The Weed Blog

California Votes To Legalize 2016

A melting POT of all marijuana news and information, the site keeps you informed on the the latest medical policies, teaches you how to cook with cannabis, informs you of advocacy news and support and educates you on how to grow your own marijuana.

Probably the Tipping Point. The West Coast (ignoring Arizona) is now Legal. 20% of the US Population can indulge without State harrassment. Trump may be psychotic, so we can't rely on anything he says, but he is on record as wanting to leave such matters up to the States. Which means he won't be supporting moves to led the Feds ramp up there war on the States. We shall see.

RSA 2 year Study Concludes UK Drugs Policy "Not Fit For Purpose"

The law as it stands is not fit for purpose. The principal
statute, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, is now more than thirty years old. It is unwieldy, inflexible and at some points addresses problems that no longer exist. It fails to embrace alcohol, tobacco and other harmful substances. It is driven more by ‘moral panic’ than by a practical desire to reduce harm. It relies too heavily on discretion in its enforcement. It sends people to prison who should not be there. It forces people into treatment who do not need it (while, in effect, denying treatment to people who do need it). Efforts to implement the law as it stands waste a great deal of money. Not least, the law as it stands embodies a classification of illegal drugs that is crude, ineffective, riddled with anomalies and open to political manipulation.

I'll have to count them but I think this is something like the 20th successive report in either the US or UK in the last 100 years to reach broadly similar conclusions about the War on Drugs. This one echoes most of the previous findings but does contain one little political bombshell (if it was ever implemented) viz:

If ministers reject the advice of their scientific advisers, the new Misuse of Substances Act should require them
to state formally and publicly their reasons for doing so.

Given that politicians have routinely commissioned and ignored all the previous reports, to date, this single recommendation could have the power to break the logjam. Having to explain their "moral panic" in public might be enough to embarrass them into changing the policy. (RSA March 8 2007)

If that link breaks (again) here is my cached copy of the pdf

The Emperor Wears No Clothes

This is the book that started the hemp revolution. More than 600,000 copies have been sold to date. The print version of The Emperor Wears No Clothes is available in Jack's Hemporium. Jack wants this information to be available to everyone, so he has published the text of the book here on the internet for free. This is only half of what is actually in the book. If you want all the source material and graphics, please buy a copy of the book.

Cannabis Suppresses Tumours

not even the cure for cancer is a big enough story to crack the Berlin Wall of media censorship in this country. Toss in the facts that the cure appears to be a benign substance that has been illegal for 63 years, and that the government knowingly suppressed evidence of its curative powers 25 years, and you get twice the story and twice the censorship.

Cannabis may prevent virus induced Cancer

Scientists have discovered the active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannibol can block the spread of gamma herpes viruses. The viruses are linked to an increased risk of the cancers Kaposis sarcoma, Burkitts lymphoma and Hodgkins disease. The research, by the University of South Florida, is published in the online journal BMC Medicine.

This is the introduction to my own contribution to the topic

There are two forms of Cannabis Psychosis. The first is a treatable clinical condition which affects about 3% of the young (largely) male users of the drug who tend to overindulge in their teenage years. Those most at risk are those who have a genetic predisposition to psychosis, particularly if they have inherited two copies of a specific genetic variation. Fortunately, in most cases, if they stop consuming, the symptoms clear up without further treatment.

The second form causes far more long term damage. It is an untreatable social condition which affects about 25% of those who have never consumed Cannabis. It is a deeply rooted sub-clinical phobia usually triggered by a religiously inspired fear of the liberating effects - in other people - of intoxication. This is often combined with a monomaniacal desire to control the behaviour of other people. The net result is a dangerous form of anti-social behaviour which has produced a form of low level warfare within society between those who wish to consume Cannabis and other recreational drugs and those whose mission in life is to stop them. This warfare - commonly referred to as "The War On Drugs" has been going on since - at least - the 1920s. Here we seek to explore this psychotic behaviour.