Ching, considered the first pharmacopoeia in the world known (pharmacopoeia is a book that combines recipes and formulas of medicines). The book recommends the use of marijuana from arrest-to-belly, malaria, rheumatism and menstrual pain. Also in India, the herb has for millennia is an integral part of Ayurvedic medicine, used to treat dozens of diseases. Not to mention that it occupies a prominent place in Hindu religion. By mythology, marijuana was the favorite food of the god Shiva, who therefore would live all the time "stoned." Take bhang would be a way of entering into communion with Shiva.

Hinduism is not the only religion to give prominence to cannabis. For the Buddhists of the Mahayana tradition, Buddha spent six years eating only one seed of marijuana per day. His enlightenment had been achieved after this period of near starvation. India, marijuana has migrated to Mesopotamia, still in pre-Christian times, and from there to the Middle East. Therefore, it was already present in the region began when the expansion of the Arab Empire. With the prohibition of alcohol among the people of Muhammad, began a heated discussion about whether marijuana should be banned too. For centuries, cannabis was consumed abundantly in Muslim lands until the Middle Ages, many Islamic abandoned the habit. The exception were the Sufi, members of a chain considered more esoteric and mystic of Islam, which, until recently, considered fundamental to cannabis in their rites.

The Greeks used hemp ropes and sails on their ships, and then the Romans. It is known that the Roman Empire was at least aware of the psychoactive powers of marijuana. The Latin historian Tacitus, who lived in the first century, reports that the Scythians, a people of modern Turkey, had the custom of setting up a tent, build a fire and burn large amounts of marijuana. It stayed inside, a psychedelic version of a Turkish bath.

Through contact with the Arabs, much of Africa met the grass and incorporated it into their rites and their medicine - Muslim countries above the Sahara to the Zulus of South Africa and throughout Europe also began to grow marijuana and used extensively hemp fiber, but there are very few records of its use as a psychoactive that continent. It may be that this is due to the weather. THC is a resin produced by plants to protect their leaves and flowers of the sun. In chilly Europe, you may have developed a variant of Cannabis sativa with THC less, as there was not much sun to threaten the bush.

The fact is that, in the Renaissance, marijuana has become the main agricultural product in Europe. And its importance was not only economic: the plant had a big change in mentality that occurred in the fifteenth century. The first books after the revolution of Gutenberg were printed on hemp paper. The paintings of the geniuses of art were made of hemp fabrics (canvas, the word used in several languages to refer to "screen" is a corruption of the Latin Dutch cannabis). And the great voyages were propelled by sails of hemp - the second American author Rowan Robinson, author of The Big Book of cannabis, there were 80 tons of hemp, counting the sails and ropes, the boat commanded by Christopher Columbus in 1496. That is, America was discovered thanks to marijuana. Ironic.

Renaissance on the lights fell the shadows of the Inquisition - a period in which the Church has gained much strength and began to play the role of police, judging heretics in their court and condemning witches to the stake. "The witches were nothing more than the traditional healers, especially those of Celtic origin, who used plants to treat people, sometimes plants with psychoactive powers," says historian Henry Lamb, an expert on drugs at the Federal University of Ouro Preto. There are no records that potheads have been burned in the sixteenth century - not least because the use of psychoactive cannabis was uncommon in Europe - but it is certain that crystallized at that time a Christian antipathy for plants that alter the state of consciousness.

[classthe_king]

I'm not reading that.

If marijuana was legal, people would smoke and drive. Not a good idea. Drinking is the same, but what are ya gonna do?

People still smoke and drive anyway. Driving high isn't even hard anyway.

[TheHundred$]

There's two sides to this..

Make Marijuana legal and we save millions of dollars a year on the cost we spend to arrest, put in prison, etc all the people caught for Marijuana.. We free up hours upon hours of time to catch real criminals and not waste any on Marijuana arrests.. I mean let's face it... anyone on JUST Marijuana never hurt anybody.. if they drive it's extra slow and cautious.. otherwise they are sitting on thier couch.. eating maybe taking a nap.. not out being violent and killing people.. Not to mention making Marijuana legal will get rid of crime.. like drug dealers, drug trafficking, etc.. they will all go out of business..

Lets look at prohibition of alcohol.. Once it became illegal thats when organized crime thrived.... now that alcohol is legal.. there is no crime related to it directly.. No one smuggles a bunch of alcohol over the border and etc.. So make Marijuana legal and now it takes the criminal aspect of it away.. Hell it even takes the fun out of it for some people.

Now on the flip side.. make Marijuana legal and surely the government will be in control of it in order to tax it.. let's face it.. it's a multi million dollar industry.. So now if Marijuana is legal it will be taxed.. It will probably have added chemicals similar to cigarettes ( to keep it fresh, to keep it burning evenly etc.) So the people who do smoke marijuana probably want it to stay illegal.. If you are doing it in the privacy of your own home being illegal isn't a problem really.

So I guess either way I'm fine with it.. It's a tough decision.. Either way the same amount of people are going to use it.. which is about 10% of the worlds population.. 22 million people who use it regularly. All I know is.. it has many health benefits.. It's not dangerous. Smoking is bad for you.. but if you were to eat the marijuana I can see no reason why it would harm you and in that case the good outways the bad... it's a natural plant from the ground.. Alcohol and cigarettes are 50 times worse.. and yet Marijuana is classified as a level 1 drug.. along with heroin and lsd.. while cocaine is a level 2 drug.. so they say marijuana is worse than cocaine..? Umm.. no.

[Epidemik]

i've said this 100 times.. if people truly want to educate themselves on Marijuana, watch this documentary. The basic point of this documentary is to present the facts about Marijuana. It focuses less on the BC market and more on the reasons why marijuana should be viewed in the same light as alcohol and tobacco. It argues for the legalization of marijuana. The argument is compelling and factual with many legititamate sources.



BC's illegal marijuana trade industry has evolved into a business giant, dubbed by some involved as 'The Union', Commanding upwards of $7 billion Canadian annually. With up to 85% of 'BC Bud' being exported to the United States, the trade has become an international issue. Follow filmmaker Adam Scorgie as he demystifies the underground market and brings to light how an industry can function while remaining illegal. Through growers, police officers, criminologists, economists, doctors, politicians and pop culture icons, Scorgie examines the cause and effect nature of the business - an industry that may be profiting more by being illegal. Written by Brett Harvey

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High is a movie about the big industry that creates and selling illegal Cannabis.Cannabis is still illegal most parts of the world,despite that cigarettes and Alcohol is taking more life's then Cannabis. Written by Feltherre

seriously watch this...

u can watch it online for free...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 651731007#

[Fa-Q]

I'm not reading that.

If marijuana was legal, people would smoke and drive. Not a good idea. Drinking is the same, but what are ya gonna do?

People still smoke and drive anyway. Driving high isn't even hard anyway.

People drink and drive....all they would have to do is make a law to say no smoking within a certain amount of time after smoking

[Epidemik]

I'm not reading that.

If marijuana was legal, people would smoke and drive. Not a good idea. Drinking is the same, but what are ya gonna do?

People still smoke and drive anyway. Driving high isn't even hard anyway.

People drink and drive....all they would have to do is make a law to say no smoking within a certain amount of time after smoking

lol no smoking within a certain time of smoking eh?... are u high right now?
haha j/k i know wut u ment.

[toxicbuffy]

I'm not reading that.

If marijuana was legal, people would smoke and drive. Not a good idea. Drinking is the same, but what are ya gonna do?

My driver teacher told us he would rather us smoke and drive then drink and drive...
There is a big difference ... Im not even going to read this but all i know is
If you take to many antidepressants pills you can O.D
You can smoke as much as you want and will never O.D

[TheHundred$]

I'm not reading that.

If marijuana was legal, people would smoke and drive. Not a good idea. Drinking is the same, but what are ya gonna do?

My driver teacher told us he would rather us smoke and drive then drink and drive...
There is a big difference ... Im not even going to read this but all i know is
If you take to many antidepressants pills you can O.D
You can smoke as much as you want and will never O.D

Yep.. I don't even consider Marijuana a drug. It's not harmful.. smoking is harmful.. yes.. but if you only ate weed. I can see no negative health benefits... besides it may make you eat a lot of junk. and sleep too much.

[TheHundred$]

I'm not reading that.

If marijuana was legal, people would smoke and drive. Not a good idea. Drinking is the same, but what are ya gonna do?

My driver teacher told us he would rather us smoke and drive then drink and drive...
There is a big difference ... Im not even going to read this but all i know is
If you take to many antidepressants pills you can O.D
You can smoke as much as you want and will never O.D

Yep.. I don't even consider Marijuana a drug. It's not harmful.. smoking is harmful.. yes.. but if you only ate weed. I can see no negative health benefits... besides it may make you eat a lot of junk. and sleep too much.

[DrunkenDeath]

i'm sick of reading all this shit. just legalize it. i'd love to see obama legalize it

[Kez]

Fuck reading this whole thread. I like smoking weed so i'm gonna smoke weed, i give a shit.

[Block]

Marijuanna is one drug they're never going to get rid of. I said drug but I don't even consider it a drug. It's a god damn plant. There's nothing added to it at all; No chemicals or bleach. Nothing to enhance the high; Just a plant. HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU OUTLAW A PLANT? I mean, really.. That's like saying "You can't grow maple trees and maple syrup is illegal." Really??

Then again, there are plants in the jungles of South America that are 10x more potent than marijuanna and the trip lasts literally days. Man, I want what those jungle fuckers are smoking.

I bet there's plants we haven't even found yet that would be the ultimate high.

[Manny_Boi]

Marijuanna is one drug they're never going to get rid of. I said drug but I don't even consider it a drug. It's a god damn plant. There's nothing added to it at all; No chemicals or bleach. Nothing to enhance the high; Just a plant. HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU OUTLAW A PLANT? I mean, really.. That's like saying "You can't grow maple trees and maple syrup is illegal." Really??

Then again, there are plants in the jungles of South America that are 10x more potent than marijuanna and the trip lasts literally days. Man, I want what those jungle fuckers are smoking.

I bet there's plants we haven't even found yet that would be the ultimate high.

I know man I got charged with marijuana over a year ago and the case is still pending and finally going on the 15h of this month. I should be able to put whatever the fuck I want in my body. It makes me sick to my stomach to get charged for a fucking cock sucking plant. I swear to god I was just minding my own business getting ready to smoke and this cop comes out of nowhere flashing his lights on me like I just escaped from prison or something.

[toxicbuffy]

i'm sick of reading all this shit. just legalize it. i'd love to see obama legalize it

why even legalize it ? Fuck that i know its going to happen but i dont want it to... Its going to be alot more expensive and the gov is going to rip us of

[freedom4all]

Cannabinoids (CB's) are the active components of marijuana. They are effective in reducing pain and they kill cancer cells without the toxicity of chemotherapy, instead protecting nearby healthy cells. CB's stop the spread of breast cancer and help prevent lung cancer even when smoked (but only in the absence of tobacco). Every cancer they study is inhibited by CB's. At lower doses, the spread of cancer is stopped, and at higher doses the tumors shrink.

All animal bodies make their own CB's. Mother's milk is highest in animal CB's the first 24 hours after birth. Migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome are thought to be the result of a deficiency of CB. Other conditions helped by cannabinoids include seizures, Crohn's Disease, Parkinson's, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), multiple sclerosis and glaucoma.

US Patent 6630507; it is titled "Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants," . It reads in part:
"Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, [making] cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia."
Now guess who took out this patent. Our Federal government! Health and Human Services! It was obtained in 2003. : ,
Are you blown away yet?

Pregnant women should not be afraid to use cannabis since it appears marijuana may be beneficial to the unborn infant. The infant death rate of babies born with cannabis in their systems vs. babies without cannabis is cut by almost one-half! PEDIATRICS Vol. 100 No. 1 July 1997, pp. 79-83

Jesus used the cannabis-laden holy anointing oil of Ex. 30 to heal the people, a practice considered by the religious leaders to be forbidden for anyone except themselves. They got so angry about it all they crucified Him and persecuted His followers. And so it goes to this day.

Our government is "hooked" on the money and power cannabis prohibition brings. Many moneyed interests support and feed the Prohibition Monster. Talk to people about what prohibition is really costing us. Listen to their fears with compassion for the years of lies they have been fed. Offer them the truth as you know it to be. Keep the faith and spread the Good News about cannabis.

God bless,