Cannabis - Up Side, Down Side

It's good to face reality whatever that may be. Good OR bad (as Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has recently pointed out). But this is an article that can be perceived only as bad, bad for the masses, as well as disingenuously good for anti-cannabis groups. What we need is more research, more information. Legalization, not continued abuse. Healthcare, not prison.

This is a time and a climate where we need things like cannabis. Not just for medical issues but also for recreational ones. It is far more gentle on one's system than alcohol, recreational drugs like cocaine, heroin and so on. As for people calling it a schedule one drug, or a gateway to harder drugs, that is pure ignorance and goes against what science shows and we are seeing. They are looking at personality issues there with people, not the actual cannabis itself.

We have a new president now in Pres. Trump. A capitalist and a businessman who has left a lot of damage in his wake in making more and more money. However if he truly is a capitalist and a businessman then cannabis should be legalized by the end of the year, nationally.

Certainly before he leaves office. Which as things are going from his actions, could be any day now. If he is who he says he is in being a capitalist and having such a great mind, nobody has one better, he claims. Then surely he can do anything. Even this.

I'd expect to see by the beginning of 2018, a new and thriving capitalism based, not criminal based, health based not judicially based industry. But we won't. That however is an argument for another time.

There is a new article is talking about people who over indulge on a daily basis, that is to say, actually abuse it, and does not refer to normal or even regular use of cannabis.

Conservative and anti Cannabis types are already gloaming onto this report in droves. It is their Godsend in the realm of anti Cannabis diatribe and potential legislation. They will take this out of context and use it inappropriately as always. Seeing the world as they do in black and white and not the measured grey that it is and how honest people, how adults would normally use information.

It's odd however that this result would be found as cannabis, unlike tobacco, is a vasodialator. Tobacco actually is a vasoconstrictant. Ever know someone who right after sex has to light up a cigarette? HAS to?. It's because in part sex releases chemicals to relax, but they are addicted to nicotine. So while they like the good feeling from the release in the culmination of sex, they crave that tension, that vasoconstrictive effect that nicotine induces. It also explains those anxious people who need to smoke cigarettes. They crave the familiar when really they need soemthing else. But that's the confusion of addiction.

Meaning overall anyway I suppose, that under this study tobacco would be potentially leading to Alzheimer's even more so, yet we haven't heard about that. But apparently not so. Well, kind of. Nicotine has some nasty side effects, and some good ones. However once the body breaks it down into cotinine ....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-201899/Tobacco-cure-Alzheimers.html

"In the case of Alzheimer's, cotinine may share nicotine's ability to improve attention and memory and at the same time reduce or halt disease progression. "One advantage of cotinine is that it could be used long-term with little concern about serious side effects and substance abuse."

Who knew?

"Addiction" is a medical term indicating a physical addition. Cannabis is not physically addictive but can be psychologically addictive. That however is a mental and not physiological defect.

About that..."Marijuana use disorder is a new term introduced by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) used by psychiatrists and mental health professionals for diagnostic criteria."
http://hightimes.com/medicinal/science/pot-matters-marijuana-use-disorder/
The High Times article has a list of eleven elements for the criteria of diagnosing substance use disorders.

Again, the article states (and I'm not disputing this, but it's odd) that:
"Those diagnosed with cannabis use disorder showed a significant reduction in brain blood flow in almost every region."

I think that requires more investigation because of the way Cannabis works on the brain. It doesn't make sense. If this was a conservative anti cannabis article I would call bull on this. As the article itself indicates, this is odd indeed:

"More research will have to be conducted to corroborate this claim. But it’s reasonable that someone who only lights up occasionally won’t have such an issue. This study conflicts with a 2014 preclinical trial, also published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. There, tiny doses of marijuana’s active ingredient, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) had neuroprotective qualities. It helped ward off Alzheimer’s by destroying beta amyloid proteins which are what cause the disease. So in the end, it may be an issue of dosage. A little is okay, but too much is damaging. But only more studies can tell us for sure."

There does seem to be some support for this report's contentions:
http://www.idmu.co.uk/canncardio.htm
Which says:

"Summary - Cardiovascular effects of Cannabis:

"Cannabis increases heart rate in na•ve users although tolerance develops to this effect.

"Cannabinoids can also reduce blood pressure via arteriollar dilatation in a variety of tissues, although the effect on blood flow varies at a local level, with some organs or brain regions experiencing vasoconstriction, others vasodilation.

"In the withdrawal phase following cessation of chronic use, cerebral blood flow may be significantly reduced.

"Cannabis use has been implicated as a causative factor in a small number of patients suffering strokes or transient ischaemic attacks, and may represent a risk factor to susceptible individuals.

"However cannabinoids, in particular CB1-receptor agonists, have been shown to protect against nerve cell death following stroke, and dexanabinol at an advanced stage of the licensing process as a drug to be administered to victims of stroke or closed-head injuries to minimise the long-term brain damage caused by such events, and to improve survival and recovery prospects."

Conservatives and anti Cannabis types are gloaming onto this report in droves. It is their Godsend in the realm of anti Cannabis legislation. They will take this out of context and use it inappropriately. Seeing the world as they do in black and white and not the measured grey it is.

More to come, I'm sure.

We need to Legalize Cannabis NOW!

I'm so sick of hearing about Trump lately. Yes, he's a carbuncle on the American political system, as are the misguided misinformed beliefs of those who put him in office. Not to mention the efforts of another country (Russia) to see him in office as well as any one apparently who voted for him, not seeming to care about any of that that at all. But let's put that aside for the moment for something else immediate and ignored.

Now for something truly relevant that extends into so much of our culture and economy. We waste far too much time, energy, resources, and money in literally ruining people's lives and that of their extended family and our culture. We waste police resources, jail space and clogged the judicial system for no apparent reason and for issues that are proven to be better treated through healthcare resources.

We are shooting ourselves in the foot over and over because of our stubborn refusal to update our outdated beliefs and ideals, which I might add, were wrong to begin with. Not to mention, were originally based in racism as well as a carryover from alcohol prohibition..

For those who are anti weed, anti Cannabis, pot, grass, the racist term Marijuana, or whatever you wish to call it...really people, just stop talking.

Just, stop. Don't talk. Learn.

You are welcome to talk once again after you either watch BookTVs episode on C-SPAN2 with the author, journalist Joe Dolce, former Editor-in-chief of Details magazine as he talks about the current situation. Or you buy and read the book, Brave New Weed Adventures into the Uncharted World of Cannabis.

We need Cannabis immediately removed from the abusive Schedule 1 status. Abuse to pot, abusive to Americans, and worst of all, worst to those who need it medically and otherwise.

As Dolce points out, because it's a Schedule 1 drug only the NSA can easily research it and their agenda is to find what is bad about it. Israel for decades has been doing the leading positive research on it. And as one caretaker at one assisted living home in Israel put it, before weed started being used to enhance the quality of the lives of those living there, she was on the way out the door because no other drugs do as good a job.

But in America, weed is evil and demonized. Makes you wonder, how stupid are people? Because if they aren't stupid, how do you explain this almost religious negativity against it?

The Wall Street Journal recently blushed an article about the downside of legalization which to be honest, didn't make a hell of a lot of sense. Other than as click bate, which is starting to seem like that is what most of journalism is anymore.

Truth be damned, get us clicks at all costs!

This article is little more than disingenuous fear mongering. I don't doubt that the facts stated are real. But if you suddenly legalized (again?) alcohol, the stats would be far, FAR worse I'm sure.

As for the shaving off IQ points off teens who smoke weed as mentioned in the article, the alternative were it alcohol would be to shave off lives at those rates. I agree teens shouldn't smoke pot, not till they are 25 is my understanding, but good luck with that, as well has limiting them on alcohol. Anyway, it's false equivalency.

Which makes me wonder, was the so called journalist Allysia Finley who wrote this piece a conservative (she is after all a Fox News contributor)? Or is she just stupid? Or did her editor talk her into writing it?

We need to stop closing our eyes and labeling the demon cannabis and as evil and start labeling those who are against legalizing it as the ones who are actually, evil.

Cannabis as American as Apple Pie

This is a rerun of a very popular blog I wrote back in July 2, 2012. It has gotten so many hits that I thought I might run it again for those who are new to my blogs to have a chance to see it. Have fun!

I found a video on The Power of Raw Cannabis that I found very interesting. It talks about using Cannabis as raw food, as a vegetable with medical qualities far exceeding almost anything we have seen to date. They say that once you burn it, you get a different quality out of Cannabis, which should make those phobic about it feel all warm and fuzzy. But they are taking a different tact in their research by juicing Cannabis and using it as an actual natural remedy for disease.

From The Power Of Raw Cannabis

Now watch this video, especially if you are fully anti Cannabis. This is not hype, it's very reasonable in what it has to say and it has a very good point. If Cannabis had never been heard of and was today discovered in the Amazon river basin, it would be called out as a miracle medicine and hailed around the world.

But Cannabis is as American as apple pie. Albeit a rather abused American, on multiple levels and for multiple reasons.

All this made me look for some interesting and famous quotes and images on hemp and cannabis and this is what I found. I broke out some photos for you that I will comment on, and at the bottom is a link to the actual video which includes fifty and some comments at the end of it. Here are some of my favorites, for various reasons. I've done my best to vet them at least to some degree. Let's start at the beginning.

It's well known that Washington was a hemp farmer and it was actually illegal not to grow hemp if you had a farm. However it was mostly for it's other qualities such as rope, clothes, paper, etc. Still, it's hard to believe there would be an active hemp market and no one knew about smoking it. Have you ever, as a kid, "smoked" on a piece of tall grass?

Typically you didn't inhale as it was harsh, but it's reasonable that someone figured it out back in the slaves days as slaves were made to work closely with hemp. Still, did any of the founding fathers smoke pot? Probably not though it would make a great case for modern pro Cannabis individuals. Napoleon brought hashish to France when his army returned from the Egyptian campaign (1798-1801). America had emmisaries in France over the years, so it's possible some of them tried hash. Hash comes from Cannabis, which was all over the United States. These were smart guys, so it's possible they put two and two together.

This would be great except that Lincoln wasn't known to be a smoker, although I know many people who smoke cannabis but wouldn't touch a ciggarette or pipe, otherwise. It is however plausible that Lincoln had a harmonica.

I would say it's reasonable Lincoln said that one. Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), U.S. President.
Speech, 18 Dec. 1840, to Illinois House of Representatives.

 

"In the mid-19th century, French writers including Baudelaire and Dumas met regularly to use cannabis. In this extract from his new book, Jonathon Green describes the Club des Hachichins." From an article in the Guardian UK.

I can find nothing to back this up, and he doesn't actually mention "hemp", other than a reference around the internet of a "Dr. Burke" with the "American Historical Reference Society" who doesn't seem to have a presence on the internet.

So you have to be careful about some of these kinds of quotes and references. Since they Founding Father's either left no record of smoking hemp or hash that I can find, it still has very good qualities for production and use in so many other areas. Lately we have been discovering that officially, that being by scientists and medical researchers not under the thumb of government relgulations or the American judicial systems, so that is mostly outside America but also inside prestigeous American institutions, there are incredible uses for Cannabis as you could see in the video above.

So we need to look at other things. Just like with a black hole out in space, if you can't see it, you can tell it exists by circumstantial evidence. In this case, it would be in the areas of prohibition and the "War on Drugs" (and U.S. citizens).

Leave it to a rational and logical thinker (so not a politician or law enforcer), to think, uh, rationally and logically.

So prohitition seems like not a smart thing? I wonder if the Alcohol Prohibition years support that claim at all?

Well, that pretty much jumps right to the point of things. Did Carl say this? Well, he has spoken out about it and there is video to prove it where he asks, "Is it rational, to [keep dying patients in discomfort, from it]."

"Village Voice jazz critic and Crosby biographer Gary Giddins says that Louis Armstrong's influence on Crosby "extended to his love of marijuana." Crosby smoked it during his early career when it was still legal, and "surprised interviewers" in the 1960s and 1970s by advocating its decriminalization." - Wikipedia

I think that pretty much speaks for itself. Now from a couple of politicians.

"Nuff' said" there.

This may hurt the President in some ways, but what would you pay for an honest politician? Well, it would seem we got one, at least to some point.

It's been alleged that British commissioner in India, Mr. J.M. Campell in "Note on the Religion of Hemp, British Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report 1839-1894" was the one to actually say this. Considering the format of the words, I would say this would sound more like Campell than Carter.

What he HAS said was this:

"In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts," Carter wrote. "I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: 'Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.' "

"Those ideas were widely accepted at the time," Carter wrote. "But in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan and Congress began to shift from balanced drug policies, including the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, toward futile efforts to control drug imports from foreign countries."

"One result has been a terrible escalation in drug-related violence, corruption and gross violations of human rights in a growing number of Latin American countries," Carter wrote.

"Maybe the increased tax burden on wealthy citizens necessary to pay for the war on drugs will help bring about a reform of America's drug policies," Carter wrote. "At least the recommendations of the Global Commission will give some cover to political leaders who wish to do what is right."

Okay, enough already. Let's hear what some other entertainers have to say. Right?

Okay, did Arnold really say that? It would seem so: Mail Online UK October 2007.

Kind of shoots downn that highly addictive thing, don't you think?

This from a woman who is pretty productive in her life and doesn't seem to be drawing attention to herself because she's out of control or a drug addict.

Nice to hear someone just spit it out how he reallys sees it.

That my friends, is a very viable point. It's the type of comment I have heard from many people over the years. They didn't like the harsh drugs their doctor gave them, with the side effects, when they could just use cannabis as it was lighter on their systems, cheaper, and seemed to do a far better job in many cases without the side effects which in some cases, are actually, death.

Obviously we had a couple of indivduals who simply had to be mentioned here. Willie, of course, but also....

I've been saying for years that I cannot understand how Cannabis can be illegal for an entertainment drug when you have things out there that are legal like Lord King, Alcohol. Makes you wonder doesn't it (it should). When you consider the size and money involved in the alcohol industry and they size of their lobby, how is it cannabis is still illegal? Alcohol is very similar in affect to cocaine, it numbs you out, you can easily overdose on it, it leaves you feeling like crap after using it and especially over using it, it can put people into a rage where they hurt or kill people, you can't drive very well on it and it can kill you simply by using it.

Let's jus point out that the Declaration of Indepence is written on parchment which is treated animal skin. However, the drafts I believe were very likely written on hemp paper.

Hmmm... is there an echo in here?

The "War on Drugs" is an embarrassment and should be wiped off the face of the judicial branch. Even if you consider it now dead, which many don't, it is still being enforced under the Obama Administration and has been a shameful effort perpetrated on the American people by the judicial branch for decades now and have caused many indivduals and their families great pain and suffering.

And finally....

We should be listening to the man holding the highest office in the United States when even he thinks this. See the full quote at Reuters April 2012.

There is no doubt that we need to rethink and reinstitue our laws on Cannabis. No matter how you view the subject, if you are pro, question if you should be such an advocate; if you are against cannabis, question if you should be so against it. Ask yourself why you feel how you do and if you know everything to be as sure of yourself as you are. No one knows everything. America has made legislative mistakes before. What makes America great is when we see our mistakes, and do some thing to change them. To make our country greater, to make our citizens not just happier, but better off. Sometimes what makes our life better, makes us unhapy, until we see just how wrong we had been.

Have an open mind. Educate yourself. Then, make an informed decision and share it with those who used to look at things how you used to. Don't let America be ignorant, but more so, seek out that ignorance and help remove it.

Video with full run of photos and audio.

To finish up, here is another video of a very good argument for legalizing Cannabis, given by a Judge! If you are anti Cannabis, at least listen to this Judge making his plea to help the citizens of his state.

We can make things better, one step, one state at a time. But it all starts with removing the ignorance that is running rampant around our country, by making ourselves more informed and seeking out changing our opinions when necessary. Especially if your feel adamant that you are right about something, really vet it, check it out. Things change. Maybe you were right once. But new information is in. People are different today than in, say the 1960s. Don't listen only to people who agree with you.

America is a great country, but not as great as we once thought we were. We can again be that Greatest nation in the world. But we need more education, understanding, compassion and action.

Let me leave you with this last, scary quote and think about this for a moment. This man, in charge of police, is talking not just about people who use drugs, but American citizens. That seems to be something we forget in these talks about who is right or wrong. The subjects of these things are people. Consider too by the definition used for cannabis usage, having a drink after work is also a casual drug use, having a cigarette is a casul drug use, and even some would argue coffee or tea as caffeine could be therefore considered a drug. How would you like those people in charge of who should be charged with casual drug us, or as Daryl says:

Finally, if you really found that too depressing, watch a nice little history of "Marijuana".

A joint by any other name is still a joint - Cannabis History

Grass. Weed. Pot. Cannabis. Marijuana....

These are some of the terms I've heard since high school going back for me to 1970, related to the weed superb. 

Life lately and so in my blogs of late I've been kind of heavy. Considering it's also the holiday season, I thought it was high time to lighten things up a bit.

Last week I gave a little history of myself, leaving out some obvious (and not obvious and therefore probably the more interesting) parts of it. Much of it really but then how much CAN one put in a blog of one's history. The purpose of that was to let you know a little about who I was\am and why I am how I am. 

Mostly in that blog regarding speaking out against injustices (and stupidity which appears to be rampant lately, both of which there is so much of today. Which I find surprising because I'd always suspected by this time in our nation's history we'd be a country of University graduates. 

Yet no. Instead it's almost as if we have chosen entirely, another path.

There are a lot of important things we need to deal with in the world but we also need to realize that the quality of our life is just as important as the seriousness of it. I could just as easily have talked about alcohol. My first year at Western Washington University, my main professor in the psych department, my adviser actually, asked us in class for a topic and he would use it to teach us how to think. We all offered suggestions but he picked mine. Beer. But that, for another time.

Anyway, have some fun once in a while. Right? So I chose something that is still forbidden to most of us in most of our states in this country. Cannabis. And yes, this is being posted by someone living in Washington state where pot is now legal. 

However pot has been available in Washington as long as I've known about it and much longer. Over the years people have had to hide it and it developed a culture around it that involved a lexicon to hide what was being talked about from "normals" (non pot smokers). 

Posting this in no way promotes the use or sale of illicit substances (and again, ain't illicit here no more).

It does however question why this is still illegal anywhere else.... 

There are many more but where I grew up in Tacoma, Washington and the places I traveled and lived through my life including military service in the last half of the 1970s, these were the terms I heard related to Cannabis. I try no longer to use the more prejudicial term, Marijuana, that has been abused by our government to oppressed minorities and has been used for political purposes since the 1930s.

These are offered alphabetically but otherwise in no specific order with some interesting, fun or educational links supplied.

Terms came and went as I grew up through time, moved about the country and saw different trends and products come and go. These terms also found a place in popular social circles, media and entertainment (Re: comedians like Cheech and Chong, or musicians, famously such as Bob Marley or more recently Snoop Dog and others).

Acapulco Gold
bag (or baggie, as in sandwich bag)
Blaze
Bud
cannabis
Cambodian
Colombian
crazy weed
Dime bag ($10 1 oz sandwich bag)
Dirt weed (weak or bad Mexican weed of a dingy brown color).
Domestic
Doobie
Dope
Flower tops (or tops)
Ganja (ganj, or the ganj)
Ghana
Giggle weed
Grass
Green

Hash (properly, Hashhish) - Also hash oil, but this is another related topic really but is a concentrated form of pot. Now a days may be referred to as "wax" depending on how it was processed. Wikipedia --"Hashhishan evolved into the word assassin from a group who would eat and kill for pay. The word assassin has its root from the Arabic word Hashshashin ( حشّاشين, ħashshāshīyīn, also Hashishin, Hashashiyyin),[8] and shares its etymological roots with the Arabic term ḥashīsh."
Hawaiian
Heady weed (for more of mental not body stone or high, also see, head for smoker).
Home grown
Kate Bush (after the famed singer)
Keif
KGB (Killer Green Bud, also a joking homage to the Soviet secret espionage agency)
Kona Gold
Kush
Jamaican Gold (or Jamaican)
joint
Joy Stick
Leaf
lid (from removing seeds in a shoe box lid? There was a time when you could go to just about anyone's house you knew and find a shoe box lid under the living room couch with their stash in it and many seeds off to one corner or side, using a driver's license or credit card to separate them while holding the lid at an angle. Proliferation of sinsemilla ended that practice)
Marijuana (or MaryJuwana or Marijuania)
MaryJane (or MJ)
Maui-wowie
Oaxacan (imported pot from the that Mexican district)
O.Z. (o-zee or ounce)
Panama Red
Parsley
pocololo
Pot (or, potables)
Primo
Purple haze (also and previously used for LSD)
Rag weed (or rag)
Red bud
reefer (or reef, see also the 1936 anti Marijuana propaganda film, Reefer Madness)
shake (powder in the bottom of a baggy)
Sinse (sinsemilla or sen, no seeds which was thought to be a good ting until one day someone tried to grow their own and started to wonder, is this a conspiracy?).
Skunk weed (or stink weed)
super grass
Smoke
stoney weed (big body high as opposed to more mental high, see also stoned, stoner)
Tea
Thai
Thai stick (pot wrapped to bamboo stick and dipped in opium oil)
stems and seeds (the part of pot you don't want to smoke or bad bag of weed. Once this hit the states it was quickly replaced with cheap, fake versions but sold as the same, some which were dipped in unsafe alternatives, most which weren't even dipped in anything until no one would buy them anymore)
Toke
wacky tobacky
yerba
Yesca
Weed

Also...

roach (smoked joint)

blunt (type of joint)

spliff (type of joint also containing tobacco)

bomb (or bomber, type of joint, see fatty below)

Fatty (type of joint)

Jamaican style (or other named country style, various types of joint, see below)

Cone style, from Grass City

Jamaican cone - I've heard others call it by different country's names but back in the 70s it's what I knew it as, but it was a cone with a bigger end folded in and over sealing it and the other smaller toking end could have a rolled up piece of matchbook cover or something used as a filter)

bong (kind of water pipe.

Proto Pipe (the ultimate travel pipe). My first one had leather around the bowl as it gets hot which they don't seem to do now but the price is the same at about $25. This was generally agreed back in the day as the best ever travel pipe ever and could contain an eighth of an ounce of product for travel. You could fill the bowl too and close it for travel. The lid also helped in high winds and to better heat the product. Some don't have a lid which is highly not recommended to purchase. Easy clean up and rugged as hell, just, keep it clean. If it is hard to disassemble because it's too dirty with oil residue, just heat it up.

calumet (aeration pipe)

water pipe (traditional water pipe)

One hitter (holds one hit \ inhale)

roach clip (or clip, for holding joints and from which an entire industry was built from)

shotgun (to shotgun, from Vietnam soldiers using shotgun to aerate the smoke blown from one person to another)

Vape

Travel Bong (1980s)

Also associated things like...

Ozium

Zig-Zag (or zigs, rolling papers or simply papers from which an entire industry was built upon)

User Titles - Then there were the names for those who would partake of the holy weed. I haven't thought about this in years as it's not a thing anymore especially now that it's legal here. 

Druggies

Heads (from Pot Heads)

Freaks

Hippies (way over-generalized use of a term that was incorrectly applied to far too many people for far too many decades)

Space cadets (or spacers)

Stoners

Tokers

There are many more things I could mention but I have a life and these were the ones that I was able to remember fairly easily. 

Remember. Life is here to enjoy, not simply to suffer through. Have fun.

Cheers! 

Cannabis and Apple Pie

I found a video on The Power of Raw Cannabis that I found very interesting. It talks about using Cannabis as raw food, as a vegetable with medical qualities far exceeding almost anything we have seen to date. They say that once you burn it, you get a different quality out of Cannabis, which should make those phobic about it feel all warm and fuzzy. But they are taking a different tact in their research by juicing Cannabis and using it as an actual natural remedy for disease.

From The Power Of Raw Cannabis

Now watch this video, especially if you are fully anti Cannabis. This is not hype, it's very reasonable in what it has to say and it has a very good point. If Cannabis had never been heard of and was today discovered in the Amazon river basin, it would be called out as a miracle medicine and hailed around the world.

But Cannabis is as American as apple pie. Albeit a rather abused American, on multiple levels and for multiple reasons.

All this made me look for some interesting and famous quotes and images on hemp and cannabis and this is what I found. I broke out some photos for you that I will comment on, and at the bottom is a link to the actual video which includes fifty and some comments at the end of it. Here are some of my favorites, for various reasons. I've done my best to vet them at least to some degree. Let's start at the beginning.

It's well known that Washington was a hemp farmer and it was actually illegal not to grow hemp if you had a farm. However it was mostly for it's other qualities such as rope, clothes, paper, etc. Still, it's hard to believe there would be an active hemp market and no one knew about smoking it. Have you ever, as a kid, "smoked" on a piece of tall grass?

Typically you didn't inhale as it was harsh, but it's reasonable that someone figured it out back in the slaves days as slaves were made to work closely with hemp. Still, did any of the founding fathers smoke pot? Probably not though it would make a great case for modern pro Cannabis individuals. Napoleon brought hashish to France when his army returned from the Egyptian campaign (1798-1801). America had emmisaries in France over the years, so it's possible some of them tried hash. Hash comes from Cannabis, which was all over the United States. These were smart guys, so it's possible they put two and two together.

This would be great except that Lincoln wasn't known to be a smoker, although I know many people who smoke cannabis but wouldn't touch a ciggarette or pipe, otherwise. It is however plausible that Lincoln had a harmonica.

I would say it's reasonable Lincoln said that one. Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), U.S. President.
Speech, 18 Dec. 1840, to Illinois House of Representatives.

 

"In the mid-19th century, French writers including Baudelaire and Dumas met regularly to use cannabis. In this extract from his new book, Jonathon Green describes the Club des Hachichins." From an article in the Guardian UK.

I can find nothing to back this up, and he doesn't actually mention "hemp", other than a reference around the internet of a "Dr. Burke" with the "American Historical Reference Society" who doesn't seem to have a presence on the internet.

So you have to be careful about some of these kinds of quotes and references. Since they Founding Father's either left no record of smoking hemp or hash that I can find, it still has very good qualities for production and use in so many other areas. Lately we have been discovering that officially, that being by scientists and medical researchers not under the thumb of government relgulations or the American judicial systems, so that is mostly outside America but also inside prestigeous American institutions, there are incredible uses for Cannabis as you could see in the video above.

So we need to look at other things. Just like with a black hole out in space, if you can't see it, you can tell it exists by circumstantial evidence. In this case, it would be in the areas of prohibition and the "War on Drugs" (and U.S. citizens).

Leave it to a rational and logical thinker (so not a politician or law enforcer), to think, uh, rationally and logically.

So prohitition seems like not a smart thing? I wonder if the Alcohol Prohibition years support that claim at all?

Well, that pretty much jumps right to the point of things. Did Carl say this? Well, he has spoken out about it and there is video to prove it where he asks, "Is it rational, to [keep dying patients in discomfort, from it]."

"Village Voice jazz critic and Crosby biographer Gary Giddins says that Louis Armstrong's influence on Crosby "extended to his love of marijuana." Crosby smoked it during his early career when it was still legal, and "surprised interviewers" in the 1960s and 1970s by advocating its decriminalization." - Wikipedia

I think that pretty much speaks for itself. Now from a couple of politicians.

"Nuff' said" there.

This may hurt the President in some ways, but what would you pay for an honest politician? Well, it would seem we got one, at least to some point.

It's been alleged that British commissioner in India, Mr. J.M. Campell in "Note on the Religion of Hemp, British Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report 1839-1894" was the one to actually say this. Considering the format of the words, I would say this would sound more like Campell than Carter.

What he HAS said was this:

"In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts," Carter wrote. "I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: 'Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.' "

"Those ideas were widely accepted at the time," Carter wrote. "But in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan and Congress began to shift from balanced drug policies, including the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, toward futile efforts to control drug imports from foreign countries."

"One result has been a terrible escalation in drug-related violence, corruption and gross violations of human rights in a growing number of Latin American countries," Carter wrote.

"Maybe the increased tax burden on wealthy citizens necessary to pay for the war on drugs will help bring about a reform of America's drug policies," Carter wrote. "At least the recommendations of the Global Commission will give some cover to political leaders who wish to do what is right."

Okay, enough already. Let's hear what some other entertainers have to say. Right?

Okay, did Arnold really say that? It would seem so: Mail Online UK October 2007.

Kind of shoots downn that highly addictive thing, don't you think?

This from a woman who is pretty productive in her life and doesn't seem to be drawing attention to herself because she's out of control or a drug addict.

Nice to hear someone just spit it out how he reallys sees it.

That my friends, is a very viable point. It's the type of comment I have heard from many people over the years. They didn't like the harsh drugs their doctor gave them, with the side effects, when they could just use cannabis as it was lighter on their systems, cheaper, and seemed to do a far better job in many cases without the side effects which in some cases, are actually, death.

Obviously we had a couple of indivduals who simply had to be mentioned here. Willie, of course, but also....

I've been saying for years that I cannot understand how Cannabis can be illegal for an entertainment drug when you have things out there that are legal like Lord King, Alcohol. Makes you wonder doesn't it (it should). When you consider the size and money involved in the alcohol industry and they size of their lobby, how is it cannabis is still illegal? Alcohol is very similar in affect to cocaine, it numbs you out, you can easily overdose on it, it leaves you feeling like crap after using it and especially over using it, it can put people into a rage where they hurt or kill people, you can't drive very well on it and it can kill you simply by using it.

Let's jus point out that the Declaration of Indepence is written on parchment which is treated animal skin. However, the drafts I believe were very likely written on hemp paper.

Hmmm... is there an echo in here?

The "War on Drugs" is an embarrassment and should be wiped off the face of the judicial branch. Even if you consider it now dead, which many don't, it is still being enforced under the Obama Administration and has been a shameful effort perpetrated on the American people by the judicial branch for decades now and have caused many indivduals and their families great pain and suffering.

And finally....

We should be listening to the man holding the highest office in the United States when even he thinks this. See the full quote at Reuters April 2012.

There is no doubt that we need to rethink and reinstitue our laws on Cannabis. No matter how you view the subject, if you are pro, question if you should be such an advocate; if you are against cannabis, question if you should be so against it. Ask yourself why you feel how you do and if you know everything to be as sure of yourself as you are. No one knows everything. America has made legislative mistakes before. What makes America great is when we see our mistakes, and do some thing to change them. To make our country greater, to make our citizens not just happier, but better off. Sometimes what makes our life better, makes us unhapy, until we see just how wrong we had been.

Have an open mind. Educate yourself. Then, make an informed decision and share it with those who used to look at things how you used to. Don't let America be ignorant, but more so, seek out that ignorance and help remove it.

Video with full run of photos and audio.

To finish up, here is another video of a very good argument for legalizing Cannabis, given by a Judge! If you are anti Cannabis, at least listen to this Judge making his plea to help the citizens of his state.

We can make things better, one step, one state at a time. But it all starts with removing the ignorance that is running rampant around our country, by making ourselves more informed and seeking out changing our opinions when necessary. Especially if your feel adamant that you are right about something, really vet it, check it out. Things change. Maybe you were right once. But new information is in. People are different today than in, say the 1960s. Don't listen only to people who agree with you.

America is a great country, but not as great as we once thought we were. We can again be that Greatest nation in the world. But we need more education, understanding, compassion and action.

Let me leave you with this last, scary quote and think about this for a moment. This man, in charge of police, is talking not just about people who use drugs, but American citizens. That seems to be something we forget in these talks about who is right or wrong. The subjects of these things are people. Consider too by the definition used for cannabis usage, having a drink after work is also a casual drug use, having a cigarette is a casul drug use, and even some would argue coffee or tea as caffeine could be therefore considered a drug. How would you like those people in charge of who should be charged with casual drug us, or as Daryl says:

Finally, if you really found that too depressing, watch a nice little racist history of "Marijuana". Please, call it cannabis.