Mother Earth's medicinal gifts were never meant to be outlawed.

How the hell did we ever outlaw a plant that grows in the wild? And occasionally in people's closets.
















Marijuana can be found growing in the wild in all 50 states.

Wild weed growing in an Iowa ditch.


More wild pot.




Legalizing this medicinal plant could give us a new economy and a whole new crop for our struggling farmers to grow.

Edit: I'm for full legalization for any use, not just medicinal. Just to be clear.

:hippie:

Interesting how there are few pain killers between the mild Tylenol-like products and heavy-duty prescription meds (NPR this morning.) That would be the natural spot for marijuana.

(who's synthetic version-marinol is far too potent for those who can take it legally and it costs $250 per pill) but also big lumber and textile companies would lose big to a superior substance, the non psychoactive variety of the weed (hemp) is renewable and can pretty much grow anywhere.

It's nutz.

lovely photos though

...and Christopher Columbus' sails. (Could be an urban legend I guess.)

medicinal plant. For most of human history, poppy seed head teas and tinctures relieved the pain of life. Coca leaves helped indigenous people cope with the high altitude life in the Andes.

There are reasons our brains have receptor sites for the chemicals produced by these plants, just proof of our connection to all life on this planet.

No plant should ever be banned, period, no matter how much trouble a tiny minority of people might get into by its overuse.

And I would add that there's a big difference between coca leaf being chewed in the raw and coke or crack.

I do support legalizing drug. IMO, it has to do with efficiency and fairness.

but there's a very good reason to supplement them with plants when our bodies are stressed.

Medicine has finally caught up to the fact that pain patients don't produce enough endorphin/encephalin and that leaving them untreated is fatal.

With plants legalized across the board, I doubt there would be much market for the refined products at inflated black market prices. That market should be satisfied legally, of course, to put the black marketeers and related violent gangs out of business.

Legalizing the plants is a great first step to reducing drug gang associated crime.

Nope. Same mechanism. Only difference is the dosage.

medicinal herbs contain dozens -- and even hundreds -- of phytochemicals that interact in ways we haven't even begun to explore. They may act synergistically. They may counteract side effects. We haven't even scratched the surface. Instead, the tendency is to isolate the single phytochemical that is in largest quantity and use that chemical alone in pharmas.

Eg, capsaicin -- one or two forms are used in the topicals, which numb the nerves. But chili peppers contain something like 8 versions of capsaicin...and who knows what else. When I used cayenne pepper (along with several herbs known to have anti-herpes properties) on my shingles, it was like wearing a heating pad in my skin. Very different effect from numb. Actually, it felt reeeeelly good, and relieved my tired, aching back.

and even more are chemically unbalanced one way or the other.

I'm grateful that there is a natural, relatively safe source of external cannabinoids for those who are not in perfect balance. Big pharma is pissed for the same reason.

When you make excuses for it - "It's medicinal!" - you sound uncertain and guilty about it. You sound like you're making an excuse for something you know is "bad."

Pot shouldn't be legalized because it's medicinal. Pot shouldn't be legalized for its industrial uses. Pot should be legalized because making it illegal is plain stupid.

Look man... You and I both know... Your interest in the plant isn't treating glaucoma and making paper, right? We both know that you, as the mynah says, "wannagethiiiiiiiigh" - Just freaking be honest. "YES, I want to smoke it for fun, and that's good enough reason for it to be legal!" - because it is.

I edited my OP to clarify that I'm for full legalization for any use.

But for me it's medicinal.

I agree with the rest of your reply.

Peace

One of my best friends is using it to keep the nausea from her chemo at bay. She has repeatedly reported that its different when used medicinally. Its not about getting high, its about being able to eat, its about being able to sleep without her pain/nausea keeping her awake. Check the link in my sigline.

Sure its fun to smoke and get high, but saying its strictly fun and has no other viable uses is simplistic and short-sighted.

I never said it has no viable uses. I'm saying that legalization should not be hitched to "medicinal." I've never met anyone in favor of pot legalization who would be content just for your friend and others suffering medical conditions to have legal weed. I've certainly never met any who would support keeping the plant illegal while big pharma extracts the "medicinal" stuff.

Pot should be legal because there's no reason for it to be illegal, because the costs of court and incarceration far outweigh any "cost to society," and because people deserve the freedom to do what they want with hteir own bodies. All the "medicinal" argument does is limit and undermine the actual goal of legalization.

"Look man... You and I both know... Your interest in the plant isn't treating glaucoma and making paper, right? We both know that you, as the mynah says, "wannagethiiiiiiiigh" - Just freaking be honest. "YES, I want to smoke it for fun, and that's good enough reason for it to be legal!" - because it is."

Do you know the OP personally? How do you know what his medical problems are?

But, for the most part, I agree with your last paragraph - except for the last sentence.

And I've since been corrected. Of course, posting lots of pics of the plants and ending the post with the "hippie" smilie really didn't send the "I have medical reasons" message :) Ah well. Thing is... I just see so damn many people posing like their interest is completely medicinal. I know that for most, it's not.

As for disagreeing with my last sentence... Why? First, the argument is usually disingenuous to start with - most legalization proponents are after its recreational legalization, and they should just say so. Not saying so make them come across as "making excuses", and nobody makes excuses unless they're guilty of something, right? Like htye have something to hide. Second, if the only use of the plant is medicinal... then why legalize when you can just get big pharma donations to your campaign if you let them isolate, synthesize, and market the active ingredients?

I think its just giving the full story, outlining all the things the plant can accomplish. Folks laud soybeans the same way: superfood, potential bio-fuel source, doesn't deplete as many nutrients from the soil like other crops, etc...

To address your second point, they have synthetically produced the active ingredient and it doesn't work as well as the original plant. The synthetic drugs like Marinol and Sativex, contains only one of the several cannabinoids contained in the original plant. A study produced by the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy indicated that in a side-by-side comparison, patients preferred raw cannabis to a synthetic alternative. Its also cheaper to produce the raw plant as opposed to just the active ingredient.
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6636#64

edit: spelling

Just tell me honestly... When you hear someone going on about the "wonderplant" properties, do you really believe they are doing so because they want to wear hempfiber clothing while driving their fermented stem-burning car and eating a bucket of chicken fried in hempseed oil? As if they're recreating the plains indians, except instead of bison, every need they have is met with cannabis?

The strange thing is... Nobody ever mentions "Yeah, and when you smoke it, it feels good." The primary use the plant sees is treated like a dirty secret, something to keep hidden and obfuscated, like a collection of horse porn or something.

My thought is... Most people interested in weed want to smoke it for fun. And there is nothing wrong with that. They just need to be honest about it and stop trying to bury the fact that they enjoy, or want to enjoy getting high, behind a bunch of factoids and excuses. Just be honest :shrug:

To me, it depends on who it comes from. I realize there are a bunch of folks out there flying the flag of medicinal marijuana that have little interest in it truly being used in a medicinal fashion. I've seen the bandwagon jumpers, as well as you. Fortunately, they carry little weight, but unfortunately, and I think we are in agreement on this, they do not help the legalization fight much.

But my point is, I think the legitimate medical use is important. I won't lie, I like to smoke occasionally, but having a friend who uses it medicinally for cancer, changed my thinking. I see what it does for her and it makes no sense to me that she could potentially go to jail for her use of a plant that makes her feel better while she's fighting a disease that could potentially kill her.

Chulanowa, please don't mistake me, I see your point. And, I agree that its not shameful to want to do a couple of bong hits to unwind after work, or that we should hide that getting high as adults can be fun as long as its done in a sensible manner. In a perfect world being totally honest about it is the non-cowardly way to go, but getting baked is just not the whole picture.

And I'm by no means trying to underplay its medicinal importance.

Just that I know that recreational use is the main thrust for legalization. Medicinal is important, but once again, I don't want to see a "situationally legal" situation - that's almost as bad as a "fully illegal" position. And I'm certain that eventually, pharma will manage to get the formula right, and the last thing anyone wants to see is a genetic patent or some shit.

I'm HIV+ and smoke it for apetite benefits and naseau control. I also broke my back 17 years ago while serving in the Army. MJ does wonders for chronic back pain and spasms.

Thats why I posted the OP from the medicinal angle.

Peace

Look, I think it's stupid that people keep hiding behind "b-b-but it's m-m-medicinal!" Yes, yes it has medicinal uses.

But somehow I doubt that High Times' target market is leukemia patients, y'know? :)

What I'm saying is that we do not need to make justifications (excuses) for legalization. it should be legal, because there is no damned reason for it to be illegal. It's really that simple. Pretending - YES, PRETENDING - that your top concern is its medicinal value is silly.

it reminds me of hte time that my mother caught me with a pack of cigarettes, and I tried to convince her I just wanted the tobacco to perform a smudging ceremony. "But it's sacred to the Native Americans!" yeah, it didn't work. :rofl:

Some will kill you if you ingest very small quantities. Others are medicinal at maturation, but poisonous when young. And so on. You need to be very careful if wildcrafting food and meds.

However, those same poisons are often very useful medicinally - digitalis, for example. Some plans are more useful than others, of course - cannabis isn't the only plant with useful cannibinoids, it just has the highest concentrations of them, for instance.

let's go seek some relief, from the pain of irrational and intolerent assholes who've made a plant illegal. They make life unenjoyable and difficult for everyone, smoke da kind, and release the stress and tension for yourself, before going out and choking the living shit out of those a-holes. :smoke: relax, :hippie:

just in case;
:sarcasm:

:smoke: :hippie:

and for cottonmouth :toast:

:hi:

ago I learned of the stevia plant, because I was diagnosed as diabetic.

"With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Medical research has also shown possible benefits of stevia in treating obesity and high blood pressure. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets"

I could not find it anywhere (on occasion I could find it at head shop) because the sugar producers had not had a chance to get their fingers in it yet.


"However, health and political controversies have limited stevia's availability in many countries; for example, the United States banned it in the early 1990s unless labeled as a supplement."

Now the big money corps have got their fingers in the pie and you can find it everywhere.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

:hi:

it eventually got old and died, but while I had it, it always made a nice appartif - I tried to use hte leaves as a sugar substitute, but... even if I plucked hte thing bare, I would have only gotten a few spoonfuls of stuff. So I just chewed the leaves.

Kind of a funny taste, kinda like splenda, only "green"

My diabetic sister will be glad to learn about the stevia plant. I never heard of it til today.

Thanks for sharing.

Remember to tell her to keep it well-trimmed. It'll get tall and weedy and the leaves will get tough and bitter if you let it go.

:fistbump:

But Big Pharma companies have for decades scoured the medicinal lore of isolated indigenous peoples to patent their age-old herbal remedies for their own profit. Which is not just plain old greed and theft, but a sin as well.

:hi:

simply put if an adult wants to get high, let 'em. Same as with alcohol and tobacco. If they break other laws while under the influence charge them for that, with no excuses being allowed for being intoxicated (drunk drivers aren't in their right minds, but don't get off).

But I don't think that it being natural is the best argument for it not being banned. Ricin is natural, as is botulism toxin, and anthrax. I'd be concerned if someone where stocking up on those.

:hi:

And now the religious right holds so much power in this country that it will probably NEVER get changed. No matter how smart that decision would be.

:grr:

I just always find the "it's from the earth" argument to be a bit specious. We've got plenty of better ones in our arsenal to use - many of which you've otherwise made.

:hippie: :hi:

leans on the fact that you can use it straight off the plant, unlike cocaine or heroin.

Cocaine, for example, has to be processed w/ various chemicals to bring out the alkaloid (usually sodium carbonate). Then the leaves are soaked in kerosene to extract the alkaloids from the leaves. Not what I would call a natural process.

To convert poppy resin to heroin requires several chemicals as well. Some of the chemicals required are ammonium chloride and slaked lime.

Full beer cans don't grow on trees.

:toast:

:smoke: :hippie:

:hi:

The DEA tearing up a field full of jimsonweed, arrow grass, or morning glory, incinerating them, and arresting whoever owned that patch of land?

I long for the day I can sew legal USA hemp into clothes. I might start my sewing biz back up for that.

Pot has been a comfort and a joy since my teens. I use it in both a medicinal sense and a pleasurable one. I'm using it right now for my monthly severe menstrual cramps. The only thing better is codiene- considered a safe, legal poppy extract thirty miles away in Canada but absolutely illegal here, even more so than weed.

It's one of natures most efficient growing plants.

Alongside MJ, could give farmers a whole new crop to grow. Could give us a new economy. The positives seem endless.

Agree 100% with your reply.

:hippie: :hi:

Our subject that year (in HS, 1979-80) was energy; Oil vs. Alternatives. We had to study the numbers and projections associated with each method of energy production and come up with winning arguements. I was happy to be arguing for alternatives. We never won, we weren't pushy enough. But the education gained was priceless.

Along with gaining the uneasy knowledge of peak oil decades before most other americans, I also gained an interest in biomass as fuel. If we are to keep any semblance of modern civilization, we have to ultimately look to biomass. Thing is, it's relatively straight forward and lo-tech. Not as patentble or exploitable for high-flying companies interested in profit like solar and wind are.

The boilerplate: Hemp is the ultimate biomass plant, growing quickly and providing fiber, oil, medicine and food. Hemp oil can be used in plastics and inks. Hemp fiber was used in everything from paper, rope to clothing until it was made illegal. It will be used once again. I need not say a thing about it's medicinal properties...and food, just hempseeds alone are tasty on a salad and provide a complete protein to any meal.

Economically, it makes sense as well!

:smoke: :hi:

Very interesting read!

:hippie: :smoke: :hi:


and to combat the cottonmouth/drymouth :toast:

peace

just about ready to harvest, too. all over the news here, everyone so proud of themselves. yay, we are taking away the one source of relief for untold suffering people, way to serve the public good.

Do you really think the buds from those 25,000 plants growing in the woods were going to a hospital?

Now, hey, while there's no reason for the stuff to be illegal and all... let's not pretend that these plants were going to be charitably donated to people suffering glaucoma, either, kay?

Lots of literature out there you should check out. The thing is, it's not all that easy to get an rx for other genuine ailments that mj helps, not that many docs are willing to do that, and mainly just for more serious conditions, glaucoma, cancer and so forth.

Other ailments can be quite miserable however, and pills aren't always the answer. For instance, I guess you've never had a migraine, while I've had over 1000, over 25+ years, and before Imitrex that was the only thing that helps (cheaper, too), and when I can't keep it down the Imitrex the dope helps the nausea greatly. Haven't drank alcohol since age 22, just enhanced the migraines, and that legal substance has very few medicinal effects.

and no, I don't think every bit of that is going to help people suffering, but even a fraction is significant, especially for that big a haul.

the fact that if it was legalized we wouldn't have that problem (if it's true).

What did they value the 25K plants at? $200-$300 Billion? Assholes.

maybe they are planning on selling some to help boost the state budget, maybe get the striking teachers in Pierce co. a good deal so classes can open.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009796271_potbust03.html

Arsenic and thallium are naturally occurring elements.

Silly post title - isn't reality.

Just a side note, Hemlock is a nontoxic tree. Water hemlock is a deadly carrot. ;)

just about ready to harvest, too. all over the news here, everyone so proud of themselves. yay, we are taking away the one source of relief for untold suffering people, way to serve the public good.

ways to end fertility, ways to control fertility --

and many, many other benefits I doubt we'll ever find out about

because patriarchy destroyed so much of it --

or controls it.

Gatekeepers . . .!!!

The use of herbs for medicine would regenerate a more healthy attitude toward our Mother Earth. Let them live, let them help us stay healthy.

:hi:

supplements. NOTHING--not dieting, not exercise-- takes the weight off like those ephedra based supplements did. I understand that some people abused the drug and/or didn't follow instructions and paid a heavy price, but why take it away from everyone?

and nice pics! :smoke: