LEGALIZE IT ! don't criticize it...

Dismissing these arguments just because of the fact that cannabis is an illegal substance is not only short-sighted but flat-out criminal!

Question 1 - What research has been done previously and what is currently known about the possible medical uses of marijuana?

There have been a series of six studies conducted by U.S. state health departments under research protocols approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The study was commissioned by the White House and Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey. In short, the reports verifies that marijuana does have medical benefit, and argues that it should be made available to patients who could benefit from its use now. Numerous published studies suggest that marijuana has medical value in treating patients with serious illnesses such as AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, migraines, arthritis, astma, PMS, Alzheimer's disease, hepatitis C and chronic pain (check the links below). Public opinion is also in favor of ending the prohibition of medical marijuana. According to a 1999 Gallup poll, 73% of Americans are in favor of "making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering." In a 2004 poll commissioned by AARP, 72% of Americans ages 45 and older thought marijuana should be legal for medicinal purposes if recommended by a doctor. Medical marijuana has strong support from voters and health organizations. The federal government, however, has resisted any change to marijuana's illegal status at the federal level. In Europe, The Netherlands has led the way in cannabis reform since it amended its Opium Act in 1976 to distinguish among drugs according to levels of risk. Identifying cannabis as a "soft drug," the Dutch government decided to treat possession and cultivation of up to 30 grams as activities "not for prosecution, detection or arrest." This policy of tolerance paved the way for the "coffee shop system" of publicly distributing both marijuana and hashish. As clinical trials get started in the United Kingdom, as more Australian states lower penalties for personal possession and use, and as more continental European countries choose not to enforce criminal sanctions for personal possession, alternative ways of regulating cannabis will continue to develop. Whether individual governments choose to play a role in the drug's responsible regulation remains to be seen.

Question 2 - What is known about the possible uses of marijuana in food and textile industry?

Perhaps the most interesting fact about industrial hemp, especially when compared to trees or to other fibre crops, is its amazing versatility.
Cannabis as a food source. Cannabis can provide a cheap, renewable and abundant food source for the planet. Hemp seeds are one of the most nutritious grains on Earth, rich in high quality protein, very low in saturated fats and containing all of the essential fatty acids required by human beings. Cannabis grows almost anywhere and its cultivation does not require farmers in developing countries to purchase pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers from agricultural corporations. The cannabis plant is being rediscovered for it environmental friendly applicability. As you might know hemp is one of the oldest crops domesticated by man. The history of cultivating hemp goes back for thousands of years. Cannabis cultivation appears to have evolved simultaneously in separate civilisations across Eurasia. Humankind’s earliest utilisation of cannabis was most likely in eating the seeds of the plant. Hemp seeds are among the most healthiest of grains on this planet.

The stalk of the hemp plant produces one of the world’s strongest natural fibres and can be used to make things like rope, textile and paper. Industrial hemp remains one of the best sources for long fibres and textiles of all kinds. Hemp cloth can be every bit as soft and versatile as cotton and is stronger, more durable and more water absorbent. The same is true of hemp textiles versus synthetics such as nylon and its derivatives. Hemp textiles are both superior in quality and less ecologically damaging to produce. Hemp pulp is by far the most efficient, rational choice for paper production. A hectare of fibre hemp can yield over four times the pulp produced by traditional timber-pulp trees. Hemp can also compete with any of the faster growing trees (such as eucalypts) that are currently being considered as a source for pulp. Processing hemp pulp requires only a fraction of the chemicals necessary to process wood fibre into paper. Hemp is a bio fuel. Hemp is a viable, renewable alternative to petrochemical and other fossil resources. It can supply oils for fuel or lubrication, plastics, paints and varnishes. It is also the most productive and efficient known source of biomass. Why is it that our society is not using this environmentally friendly, versatile and abundant resource? Is it really because it might be a health risk or is it because its definitely a risk to big industry?

Question 3 - How addictive is marijuana?

Colin Blakemore, PhD, Chair of the Department of Physiology at Oxford University, and Leslie Iversen, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology at Oxford University, wrote in their editorial "Cannabis, Why It Is Safe," published in The Times [United Kingdom] on Aug. 6, 2001:

"For some users, perhaps as many as 10 per cent, cannabis leads to psychological dependence, but there is scant evidence that it carries a risk of true addiction. Unlike cigarette smokers, most users do not take the drug on a daily basis, and usually abandon it in their twenties or thirties. Unlike for nicotine, alcohol and hard drugs, there is no clearly defined withdrawal syndrome, the hallmark of true addiction, when use is stopped."

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy stated in Section 15, "Psychiatric Disorders," Chapter 195, "Drug Use and Dependence" and published on its website (accessed Nov. 20, 2002):

"Any drug that causes euphoria and diminishes anxiety can cause dependence, and cannabis is no exception. However, heavy use and complaints of inability to stop are unusual.
Cannabis can be used episodically without evidence of social or psychological dysfunction. The term dependence probably is misapplied to many users. No withdrawal syndrome occurs when the drug is discontinued, but some heavy users report disrupted sleep and nervousness when they stop."

Dusk falls on one of several hundred greenhouses that dot the northern California landscape, marijuana farmers anxiously await the harvest season...

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Industrial Cannabis Blog

who killed Jimi Hendrix?

CIA operation MH CHAOS has been targeted antiwar movement (and organizations such as the black panthers, students for a democratic society and others) during the 60's and 70's. A department within the CIA was established in 1967 on orders from US President Lyndon Johnson and later expanded under Nixon...

Jimi's body was found on 18 September at Samarkand Hotel at 22 Lansdowne Crescent in London, the coroners concluded that while he was unconscious from sleeping pills and red wine he choked on his own vomit. The inevitable controversy around his death led to all manner of theories as to why he died. His death was made all the more tragic by the losses of Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin in the same year. His loungs were full of wine but there was no alcohol in his blood (he was drowned with wine to death). Jimi spent September 18 in the flat of Monika Danneman, the last girlfriend of American guitarist . Dannemann is known for being the last person to have seen Jimi Hendrix alive. Her story: "the two of them went to a party where Jimi took a so-called "black bomber", a capsule containing amphetamine and a sedative. He also snorted some LSD. At 8:30 PM, they got back to Monika's appartment. There they stayed until 1:45 AM, when Jimi said he had to go to some people's appartment. He did not like them, he said, but he had to go. Alone. So Monika drove him there, and picked him up again at three o'clock. What happened during this hour, and the identity of the people is not known. They went to bed, and Monika awakened at 10:20 AM, the morning of the eighteenth. She failed to wake Jimi, and noticed he had taken nine of her sleeping pills. Vomit was around his mouth and nose. She called Eric Burdon, a friend, for advice, because she was afraid to call the ambulance. She feared Jimi would be angry if she got him into a hospital if nothing really was wrong. Eric told her to call an ambulance, and so she did. The ambulance personnel assured her Jimi was going to be alright, and she checked him into St. Mary's Abbot Hospital in Kensington, London under a false name. At 11:25 AM, September 18, 1970, Jimi officially died from inhalation of vomit." The coroners office later stated an "open verdict", meaning the accurate reason for his death was unknown. Why did the coroner and informant, Gavin L. B. Thurston, never sign the death certificate? Who were the people Jimi unwillingly visited hours before his death? In 1993, the investigation into Hendrix's death was reopened by Scotland Yard, but when no new evidence was unearthed, the matter was dropped. The ambulance personnel said they have found Jimi alone in Monika's flat. He was already dead. The apartment's front door was wide open, and the apartment itself empty. Dannemann claimed Hendrix was alive when he was placed in the back of the ambulance, however her comments about that morning were often contradictory and confused, varying from interview to interview. The case was re-examined by UK police and Dannemann was never blamed for Hendrix's death, although she was held under a cloud of suspicion by others close to Hendrix. Monika Dannemann was found dead in a fume-filled Mercedes-Benz near her cottage in Seaford, East Sussex, aged 50. Her death was ruled a suicide...

Jimi's manager Michael Jeffery siphoned off much of Hendrix's income and channeled it into off-shore bank accounts, Jeffery had dubious connections to US intelligence services (it has been reported that insiders often claimed that he worked for MI5, British Secret Intelligence and that he had connections to European organised crime). Jeffery was a controversial figure. He has been openly condemned by members of The Animals who blame him for the breakup of the band claiming that he worked the group into the ground and appropriated most of their earnings too. He was killed in 1973 in a mid-air collision over France. Jimi tried to get rid of his manager, he was earning only 3% of the income, but he was in purple hayz, always on drugs and easily manipulated. He was safe as long he was just a guitar legend, but he got involved in the politics and the Black Panther Party and raised funds for them. Jimi advised them to march on Washington. He had influence on masses and thus became a threat to the system.