This bong is so rad.
How do we make one or get one?
Posts Tagged ‘smoking weed’
5 Aug
China Censors Little Black Book Of Marijuana; Release Delayed
China Censors Little Black Book Of Marijuana; Release Delayed
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/08/china_censors_little_black_book_of_marijuana_relea.php#more
Friday, August 5, 2011, at 12:20 pm
 |
| Graphic: Peter Pauper Press |
| It’s “too controversial” for the uptight Chinese, but ready for you on September 15 |
Communist Bosses Won’t Even Allow Book Inside The Country
The worldwide release of an American book on cannabis has been delayed, due to the refusal of the communist government of China to allow its binding on Chinese soil, according to the publisher.
The Little Black Book of Marijuana, by yours truly, Toke of the Town editor Steve Elliott, was scheduled for availability on August 1, but that printing schedule was thrown off after the totalitarian Chinese government decided the book was “too controversial” to even allow the printed pages inside the tightly-run dictatorship.
“Our printer is located in Hong Kong, with binderies in mainland China,” production manager Ginny Reynolds of Peter Pauper Press explained to me Friday morning. “Usually it’s no problem to move printed books from Hong Kong to China for binding.
“However, Chinese censorship is extremely tight,” Reynolds told Toke of the Town. “Any content deemed ‘sensitive’ or ‘controversial’ by their standards is banned.”
 |
| Photo: alapoet |
| Steve Elliott: “You can always tell a totalitarian dictatorship, because they’re afraid of the truth.” |
“We have the same problem with our books on sexuality,” she told me. “The printer has to arrange for binding in Hong Kong, and facilities there are limited and overbooked in the summer season.
Basically, what this means for prospective readers of The Little Black Book of Marijuana is that instead of an August 1 availability date, we are now looking at a delay until around September 15. Believe me, that doesn’t make me any happier than it does you. In fact, it frustrates the hell out of me.
In fact, you wanna talk about frustration? The book is already bound, at this point — but it’s literally on a slow boat from China. The damned thing is somewhere in the mid-Pacific, chugging this way at a glacial pace, and there ain’t shit you or I can do, except maybe fire up a doob and wait.
“We’re doing everything we can to speed things along, although I know patience is hard to come by!” Reynolds said. “We were unaware of the extent of the delays until recently.”
So, for those of you who have already ordered The Little Black Book of Marijuana: The Essential Guide to the World of Cannabis, I offer my sincere apologies. You will receive your books, just a month later than planned.
Now, who’d care to join me in a big shout?: FUCK CENSORSHIP!
 |
| Graphic: Peter Pauper Press |
| Here’s a sneak peek at the photo section of The Little Black Book of Marijuana. |
5 Aug
World Famous Cannabis Cafe Celebrates First Anniversary
 |
| Photo: Larry Kirk |
| A year passes like nothing at The World Famous Cannabis Cafe! |
By Charlie Bott
Special to Toke of the Town
Portland, Oregon’s World Famous Cannabis Cafe celebrated the first anniversary at its current location on July 29 and 30. The Cafe officially opened its doors at 322 SE 82nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon, on July 31, 2010.
“When the café opened in November 2009, my dream to create a safe and welcoming place for cardholders to consume their medicine out of public view was realized,” said Madeline Martinez, founder and proprietress of the private club. ”Celebrating this anniversary means that we also provide stability for those we serve, and that is important.”
The celebration officially started at 4:20 on Friday afternoon, and the entertainment began around 6:00. Local guitarists and songwriters Ken Johnson, Steamboat Mike, D Vincent Black and Danny Hay Davis opened the evening with a mix of classic rock remakes and original material, with Hawk Marsden, entertainment manager at the Cafe, playing some hand drums and doing a little singing.
 |
| Photo: Larry Kirk |
| Medicating with a glass hookah and enjoying the music and the evening at the World Famous Cannabis Cafe. |
As the first performance ended, Hawk thanked the musicians and kicked off that night’s Ustream simulcast. After making sure the crowd gave a big hand to the Cafe’s volunteer staff, he got a huge response when he quipped, ”We’ve been open here for a year, and the only time the cops have been here was to come in and get a tour.”
Indeed, throughout the weekend several patients commented on how well people tend to get along at the Cafe, and how easily things can be peacefully resolved when a rare dispute does arise.
A patient named Bette, who describes herself as “an old lady,” said, “Everybody I know who comes here who has ever worked in a bar always comments on how safe it feels here compared to a bar. Since there’s no alcohol, you don’t have to worry so much about fights breaking out.”
Before the music started up again, Martinez herself took the stage to thank everyone, especially the volunteers. She choked up just for a moment as she said, “Thanks for being a part of my dream, helping me to make this community work. We’re self-sustaining, we give plants away. Thank you to all of you volunteers — without you we wouldn’t have been able to make this dream come true!”
 |
| Photo: Larry Kirk |
| Partygoers Friday night at the WFCC anniversary party. |
Martinez is not exaggerating when she says that the World Famous Cannabis Cafe would not exist without its volunteers, and the good will among its community is an essential part of the Cafe experience. Everyone on the Cafe staff, including Madeline, are volunteers, and all of the medicine available for patients to use during their visit comes in through donations.
Even the musicians and comedians volunteer their time and talent.
Hawk says that performers from all over the country contact him for a chance to perform for free for patients on the small, but well-equipped, stage. Musicians carry all their own gear, and often help set up the show along with Hawk’s small crew. The performances are definitely uplifting to the patients, many of whose conditions made them virtual shut-ins before the Cafe opened.
As Hawk puts it, “The healing power of music and laughter come together with the healing power of cannabis. Something magic happens on that stage that I have never seen in all my years as a musician.”
On Friday night, Seattle reggae and roots band Northwest Sons, with guest bassist Kenny Goldstein, lit the place up with their infectious reggae/roots grooves to start the webcast.
Portland’s own Everybody Gets High followed up with a couple of sets that rocked the house, and the evening concluded with a big jam that lasted until after midnight.
 |
| Photo: Larry Kirk |
| Northwest Sons wowed the crowd with guest bassist, Kenny Goldstein. |
On Saturday, festivities picked up much earlier, and the afternoon’s entertainment really got off the ground when local recording artists J Mack and Big Dub and their whole band opened up with a live 4:20 performance of their song, “Meet Me at the Cafe.” They played a lot of material from their album Heavily Medicated, and pumped up the crowd to an even higher level.
A guitar and drum combo called Tripod Canary kept the musical bar high with an amazing musical conversation before comedy portion of the evening began.
Comic Todd Armstrong served as host and MC for the The High Court of Comedy, the Cafe’s weekly standup comedy show, which goes out live on Ustream every Saturday at 8:00 PM. Armstrong got a huge laugh with the line, “Oregon: it’s like Amsterdam and Texas had a baby.”
The lineup for the evening included Nathan Brannon, Paul Cardosi, Iris Gorman, Christian Manville, Jen Allen, Manuel Hall, Jon Green, Belinda Jiles, Lonnie Bruhn, and Jacob Christopher.
 |
| Photo: Larry Kirk |
| Budtender Nickie Gates prepares a bag of vapor, Friday, July 29 at the World Famous Cannabis Cafe’s 1st Anniversary Celebration. |
It was a great evening of comedy, and none of the comics were afraid to deal with dangerous subjects. Cafe volunteer Belinda Jiles got a strong reaction from her home crowd, and Portland standup staple Lonnie Bruhn – an extremely funny and unapologetically dirty comic who happens to have cerebral palsy–was frankly hilarious. Hawk called it the funniest performance he’d seen on the stage this year.
Bruhn ended his time with a very moving story about his own experience as a disabled person standing up to bullies, a story that felt very relevant to the continuing struggle against cannabis prohibition.
The weekend concluded with a musical jam that included guitarist Tim Simpson, bassist Wade Weekly and many others. Only a small group including Madeline herself and Anna Diaz, NORML’s 2011 Pauline Sabin Award winner, were present to celebrate the official anniversary at the stroke of midnight, July 31.
About 350 people came through the World Famous Cannabis Cafe over the course of the anniversary celebration weekend. The Ustream simulcast had 4,700 views on Friday and 5,900 Saturday, with a big spike during Lonnie Bruhn’s comedy set.
The Cafe is open to Oregon Medical Marijuana Program registrants Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and Mondays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is closed on Sundays.
For more information, please visit www.worldfamouscannabiscafe.com or call 503-208-3395.
You can also find the World Famous Cannabis Cafe on Facebook and Twitter.
Live streaming and archived broadcasts (including those from the anniversary celebration) are available at www.ustream.tv/channel/world-famous-cannabis-cafe.
3 Aug
rated colleges for marijunana
By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in Culture
Wednesday, August 3, 2011, at 12:20 pm
 |
| Photo: Little Eddy |
| A mass exhale of marijuana smoke at the Unibversity of Colorado Boulder campus at 4:20 p.m., April 20, 2010. UC-Boulder came in fourth on the list. |
California and Colorado dominated the The Princeton Review‘s Top 5 colleges for marijuana use this year, with two entries each.
In the rankings — part of the Review’s “The Best 376 Colleges” survey — Colorado College in Colorado Springs ranked as the #1 pot-smoking school in the United States.
The small private school blazed past the competition in the annual rankings, which The Princeton Review released on Monday.
Colorado College has been a “usual suspect” on the marijuana list for the past few years, said Rob Franek, vice president and publisher of the Review.
 |
| Photo: Santa Cruz IMC |
| A comely reveler at the 4-20 celebration at University of California – Santa Cruz |
Franek said Colorado College, like others on the list, has strong academic standards, reports Brittany Anas of the Boulder Daily Camera.
The Princeton Review surveyed 122,000 students nationwide to come up with the rankings.
“We go directly to whom we think would be experts, and that’s current college students,” Franek said.’
University of Colorado-Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard was unimpressed with his school’s #4 showing, saying the rankings are subjective and have no scientific backing.
“The media is way more interested in the rankings than we are,” he sniffed.
 |
| Photo: Santa Cruz IMC |
| University of California at Santa Cruz, April 20, 2010 |
Pacific Northwest favorite Evergreen College, long known as a countercultural haven, just missed the Top 11, coming in at number 11.
The Princeton Review , which a college test prep company with no connection to Princeton University, released the Top 20 standings to garner publicity for its annual guidebook, The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition, which went on sale Monday.
The lists, besides more academically oriented rankings, also include “party school” standings (Ohio University ranked #1) and one called “Got Milk? (beer usage reported low).” Other rankings include “Birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging, clove-smoking vegetarians,” “class discussions encouraged,” “great college towns” and “most politically active students.”
As for the Bottom 20 Colleges when it comes to marijuana use, it’s no surprise that schools associated with the U.S. military show up near the top of the list, along with places like Mormon stronghold Brigham Young University in Utah and the Catholic school Thomas Aquinas College in California.
Top 20 Colleges: How Widely Used Is Marijuana?
1. Colorado College, Colorado Springs
2. University of California – Santa Cruz
3. University of California – Santa Barbara
4. University of Colorado – Boulder
5. Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
6. Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon
7. Warren Wilson College, Asheville, North Carolina
8. Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida
9. New College of Florida, Sarasota
10. University of Vermont, Burlington
11. The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington
12. New York University, New York City
13. Reed College, Portland, Oregon
14. Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York
15. Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
16. Pitzer College, Claremont, California
17. Arizona State University, Tempe
18. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
19. Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York
20. Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa
Bottom 20 Colleges: How Widely Used Is Marijuana?
1. U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado
2. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut
3. Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, California
4. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
5. College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Missouri
6. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
7. U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York
8. Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
9. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York
10. The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma
11. Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio
12. Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan
13. Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska
14. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
15. Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan
16. Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama
17. Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport
18. University of Louisiana at Lafayette
19. City University of New York – Baruch College, New York City
20. City University of New York – Queens College, Flushing, New York
30 Jul
What a Marijuana Judge Looks For When Reviewing A Strain
by Matt Mernagh – Monday, July 11 2011On Tuesday, July 12 I will reach a marijuana review milestone. Having pen & published 150 marijuana reviews. That includes marijuana photo galleries too. The last two reviews published, Cindy Bubbles and DJ Short’s Blueberry were donation from cannabis growers I know. From their personal head stash. Review 150 is another personal grower donation. Their samples were awesome. l am developing an excellent nug network of people who want to show off their efforts. Always looking for more. You can send your product to be reviewed to 1161 St. Clair Ave West, Toronto, ON, M6E 1B2.
I always write my reviews under the influence of the marijuana being reviewed. Usually rocking out on Blip to get the beat of my words down. If I had it together I would return to my original career as a music critic and do cannabis and album reviews. Rock out to a album to be reviewed while vaporizing marijuana also being reviewed. My influence is to take a music critic approach to my weed reviews. With a bit of food critic thrown in. Note, the music critic is sent everything. Developing a pallet takes time. Publicists pester professional critics (not food ones), offer dinners, passes and the like to curry favor. If weed arrived around here at the pace music, movies and other culture sent to alt-weeklies like NOW I’d have to hire a staff.
It’s more difficult to be critical with weed because it’s generally all very, very, good. The people handing me buds are proud of their homegrown grass. They want to show someone who will appreciate it by photographing and blogging their senses. In other words I’m getting cream.
Rarely am I afforded an opportunity to review the same strain twice. I’ve had a few strains several times now. Especially my favorite Jean Guy. I can even identify her.
Then exactly what are we judging? The grower, the genetics or the bud. Or combination of all three. I believe all of the above. Some weed is well grown, but doesn’t do diddly for my health condition or have a solid marijuana high. Then there’s weed that works for me and isn’t well grown. Flush your plants! Breeders do produce strains that do just suck Cartman’s balls.
Marijuana grown by two different people will produce different results. Based on skill level, nutrients and soil. Presuming both received equal genetics. One growers seed maybe fresh and vibrant while another receives old tired beans.
A goal we have is to hold a grower competition involving the same strain. Everyone picks up their clone on the same day and returns 90 later with finished result. With the clone producer not allowed to compete as they grew the mother plant.
30 Jul
Benefit Event Set For Fired Walmart Medical Marijuana Patient
 |
| Photo: Joseph Casias |
| Cancer patient Joseph Casias, former Employee of the Year at Walmart: “I just don’t understand why it is so bad to use something that helps me and many others who suffer with illnesses and pain” |
Once in awhile, corporate America commits such a glaring injustice that people are sickened by the inhumanity of it. Such was the case last year when a Michigan Walmart fired its former Employee of the Year, Joseph Casias, after he showed up positive for marijuana on a routine drug test — despite the fact that he is a seriously ill cancer patient legally using medical cannabis on the recommendation of his physician.
Casias, 30, who has an inoperable brain tumor, was sacked by the Battle Creek Walmart after he failed a routine urine screen following a workplace injury. And despite a chorus of nationwide protest, the corporate behemoth stuck by its heartless decision and eventually prevailed in court after a judge upheld the dismissal.
Casias said that he only used marijuana after his work shift, and never used on the job. He tried cannabis after his oncologist suggested it.
 |
| Photo: Joseph Casias |
| Joseph was Associate of the Year at his Walmart store — until they fired him for being a legal medical marijuana patient. |
He went to work every day during his five years at Walmart. “I gave them everything,” Casias said. “One hundred and ten percent every day. Anything they asked me to do, I did. More than they asked me to do. Twelve to 14 hours a day.”
Joseph’s attorneys, including a team from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said that his firing undermined Michigan’s medical marijuana law, and forced patients to choose between jobs and medicine.
His case attracted so much attention that it influenced the writing of medical marijuana laws in places like Arizona, where an initiative including workplace protection for cannabis patients was approved last November.
But meanwhile, Joseph Casias, a family man, is still out of a job in Michigan’s grim economy. Walmart last year even tried (unsuccessfully) to deny him his unemployment benefits.
“I just don’t understand why it is so bad to use something that helps me and many others who suffer with illnesses and pain,” Casias said in a Facebook note. ”Why would you not want to help people who are suffering with high levels of pain? Where is the compassion for your fellow man?”
“Medical marijuana helps me and a lot of others, and I am grateful for every person who helps sick patients with their medicine and information on medical marijuana, because without people like them I would not know what I know today,” Casias said.
“I am encouraged by others’ fights to stand up for this medicine and our right to use this as such,” Casias said. “I want to say thank you, thank you for helping the sick … Thank you for all your support and love. I only hope that one day people would see that this is a medicine and it does help.”
“To all of the medical marijuana patients, I love you. I care, and there are a lot of others who do as well,” Casias said. “Together we need to work as one to show others that this is a medicine, that it does help a lot of very sick people who are only trying to live the best life they can.”
It’s time for the medical marijuana community to pitch in and help one of our own.
Great Lakes Compassion Benefit For Joseph Casias
A three-day Great Lakes Compassion Benefit for Joseph Casias has been set for Friday, September 16 through Sunday, September 18, at Lucky Lake Campground, 3977 West Wilke Road, Montague, Michigan.
 |
| Photo: Lucky Lake Campground |
| Enjoy beautiful natural surroundings while supporting a good cause. |
A beautiful 180-acre campground which has a 40-acre private lake has been secured for the event. Weekend passes with camping will be available as well as single day passes for Saturday, September 17 only.
“I feel this event is important for so many reasons, it is hard to know where to start,” organizer Clark Nienhuis told Toke of the Town. “First off, Walmart failed to do the right thing. What does it say when a man gets sick, he has no right to employment if his treatment includes medical marijuana?”
“Joseph was not looking for a free ride or the easy way out,” Nienhuis said. “He was working while being sick, not sitting home on a pity pot. Joseph, as any good husband and father, only wants to provide for his family.”
 |
| Photo: Clark Nienhuis |
“Let us not forget, before his testing positive, he was awarded Associate of the Year for the store he worked at,” Nienhuis said. “So Joseph came through when Walmart needed him, but when Joseph needed Walmart, they kicked him to the curb.”
“This event is also to show that medical cannabis patients are, in fact, kind, loving, hard-working members of this nation and that we do care,” Nienhuis said. “The government has fed a propaganda campaign portraying cannabis users as lost souls who have no morals, integrity, work ethics or even capable of love and compassion.”
“We would like to remind voters why they voted YES on Proposal 1 in 2008,” Nienhuis said, referring to the initiative through which voters legalized medical marijuana in Michigan. “I feel the road to ending cannabis prohibition is through education and compassion.”
“We will have guest speakers, and vendors with arts, crafts, grow room supplies, head shop items and much more,” Nienhuis told me. “I do anticipate a great time to be had for everyone who attends. This is a great opportunity to meet good people and get to know them on a personal level. l
Ticket prices will include a donation for Joseph. Event ticket prices will be announced soon and “will be reasonable,” according to event organizers.
Lucky Lake is a private lake and fishing is allowed without a fishing license, but is “catch and release” only. A fishing contest is anticipated; bring your fishing poles and cameras to take pictures of your catches, because you will be required to release them.
The site is still quite warm in September, so bring a swimsuit, along with a raft or inner tube, and relax in the clean, sandy-bottom lake. Water volleyball nets are set up on the beautiful sand bar on one side of the lake.
Most campsites are along the shoreline. Picnic tables and fire rings are on the campsites. The beach area has grills and picnic tables, as well as some hammocks in the pines overlooking the beach.
Items will be raffled, including a 1000-watt HPS light system, patient certification/recertification (must have qualifying medical condition), grow supplies and many other items. All proceeds from the raffles will go to Joseph Casias.
The event is looking for sponsors, vendors, bands, comedians, arts/crafts, industrial hemp products, and event committee members. If you’re interested and would like to participate, you can “Like” the event’s page on Facebook and contact the organizers.
Here’s How You Can Help
1. Please help promote this benefit for Joseph (i.e. email, word of mouth, Facebook, etc).
2. All suggestions for fundraising ideas for Joseph are welcome and appreciated.
3. Donations for door prizes.
4. Donations for the pig roast are needed. A pig roaster, pig, plastic ware, paper products and additional accompanying items as needed.
5. A web page designer is needed. The web page will provide details regarding the event and allow those who cannot attend to donate online to Joseph.
6. Volunteers are needed for the fishing contest, pig cooking, and for the door prizes.
7. Individual or Business financial sponsorship to help cover expenses.
8. Vendors (foods, artists, crafts).
9. Bands that will perform free-of-charge.
If you can help, please email Clark Nienhuis at harleydakotadog@aol.com.
24 Jul
The 10 Smartest Pot Smokers on the Planet… Cool Enough to Admit It
The 10 Smartest Pot Smokers on the Planet… Cool Enough to Admit It
By Bobcuny
You’ve probably seen those “Above The Influence” anti-drug commercials in which they show worst scenario outcomes to people smoking weed. Really depressing sh*t. They always make the person out to be an accidental murderer, or homeless, jobless, friendless. No prospects of anything positive on the horizon. Well, we have a list of the smartest people who ever admitted to smoking pot as a nice complement to the most successful people who owned up to puffin’ dope. Suck it, ATI.
Steve Jobs
It’s been reported the Apple co-founder smoked pot and took LSD in his first semester at Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1972. Since dropping out from the school, he’s only gone on to become one of the most successful and wealthiest people in America. In 1984, he received the National Medal of Technology from President Ronald Reagan. In 2007, Fortune Magazine named him the most powerful person in business and then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger inducted him into the California Hall of Fame. Fortune also named him CEO of the Decade in 2009 while Forbes ranked him #57 on their list of the World’s Most Powerful People that same year. The Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year for 2010.
I’m not sure, but I don’t think you can have those kind of accolades being dumb. Plus, the guy’s a Beatles fan, dated Joan Baez, and sold one of his houses to Bono from U2. That’s some hip, hip company, my friend.
Carl Sagan
Astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, pothead.
It’s hard to argue for pot slowing you down when you look at Carl Sagan’s record. Apparently a confirmed and admitted stoner, among his many achievements are a Pulitzer Prize, an Emmy, a best-selling novel, as well as more than 500 science papers and articles. He was a founding member of the Planetary Society, and he won a pipe load of scientific awards. Hardly surprising, he is said to have believed in the validity of stoned insights. I believe in them too, it’s just that Carl’s revolved around the origins of the cosmos, not which bagel store is open at 3 in the morning.
Stephen Jay Gould
Paleontologist, biologist, science historian.
Most famous scientific contribution was the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which says that most evolution is marked by long periods of stability. Kind of like most of us after a good bong hit. One of the most influential and best read writers of popular science, Gould became an advocate for medical marijuana following his diagnosis with cancer. He claimed it had an “important effect” on his recovery. He also testified in court to the benefits of marijuana, and is quoted as saying “it is beyond my comprehension that any humane person would withhold such a beneficial substance from people in such great need simple because others use it for different purposes.”
Gould used pot to help retain his health for twenty years, the same period during which he wrote The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, not what you might call an insignificant work.
Francis Crick
Won a Nobel Prize for figuring out the double-helix structure of DNA. Rumor has it that he was on acid at the time. Crick wasn’t the first to see twin twisted monsters coming at him during an acid plunge, but he was the first to recognize as an important scientific discovery. As a founding member of Soma, a legalize cannabis group, he also experimented pot, which he believed helped to remove the filters of abstract thought.
Margaret Mead
Ok, so it’s probably not totally accurate to describe Margaret Mead as a pothead, but she was a major proponent for marijuana, so we’re going to widen the definition a bit.
When she died in 1978, Mead was possibly the most famous Anthropologist on the planet. Time had named her Mother of the World in 1969. She authored or co-authored around 40 books, received 28 honorary doctorates, and was President of both the American Anthropological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Most famously, she testified before Congress on the legalization of marijuana. She testified on lots of stuff, but it’s this one everyone remembers. Afterwards, she was called a dirty old lady, crazy, and no doubt many other things.
Andrew Weil
Had a mushroom named after him. Do we need to know any more? Well, yes, we do. Although he looks like he’s been binging on an all-night high, Dr. Weil has medical and biology degrees from Harvard, is a naturopath, as well as a widely acknowledged expert on medicinal herbs, alternative medicines, and mind and body interactions. He was on the cover of Time, has written a bunch of books, and used to write for High Times. He talks about the advantages of stoned thinking, as well as an innate need to alter consciousness. Is that him or us? Whatever, it’s clearly worked for him.
Kary Mullis
Another Nobel Prize winner, another stoner. Mullis tried heavier drugs than just pot. He invented the polymerase chain reaction, which if it’s slipped your mind, is the one that allows duplication of parts of DNA. He says acid helped him to develop it, perhaps along with pot, which he allegedly smoked just before his first trip. While most of us have trouble figuring out how a chair works when we’re high, this guy was working out how to mimic nature.
Oliver Sacks
If you’ve seen “Awakenings” with Robin Williams, you already know something of Oliver Sacks’ work. He’s a neurologist, the film based on his book of the same name. He also wrote The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Sacks is an Oxford graduate and professor of neurology at Columbia Medical Center. He’s been referred to as the poet laureate of medicine, and received numerous awards and honorary doctorates in the field of neurological science. Not bad for a man who’s admitted to using marijuana on a more that recreational level, seeing it as a potential gateway to other minds and other consciousnesses.
Richard Feynman
Physicist who helped design the atomic bomb. Well, nobody said anyone on this list was wise, just smarter than average. Feynman used pot to enhance his out of body experiences while in a sensory deprivation tank. When he came out, he won a Nobel Prize for his theory of quantum electrodynamics.
Sergey Brin
He has a BS from the University of Maryland, a MS from Stanford and took PhD courses at Stanford before putting that on hiatus to co-found Google with Larry Page. His dad’s a math professor at the University of Maryland. His mom’s a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. His wife, Ann Wojcicki, is a biotech analyst who graduated with a B.S. in biology from Yale in 1996. She and Brin are working with leading researchers to help doctors, patients, and researchers analyze the human genome data and try to repair “bugs” as if DNA were HTML. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, which is “among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer” and received the Marconi Foundation Prize, the “Highest Award in Engineering”. Like Jobs (see above), he’s among the wealthiest in the world.
I can only imagine the first time he described DNA as HTML to someone, he/she must’ve been like, “are you high?” To which, he responded, “No! Why? You holdin’?”
24 Jul
What Is The Best Strain Of Medical Marijuana For Helping Nausea?
The use of medical marijuana to relieve nausea is well established, both anecdotally and from research papers. Both THC and cannabinoids are known to mitigate nausea, and smoking weed gives better relief from vomiting that taking THC orally.
A two studies undertaken in 2007 revealed that THC improves appetite and reduced weight loss in AIDS patients and smoking medical marijuana led to an increased intake of cannabis and weight gain.
As nausea and vomiting are side-effects of many treatments and symptoms of many illnesses, marijuana is a powerful drug to have in the medical armory and a synthetic form of THC to be taken in oral form was created for this very reason. However, the majority of patients prefer to smoke or vaporize ‘real’ cannabis instead of taking the artificial form.
What is most exciting about the link between weed and nausea is the fact that in cases where standard anti-emetics have failed to provide any relief, medical marijuana did the job. A recent study published in the New York State Journal of Medicine reported on 56 patients who were given marijuana following the failure of traditional anti-emetic drugs to relieve their sickness. The astounding result was a 78% success rate in this group of patients after smoking medical marijuana.
How to I use Medical Marijuana for my Nausea
Your very first action, if you are thinking about treating your nausea with medical marijuana, is to check out the medical marijuana state laws where you live. Despite the evidence of its usefulness in this situation, nausea doesn’t appear on the qualifying medical conditions of every state.
Having said that, you may well find that your primary condition – the illness which is causing you to feel sick and/or vomit – does appear on the approved list. Cancer, for instance, is pretty universal as far as state laws go.
If you discover that you can legally use marijuana to ease your nausea, you will need to find a medical marijuana doctor.
Are there any Particular Medical Marijuana Strains that are Good for Nausea
The Indica dominant Chemo strain of marijuana was reputedly developed by Dr David Suzuki back in the 1970s for the specific role of treating the nausea and pain that is associated with chemotherapy treatment.
Users report a pleasant aroma – a very important factor when dealing with nausea. As far as flavor is concerned, when allowed to linger in the mouth, there is a distinctly sweet and sugary taste.
Chemo makes an excellent night time medicine as it helps with pain as well as nausea – it’s particularly good for relieving stomach pain. Because of its indica dominance (almost 100%) it does not leave behind any feelings of anxiety or paranoia.
If you live in a state where cultivation of medical marijuana is allowed, then Chemo is quick to flower and gives high yields – around 500 grams per square meter. Seeds are widely available.
Lots of good quality research together with pretty powerful anecdotal stories make it very difficult to ignore the fact that medical marijuana does help ease the symptoms of nausea.
Courtesy of the Medical Marijuana Blog
http://www.theweedblog.com/what-is-the-best-strain-of-medical-marijuana-for-helping-nausea/
23 Jul
White House Report Acknowledges Few Scientists Permitted To Assess Cannabis Use In Humans
Only fourteen researchers in the United States are legally permitted to conduct research assessing the effect of inhaled cannabis in human subjects, according to data included in the White House’s 2011 National Drug Control Strategy, released last week.
In a section of the report entitled ‘Medical Marijuana,’ the administration states, “In the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has approved 109 researchers to perform bona fide research with marijuana, marijuana extracts, and marijuana derivatives such as cannabidiol and cannabinol.” However, it later clarifies that of these 109 scientists, only fourteen “are approved to conduct research with smoked marijuana on human subjects.”
Among those scientists licensed to work with either cannabis or its constituents — primarily in animal models — most are involved in research to assess the drug’s “abuse potential, physical/psychological effects, [and] adverse effects,” the report stated.
In 2010, a spokesperson for the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) — the federal agency that must approve any US clinical trial involving marijuana – told the New York Times: “[O]ur focus is primarily on the negative consequences of marijuana use. We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana.”
Earlier this month, DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart denied a nine-year-old petition seeking to initiate hearings regarding the federal classification of cannabis as a schedule I substance, stating in part, “[T]here are no adequate and well-controlled studies proving efficacy.”
Commenting on the report, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “Only in an environment of absolute criminal prohibition would this or any administration purport to the public that it is acceptable to allow no more than fourteen researchers to clinically study a substance consumed by tens of millions of Americans for therapeutic or recreational purposes. This acknowledgement illustrates once again the administration’s supposed commitment to ‘scientific integrity’ does not apply to cannabis.”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director at: paul@norml.org.
22 Jul
animal testing
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
