Medical Cannabis / Marijuana

[Daphne]

Complete hogwash. Cannabis is a medicine plain and simple. The link has embedded links to all the scientific articles that support this as well as more. Vaporizers are very popular now as you can control the heat getting the benefits of all the cannabinoids without the problems of inhaling burned charred plant matter.


http://www.slideshare.net/TheHempSol...tract-movement

[Lifebringer]

That's every drug's side effect, if its used all the time. Does it kill people? No. There are pharma meds and alcohol w/caffeine product that do, and they are on the shelf. People need to overlook this little "memory lapse" everyone I know misspells the words were and was sometimes, is that a skip because of pot? Nope. Beer does this. So unless you've got banning Joe six pack's weekend relaxation during sports, I think this one is in responsible user's hands and those they know that mix alcohol and pot, when they go out of control because of alcohol enhance emotional expanding, talked to by some community members, that mean business in their communities where they disrupt.
They are pretty reasonable, if you play a video of them acting a fool, and threaten to post it on YOUTUBE. LOL
No one wants to be seen as a fool doing foolish things in adulthood that cause embarrassment.

[Ahnung-quay]

I find it interesting that the psychiatric labeling has been applied, "amotivational syndrome". Could it be that weed enlightens folks to the futility of the paradigm that they're living in?

I know quite a few people that seem to get busy when they smoke it because it seems to organize their thoughts. So, it is having the opposite effect on them. The effect on me-I just want to eat and zone out. That's why I rarely do it.

[grannyfranny100]

This research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

[Cidersomerset]

I saw this article that I was not going to post till I saw this thread.......

I'm from the generation that have been brainwashed to believe all drugs
are bad unless sold under licence by the drug companies.

Since most legal drugs come from plants from the Amazon there
is obviously a contradiction. Its the knowledge of what these plants
can do from local shamans and herbalists that should be used
to counter act the Drug Barons in corporate pharma .There
are millions hooked on legal prescriptions highs like anti
depressants and sleeping pills etc....

-------------------------------------------------------------------



Six Amazing Things Scientists Have Discovered About Psychedelics

Wednesday 16th April 2014 at 04:42 By David Icke




Here are some of the coolest things scientists have discovered about psychedelics
over the years.

1. LSD can mitigate end-of-life anxiety.

The results of the first clinical study of the therapeutic use of LSD (lysergic acid
diethylamide) in humans in more than 40 years were published in the peer-
reviewed Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease in March. They show that LSD can
promote statistically significant reductions in anxiety for people coming to terms
with their own impending demise.

Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser and his colleagues conducted the double-blind,
placebo-controlled study, sponsored by the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association
for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). They tracked 12 people who were near the end of
life as they attended LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions. In his report, Gasser
concluded that the study subjects’ anxiety "went down and stayed down."

2. Psilocybin, aka magic mushrooms, actually calms, rather than stimulates, certain
brain functions.

The common conception is that psychedelics do something extra to cause their
effects—increase activity, add hallucinations, promote awareness, etc. A study that
examined brain scans of people under the influence of psilocybin found that it
reduces activity in certain areas of the brain. That reduction of activity leads to the
drug's effect on cognition and memory. Psychedelics, and psilocybin in particular,
might actually be eliminating what could be called the extra "noise" in the brain.

3. The drug MDMA (aka ecstasy, or Molly) promotes release of the "love" hormone
oxytocin, which could help treat severe anxieties like PTSD and social anxiety
resulting from autism.

Before the federal government classified it as a Schedule I substance, therapists
experimented with MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxyrnethimphetarnine) beginning in the
1970s to help reduce moderate depression and anxiety among their adult patients.
After widespread recreational use in the rave scene caught the attention of
authorities, MDMA was criminalized in 1985. However, research primarily supported
by the MAPS has continued to turn up positive results for the drug’s potential
therapeutic use. Various clinical trials and statistical research have confirmed that
MDMA can successfully treat post-traumatic stress in military veterans and others.
One example is the clinical trial led by Michael Mithoefer, which used MDMA-
assisted psychotherapy to treat chronic PTSD.

A 2009 study offers a plausible explanation for MDMA’s effectiveness treating PTSD.
The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 15 healthy individuals
confirmed that MDMA causes the brain to release oxytocin, which is the human
hormone linked to feelings of love and compassion.

MAPS recently received government approval to launch a new study examining
MDMA’s potential for treating social anxiety in autistic adults. Based on the known
effects of MDMA, as well as individual reports, this exploratory study will focus on
enhancing functional skills and quality of life in autistic adults with social anxiety.

4. Psilocybin could kill smoking addiction.

Psychiatry professor Matthew Johnson, who works at Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, presented the preliminary results of a pilot feasibility study
looking at the ability of psilocybin to treat smoking addiction at the 2013
Psychedelic Science conference in Oakland, Calif. For the study, five cigarette-
addicted participants underwent placebo-controlled psilocybin treatment with a
psychiatrist. All five completely quit smoking after their first psilocybin session. At
all followup visits, which occurred up to one year later for the first four participants,
it was biologically confirmed that the participants had abstained from cigarettes.


‘Despite the fact that the U.S. government deems many hallucinogenic or
psychedelic substances to be dangerous, classifying them as Schedule I drugs
with “no currently accepted medical use,” various scientists have dared to study
their effects. What they’ve found over the years paints a startling, promising and
powerful picture of potentially game-changing medicines.

The government’s “war on drugs” policies severely limit research on psychedelics.
Before scientists can complete any federally sanctioned studies, they have to jump
through an expensive tangle of hoops and red tape. Restrictions aside, over the
years researchers have collected a database of research showing that many
psychedelics have an unprecedented potential to treat cancers, addictions and
psychological traumas, among other things.’


5. Ayahuasca can treat drug addictionand possibly much more.

Ayahuasca is a brew prepared with the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, originally used for
spiritual and healing purposes in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. The vine is
usually mixed with leaves containing the psychedelic compound DMT.

Gabor Mate, a medical doctor from Vancouver who is a prominent ayahuasca
researcher, contends that therapy assisted by psychedelics, and ayahuasca in
particular, can untangle complex, unconscious psychological stresses. He claims
these stresses underlie and contribute to all chronic medical conditions, from cancer
and addiction to depression and multiple sclerosis.

The results of the first North American observational study on the safety and long-
term effectiveness of ayahuasca treatment for addiction and dependence were
published in June 2013 in the journal Current Drug Abuse Reviews. All of the
participants in the study reported positive and lasting changes, and the study found
statistically significant improvements “for scales assessing hopefulness,
empowerment, mindfulness, and quality of life meaning and outlook subscales. Self-
reported alcohol, tobacco and cocaine use declined, although cannabis and opiate
use did not.” The reported reductions in problematic cocaine use were also
statistically significant.

6. DMT occurs naturally in the human body, and taking it could simulate death.

The drug DMT (diemethyltryptamine), which causes hallucinogenic experiences, is
made up of a chemical compound that already occurs within the human body
endogenously (as well as in a number of plants). This means our brains are
naturally set up to process the drug because it has receptors that exist specifically
to do so. Cannabis is another illegal drug that occurs endogenously.

Some research based on near-death experiences points to the fact that the brain
releases DMT during death. Some researchers have also conjectured that DMT is
released during other intense experiences, including orgasm.

Read more: six Amazing Things Scientists Have Discovered About Psychedelics

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/5-amaz...t-psychedelics

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/

[Lifebringer]

Yes, it is. Pot smokers can count like accountants and most store venders get caught taking a drunk's money, but not pot smokers. We may look toasted, but we are wide awake and taking no dose on the propaganda, as we legalize. WE have decades of study done by valued doctors who witnessed the miracles of pot first hand. Propaganda wars this election will find themselves on the wrong side of medical history that doesn't include the Rockerfeelyapocket pharmaceutical monopoly.
WE will not keep destroying good parents for this minor discretion in our generation. The children need a stable home and with low paying jobs, is stress and disease from not having enough to pay for doctors. Pot is self medication with safety first and natural properties that destroy any propagandic argument in comparison to the legal substances on the counters and behind the pharmacist.
Hmm. What would pot's side effect list look like, compared to the dementia causing drugs now. Hmmm. May cause lack of memory at times.

Pharma: May cause drowsiness, emaciated condition, do not drive or operate equipment. If you recognize any symptoms of bleeding from rectum(price)LOL, red stools could be sign of internal bleeding of stomach. Always take with food. Do not take more than recommended dose. Signs of liver or kidney distress should be discussed by the doctor to the patient to see if the outcome justifies the risk of taking the drug...ect..ect...ect, may cause blindness in people w/diabetes...ect...see doctor if....the rest of the commercial is pummeled by side effects, while the people forget what the drug was intended for.

Amazing.

[Lifebringer]

Posted by grannyfranny100 (here)
This research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Figures they would start this non-sense. They really love their cinchy harrassement jobs w/pensions, don't they?
Bwahahahaha, bye bye marijuana user harrassers family wreckers putting people on welfare and causing parents to work two jobs to cover the loss of income.
Couldn't have happened to a greater bunch of door kicking dog shooters and grandma killers.

[Camilo]

Posted by grannyfranny100 (here)
This research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

.........

The stablishment will do everything within its power to stop people from using mind expanding substances, as people will brake from their consciousness confinement (out of the matrix), stop buying their BS, think for themselves and be themselves, therefore becoming hard to control and brain wash.

[IndigoStar]

Do you have the link to the paper on the Journal of Neuroscience? I can't find it there by using the search engine...

[Flash]

There seem to be quite a few enthusiastic smokers/takers here

i was talking to doctor working in a health clinic for Young people, and he was telling me that now, weed is sooo strong, that those slightly predispose for mental disease, but would never have developed it otherwise, are now developing drug induced psychosis and schizophrenia in huge amount, to his surprise.

Some come back from it after a weaning period, others just don't.

My take, everythingin moderation is fine, well, except for cyanides or other similar compound. Have your wine, beer, weed, mushrooms, in moderation.

[william r sanford72]

Man...i forgot what i was going to write...shoot..???..

[DeDukshyn]

I would like to see a good scientific (properly done) comparing the hazards of marijuana compared to regular soda consumption, fast food consumption, alcohol, or nicotine. Lol. Perspective people, perspective.

[Dennis Leahy]

Too much salt: bad
Too much water: bad
Too much sex: bad
Too much of anything: bad

But the article uses the word "casual" as distinct from "chronic", and discredits itself immediately. The cannabinoids in cannabis have been shown to be neuroprotective. This is a sensationalist study and (though I should research before shooting my mouth off) was probably flawed - either deliberately (money under the table from Big Pharma to form this conclusion) or with bad science (such as having a test group that already had either brain abnormalities of were predisposed to the physical findings.) I suspect this is a paid hit-piece, but that is strictly my conjecture. I continue to track the scientific whitepapers that show cannabis has nearly innumerable medical benefits - and yes, (as Snowflower alluded to) smoke of any sort can't possibly be healthy, even if there is strong medicine in the smoke. There are hundreds of chemicals in smoke, whether tobacco, cannabis, sage, or sweet basil. Perhaps test subjects were really showing signs of carbon monoxide reactions, for example. Anything from raw cannabis juice to "edibles" to vaporizing would be better for the body than smoking.

Another angle on this is defining what this particular aspect of brain functioning is in schizophrenia, and how it actually compares with a person with debilitating schizophrenia. I'm sure the comparison is wildly exaggerated in this article, or else there would be hundreds of thousands - even millions - of people with debilitating schizophrenia. Go to a classically trained psychiatrist and tell them that your subconscious mind is communicating with your conscious mind which is communicating with your higher self (everyday talk around Avalon) and watch the shrink reach for the prescription-writing tablet.

Posted by from the article
"young adults who used cannabis just once or twice a week showed significant abnormalities in two important brain structures"

One person's definition of "abnormal" is another person's definition of "re-mapped functionality."

This article is ammo for keeping innocent people locked up, and for keeping the world's most important medicinal plant illegal.

Dennis

[Heartsong]

The original post sites a Fox news article. The article states that there were 40 (only forty) participants in the study. That's not enough for good science.

[shadowstalker]

If the stuff they researched is from the streets then yes there will be issues, it is not pure anymore.
It hasn't been pure for a little over 20 years.
They got all kinds of crap in it to get you addicted and possibly sick.

[Zaya]

The stablishment will do everything within its power to stop people from using mind expanding substances, as people will brake from their consciousness confinement, stop buying their BS, think for themselves and be themselves, becoming hard to control and brain wash.

Exactly. People are always talking about the war on drugs. What about the war on the people and control on their minds? By limiting us from the natural gift we were given on the planet to heal us and connect us more to our true selves, they control our spirit. Not to say you MUST use this drug in order to survive or be spiritual, but I am saying that some people benefit greatly from it, and should have the choice to use it for any reason they want as long as they are responsible enough not to put anyone else at risk.

Now, full disclosure: I have been a casual pot smoker for many years, and I have reaped both the spiritual/health benefits associated as well as some negative effects when abused (think: existential crisis). ANYTHING when abused can be a bad thing (even drinking too much water can kill you, but that doesn't mean it is harmful). I think people should be enraged that the government would take away a natural resource from its people. Everything naturally on earth has a purpose that fits into the greater oneness. Why try to get rid of part of that harmony?

[LivioRazlo]

I used to smoke marijuana regularly everyday for 10 years, and on the weekends eat "shrooms" or take MDMA. This was almost 4 years ago that I quit all of that and I honestly feel worse now than any point in my life. I do feel that when I was on these substances, I felt normal - better able to comprehend things around me and live life to the fullest. I do not advocate drug usage for everyone, because I feel that it takes a certain mindset to cope with what you might "see, feel or think" while you are under the influence of these substances.

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

I would like to ask, were the subjects in this study tested before they started smoking marijuana?
It seems as if the "casual smokers'" brains are being compared to "normal/average" brains without acknowledging whether they were abnormal to begin with.

And the main reason people are "casual smokers" tends to be financial, not psychological.
Our government understands capitalism. Even if pot is legal, it will still be too expensive for most people.

FYI I was well on my way to having my first total breakdown well before smoking.
IMO Citalopram caused worse side effects than marijuana and had the potential to kill.



One well known issue with marijuana is that it can affect the hippocampus, which is the seat of working memory.
However, there are no known "serious" studies looking at the compensatory effects of the additional neurotransmitters supplied by the marijuana hit.
What I am trying to say is that an organism with ESP might have less working memory by default.
And I've heard doctors talking about a connection between ESP and cannabis usage, particularly when dealing with sativas.

Our government doesn't care if your memory is shot.
They don't want you telling gov't secrets.
That's why they call potheads crazy -- because we obsess and we get info.

It's not a one way street -- marijuana is like the Spice -- it's a "give and take" not just a "take" situation.
Once you start using marijuana I am not sure if there is much point in stopping.


Here's something to consider, though: it slows cell division, so if that is somehow connected to working memory,
which I doubt, there could be an issue there.

p.s. one of the reasons CIA hates weed is because it helps people break mind control. No longer motivated by it.

p.p.s. the Dutch did a study and discovered that people attracted to pot were already ill, usually missing some neurotransmitters genetically or already damaged by stroke.

p.p.p.s. Vanderbilt and Stanford Universities are studying marijuana as a treatment for Asperger's and Autism. because we lack neurotransmitters that signal for being happy in a normal person, isn't that sad?

[onawah]

I have been looking forward to medical marijuana being legalized in my state, it's on the ballot now for the second time.
What I want to try is the non-psychoactive derivatives that are useful for chronic pain, as I have fibromyalgia, arthritis and TMJ.
I have been taking a prescription opioid when the pain becomes unbearable, but I do that as little as possible because of the terrible side effects.
I know that many strains of marijuana have been hybridized to make them so powerful you can get stoned on just one hit.
But whether any have been hybridized to make them more powerful for healing and relieving pain, or if any of the old strains are still available, I don't know.
Anything that is psychoactive can be dangerous, depending on the user and how it is used.
I think such substances should be regarded as sacred and used with care.
The message I've posted here:
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...406#post823406
...gave me pause because it didn't differentiate between "medical marijuana" and recreational marijuana, so I wrote to the facilitators of the website to ask for clarification.
For what it's worth, some of the info on that site is channeled, some is just from sensitives and psychics, just to let you know.
But the point of the article is that the hybridizing of certain strains of marijuana have made them so extremely psychoactive that there are potential dangers worse than we may understand, and I can see how that may be the case (regardless of whether the info is channeled or not).
I remember the daze of pot smoking from my younger years, and it's not something I care to do again; however fun it may have been at the time, there were also negative consequences.
It certainly did help to awaken me, but I don't feel I need to go there again.
Meditation works very well, and doesn't create dependency, and I've seen plenty of people with pot dependency issues.

Posted by Flash (here)
There seem to be quite a few enthusiastic smokers/takers here

i was talking to doctor working in a health clinic for Young people, and he was telling me that now, weed is sooo strong, that those slightly predispose for mental disease, but would never have developed it otherwise, are now developing drug induced psychosis and schizophrenia in huge amount, to his surprise.

Some come back from it after a weaning period, others just don't.

My take, everythingin moderation is fine, well, except for cyanides or other similar compound. Have your wine, beer, weed, mushrooms, in moderation.

[Demeisen]

Some time ago I watched a document about weed and it's effects in brain. Researchers figured out that weed grown with UV lamps have different composition compared to sun grown stuff. I don't remember what the 2 substances were that are in a key role there. But the ratio of them was changing depending on the growing environment. Naturally, the stuff grown with UV lamps were more harmful to mental functions and were more likely to cause paranoia etc.