Marijuana Increases Brain Cell Formation in the Hippocampus
Often times, medical marijuana patients are stigmatized as “stupid” and “lazy.” As insulting as these assumptions may
be, marijuana activists have evidence that their medicine actually increases brain activity!
When comparing the positive effects marijuana has on brain activity in comparison to the harmful effects {on brain activity} of both alcohol and tobacco, the legalization of marijuana seems like a NO-BRAINER!
In 2005, Professor Xia Zhang, amongst some of his colleagues at Saskatchewan University, tested a synthetic form of THC (HU210) on a group of test rats to observe the effect that HU210 has on them. Particularly, the study focused on neurogenesis, which is brain cell formation and generation. The rats were given high doses of HU210, the THC-like compound, twice a day & everyday for ten days.
After the ten day study, the THC-like compound increased the rate of brain cell formation in the hippocampus by 40%! The hippocampus is the part of the brain used for memory forming, organizing, and storing. Symptoms of anxiety & depression in the rats also appeared to decrease.
While marijuana has been proven to have positive neurological effects, both tobacco & alcohol related studies show that each substance actually decreases brain cell formation. It is atrocious to think about the substances that the U.S. government allows its’ citizens to consume. Tobacco is literally the only legal product that will actually harm you if you use it correctly.
Why is the government heavily opposing marijuana if it increases the rate of brain cell formation? Well, too many people still think of marijuana users as “stupid” and “lazy.” With such a negative outlook on marijuana users, combined with false ideas they have about the medicine, citizens will unknowingly make judgments about marijuana.
More studies like the one presented above need to be released to the public by the mass. If the public knew the positive effects on marijuana, legalization will come much faster. Source: Nugs.com
Places that have decriminalized non-medical cannabis in the United States
Multiple places have decriminalized non-medical cannabis in the United States; however, cannabis is illegal under federal law. Gonzales v. Raich (2005) held in a 6-3 decision that the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution allowed the federal government to ban the use of cannabis, including medical use even if local laws allow it. Most places that have decriminalized cannabis have civil fines, drug education, or drug treatment in place of incarceration and/or criminal charges for possession of small amounts of cannabis, or have made various cannabis offenses the lowest priority for law enforcement.
Alaska
In 1975, Alaska removed all penalties for possession (not sale) of cannabis under 4 ounces in one’s residence or home. Also, the ruling allowed up to 24 private, noncommercial growing plants. Sale of less than 28.349 grams is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and up to a $5,000 fine;[1] at the time, in most states sale of less than 28.349 grams was a felony offense. 2006 court rulings have upheld the legal status of private possession up to the one ounce level relating to the particulars in that specific legal challenge. This leaves the one to four ounce range, and the live plant totals in a confused legal status, presumably involving criminal consequences.
With the 1975 Ravin v. State decision, the Alaska Supreme Court declared the state’s anti-drug law unconstitutional with respect to possession of small amounts of cannabis, holding that the right to privacy guaranteed by the Constitution of Alaska outweighed the state’s interest in banning the drug
Arkansas
California
Smoke Signals
Marijuana legalization: How Colorado is following Alaska’s smoke trail
When the final tally rang on election night, hundreds of thousands of voters in Colorado and Washington rejoiced at the passing of their respective marijuana bills. In these states, the people had spoken: legalize it. Amid the hazy celebrations, however, one acknowledgement was conspicuously absent. Alaska had actually legalized marijuana first. Sort of.
Read more…
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2013/02/marijuana_legalization_colorado_alaska.php
Inside Medical Marijuana: Alaska In The Marijuana Debate
January 31, 2013
GRANITE FALLS, Wash. — Inside Mike Smith‘s marijuana grow room in Washington state, more than a dozen cannabis plants sit in rows, propped off the ground, closer to a large lamp hanging above.
“They like the air to move, they like it about 72 degrees,” says Smith. “Nothing crazy here or anything, it’s all simple.”
Smith says he is hoping to get four ounces of marijuana from each plant, which he uses for medicinal purposes. His Granite Falls grow room is legal in Washington, but not in Alaska, where card-carrying medical marijuana users are allowed to possess one ounce and grow up to six plants as long as no more than three of the plants are flowering.
Though Smith lives in Washington, he has strong ties to the medical marijuana climate in Alaska — his Anchorage business, The Healing Center Medical Clinic, has helped hundreds of Alaskans obtain a medical marijuana card since it opened in early 2012.
“There was a need. We had done some research and made calls and people really needed to see us. They were having a hard time finding a doctor up there that understood that medical marijuana does help,” Smith said.
The monthly clinic gives pre-screened patients a chance to sit down with a physician who is able to provide a recommendation for medical cannabis, if that patient has a qualifying condition like chronic pain or cancer. Smith says most of his clients are men in their fifties and sixties.
“They’re out there. There’s people from all walks of life dong everything with medical marijuana cards,” says Smith. “It’s about patients. It’s not about pushing drugs on people, it’s about the choice to use a natural plant for their pain remedy, if they so choose.”
Besides being a medical cannabis advocate, he is also in favor of decriminalizing marijuana in Alaska altogether. It is an issue one national group, is pushing for too. The Marijuana Policy Project is targeting Alaska as a 2014 ballot initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana, on the heels of successful voter-driven legalization in Washington and Colorado.
“It came sort of from the bottom up. And I guess I would expect the same thing to happen here, if at all, to come from some initiative,” said Sen. Hollis French (D-Anchorage).
Marijuana was re-criminalized under Alaska law in 2006, even though opponents argued the bill that did so was a violation of privacy rights guaranteed by Alaska’s constitution.
“We’ve always been a little different because of that privacy clause, because of Alaskans sort of jealously guarding that right to privacy. But I think we’re not a state that condones marijuana usage either. There’s a tension between those two,” says French.
Recently, there hasn’t been a real push to repeal the 2006 law from any group in the state, but Smith hopes that changes.
“If it was on the ballot six months from now and people in the State of Alaska knew that they could legalize marijuana for their own personal use, I believe they would wholeheartedly,” Smith said.
Contact Abby Hancock:
http://articles.ktuu.com/2013-01-31/marijuana-debate_36667151
Huge turnout at Spokane forum on marijuana legalization
In one of the biggest turnouts in the state, more than 450 people packed the state Liquor Control Board’s public forum Tuesday night in Spokane to talk about Washington’s baby steps into the world of state-sanctioned sales of recreational marijuana.
The clearly supportive crowd at the Spokane Convention Center mostly raised objections to what’s perceived as the bureaucratic red tape set out by Initiative 502, which was approved by 55 percent of state voters and directs authorities to establish a system of production, distribution and sales of marijuana to people older than 21.
“It could be the next American industry,” said Ryan Park, of San Francisco, explaining that he has backers ready to support a marijuana store in Spokane. “We could be the country that smoked its way out of debt.”
However, several speakers pleaded with the Liquor Control Board members to ensure that limitations remain in place on advertising.
Hawaii Marijuana Legalization Bill Dies
A bill that would have legalized marijuana died in the state legislature Tuesday. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Karl Rhoads told the Associated Press he decided to kill it after a head count found the bill would come up short in the House.
The measure, House Bill 669, would have allowed people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce and grow an unspecified number of plants in a secure location. It would also have created a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce. It was sponsored by House Speaker Joseph Souki (D-8), leading proponents to hope his support could help push it through the House, but that was not to be.
A public hearing last week saw now familiar arguments reprised. County police departments, the state attorney general and the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii told legislators marijuana was a dangerous drug and that the social costs of legalizing it would be too high, while supporters of the bill, including the ACLU of Hawaii said legalization would save the state money and respect Hawaiians’ freedom of choice. They also argued that pot prohibition disproportionately impacts the state’s minorities.
President Obama’s store sells hemp from Communist China while hemp farming in America remains criminalized
(NaturalNews) While America’s economy is suffering staggering losses in jobs and debt, the Obama administration is creating jobs for Chinese workers by selling hemp scarves on its website — even while industrialized hemp remains illegal for U.S. farmers to grow!
The “Monique Pean” scarf runs $95 on BarackObama.com (http://store.barackobama.com/monique-pean.html), and is described as:
Designed by Monique Pean. Circle scarf made of 45% certified organic cotton / 55% hemp, measures 42” L X 21” W. Made in the USA.
Here’s a screen shot of the item, in case they try to remove it from their store:
http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/articles/Barack_Obama_Hemp_Scarf.j…
It may be “made in the USA,” but the hemp it uses is imported from nations like China because under the Obama administration, industrial hemp remains illegal to grow in the USA.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036696_Barack_Obama_industrial_hemp_farmers.html#ixzz2JcPfNVcX
The hemp hypocrisy
Thanks to Obama, anyone who tries to grow hemp will be raided at gunpoint by U.S. federal agents, prosecuted for felony crimes and thrown in prison.
So why is it okay for Barack Obama to buy industrial hemp grown in China, but keep industrial hemp criminalized in America?
Robert Scott Bell asked this question on the August 2, 2012 broadcast of the Robert Scott Bell Show. Download the MP3 here:
http://radio.naturalnews.com/Archive-RobertScottBell.asp
The hemp segment is right at the beginning of the show. Also covered on the show:
Barack Sells Hemp From China for Money, Denying American Farmers Right to Grow Cannabis, Jon Rappoport, DARPA Seal Flu Shots, Medical Martial Law, Dunderheaded Dentists on Fluoride, Cameroon Cess Pools Really Vaccine Deficiencies, School Shot Exemptions, Menstrual Marketing, Digital Pills, Biological Freedom, Smoking Telephone Poles and more on The Robert Scott Bell Show.
How to really create more jobs in America: LEGALIZE HEMP
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036696_Barack_Obama_industrial_hemp_farmers.html#ixzz2JcPtDp4p
Cannabis News Roundup: January 25, 2013
(ASA) // The US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC this week ruled against de-classifying cannabis as a dangerous drug, saying “adequate and well-controlled studies” on cannabis as medicine do not exist. An appeal is expected.
(Seattle Post) // “Very satisfying” is the way Washington state Governor Jay Inslee described a conversation Tuesday with US Attorney General Eric Holder concerning that state’s need to implement voter approval of recreational cannabis. There was no discussion of how the federal government might react in the future.
(HuffPost) // Here in California, the question remains: can a city pass an outright ban on cannabis dispensaries? Riverside and Upland think so. So did Los Angeles, for a while. But how can that be legal when state law permits them? Those are some of the questions to be considered next month by the California Supreme Court. [Holly Kernan and I touched on this topic in our on-air discussion of cannabis news on “Crosscurrents” last week.]
(SFGate) // President Obama’s second term started this week, generating reviews of his first term. Confusion on medical marijuana is one of five “broken promises” listed in this summary from his first four years.
I think this needs a clarification, though. The President said the Justice Dept. wouldn’t go after “medical marijuana users,” but he didn’t say it wouldn’t go after dispensaries. I know, I know: they’re two sides of the same coin. Where do users safely acquire cannabis if the dispensaries are shut down? It is a puzzlement.
And it’s a question that Matt Davies of Stockton had answered the hard way; he faces seven years in prison after his dispensaries were raided. Thisstory, by the Chronicle’s conservative columnist, points out that the Justice Dept. has always said that “significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana” are a priority, even though their activities may be legal under state rules.
(MJBusinessDaily) // That said, the Medical Marijuana Business Daily seespositive news for the industry in 2013, not the least being the list of states considering some sort of cannabis regulation.
New Horizons in the Pursuit of Marijuana’s Legalization
Reformers Must Win the Marijuana Information War
The passage of marijuana legalization initiatives in Washington and Colorado are exciting turning points in the long effort to end marijuana prohibition in the United States.
State level policies have always been>>>>>>>>>>>continue>>
MARIJUANA AND THE HUMAN BRAIN by Jon Gettman High Times, March 1995
INTRODUCTION
The next century will view the 1988 discovery of the THC receptor site in the brain as the pivotal event which led to the legalization of marijuana.
Before this discovery, no one knew for sure just how the psychoactive chemical in marijuana worked on the brain. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, researchers made tremendous strides in understanding how the brain works, by using receptor sites as switches which respond to various chemicals by regulating brain and body functions.
The dominant fear about marijuana in the 20th century has been that its effects were somehow similar to the dangerously addictive effects of opiates such as morphine and heroin. Despite widespread decriminalization of marijuana in the United States in the 1970s, this concern has remained the basis for federal law and policies regarding the use and study of marijuana.
The legal manifestation of this fear is the continued classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, a category shared by heroin and other drugs that are banned from medical use because of their dangerous, addictive qualities. While only 11 states have formally decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, 45 states distinguish between marijuana and other Schedule I drugs for law-enforcement and sentencing purposes.
Until the 1980s, technological limitations obstructed scientific understanding of the neuropharmacology of THC, of how the active ingredient in marijuana actually affects brain functions. Observations and conclusions about this subject, though based on some biological studies, were largely influenced by observations of behavior. This has allowed cultural prejudice to sustain the faith that marijuana is somehow related to heroin, and that research will eventually prove this hypothesis. Actually, the discovery of the THC receptor site and the subsequent research and observations it has inspired conclusively refute the hypothesis that marijuana is dope.
Many important brain functions which affect human behavior involve the neurotransmitter dopamine. Serious drugs of abuse, such as heroin and cocaine, interfere with the brain’s use of dopamine in manners that can seriously alter an individual’s behavior. A drug’s ability to affect the neural systems related to dopamine production has now become the defining characteristic of drugs with serious abuse potential.
According to the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, research over the last 10 years has proved that marijuana has no effect on dopamine-related brain systems – unless you are an inbred Lewis rat (see below), in which case abstention is recommended.
The discovery of a previously unknown system of cannabinoid neural transmitters is profound. While century-old questions, such as why marijuana is nontoxic, are finally being answered, new, fascinating questions are emerging – as in the case of all great discoveries. In the words of Israeli researcher Raphael Mechoulam, the man who first isolated the structure of THC, “Why do we have cannabinoid receptors?”
Mechoulam’s theory will resonate well with marijuana smokers in the United States. He observes that “Cannabis is used by man not for its actions on memory of movement or movement coordination, but for its actions on memory and emotions, “and asks, “Is it possible that the main task of cannabinoid receptors . . . (is) to modify our emotions, to serve as the links which transmit or transform or translate objective or subjective events into perceptions and emotions?” At a 1990 conference on cannabinoid research in Crete, Mechoulam concluded his remarks by saying, “Let us hope, however, that through better understanding of cannabis chemistry in the brain, we may also approach the chemistry of emotions.”
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THC RESEARCH
Full reports>>>>>Marijuana and the human brain