Twelve years ago California became the first US state to legally allow marijuana as medicine. The intention was to offer relief to terminally ill patients. ibid.
The US v Mark Emery: Under US federal law there is no difference between selling seeds or selling pot. And this is why Emery is one of America’s most wanted. The government wants him extradited but Canada will not hand him over. If they did Emery could face years in a federal prison. ibid.
It’s the world’s favourite illegal drug. In the UK alone half of all sixteen to twenty-nine year olds have tried it at least once. How Drugs Work: Cannabis, BBC 2011
The cannabis smoke is inhaled ... As the blood spreads around the body, blood pressure starts to drop ... Up the spine and into the brain. This high can last for up to two hours and starts almost immediately. One of the first effects is a buzz. ibid.
A bad idea for anyone with heart trouble. ibid.
The first recorded use by humans was in China five thousand years ago. By the 1960s this mysterious weed was just about everywhere. ibid.
1988: scientists made the dramatic discovery: our bodies are hard-wired to react to cannabis. ibid.
Receptors: the THC molecule penetrates the brain and seizes control of the receptors. ibid.
For years scientists have been trying to pin down how the world looks to us when we are high. ibid.
We start making new connections in our mind. ibid.
Is it addictive? ... An estimated one in ten smokers will become dependent on cannabis. Quitting cannabis doesn’t lead to dramatic cold turkey effects like harder drugs. Other symptoms include irritability and decreased appetite. The exact opposite of the positive effects of cannabis. ibid.
Withdrawal symptoms should begin within a day ... And subside within one to two weeks. ibid.
The rates of addiction to cannabis are rising steadily. Experts believe this could down to one thing: the arrival of super-strength Skunk … Last year it was 80% ibid.
Skunk is the name given to genetically-engineered weed designed to deliver the maximum of ... TCH. ibid.
Psychosis is the ultimate bad trip. ibid.
In extreme cases people start seeing and hearing things that aren’t there. ibid.
Cannabis: it’s merely a plant, a wild weed, but it produces a range of effects that is unmatched. For some it is a blissful release. Horizon: Cannabis: The Evil Weed? BBC 2009
More people use cannabis than all other illicit drugs put together. ibid.
Cannabis is a close relative of the hop plant. But with one crucial difference. Cannabis contains a chemical called THC: tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient that gets you stoned. ibid.
Here in California people are using it to improve their health. Following a legal statute called The Compassionate Use Act passed in 1996 those with a medical problem can obtain cannabis from a high street dispensary. ibid.
There does appear to be a link between early use of cannabis and mental health problems. ibid.
We’re talking about a very systematic organised criminal activity being conducted throughout the West Coast anyway on our public lands by organised crime; these folks are almost always armed and it’s very real. Very real danger. Ron Pugh, US Forest Law Enforcement
A friend in need is a friend indeed
A friend with weed is better. Placebo, song Pure Morning
The most striking thing about marijuana is its medical properties. Christopher Hitchens, interview In Depth 2008
In the fall of 2010 the population of California voted on Proposition 19, a bill intended to liberalise and regulate the cultivation, use, and sale of marijuana. Marijuana True History, 2010
In 1996 California was the first state of the union to legalise marijuana for medical use. ibid.
There are over five thousand licensed dispensaries in California. ibid.
Marijuana cultivation has replaced what used to be the number one crop in California: wine. ibid.
Californian marijuana has become the most valued on the national market. ibid.
Indoor cultivation has already spread across the country. ibid.
So absurd and untenable has become the government’s position on marijuana that more and more people are beginning to suspect that the prohibition is not based on the presumed dangers of its chemical compounds but on the tremendous potential that hemp has always shown through history for industrial production. ibid.
Textiles, paper, food and fuel materials ... A wide range of medicinal remedies. ibid.
The cannabis plant is very resistant ... And grows faster than almost any other crop. ibid.
The oldest cannabis papers dates back to the Chinese Empire of 4,000 B.C. ibid.
Fabrics from cannabis are generally softer and stronger than cotton. ibid.
The seeds of cannabis can be used as a food base. ibid.
A superior fuel. ibid.
In 1941 the manufacturer Henry Ford designed an automobile that was built almost entirely with vegetable products. Especially cannabis and its derivatives. ibid.
The production of cannabis is currently banned practically everywhere in the world. The problems for cannabis began in the 1930s. ibid.
Apart from the risk of losing millions of dollars, Hearst and DuPont had something else in common: they were both funded by one of the most powerful bankers of the time: Andrew Mellon … the owner of Gulf Oil. ibid.
Nor should we forget the young pharmaceutical industry which was financed by two other powerful bankers: John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. These people were conducting an all-out campaign to eliminate the accepted natural herbal treatments including cannabis from the pharmacopeia while trying to replace them with drugs created in the laboratory. Furthermore, Rockefeller was also the owner of Standard Oil. ibid.
A plant loved and respected by the vast majority. ibid.
Attaching the use of marijuana to blacks and Mexicans. ibid.
It soon became a feared apparatus of state repression. ibid.
The backlash was immediate. Soon a Green Monster was born. The market was flooded with publications of all kinds in which marijuana also known as reefer became synonymous with sin, moral depravity, violence, recklessness, and even murder. From the most popular tabloids to adventure books, from comic strips to sophisticated magazines ... All owned by Randolph Hearst. ibid.
Anslinger was able to have the entire cultivation of the plant prohibited across the country. ibid.
Without public debate and without the support of scientific research in 1937 the Marijuana Tax Act was approved by President Roosevelt. The War on Cannabis had officially begun. There were dozens of glamorous arrests which the same Hearst immediately made known to the entire nation. But not everyone believed in the demonic dangers of marijuana. ibid.
The LaGuardia Report showed surprising results. Marijuana it said does not cause aggressive or anti-social personality. ibid.
Anslinger persuaded Congress to enact new laws. ibid.
Anglinger turned his attention to the rest of the world. ibid.
The petro-chemical industry had won its battle ... Most importantly our slavery to oil. ibid.
Vietnam soldiers were discovering marijuana. ibid.
Nixon ordered a new commission to study the effects on the individual. ibid.
When Nixon was informed of the results he trashed the report without even reading it. ibid.
The spread of marijuana appeared to be unstoppable. ibid.
Oregon State in 1973 challenged the Federal law. ibid.
Democrat Jimmy Carter elected in 1976 took an open stand in favour of decriminalisation. ibid.
By the end of his mandate Clinton had become the president who had spent more than anyone else in the history of the United States to fight the war on drugs. ibid.
Queen Victoria regularly used cannabis. ibid.
Cannabis was regularly prescribed by doctors, and was part of their traditional medicine bag. The therapeutic qualities of cannabis are almost as numerous as the countless products that can be extracted from the plant. ibid.
In the last ten years a number of highly regarded doctors and scientists from both Europe and the United States have been publishing extremely encouraging data on the anti-cancer qualities of cannabinoids. ibid.