Who Is Your Marijuana Hero?

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, from a soldier that would jump on a grenade to that person that lets you in while changing lanes. My heroes as of late are the drug war heroes. Making every smoker a criminal from occasional to daily, the war on drug has created a different type of soldier – from grower to end user, anyone can go to jail.

The war on drugs has created a violent and life threatening environment for normal people who just want to smoke (like having a cocktail after work) and be left alone. They smoke to ease pain and to gain appetites, to feel stabilized and overall okay with the world, there’s no mystery behind this. I’m not the only one that is pissed off that weed is still an issue in our American way. People in very important positions carry on life day to day, all while partaking in the weed and yet here we are.

I ‘m nobody, just a dude that talks a lot of shit by pointing fingers at our current and past political system by stating how insane it is that anybody’s life is altered by weed. There’s been a consistent hypocrisy in my America, before the War on drugs it was “get them damn hippies” but with a War we can “get ‘em all”, I just wonder why a bunch of farmers and stoners are the target for somebody’s animosity. One can get by in life by shutting the fuck up, by not stirring the pot, by not having an opinion but I think that’s more of an insult to ourselves and our children.

In Southern California I was caught with weed 3 times (less than an ounce is a misdemeanor, a.k.a just a ticket in other states it’s a felony a.k.a jail time). Two times I was cited and the third he let me go. When I was younger on the East Coast I would smoke in downtown Atlantic City, off the bus in the land of crack heads, cops had bigger things to worry about then. These days I’m less bold and casual with my smoking simply because I have more to lose now but if one of those things in the past took a worse turn I don’t know where I would be now.

These days I have more respect for a grower than a politician – farmer vs. lawyer. These days I’m more fearful around cops and my pot – smoking harmlessly vs. going to jail and being a waste of mine and other tax payers’ money.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; mine are the soldiers and victims of today’s ignorant drug war. Mine are normal people put into extra-ordinary positions. When I heard Rob Cantrell’s joke about smoking with a world renowned violinist and getting busted in a back alley than serving 3 days in jail, I thought it was just a joke – not a personal reality, than there is the story of Jaime Rutowski.

Jaime Rutowski recently won a lawsuit against the city of New York. She was detained against her will where she nearly died. She suffers from diabetes and as her levels rose the police did nothing for her ‘till she got to a near death situation.

The politicians live in the land of double-talk which is clearly seen here in a video (start at 1:30 but the whole thing is badass) with Congressman Charles B Rangel saying he can’t think of a single person being arrested in New York, are you fucking kidding me! I never thought there would be a time when I recognize Tennesse as more progressive thinking than New York.

Or what about the heros serving time for something I smoke in a day like Patricia Spottedcrow. A 10yr sentence for less than a quarter ounce! Somebody needs to remind the judicial system and all those against it, it’s a plant not a meth lab. Do we endanger our children with tomato plants or worse yet, jalapeno plants?

 

Lately, I agree with the mad hat tea partiers but I’m afraid some don’t know what they’re mad or even scared about. Half the shit I hear them scream and yell about doesn’t affect a guy like me, making under 40 thousand, living paycheck to paycheck ,inclined to drink and smoke excessively, after I’ve worked my ass for 8 or plus hours off that day.

What this thing in life is really about, what we should fight for or be against is the attack on our personal space. It’s the personal space we call our own to do what we want, not harming others. Whether it’s a 1500 square foot house, 10 x 10 closet, or even a mansion in the hills your rights can more than be potentially violated tomorrow, this is not the American way. Imagine your rights taken away for having a six pack in the house, what makes this different than a bong or a pound?

Take Dana Walker for example. A Washington State badass who has made a stand against the state for the equivalent of smoking a cigarette, even after having already served time in a Federal Prison for the same thing, weed. He stood up to the ass-war mongers and said I refuse to pay anymore debt to society. And why should we be paying debts to society for smoking herb.

Our country is run by fear mongering sycophants that would rather run prison systems and make revenue being a police state instead of taxes and licensing. Coming out against drugs does America one the biggest disservices the people – nobody is being rescued, we’re just handed blinders. Kind, non-threatening, people are arrested and penalized everyday from a joint to truckloads with no disregard.

I personally know of a woman who lives in Colorado and smokes pot to help her get by since she has no spleen. Somehow police got involved in her life and they called social services, now her children are taken away for something less harmful than legal shit. Having your children taken away is like living in your own personal prison, it doesn’t get much lower than that. One example of somebody losing their child’s rights that I can document for the record is that of Nicholas Pouch, proving a bitter ex can ruin your present.

When I read reports of kids dying in jails after being pulled over for an out light on their bicycle, I wonder how the other side sleeps at night. How do you call yourself good when bad shit happens because of your freaked out conservative policies?

Humans, people, Americans and everyone else on this planet have a predisposition to get away (mentally and physically). Whether you’re an American Indian on a spiritual journey eating peyote or a distinguish business man of 1839 self prescribing has always been a way of life. News flash Mr. and Mrs. America: We like to get fucked up.

Whether people want to smoke for recreational or medicinal, it should be up to them. The government recently came out and said marijuana has no medicinal value but this contradicts the fact that there have been 8 federal marijuana patients. More and more people smoke to help ease aches and pains, there’s even research showing it helps with cancer. Personally I lost my father to cancer and if I thought smoking some joints with him would give me another day with him, I would. So I think before the government puts on its blinders they should reclass marijuana and give it a chance.

Most of what I write is idealistic hippie crap but its how I feel. Life isn’t complicated for me, I work, I come home, I work at home, and I enjoy my herb – only one of these can put me in jail. Millions of people agree with me to, so I wonder why we’re still here in this position. Of all the things that could put me jail I would rather have it for something I’ve done or am willing to do, rather than for a joint or even a crop but we all take some chance just for a little piece of mind and its those people who are my marijuana heroes.

Super Criss Cross Joint (Picture)

Check out this double criss cross joint. Are you kidding me?
Send us your videos if you attempt to make this and/or smoke it!!!

So dope!!!

What Is The Best Way To Consume Marijuana?

One of the most frequently asked questions that I get is ‘what is the best way to consume marijuana.’  With so many people smoking for the first time due to medical reasons, or getting back on the wagon after a couple of decades off, or whatever the reason, it seems like I get asked this question at least once a day.  The truth is, there isn’t a correct answer to this question; it’s a matter of personal preference.

There are so many ways to consume marijuana, that it is rarely the same from one person to the next.  The best way to figure out what is best for yourself is to determine what your goal is.  Are you trying to get a light head change, or are you trying to get totally blasted, or somewhere in between?  How you are trying to feel will largely determine the method you end up liking the most.

Also, availability will be a big factor as well.  For instance if you live in Idaho like my cousins, and you don’t even know what a headshop looks like, chances are you are just going to go Macgyver no matter what.  In this article I will discuss my personal opinion on various methods, but as always, this is not the only opinion out there, and certainly doesn’t list every method of consumption.  If you have a different opinion, or have a different method of consumption, please leave it in the comments section so that others can benefit from your expertise.

The most common way that people consume the first time (or first time back) seems to be the joint.  A three foot double perk is very intimidating, but a doobie seems like not as much of a big deal I suppose.  The joint is highly versatile (you can smoke it anywhere that smell is not a factor) and it certainly gets you high.  Plus, they are fun to smoke; who doesn’t like holding fire in their hand?  The big downfall to the joint though, as I alluded to above, is the smell.  Joints wreak, so smoking them anywhere and everywhere is not always possible.  Plus you have to re-up on papers from time to time, which is not as awesome as having a piece that is re-usable.

The pipe is a logical next step to this discussion, since it is probably the second most common form of consumption.  A pipe is easy to carry around, cheap if you know the right places to purchase one, and are good for the ‘pass-around group’ settings.  The bowls burn longer than in pieces that use water.  The big problem I have with pipes is that they don’t get me high enough.  If I smoke several bowls I get high, but there is only so much smoke that fills into the chamber of the pipe at any given time, so taking my finger off the carb doesn’t give as big of hits as a bong.  However, I smoke all day everyday, so my end goal is probably different than others reading this article.  If you don’t smoke like a broken chimney, a pipe is a great way to go.

A bubbler is a great in-between for those that have been smoking off the pipe but are not ready for the bong.  A bubbler is basically just a fancy pipe with water filtration capabilities.  I have hit off of some amazing bubblers in my day.  The ‘sherlock’ bubbler style is my personal favorite.  I don’t know the physics of the situation, but it just seems like sherlock bubblers create the ultimate wind tunnel in the chamber of the bubbler when the carb is released.  Most bubblers are smaller than bongs, so they are easier to pack around, yet offer bigger hitting than a pipe.

The bong is fantastic.  I vividly remember my first bong hit.  It didn’t go well, but it started a love affair that continues to this day.  Bongs require a knowledge of one’s lung capacity, so that the bong operator will know when to time pulling the carb or taking their finger off of the carb hole.  If you don’t time it right, you will either take in too much smoke or leave too much smoke in the bong.  The first can be quite painful, while the latter is not too big of a deal other than wasted smoke is just sad!  A bong is harder to pack around, but it always does the trick.  I don’t like bongs that are too big, or too small.  A one to two foot bong is perfect for my lung capacity; others will obviously vary.  A bong purchase is a fantastic investment to those out there that are debating whether or not to make the jump.

A blunt could have followed the joint, since it’s basically a joint in a cigar wrap, but I figured I would do it after the more common methods.  A blunt is not nearly as easy to roll as a joint, and a lot of people I know don’t like tobacco mixing with their weed so they don’t do it.  I love blunts myself, even though I will admit that I’m not the biggest fan of tobacco.  A blunt burns longer than a joint, you can roll enormous blunts that can hold several grams, and flavored blunt wraps are fantastic.  I have smoked a lot of flavored paper joints, but they don’t seem to pack as much flavor as a fruity blunt wrap.  The same downfall that plagues the joint also plagues the blunt.  Also, logically, a bigger blunt will make a bigger smell, so be aware of that.

Knife hits are like the marijuana equivalent of beer bonging.  It’s fast and furious, and reminds me of college. The obvious benefit of the knife hit is you get annihilated, the downfall is you can hyperventilate and pass out in your kitchen (I’ve seen it too many times).  Also, it takes quite a bit of prep, and your knives will never be the same!  But if you are trying to go from zero to hero, knife hits are a great way to go.

Gravity hits are another great way to forget what you were doing for awhile.  It’s kind of tough sometimes if you don’t have the technique down, but if you can relax the wrist and get solid suction (insert inappropriate comments here), you can get some of the biggest hits of your life.  You have to be able to make a solid cap, which can be kinda tough for some people, but at least once you make it you have it forever.  The downfall is a possible mouth full of water, and the smoke doesn’t filter through the water, it just sits on top (this can be fixed by making a ‘percaliter,’ but that takes the ultimate macgyver).

A waterfall/aqualung/vortex/liter, or whatever you call it (see picture) probably gets me the highest out of any of the smoking methods.  It takes the least amount of weed, gets me high the fastest, and is very easy to transport.  As long as you have a water source and the cap, transporting the bottle just looks like a used bottle.  I’ve gotten ripped of this thing in minutes at sporting events, camping, you name it.  Fast and effective.  One downfall is it can also cause you to hyperventilate.  I have seen more people knocked out by this device than I have ever seen in years of watching MMA.  Also, I can’t imagine using an industrially made plastic bottle to smoke out of is a good thing…

Vaporizers are considered by many as the best way to consume marijuana.  From the literature that I’ve read, vaporizers can eliminate up to 95% of carcinogens from the plant material.  Also, the taste is very distinct with a vaporizer.  A big downfall to vaporizers can be the price (especially with a Volcano) and availability, but if you can get your hands on one, I promise you will not be disappointed.  The high from a vaporizer is so thorough, and so pure, that you might never consume marijuana in any other way again.

Topical solutions are a not-to-common way of consumption.  The downfall is it doesn’t get your brain high since it is just basically a skin ointment, but if you are looking for medical relief, topical solutions are a stellar route to go.  People get so caught up with smoking and eating marijuana that they forget the benefits of making ointments, oils, and lotions.  Marijuana is truly a wonder plant, and I know many people that live and die by their topical solutions.

Another fantastic method is tinctures.  I don’t know about other areas, but in Oregon, tinctures reign supreme with the older crowd.  I know so many people over the age of 40 that only use tinctures because they like the high it puts off, they can take it anywhere since it isn’t smoked, and it is much healthier since it doesn’t involve breathing in burnt plant material.  I’m not the biggest fan of tinctures just because it takes so long to make it (although not much effort I’ll admit).  However, when someone has some, I always ask for a droppers worth, so perhaps I’m a being a bit hypocritical…haha.

The last method of consumption I will talk about is good old fashioned edibles.  A brownie, a cookie, cannabutter on a cracker, cannabis infused oil items, you name it, I LOVE it!  When you consume marijuana by smoking it, it goes into your nervous system.  The high is intense and comes on quick, but it dissipates faster than when it goes into your blood stream when you eat it.  When you eat it, it takes a bit to kick in (45to60 minutes), but when it does, oh my…This can be a problem for some people.  They eat two brownies and are totally wrecked, when the same people should have probably only had a buttered cracker.  If you are smart, you will be careful.

However, if you think you want to be a hero, be my guest and try to ride the highest high you can get from marijuana.  Be aware that not all edibles are created equal.  Some cannabutter/cannabis oil is stronger than others, and until you eat it as an experiment, you won’t know how much is too much until its too late.  For those of you out there in TWB land that are like me, and you’ve never met an edible you couldn’t handle, the absolute best way to consume marijuana (in my opinion) is to make it into frosting.  One of my best friends uses my atomic-grade cannabutter to make her famous frosting, and I assure all readers, there is nothing like it on this planet.  I know it’s exactly how I like it when other veterans complain that it’s too strong.  Cookies generally take 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup of cannabutter to make a batch.  The red box classic Betty Crocker brownies generally take 2/3 of a cup of cannabutter.  My friend’s recipe calls for 2 full cups of cannabutter for enough frosting for 12 cupcakes.  Now that’s power!

As I stated before, there really is no BEST way to consume marijuana for all consumers.  There is only a best way for each individual consumer.  Hopefully this article helped put some ideas into your head, and gave you an idea of what to try.  I encourage everyone to try everything and see what’s best for them.

Can Marijuana Help Fight Global Warming?

Cannabis vs. “Global Broiling”: An Inconvenient Priority

by Paul J. von Hartmann

Human disregard for ancient operating systems of the Natural Order has imposed fundamental imbalances on Earth’s environment over a relatively short span of evolutionary time. In just half a century, critical insults imposed on our atmosphere are resulting in increasing levels of midrange ultraviolet solar radiation (UV-B) “broiling” the surface of the planet. I trust this brief introduction to the problem and an ecologically realistic strategy for resolution will serve to initiate the timely, purposeful, coordinated polar shift in values required to avoid extinction. A proportionate organic agricultural response to the compounding threats is available, if we choose as a global community to survive.

UV-B exposure causes genetic mutation, impaired immune response and abnormal cell growth in plants and animals. Increasing incidence of cancers, cataracts, falling agricultural production, declining forest health and a catastrophic decline in the world’s “indicator species” (including bees, bats, birds, amphibians, coral reefs, juvenile fish species, shrimp & crab larvae, phytoplankton and krill) consistently indicate profound systemic imbalance. Though single causes are impossible to neatly isolate, health trends in all species indicate the synergistic break down resulting from increasing UV-B radiation.

For example, marine science has implicated “enhanced” UV-B in its disorienting effects on solar-sensitive krill, in the Antarctic. Increased UV-B interferes with krill mobility and reproduction, effectively undermining the foundation of the oceanic food chain. On land, half of the crops studied for UV-B sensitivity produced less food under conditions of elevated UV-B. In people, it can take two decades for the effects of a single intense exposure to manifest into symptoms of terminal illness.

Measurements taken by the National Science Foundation Ultraviolet Monitoring Network since 1988 show an alarming increase in UV-B levels. Comparing UV-B intensity between 1990 and 2010, at sea level in San Diego, California, there was an 118% increase in the number of days with UV-B readings rated as “Very High” (11 days at 10+ in 1990, 24 days at 10+ in 2010). At the South Pole (where the krill live) readings as high as 65.78 have been recorded (01/05/2001). When the UV index is greater than 9, UV-B is considered extreme. You will sunburn in less than 15 minutes. Higher elevations receive less protection from the Sun than lower altitudes.

Recent scientific understanding of the protective, “radiative” influence of atmospheric aerosols, historically produced in abundance by the boreal forests, makes further destruction of the northern “Taiga” regions an immediate primary concern. The boreal forest is the world’s largest terrestrial biome, encircling the cold Northern Hemisphere. The forest covers 6.4 million square miles (11 percent of the world’s land surface area) from Siberia to Alaska, Canada, Northern Europe and Northern Asia.

Boreal forests consist mainly of pine, spruce and fir trees. In addition to sequestering and storing atmospheric carbon, the forests exude a fragrant concoction of volatile aerosol compounds, including “monoterpenes.” It’s what you smell when walking through a pine forest.

Monoterpenes rise from the forests into the stratosphere, where they reflect solar radiation away from the planet and “seed” exceptionally bright and persistent clouds. The clouds produce a dilute, monoterpene-enhanced rain. Before they are washed from the sky, monoterpenes serve as a refractive “sunscreen,” shielding the planet against UV-B. Possessing powerful antibiotic, anti-fungal, and anti-viral properties, monoterpenes may also serve as a water purifying agent, circulating through the our mycilially integrated aquatic ecosystem.

Since 1950 about half of the Taiga has been lost to logging (primarily to make toilet paper, newsprint, and magazines), oil & gas extraction, flooding (for hydroelectricity) and increasing insect pest infestation (attributable to global warming). Increased instability in the Middle East, advanced technology for working in freezing conditions and increasing, unaccountable extraction methods are expanding natural resource exploitation into areas and technologies previously considered either impossible, too environmentally destructive or unprofitable for plundering. The current rate of logging has been estimated to be five acres per minute, all day, every day. The remaining forests are being catastrophically decimated by unprecedented insect infestations attributable to continuous breeding cycles, made possible by increasing global temperatures.

The vast boreal region that previously served to sequester and store atmospheric carbon, is turning from “carbon sink” to “carbon source.” Additional carbon dioxide and methane are being liberated from warmed soils as accumulated plant matter thaws and decomposes. If this continues, eventually no recovery will be possible. As UV-B levels continue to increase and the planet gets hotter, the impending release of stored carbon on such a vast scale poses an incalculable threat. Release of greenhouse gasses on such a vast scale will exacerbate global warming beyond predictability. More UV-B also increases temperature, which increases UV-B, resulting in further warming. As temperature and radiation levels increase, monoterpene production by the forest declines.

Under present conditions the slow-growing coniferous forests will never recover. As the forests are cut, dry up, get eaten and die, protection from the Sun, afforded by homeostatic concentrations of monoterpenes established over thousands of years, is plummeting. At the same time carbon, methane, chlorine, methyl bromide and other atmospheric “weapons of mass destruction” are quietly eroding protective atmospheric ozone, the precipitous decline in monoterpenes is leaving the planet exposed to unprecedented levels of UV-B.

We truly have nothing to fear but the atmosphere itself. Increasing UV-B is an ubiquitous, immediate threat to individual health and the functional integrity of the ecosystem. Due to the deadly nature of elevated UV-B radiation, credible science appears to indicate that we are faced with imminent global extinction unless all possible remedies are applied in time to have an effect. Unless we are successful in addressing elevated UV-B radiation, it won’t matter much what other problems we do manage to solve.

“Global broiling” by escalating intensities of UV-B requires that all solutions be immediately, objectively considered. There may yet be enough time remaining to implement a biotherapeutic response to the insidious, lethal effects of increasing UV-B. All possible solutions must be prioritized and effectively implemented; Regardless of existing so-called “political realities” determined by obsolete, extinctionistic, economic inertia and critical wealth disparity, misdirecting incumbent, self-empowering, corporate political regimes that perpetuate imposed essential resource scarcity. If we are to avoid synergistic collapse of environment, economics and social structures upon which our lives depend, expansion of the organic arable base for maximum production of atmospheric monoterpenes is a global priority, regardless of any perceived constrictive influence. Freedom to farm “every herb bearing seed” is the first test of religious freedom.

At present, because of the blatantly irrational, counter-productive agricultural prohibition of Cannabis, the most likely remedy to global broiling is not even being considered. Potentially the world’s most widespread, prodigious source of monoterpenes, the Cannabis plant is exceptional in producing copious amounts of 58 monoterpenes in less time, in more soil and climate conditions, with greater ecological and economic benefit than any other agricultural resource on Earth. “Hemp” is also capable of sequestering nine tons of carbon per acre in a growing season, while respiring an abundance of oxygen and detoxifying contaminated soils.

Cannabis is an ancient, highly adaptable, globally distributed, agronomically beneficial, pioneer crop. Six American Presidents have signed Executive Orders identifying “hemp” as being a “strategic food resource,” available by “essential civilian demand.”

Cannabis is inarguably the most complete and potentially available source of organic vegetable protein on Earth. Hemp is the only common seed containing three essential fatty acids (EFAs) in proper proportion for long-term consumption. Hemp is also the only plant that produces complete nutrition and sustainable biofuels from the same harvest. This eliminates the mistakenly perceived trade-off between biofuels energy production and food security. In addition to being the world’s most useful, nutritious and safely therapeutic “herb bearing seed,” hemp also produces biodegradable plastics, paper, cloth, resins, therapeutics, pesticides, and building materials. Cannabis is potentially the most rapidly, globally distributed crop on Earth. In just three growing seasons, Cannabis can adapt itself to virtually any soil and climate condition, excepting the radical extremes.

It is all too apparent that the integrity of Earth’s environment is quietly unraveling under the effects of increasing UV-B radiation. Accelerating loss of atmospheric monoterpenes is an unpredictable, under-regarded “loose cannon on the deck” of Spaceship Earth. Expansion of the arable base, timely production of atmospheric monoterpenes, and rates of carbon sequestration we are able to achieve will largely determine our survival or extinction. A polar shift in values and an expansive global campaign of Cannabis agriculture is urgently needed to compensate for the decline in monoterpenes from the death of the boreal forests.

In the context of compounding, accelerating crises we face in the 21st Century, it appears that ‘time’ is the limiting factor in the equation of survival. The irrational prohibition of ‘marijuana’ has intransigently obstructed timely, objective consideration of Cannabis agriculture, manufacture and trade as proportionate global response for addressing multiple conditions of irreversible imbalance. The most advantageous sequence of remedial measures must be implemented immediately, to effect timely resolution of interrelated imbalances. Organic Cannabis farming appears to be mankind’s most time-efficient and cost-effective strategy for resolving problems of climate, food insecurity, economics and energy production. If humans plant Cannabis intensively this spring, there may yet be enough time remaining for agricultural remedies to have an effect.

Because ‘time’ is the limiting factor in the equation for healing the planet, Spring 2011 is the most critical planting season in human history. If humans don’t make the best use of every growing season we may have left to heal Earth’s atmosphere, then there is something very wrong with our society. To ignore an historically revered solution in deference to a so-called “drug war” that’s known to be counter-productive to its own stated objectives, risks sudden, irreversible synergistic collapse. Regardless of perceived limitations attributed to so-called “political realities”, the unavoidable fact is that what’s needed is an immediate, massive global planting of Cannabis.

Humankind faces a simple choice which must be decided before the Spring planting season of 2011. Either our species recognizes Cannabis as both unique and essential, and we use Cannabis as a pioneer crop to expand the arable base, planting hemp everywhere that it can possibly grow; Or the Earth will be “broiled” to eventual extinction, under elevated, increasing intensities of UV-B radiation.

An immediate, fundamental shift in values is urgently called for, out of critical global necessity. At the moment, in Hawaii, an opportunity currently exists to end prohibition by applying knowledge of the true value of Cannabis to free Cannabis Ministry Reverend Roger Christie. Hemp is valuable because it is unique and essential for several reasons. Petrochemicals aren’t valuable because they are insidiously toxic to our health & environment. There are so many variables and uncertainties regarding the synergistic causes of imbalance, the focus needs to shift to an active change in what is considered valuable.

Extrajudicially imprisoned-without-trial and shamelessly denied bail five times since July 2010, Reverend Christie’s immediate release from prison is an epic legal milestone that could punctuate the end of essential resource scarcity in the United States. The Constitutional supremacy of “religious freedom” empowered through public right of “essential civilian demand” for a “strategic” “herb bearing seed” “of first necessity” is currently being focussed on the blatantly unobjective federal court proceeding.

Ending Cannabis prohibition can be most expeditiously accomplished by regarding polls showing the majority of Americans in favor of reclaiming public access to Cannabis over the unaccountable control of the blatantly disingenuous, criminally intransigent, viciously counter-productive, obscenely expensive and tragically deadly DEA. Legal supremacy of our Constitutionally protected “religious freedom” applied to nationwide public exercise of “essential civilian demand” for a “strategic” “herb bearing seed” “of first necessity,” using a campaign of jury nullification, combined with lawsuits against blatantly unobjective court proceeding will be revealed as sufficient to end Cannabis prohibition at the federal level.

In essence the true value of Cannabis must free Roger Christie, through public nullification of disingenuous laws, before his trial that’s been postponed until next Summer. Because of what is at stake, and the ham-fisted dismissal of due process by the court, Reverend Christie’s case presents a “perfect storm” in which to convene “The Trial for the Century” in the court of public opinion. In essence, Reverend Chrisitie’s pre-trial exoneration will end Cannabis prohibition, potentiating the timely reversal of climate catastrophe.

The ‘limiting factor’ in the equation of survival, time is the only thing we can’t make more of. Every spring that passes is gone forever. Either our species will succumb to the inertia of a functionally obsolete, chemically corrupted, outlaw political regime that’s usurped control of the United States, leading us to extinction; Or people will wake up to the truth and wisdom of abandoning a viciously counter-productive prohibition in time to reintroduce the world’s most “Gaiatherapeutic” resource and let the free organic agricultural market work.

As people continue to discover that Cannabis agriculture is the most effective “phytotherapeutic” plant remedy to the most fundamentally toxic problems we face, eventual implementation of sound organic agricultural policy will be implemented. The real question then is, “How bad do things have to get before all solutions are considered?”

References

1.”Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?”

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v471/n7336/full/nature09678.html

2. National Science Foundation
Ultraviolet Monitoring Network

http://uv.biospherical.com/

http://uv.biospherical.com/student/CSVRequest.asp

3. Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW)

http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/gaw_home_en.html

4. “Climate Change and the Northern Forests” June 1998

http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/arctic99/html/content/factsheets/oldreports/forests.html

5. Ozone Depletion and UV Radiation

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/OzoneDepletionEffects.htm

6.”Climate Projections Based on Emission Scenarios for Long-lived and Short-lived Radiatively Active Gases and Aerosols” (2007), Review of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program’s Synthesis and Assessment Product 3.2, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC)

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12035&page=5

7. “Fragrance of pine forests helps to slow climate change” | Science | The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/apr/14/environment.climatechange

8. Hemp: Our Lifeline to the Future: The Consequences of Hemp Prohibition
OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2010, Dr Andrew Katelaris.

9. Reverend Roger Christie and The Last Marijuana Trial

http://the-last-marijuana-trial.com/

10. Boreal Forest is World’s Carbon Vault? Breakthrough Mapping Analysis Looks at Peatlands, Permafrost and Soil Carbon in Canadian Boreal? http://www.interboreal.org/globalwarming/

11. The Ho‘omaluhia or “Peacemaker” Award

http://www.dpfhi.org/index.php?id=89

12. First Freedom Project

http://www.justice.gov/crt/spec_topics/religiousdiscrimination/brooklyn_flyer.pdf

13. US HI: OPED: ‘Ice’ Addiction Is Booming, Thanks To Anti-Pot Efforts
Pubdate: Tue, 2 Sep 2003
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1319/a01.html

14. 1991-94 Final Report, “Ice and Other Methamphetamine Use: An Exploratory Study”

http://christie-et-al.s3.amazonaws.com/necessity/Ice-Methamphetamine-Exploratory-Study.pdf

15. An Open Letter to Hon. MICHAEL B. SHAPIRO, FLORENCE T. NAKAKUNI! and MICHAEL K. KAWAHARA

http://californiacannabisministry.blogspot.com/2010/09/open-letter-to-hon-michael-b-shapiro.html

*References to “essential civilian demand” in government documents

*16. 44 C.F.R. PART 334—GRADUATED MOBILIZATION RESPONSE
Title 44 – Emergency Management and Assistance,
§ 334.6 Department and agency responsibilities. (f)

http://law.justia.com/cfr/title44/44-1.0.1.6.83.html

*17. THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950,AS AMENDED[50 U.S.C. App. § 2061 et seq.]Title VII – General Provisions Sec. 708. VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS AND PLANS OF ACTION FORPREPAREDNESS PROGRAMS AND EXPANSION OF PRODUCTION CAPACITY AND SUPPLY [50 U.S.C. App. § 2158]

http://law.justia.com/cfr/title44/44-1.0.1.6.83.html

[*See also, #23. William J. Clinton Executive Order 12919, below]

Six Executive Orders identifying “hemp” as a “strategic food resource”

18. Franklin D. Roosevelt Executive Order 9280 – December 5, 1942
Delegating Authority Over the Food Program.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16211&st=hemp&st1=hempstead%2C+hemphill#axzz1Gylt2Jf6

19. Harry S. Truman Executive Order 10161 – September 9, 1950
Delegating Certain Functions of the President Under the Defense Production Act of 1950

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=60772&st=hemp&st1=hempstead%2C+hemphill#axzz1Gylt2Jf6

20. Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Order 10480– August 14, 1953
Further providing for the administration of the defense mobilization program

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59221&st=hemp&st1=hempstead%2C+hemphill#axzz1Gylt2Jf6

21. John F. Kennedy Executive Order 10998 – February 16, 1962
ASSIGNING EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FUNCTIONS TO THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58936&st=hemp&st1=hempstead%2C+hemphill#axzz1Gylt2Jf6

22. Richard Nixon Executive Order 11490 – October 28, 1969 -Assigning Emergency Preparedness Functions to Federal Departments and Agencies

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=60479&st=hemp&st1=hempstead%2C+hemphill#axzz1Gylt2Jf6

*23. William J. Clinton Executive Order 12919 – June 3, 1994
National Defense Industrial Resources Preparedness

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=50295&st=hemp&st1=hemphill%2C+hempstead#axzz1Gylt2Jf6

24. American Presidency Project

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/

25. MANAGING TERRORISM’S CONSEQUENCES: LEGAL ISSUES http://www.law.depaul.edu/centers_Institutes/ihrli/downloads/managing_terrorisms_consequences.pdf

26. The Taiga or Boreal Forest

http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/boreal.htm

Medical Marijuana Could Cost Epilitic Man Custody of His Daughter

A  Michigan father is in jeopardy of losing custody of his 10-year-old daughter, all because he can legally smoke marijuana.

Livingston Thompson Jr. has epilepsy.

He’s been dealing with it for 20 years, and according to him, nothing has really helped except for the marijuana.

“It relaxes me. I’m not as stressed. I discovered that my epileptic seizures — some of them are stress activated,” says Thompson.

Still, his medication of choice could cost him his daughter, Shylynn.

“If I lost custody of my daughter it would crush me. They’d probably see a lot more episodes,” he says.

That’s something Shylynn can’t handle.

“If my daddy lost custody of me I’d be sad, just as sad as he would be if he lost custody of me. Because my dad has had me for ten years. And I don’t want to lose my dad,” says Shylynn.

Last year, Thompson spanked his daughter and Child Protective Services was called.

It was decided that Shylynn wasn’t in any danger and could return home, but Thompson now has to get periodic drug testing.

“I explained to the judge that should be modified because my client has a medical marijuana card,” says attorney Charles Ford.

The judge has decided that marijuana is not the best treatment for his epilepsy and that it’s in the best interest of the child that the parents are drug free.

The bigger question here is, with a state law that’s so unclear, could other parents fall into the same situation?

“If he tested positive there’s a strong possibility that he could lose his child,” says Ford.

Thompson says this is a fight he can’t afford to lose.

“I don’t want to lose my family,” adds Shylynn.

Thompson can choose to appeal the judge’s decision.

He can make the case that his medical marijuana does not impair his judgment as a father and that he needs it for his medical condition.

If he doesn’t appeal, then he has to stop using, otherwise she could be taken from the household.

An appeal would be precedent-setting because this is really the first time a judge has interpreted the law like this.

If the decision stands, then similar cases could have the same outcome.

read more:
http://www.thcfinder.com/marijuana-blog/medical-marijuana/2011/06/medical-marijuana-could-cost-epileptic-man-custody-of-daughter#ixzz1QbgULnnI

Marijuana Compound Helps Treat HIV In Animal Testing

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The long-term administration of delta-9-THC, the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana, is associated with decreased mortality in monkeys infected with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a primate model of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) disease, according to in vivo experimental trial data published in the June issue of the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.

Investigators at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center assessed the impact of chronic intramuscular THC administration compared to placebo on immune and metabolic indicators of SIV disease during the initial six-month phase of infection.

Researchers reported, “Contrary to what we expected, … delta-9-THC treatment clearly did not increase disease progression, and indeed resulted in generalized attenuation of classic markers of SIV disease.” Authors also reported that THC administration was associated with “decreased early mortality from SIV infection” and “retention of body mass.”

Investigators concluded, “These results indicate that chronic delta-9-THC does not increase viral load or aggravate morbidity and may actually ameliorate SIV disease progression.”

Clinical trials have previously documented that the short-term inhalation of cannabis does not adversely impact viral loads in HIV patients, and may even improve immune function.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, “Cannabinoid administration attenuates the progression of simian immunodeficiency virus,” is available online here:
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/aid.2010.0218
. Additional studies documenting the disease modifying potential of marijuana is available in the NORML handbook, Emerging Clinical Applications For Cannabis & Cannabinoids: Fourth Edition, available online at: 
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7002
.

From Norml.org

U.S. Can’t Justify Its Drug War Spending: New Reports

Graphic: Break The Matrix

​Name one government program that for 40 years has failed to achieve any of its goals, yet receives bigger and bigger budgets every year. If you said “the War on Drugs,” you’ve been paying attention.

The Obama Administration is unable to show that the billions of dollar spent in the War On Drugs have significantly affected the flow of illicit substances into the United States, according to two government reports and outside experts.

The reports specifically criticize the government’s growing use of U.S. contractors, which were paid more than $3 billion to train local prosecutors and police, help eradicate coca fields, and operate surveillance equipment in the battle against the expanding drug trade in Latin America over the past five years, reports Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times.

“We are wasting tax dollars and throwing money at a problem without even knowing what we are getting in return,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who chairs the Senate subcommittee that wrote one of the reports, which was released on Wednesday.

Photo: Colombia In Context

Professor Bruce Bagley, University of Miami: “I think we have wasted our money hugely”

​

“I think we have wasted our money hugely,” said Bruce Bagley, an expert in U.S. anti-narcotics efforts. “The effort has had corrosive effects on every country it has touched,” said Bagley, who chairs international studies at the University of Miami at Coral Gables, Florida.

Predictably, Obama Administration officials deny reports that U.S. efforts have failed to reduce drug production and smuggling in Latin America.

White House officials claim the expanding U.S. anti-drug effort occupies a “growing portion” of time for President Obama’s national security team, even though it doesn’t get many Congressional hearings or headlines.

The majority of wasted American counter-narcotics dollars are awarded to five big corporations: DynCorp, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, ITT and ARINC, according to the report for the contracting oversight committee, part of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Counter-narcotics contract spending increased by 32 percent over the five-year period from $482 million in 2005 to $635 million in 2009. Falls Church, Va., based DynCorp got the biggest piece of the wasted pie, a whopping $1.1 billion.

Photo: Politico

Sen. Claire McCaskill: “We are wasting tax dollars and throwing money at a problem without even knowing what we are getting in return”

​

These contractors have plenty of ways to waste your tax money. They train local police and investigators in anti-drug methods, provide logistical support to intelligence collection centers, and fly airplanes and helicopters that spray herbicides to supposedly eradicate coca crops grown to produce cocaine.

The Department of Defense has wasted $6.1 billion of tax money since 2005 to help spot planes and boats headed north to the U.S. with drug payloads, as well as on surveillance and other intelligence operations.

Some of the expenses are “difficult to characterize,” according to Senate staff members, which is government-speak for “OK, you caught us wasting money again.” The Army wasted $75,000 for paintball supplies for “training exercises” in 2007, for example, and $5,000 for what the military listed as “rubber ducks.”

The “ducks” are rubber replicas of M-16 rifles that are used in training exercises, a Pentagon spokesman claimed.

Even the Defense Department described its own system for tracking these contracts as “error prone,” according to the Senate report, which also says the department doesn’t have reliable data about “how successful” its efforts have been. Go figure.

In a separate report last month by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, there is the conclusion that the State Department “does not have a centralized inventory of counter-narcotics contracts” and said the department does not evaluate the overall success of its counter-narcotics program.

“It’s become increasingly clear that our efforts to rein in the narcotics trade in Latin America, especially as it relates to the government’s use of contractors, have largely failed,” Sen. McCaskill said.

The latest criticism of the United States’ War On Drugs comes just a week after a high-profile group of world leaders called the global Drug War a costly failure.

The group, which included former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, recommended that regional governments try legalizing and regulating drugs to help stop the flood of cash going to drug cartels and other organized crime groups.

James Gregory, a Pentagon spokesman, demonstrated his willingness to lie his ass off by claiming the Defense Department’s efforts against drugs “have been among the most successful and cost-effective programs” in decades.

“By any reasonable assessment, the U.S. has received ample strategic national security benefits in return for its investments in this area,” said Gregory, who seems to inhabit a particularly improbable alternate reality.

Back in the real world, the only effects most objective observers can see run along these lines: Backed by the United States, Mexico’s stepped-up Drug War has had the unintended effect of pushing drug cartels deeper into Central America, causing violence to soar in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Another effect has been the vast expansion of Orwellain surveillance technology, supposedly to combat drugs, but ever-so-useful to the authoritarian regimes in Central America (and in the United States) in suppressing dissent.

The U.S. is currently focusing on improving its efforts to intercept cellphone and Internet traffic (of “drug cartels,” yeah right) in the region, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

During a visit to El Salvador in February, William Brownfield, the head of the State Department’s anti-drug programs, opened a wiretapping center in San Salvador, as well as an office to share fingerprints and other data with U.S. law enforcement.

How To: Germinate Marijuana Seeds

Check out this video to learn how to germinate your marijuana seeds! Super informative and helpful!

Worth Repeating: Over 50 Studies Show Cannabis is Medicine

Graphic: The Truth Source

​Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

​By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

The quote below, from a news release, is a political statement that is based on incomplete and biased science. Remember, once science is politicized, it is no longer science.

“No sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use.”

Not true! An overwhelming number of studies exist to firmly support cannabis as all-purpose medicine and very possibly a strong candidate as a cure for cancer as was originally reported by the National Cancer Institute.

There has never been a single documented primary human fatality from overdosing on cannabis in its natural form in any amount. How’s that for safety!

In addition, cannabis can be vaporized or eaten in sweets, which takes the smoking issue off the table!  And as counter-intuitive as its sounds, evidence exists that cannabis offers a mild protective effect against cancer.

Photo: THC Finder

​ I would like to bring attention to the 50+ empirical studies (footnoted below) that may have been overlooked by the FDA in their ”thoroughly analyzed search of all the relevant medical, scientific data” on medical cannabis.

“In 2001, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration thoroughly analyzed the relevant medical, scientific, and abuse data and concluded that marijuana continues to meet the criteria for placement in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The Food and Drug Administration reiterated this determination in April 2006, stating in a news release:

“Marijuana is listed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the most restrictive schedule. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which administers the CSA, continues to support that placement and FDA concurred because marijuana met the three criteria for placement in Schedule I under 21 U.S.C. 812(b)(1) (e.g., marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision).

“Furthermore, there is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful. A past evaluation by several Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), concluded that no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use. There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana.” (Source: justice.gov)

Empirically Based Evidence Supporting Medical Cannabis

Cannabinoids As Cancer Hope

by Paul Armentano

NORML Foundation/Senior Policy Analyst

“Cannabinoids possess … anticancer activity [and may] possibly represent a new class of anti-cancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells.” So concludes a comprehensive review published in the October 2005 issue of the scientific journal Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry.

Not familiar with the emerging body of research touting cannabis’ ability to stave the spread of certain types of cancers? You’re not alone.

For over 30 years, US politicians and bureaucrats have systematically turned a blind eye to scientific research indicating that marijuana may play a role in cancer prevention — a finding that was first documented in 1974. That year, a research team at the Medical College of Virginia (acting at the behest of the federal government) discovered that cannabis inhibited malignant tumor cell growth in culture and in mice. According to the study’s results, reported nationally in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, administration of marijuana’s primary cannabinoid THC, “slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”

Despite these favorable preclinical findings, US government officials dismissed the study (which was eventually published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1975), and refused to fund any follow-up research until conducting a similar — though secret — clinical trial in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the US National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million concluded that mice and rats administered high doses of THC over long periods experienced greater protection against malignant tumors than untreated controls.

Rather than publicize their findings, government researchers once again shelved the results, which only came to light after a draft copy of its findings were leaked in 1997 to a medical journal, which in turn forwarded the story to the national media.

Nevertheless, in the decade since the completion of the National Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to encourage or fund additional, follow up studies examining the cannabinoids’ potential to protect against the spread cancerous tumors.

Fortunately, scientists overseas have generously picked up where US researchers so abruptly left off. In 1998, a research team at Madrid’s Complutense University discovered that THC can selectively induce apoptosis (program cell death) in brain tumor cells without negatively impacting the surrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by six weeks.

In 2003, researchers at the University of Milan in Naples, Italy, reported that non-psychoactive compounds in marijuana inhibited the growth of glioma cells in a dose dependent manner and selectively targeted and killed malignant cancer cells.

The following year, researchers reported in the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research that marijuana’s constituents inhibited the spread of brain cancer in human tumor biopsies. In a related development, a research team from the University of South Florida further noted that THC can also selectively inhibit the activation and replication of gamma herpes viruses. The viruses, which can lie dormant for years within white blood cells before becoming active and spreading to other cells, are thought to increase one’s chances of developing cancers such as Karposis Sarcoma, Burkitts lymphoma, and Hodgkins disease.

More recently, investigators published pre-clinical findings demonstrating that cannabinoids may play a role in inhibiting cell growth of colectoral cancer, skin carcinoma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, among other conditions. When investigators compared the efficacy of natural cannabinoids to that of a synthetic agonist, THC proved far more beneficial – selectively decreasing the proliferation of malignant cells and inducing apoptosis more rapidly than its synthetic alternative while simultaneously leaving healthy cells unscathed.

Nevertheless, US politicians have been little swayed by these results, and remain steadfastly opposed to the notion of sponsoring – or even acknowledging – this growing body clinical research, preferring instead to promote the unfounded notion that cannabis use causes cancer. Until this bias changes, expect the bulk of research investigating the use of cannabinoids as anticancer agents to remain overseas and, regrettably, overlooked in the public discourse.”

Thanks, Paul.

The following current research studies all provide overwhelming evidence that THC holds the promise of being a non-toxic multipurpose chemotherapy agent that may have anti-tumor action on many different types of cancer.

THC and synthetic cannabinoids both have similar action on CB1/2 receptors, and seem to work best in combination, just as ingesting cannabis as a whole plant produces its wide spectrum healing effects, such as relieving vomiting, being able eat, having no physical pain and being able to sleep. This is how the body heals itself.

Medical cannabis is a family of unique cannabinoids  that also have antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep, as reported by the National Cancer Institute:   http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional/page5

These four medically proven cancer treatment effects of cannabis on their own totally disprove the FDA statement, but with an anti-tumor effect added, as also reported by NCI, this plant becomes a “Swiss survival knife”of medicines.  Imagine that – one drug that treats five different medical conditions at once!

A quick search of Wikipedia yields the following five studies:

“Investigators at Madrid’s Complutense University, School of Biology, first reported that THC induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in glioma cells in culture”[1a]

“Investigators followed up their initial findings, reporting that the administration of both THC and the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN55-212-2 induced a considerable regression of malignant gliomas in animals” [2b]

“Researchers again confirmed cannabinoids’ ability to inhibit tumor growth in animals in 2003″[3c]

“Most Recently investigators at the University of California, Pacific Medical Center reported that cannabinoids possess synergistic anti-cancer properties — finding that the administration of a combination of the plant’s constituents is superior to the administration of isolated compounds alone”[4d]

“Consequently, many experts now believe that cannabinoids may represent a new class of anticancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis and the metastic spreading of cancer cells [5e] and have recommended that at least one cannabinoid, cannabidiol, now be utilized in cancer therapy.”

​

Gliomas/Brain Cancer

by Paul Armentano

NORML Foundation/Senior Policy Analyst

Gliomas (tumors in the brain) are especially aggressive malignant forms of cancer, often resulting in the death of affected patients within one to two years following diagnosis. There is no cure for gliomas and most available treatments provide only minor symptomatic relief.

A review of the modern scientific literature reveals numerous preclinical studies and one pilot clinical study demonstrating cannabinoids’ ability to act as anti-neoplastic agents, particularly on glioma cell lines.

Writing in the September 1998 issue of the journal FEBS Letters, investigators at Madrid’s Complutense University, School of Biology, first reported that delta-9-THC induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in glioma cells in culture.[1] Investigators followed up their initial findings in 2000, reporting that the administration of both THC and the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 ”induced a considerable regression of malignant gliomas” in animals.[2] Researchers again confirmed cannabinoids’ ability to inhibit tumor growth in animals in 2003.[3]

That same year, Italian investigators at the University of Milan, Department of Pharmacology, Chemotherapy and Toxicology, reported that the non-psychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), inhibited the growth of various human glioma cell lines in vivo and in vitro in a dose dependent manner. Writing in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Fast Forward, researchers concluded, “Non-psychoactive CBD … produce[s] a significant anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo, thus suggesting a possible application of CBD as an anti neoplastic agent.”[4]

In 2004, Guzman and colleagues reported that cannabinoids inhibited glioma tumor growth in animals and in human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor samples by altering blood vessel morphology (e.g., VEGF pathways). Writing in the August 2004 issue of Cancer Research, investigators concluded, “The present laboratory and clinical findings provide a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies.”[5]

Five Other Studies Found on pub.Med. Relating to Gliomas

1. Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells.

J Clin Invest. 2009 May;119(5):1359-72     Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.

FINDINGS:

Autophagy can promote cell survival or cell death, but the molecular basis underlying its dual role in cancer remains obscure. Here we demonstrate that delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component of marijuana, induces human glioma cell death through stimulation of autophagy.

The finding of this study describe a mechanism by which THC can promote the autophagic death of human and mouse cancer cells and provide evidence that cannabinoid administration may be an effective therapeutic strategy for targeting human cancers.

From this study:

Graphic: J. Clin. Invest.

In the image above, the blue is just staining for the nucleus, and it shows where the nucleus is and that there are cells there. The green is staining for the LC3 with or without treatment (shown on the top) in the presence of small inhibitors made of RNA (siC, sip8, siTRB3)-(shown on the side of each panel). The red is control for those inhibitors used (random siRNA) that just shows that the inhibitors that they used targeted the intended genes.

​

2. Inhibition of glioma growth in vivo by selective activation of the CB(2) cannabinoid receptor

Cancer Res. 2001 Aug 1;61(15):5784-9. Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

FINDINGS:

The development of new therapeutic strategies is essential for the management of gliomas, one of the most malignant forms of cancer. We have shown previously that the growth of the rat glioma C6 cell line is inhibited by psychoactive cannabinoids.  These compounds act on the brain and some other organs through the widely expressed CB(1) receptor. By contrast, the other cannabinoid receptor subtype, the CB(2) receptor, shows a much more restricted distribution and is absent from normal brain. Cannabinoid receptor expression was subsequently examined in biopsies from human astrocytomas.

A full 70 percent (26 of 37) of the human astrocytomas analyzed expressed significant levels of cannabinoid receptors. Of interest, the extent of CB(2) receptor expression was directly related with tumor malignancy.

3. Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation

Nat Med. 2000 Mar;6(3):313-9.  Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, 28040-Madrid, Spain.

FINDINGS:

Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active component of marijuana, induces apoptosis of transformed neural cells in culture. Here, we show that intratumoral administration of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol and the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN-55,212-2 induced a considerable regression of malignant gliomas in Wistar rats and in mice deficient in recombination activating gene.

Cannabinoid treatment did not produce any substantial neurotoxic effect in the conditions used. Experiments with two subclones of C6 glioma cells in culture showed that cannabinoids signal apoptosis by a pathway involving cannabinoid receptors, sustained ceramide accumulation and Raf1/extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation. These results may provide the basis for a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of malignant gliomas.

4.  Hypothesis: cannabinoid therapy for the treatment of gliomas?

Neuropharmacology. 2004 Sept.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, Avenida Complutense, sn, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15275820

Abstract

Gliomas, in particular glioblastoma multiforme or grade IV astrocytoma, are the most frequent class of malignant primary brain tumours and one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Current therapeutic strategies for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme are usually ineffective or just palliative. During the last few years, several studies have shown that cannabinoids – the active components of the plant Cannabis sativa and their derivatives –slow the growth of different types of tumours, including gliomas, in laboratory animals.

Remarkably, cannabinoids kill glioma cells selectively and can protect non-transformed glial cells from death. These and other findings reviewed here might set the basis for a potential use of cannabinoids in the management of gliomas.

5.  A pilot clinical study of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (Human Study)

British Journal of Cancer 2006   Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, Madrid 28040, Spain

FINDINGS:

Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids inhibit tumour growth and angiogenesis in animal models, so their potential application as antitumoral drugs has been suggested. However, the antitumoral effect of cannabinoids has never been tested in humans. Here we report the first clinical study aimed at assessing cannabinoid antitumoral action, specifically a pilot phase I trial in which nine patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme were administered THC intratumorally.

The patients had previously failed standard therapy (surgery and radiotherapy) and had clear evidence of tumour progression. The primary end point of the study was to determine the safety of intracranial THC administration. We also evaluated THC action on the length of survival and various tumour-cell parameters. A dose escalation regimen for THC administration was assessed. Cannabinoid delivery was safe and could be achieved without overt psychoactive effects. Median survival of the cohort from the beginning of cannabinoid administration was 24 weeks (95% confidence interval: 15-33). 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibited tumour-cell proliferation in vitro and decreased tumour-cell Ki67 immunostaining when administered to two patients. The fair safety profile of THC, together with its possible antiproliferative action on tumour cells reported here and in other studies, may set the basis for future trials aimed at evaluating the potential antitumoral activity of cannabinoids.

CANCER IN GENERAL 

From Paul Armentano at NORML:

In addition to cannabinoids’ ability to moderate glioma cells, separate studies demonstrate that cannabinoids and endocannabinoids can also inhibit the proliferation of other various cancer cell lines, including breast carcinoma,[11-15] prostate carcinoma,[16-18] colorectal carcinoma,[19] gastric adenocarcinoma,[20] skin carcinoma,[21] leukemia cells,[22-23]neuroblastoma,[24] lung carcinoma,[25-26] uterus carcinoma,[27] thyroid epithelioma,[28] pancreatic adenocarcinoma,[29-30], cervical carcinoma,[31] oral cancer,[32] biliary tract cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)[33] and lymphoma.[34-35]

Studies also indicate that the administration of cannabinoids, in conjunction with conventional anti-cancer therapies, can enhance the effectiveness of standard cancer treatments.[36] Most recently, investigators at the University of California, Pacific Medical Center reported that cannabinoids possess synergistic anti-cancer properties — finding that the administration of a combination of the plant’s constituents is superior to the administration of isolated compounds alone.[37]

Consequently, many experts now believe that cannabinoids “may represent a new class of anticancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells.”[38-39]

Studies found on Pub. Med.

1.  The stress-regulated protein p8 mediates cannabinoid-induced apoptosis of tumor cells.

Cancer Cell. 2006 Apr;9(4):301-12.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16616335

FINDINGS: One of the most exciting areas of current research in the cannabinoid field is the study of the potential application of these compounds as antitumoral drugs. Here, we describe the signaling pathway that mediates cannabinoid-induced apoptosis of tumor cells. By using a wide array of experimental approaches, we identify the stress-regulated protein p8 as an essential mediator of cannabinoid antitumoral action. Activation of this pathway may constitute a potential therapeutic strategy for inhibiting tumor growth.

2. Cannabis-derived substances in cancer therapy–an emerging anti-inflammatory role for the cannabinoids

Curr Clin Pharmacol. 2010 Nov 1;5(4):281-7.

Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (Oncology), St George’s University of London, London, UK. w.liu@sgul.ac.uk

FINDINGS:

• Cannabinoids, the active components of the cannabis plant, have some clinical merit both as an anti-emetic and appetite stimulant in patients. Recently, interest in developing cannabinoids as therapies has increased following reports that they possess anti-tumour properties.

• Research into cannabinoids as anti-cancer agents is in its infancy, and has mainly focused on the pro-apoptotic effects of this class of agent. Impressive anti-cancer activities have been reported; actions that are mediated in large part by disruptions to ubiquitous signalling pathways such as ERK and PI3-K.

• However, recent developments have highlighted a putative role for cannabinoids as anti-inflammatory agents. Chronic inflammation has been associated with neoplasia for sometime, and as a consequence, reducing inflammation as a way of impacting cancer presents a new role for these compounds. This article reviews the ever-changing relationship between cannabinoids and cancer, and updates our understanding of this class of agent. Furthermore, the relationship between chronic inflammation and cancer, and how cannabinoids can impact this relationship will be described.

3.  Cannabinoids for cancer treatment: progress and promise

Neuropharmacology. 2004 Sept

Chemoprevention Program, Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center and Dept of Dermatology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.

FINDINGS:

Cannabinoids are a class of pharmacologic compounds that offer potential applications as antitumor drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class to limit inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival. In particular, emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors expressed by tumor cells may offer a novel strategy to treat cancer. Here, we review recent work that raises interest in the development and exploration of potent, nontoxic, and nonhabit forming cannabinoids for cancer therapy.

4.  Use of cannabinoid receptor agonists in cancer therapy as palliative and curative agents

Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Feb.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Salerno, Italy.

FINDINGS:

Cannabinoids (the active components of Cannabis sativa) and their derivatives have received renewed interest in recent years due to their diverse pharmacological activities. In particular, cannabinoids offer potential applications as anti-tumour drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class of compounds to limit cell proliferation and to induce tumour-selective cell death.

Although synthetic cannabinoids may have pro-tumour effects in vivo due to their immunosuppressive properties, predominantly inhibitory effects on tumour growth and migration, angiogenesis, metastasis, and also inflammation have been described. Emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors expressed by tumour cells may offer a novel strategy to treat cancer. In this chapter we review the more recent results generating interest in the field of cannabinoids and cancer, and provide novel suggestions for the development, exploration and use of cannabinoid agonists for cancer therapy, not only as palliative but also as curative drugs.

BREAST CANCER

Cannabinoids in the treatment of cancer

Cancer Lett. 2009 Nov 18;285(1):6-12. Epub 2009 May 12.Dept of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

FINDINGS:

Cannabinoids, the active components of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, along with their endogenous counterparts and synthetic derivatives, have elicited anti-cancer effects in many different in vitro and in vivo models of cancer. While the various cannabinoids have been examined in a variety of cancer models, recent studies have focused on the role of cannabinoid receptor agonists (both CB(1) and CB(2)) in the treatment of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. This review will summarize the anti-cancer properties of the cannabinoids, discuss their potential mechanisms of action, as well as explore controversies surrounding the results.

CERVICAL CANCER

Inhibition of cancer cell invasion by cannabinoids via increased expression of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1

J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008 Jan 2;100(1):59-69. Epub 2007 Dec 25.

Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology, University of Rostock, Schillingallee 70, Rostock D-18057, Germany.

BACKGROUND:

Cannabinoids, in addition to having palliative benefits in cancer therapy, have been associated with anticarcinogenic effects. Although the antiproliferative activities of cannabinoids have been intensively investigated, little is known about their effects on tumor invasion. we found that ..

FINDINGS:

Increased expression of TIMP-1 mediates an anti-invasive effect of cannabinoids. Cannabinoids may therefore offer a therapeutic option in the treatment of highly invasive cancers.

PROSTATE CANCER

Cannabinoid receptor as a novel target for the treatment of prostate cancer

Cancer Res. 2005 Mar 1;65(5):1635-41

Department of Dermatology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.

FINDINGS:

Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa  (marijuana) and their derivatives have received renewed interest in recent years due to their diverse pharmacologic activities such as cell growth inhibition, anti-inflammatory effects and tumor regression.

Here we show that expression levels of both cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, are significantly higher in CA-human papillomavirus-10 (virally transformed cells derived from adenocarcinoma of human prostate tissue), and other human prostate cells LNCaP, DUI45, PC3, and CWR22Rnu1 than in human prostate epithelial and PZ-HPV-7 (virally transformed cells derived from normal human prostate tissue) cells. WIN-55,212-2 (mixed CB1/CB2 agonist) treatment with androgen-responsive LNCaP cells resulted in a dose- (1-10 micromol/L) and time-dependent (24-48 hours) inhibition of cell growth, blocking of CB1 and CB2 receptors by their antagonists SR141716 (CB1) and SR144528 (CB2) significantly prevented this effect. Extending this observation, we found that WIN-55,212-2 treatment with LNCaP resulted in a dose- (1-10 micromol/L) and time-dependent (24-72 hours) induction of apoptosis (a), decrease in protein and mRNA expression of androgen receptor (b), decrease in intracellular protein and mRNA expression of prostate-specific antigen (c), decrease in secreted prostate-specific antigen levels (d), and decrease in protein expression of proliferation cell nuclear antigen and vascular endothelial growth factor (e). Our results suggest that WIN-55,212-2 or other non-habit-forming cannabinoid receptor agonists could be developed as novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of prostate cancer.

COLORECTAL CANCER

The cannabinoid delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits RAS-MAPK and PI3K-AKT survival signalling and induces BAD-mediated apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells

Int J Cancer. 2007 Nov 15;121(10):2172-80.

Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Cancer Research UK, Colorectal Tumour Biology Group, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, United Kingdom.

FINDINGS:

Deregulation of cell survival pathways and resistance to apoptosis are widely accepted to be fundamental aspects of tumorigenesis. As in many tumours, the aberrant growth and survival of colorectal tumour cells is dependent upon a small number of highly activated signalling pathways, the inhibition of which elicits potent growth inhibitory or apoptotic responses in tumour cells. Accordingly, there is considerable interest in therapeutics that can modulate survival signalling pathways and target cancer cells for death.

There is emerging evidence that cannabinoids, especially Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), may represent novel anticancer agents, due to their ability to regulate signalling pathways critical for cell growth and survival. Here, we report that CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors are expressed in human colorectal adenoma and carcinoma cells, and show for the first time that THC induces apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells. These data suggest an important role for CB1 receptors and BAD in the regulation of apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells. The use of THC, or selective targeting of the CB1 receptor, may represent a novel strategy for colorectal cancer therapy. 

FOOTNOTES

1a.       Guzman, C; et al.. “Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol induces apoptosis in C6 glioma cells”. FEBS Letters 436 (1): 6-10.doi:10.1016/S0014-5793(98)01085-0.        PMID 9771884.

 2b.    Guzman, I; et al.. “Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation.”. Nature Medicine 6 (3): 313-319. doi:10.1038/73171. PMID 10700234.

3c.    Liu, WM; et al. (2008). “Enhancing the in vitro cytoxic activity of Delta9-tetrahydracannabinol in leukemic cells through a combinatorial approach.”. Leukemia and Lymphoma 49 (9): 1800-1809. doi:10.1080/10428190802239188. PMID 18608861.

4d.      Marcu, J. P.; et al. (2010). “Cannabidiol enhances the inhibitory effects of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol on human glioblastoma cell proliferation and survival.”. Molecular Cancer Theraputics 9 (1): 180-189. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-09-0407. PMC 2806496.PMID 20053780. 
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2806496
.

5d.   Natalya, Kogan. “Cannabinoids and cancer”. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 5 (10): 941-952.doi:10.2174/138955705774329555. PMID 16250836

[1] Guzman et al. 1998. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol induces apoptosis in C6 glioma cells. FEBS Letters 436: 6-10.

[2] Guzman et al. 2000. Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation. Nature Medicine 6: 313-319.

3] Guzman et al. 2003. Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis by cannabinoids. The FASEB Journal 17: 529-531.

4] Massi et al. 2004. Antitumor effects of cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic cannabinoid, on human glioma cell lines.Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Fast Forward 308: 838-845.

5] Guzman et al. 2004. Cannabinoids inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor pathways in gliomas (PDF). Cancer Research 64: 5617-5623.

[6] Allister et al. 2005. Cannabinoids selectively inhibit proliferation and induce death of cultured human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Journal of Neurooncology 74: 31-40.

[7] Guzman et al. 2006. A pilot clinical study of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. British Journal of Cancer (E-pub ahead of print).

8] Parolaro and Massi. 2008. Cannabinoids as a potential new drug therapy for the treatment of gliomas. Expert Reviews of Neurotherapeutics 8: 37-49

[9] Galanti et al. 2007. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression by downregulation of E2F1 in human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Acta Oncologica 12: 1-9.

[10] Calatozzolo et al. 2007. Expression of cannabinoid receptors and neurotrophins in human gliomas. Neurological Sciences 28: 304-310.

[11] Cafferal et al. 2006. Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression in human breast cancer cells through Cdc2 regulation. Cancer Research 66: 6615-6621.

[12] Di Marzo et al. 2006. Anti-tumor activity of plant cannabinoids with emphasis on the effect of cannabidiol on human breast carcinoma. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Fast Forward 318: 1375-1387.

[13] De Petrocellis et al. 1998. The endogenous cannabinoid anandamide inhibits human breast cancer cell proliferation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 95: 8375-8380.

[14] McAllister et al. 2007. Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells.Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 6: 2921-2927.

[15] Cafferal et al. 2010. Cannabinoids reduce ErbB2-driven breast cancer progression through Akt inhibition.Molecular Cancer 9: 196.

[16] Sarfaraz et al. 2005. Cannabinoid receptors as a novel target for the treatment of prostate cancer. Cancer Research 65: 1635-1641.

[17] Mimeault et al. 2003. Anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of anandamide in human prostatic cancer cell lines.Prostate 56: 1-12.

[18] Ruiz et al. 1999. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol induces apoptosis in human prostate PC-3 cells via a receptor-independent mechanism. FEBS Letters 458: 400-404.

[19] Pastos et al. 2005. The endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, induces cell death in colorectal carcinoma cells: a possible role for cyclooxygenase-2. Gut 54: 1741-1750.

[20] Di Marzo et al. 2006. op. cit

[21] Casanova et al. Inhibition of skin tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo by activation of cannabinoid receptors. 2003. Journal of Clinical Investigation 111: 43-50.

[22] Powles et al. 2005. Cannabis-induced cytotoxicity in leukemic cell lines. Blood 105: 1214-1221

[23] Jia et al 2006. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-induced apoptosis in Jurkat leukemic T cells in regulated by translocation of Bad to mitochondria. Molecular Cancer Research 4: 549-562.

[24] Manuel Guzman. 2003. Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents (PDF). Nature Reviews Cancer 3: 745-755.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Preet et al. 2008. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits epithelial growth factor-induced lung cancer cell migration in vitro as well as its growth and metastasis in vivo. Oncogene 10: 339-346.

[27] Manuel Guzman. 2003. Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents (PDF). Nature Reviews Cancer 3: 745-755.

[28] Baek et al. 1998. Antitumor activity of cannabigerol against human oral epitheloid carcinoma cells. Archives of Pharmacal Research: 21: 353-356.

[29] Carracedo et al. 2006. Cannabinoids induce apoptosis of pancreatic tumor cells via endoplasmic reticulum stress-related genes. Cancer Research 66: 6748-6755.

[30] Michalski et al. 2008. Cannabinoids in pancreatic cancer: correlation with survival and pain. International Journal of Cancer 122: 742-750.

[31] Ramer and Hinz. 2008. Inhibition of cancer cell invasion by cannabinoids via increased cell expression of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 100: 59-69.

[32] Whyte et al. 2010. Cannabinoids inhibit cellular respiration of human oral cancer cells. Pharmacology 85: 328-335.

[33] Leelawat et al. 2010. The dual effects of delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol on cholangiocarcinoma cells: anti-invasion activity at low concentration and apoptosis induction at high concentration. Cancer Investigation 28: 357-363.

[34] Gustafsson et al. 2006. Cannabinoid receptor-mediated apoptosis induced by R(+)-methanandamide and Win55,212 is associated with ceramide accumulation and p38 activation in mantle cell lymphoma. Molecular Pharmacology 70: 1612-1620.

[35] Gustafsson et al. 2008. Expression of cannabinoid receptors type 1 and type 2 in non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Growth inhibition by receptor activation. International Journal of Cancer 123: 1025-1033.

[36] Liu et al. 2008. Enhancing the in vitro cytotoxic activity of Ä9-tetrahydrocannabinol in leukemic cells through a combinatorial approach. Leukemia and Lymphoma 49: 1800-1809.

[37] Marcu et al. 2010. Cannabidiol enhances the inhibitory effects of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol on human glioblastoma cell proliferation and survival. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 9: 180-189.

[38] Natalya Kogan. 2005. Cannabinoids and cancer. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 5: 941-952.

[39] Sarafaraz et al. 2008. Cannabinoids for cancer treatment: progress and promise. Cancer Research 68: 339-342.

Photo: Ron Marczyk

Mr. Worth Repeating: former NYPD cop, former high school health teacher, the unstoppable Ron Marczyk, R.N., Toke of the Town columnist

​Editor’s note: Ron Marczyk is a retired high school health education teacher who taught Wellness and Disease Prevention, Drug and Sex Ed, and AIDS education to teens aged 13-17. He also taught a high school International Baccalaureate psychology course. He taught in a New York City public school as a Drug Prevention Specialist. He is a Registered Nurse with six years of ER/Critical Care experience in NYC hospitals, earned an M.S. in cardiac rehabilitation and exercise physiology, and worked as a New York City police officer for two years. Currently he is focused on how evolutionary psychology explains human behavior.

Government Forced NCI To Censor Medical Cannabis Facts

Graphic: NORML Stash Blog

Fuck censorship.

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In March, the National Cancer Agency (NCI), a component agency of the National Institutes of Health, acknowledged the medicinal benefits of marijuana in its online treatment database. But the information only stayed up a few days, before it was scrubbed from the site.

Now, newly obtained documents reveal not only how NCI database contributors arrived at their March 17 summary of marijuana’s medical uses, but also the furious politicking that went into quickly scrubbing that summary of information regarding the potential tumor-fighting effects of cannabis, reports Kyle Daly at the Washington Independent.

Phil Mocek, a civil liberties activist with the Seattle-based Cannabis Defense Coalition, obtained the documents as a result of a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request he filed in March after reading coverage of the NCI’s action. Mocek has made some of the hundreds of pages of at-times heated email exchanges and summary alterations available on MuckRock, a website devoted to FOIA requests and government documents.

The treatment database on NCI’s website is called the Physician Data Query (PDQ). The PDQ entry on cannabis and cannabinoids is maintained by the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Editorial Board. The lead reviewer on the marijuana summary statement is CAM board member Donald Abrams, director of integrative oncology at the University of California-San Francisco cancer center.

Abrams advocates the use of cannabis in cancer treatment, and his wish to accurately portray its medical applications becomes clear early in the documents.

On March 24, just a week after the finished summary had gone online, Susan Weiss — chief of the Office of Science Policy and Communications within the National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA) — sent NCI officials an email saying her agency had just become aware of the summary. Weiss told them the NIDA wanted the summary changed to acknowledge that the FDA hasn’t approved marijuana; to take away any implication that it was recommending prescribing marijuana; to highlight the supposed “addiction potential” of marijuana; and to link to the NIDA’s own page on the supposed “adverse effects of marijuana.”

The NCI balked at the last two requests: ”I am unaware of any convincing evidence indicating that marijuana is addictive,” communications officer Rick Manrow of the the NCI reasonably said.

But the agency agreed the first two requests were fair. The CAM board grappled for days with how to cooperate with the NIDA without compromising its independence or editorial integrity. Meanwhile, yet more federal agencies offered their two cents’ worth.

“[A press officer with the FDA] contacted me this morning because he has been getting calls from FDA staff, as well as at least one high-profile reporter, asking about NCI’s ‘endorsement of medical marijuana.’ I provided him with the background I had,” wrote Brooke Hardison, NCI media relations analyst. “He needs to provide information for staff at the FDA, and they are trying to figure out how to respond to this issue. I suggested that it might be good for him to have a conversation with those more closely involved in this issue.”

Meanwhile, national attention to the story continued to grow, and NIDA, notoriously anti-pot, was worried about this whole “marijuana treats cancer” thing.

On learning that Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance had tweeted about the summary, the NIDA’s Weiss wrote to NCI, “We will be contacting our colleagues at ONDCP [Office of National Drug Control Policy] just to give them a heads up about it.”

Weiss also wrote to her NIDA colleagues, saying “We think that ONDCP needs to be informed.”

The ONDCP, of course, is the office of the Drug Czar. Current czar Gil Kerlikowske, as with all drug czars, is bound by law to oppose marijuana legalization for any purpose, even to save cancer patients.

In any event, the NCI caved to the NIDA’s demands by removing any implied support for prescribing marijuana — noting that the FDA hasn’t approved cannabis as as prescription drug — and, much to the consternation of lead reviewer Abrams, removing a reference to marijuana’s anti-tumor properties.

“You know, the epidemiological data from Kaiser and Tashkin do possibly support an anti-tumor effect in humans,” Abrams wrote. “After reflecting for a few hours, I am not happy that NIDA has been able to impose their agenda on us. The text was vetted by the whole Board. I would ask that we [involve] the whole Editorial Board in the discussion before being bulldogged.

“I am considering resigning from the Board if we allow politics to trump science!” Abrams wrote.

All the relevant CAM board members eventually agreed to the version that went up on March 29 and 30. That last day was when Phil Mocek submitted his FOIA request and is thus the last day that appears in the records given to him.

It is interesting to note that, toward the end of the correspondence record, NCI and NIDA officials were discussing the latter agency providing further information on the supposed “adverse effects of marijuana” so that the CAM Board could “take it into consideration” during its May 6 meeting. Several NCI and CAM members said any “convincing evidence” could result in larger changes to the entry.

NIDA prepared a list of anti-marijuana talking points, including the claim that nine percent of cannabis users “become addicted to the drug” and a completely undocumented claim that marijuana use leads to permanent cognitive impairment, in the hopes of causing just such changes in the NCI’s entry.

But, the Independent reports, May 6 came and went without any additional changes being made to the database.

One can only imagine the kinds of behind-the-scenes wrangling that continues as we speak.

Graphic: NORML Stash Blog

“NCI apparently got a talking to from someone” ~ Radical Russ Belville, NORML. Turns out Radical Russ was right, and NIDA was doing the talking.

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