IMPORTANT CANNABIS ISSUES

Effects of Cannabis

THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH SOME IMPORTANT questions surrounding the health risks and social issues associated with cannabis use. It should be the endeavor of every cannabis user to learn as much as they can about the plant, its immediate effects and the long-term consequences of use. If you encourage yourself to learn more about these aspects of cannabis, you may eventually encourage other users to do the same. Educating yourself is your best defense against cannabis misinformation.

We are currently in an era of cannabis pseudo-science, in which scientists, documentary makers, doctors and other ^cannabis experts' speak extensively on the subject and impose their own interpretations, which are rarely supported with factual data. You must ask why some mainstream cannabis researchers use doctors as the only authority for their cannabis research? A doctor's authority is in medicine. Cannabis has other uses besides being a medicine, yet most people seem to think that doctors are the only answer to the cannabis question. This is a false assumption. Some doctors and medical authorities have made names for themselves by supporting cannabis prohibition; others have made names for themselves by supporting cannabis legalization. Unfortunately, we seem to hear from the former most often, while the latter are often silenced.

Here are a few of the pseudo-scientific claims that are commonly used to support the argument for cannabis prohibition due to the presence of stronger, more potent cannabis on the market.
• Cannabis is getting stronger
• The stronger the cannabis, the greater the health risks
• Hydroponics makes cannabis stronger
• New lighting technology means stronger cannabis
• Feeding products and growth hormones make cannabis stronger
• New extraction techniques make hashish stronger
• More crystals means moreTHC and stronger cannabis
In the pages that follow, we examine each of these claims, or myths. Growers will also learn something from this discussion.

Myth #1: Cannabis is Getting Stronger
The concept that "Today's cannabis is stronger than the cannabis of the 60s or 70s" is unsubstantiated by fact. Open any seed bank catalogue that has strains from the 60s and 70s in stock. Order them, grow them, sample your results and you will learn why they are still some of the most expensive seed lines on the market. Strains developed in the 60s and 70s are arguably still the most potent cannabis strains around.

Not only are people more informed as to what constitutes bad cannabis nowadays, but low potency plants are also less likely to be available and/or purchased. This does NOT imply a potency increase. What it does suggest is that people might need to USE LESS cannabis to get the SAME EFFECT as using a lot of bad cannabis. When you think about use in terms smoking it is easy to see that smoking less is far better than smoking more.
Consider this: If the cannabis of the 60s were weaker than the cannabis of the 21st Century, why would internationally known seed banks still advertise some of the oldest stabilized cannabis plants of the 60s and 70s as their most potent?
Haze strains, Thai and other Cannabis Sativa (species) strains of the 60s (imported largely from Asia) are landrace strains that were cultivated by locals for their high cannabinoid content and hemp material. They were bred for hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years.

The suggestion that hybridizing these plants in conjunction with breeding techniques has somehow made cannabis stronger is a false notion. What has happened is that a new species of cannabis has emerged on the market that was not previously widely available. This species is called Cannabis Indica and is the reason why cannabis may seem different, but is not necessarily stronger or more potent.

Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Ruderalis where not common in 60s America and Europe, which was then a mostly Cannabis Sativa market. Cannabis Sativa by its nature gives a head high effect. Cannabis Indica gives a body down effect. This has to do with the plants' flowering times and cannabinoid contents. Cannabis Sativa and Cannabis Indica can be bred together to produce a hybrid plant that is a 50/50 mix, mostly Cannabis Sativa or mostly Indica. However this does not increase potency. Potency is genetically determined—you cannot GENERATE new genes that where NOT THERE in the first place.
New breeding techniques give growers and breeders more control over plant characteristics but this does not lead to a potency increase. If seed banks could breed plants that were even double in potency of the strains of the 60s, they would be selling them. What we have gained over the years are strains that produce more flowers, and therefore higher yields, but this has nothing to do with the intoxicating properties of the plant.
Fact: Big plants do not equal more potent plants quite simply because the traits for yield and potency are governed by different genes.
Myth # 2: The Stronger the Cannabis, the Greater the Health Risks
Cannabis is a very controllable recreational and medical drug to use.The effects of cannabis are not as unpredictable as some 'authorities' may have you believe. Calculating how much to take is easy because similar amounts from the same strain should produce the same effects. In fact most experienced cannabis users can recognize the subtle variations of the different cannabis species.
Long-term users experience something called tolerance. If you smoke cannabis every day your tolerance level will increase within a few days. You will notice that you will need to take slightly more to get the same effect that you experienced when your tolerance level was at its lowest—when you first started using cannabis. This does not mean that you will have to keep increasing the amounts that you take in order to experience an effect. Your tolerance levels will eventually peak and the amount that you need to take in order to experience the effect will remain at this fixed level. Increasing the amounts that you take will no longer heighten the effects of marijuana, but merely sustain them for longer. Usually, cessation of use for a week or two is enough to bring your tolerance back down to its initial level.
Other recreational drugs, like alcohol, can be pushed past your peak tolerance by consuming more. The effect of alcohol consumption increases vigorously with the amount taken and it is possible to exceed tolerance levels to the point at which users can even develop ^alcohol poisoning.'The effect of cannabis consumption is very much dependant on your tolerance levels. Through experience you learn to respect your limits for cannabis.
So what is the worst possible scenario with regards to taking too much cannabis? Even using large amounts of the strongest cannabis strain on its own (without alcohol) will only result in apathy followed by sleep for the novice user: Sweet dreams!
Another health-related misconception is that "high THC levels mean higher volumes of smoke being held in the lungs for longer, which is equivalent to smoking lots of cigarettes".
THC levels, percentages and concentrations do not equate to more smoke. In any given volume of smoke there is a ratio of THC-related compounds to other gases, such as carbon monoxide, that are released during the burning process. One ounce of poor quality cannabis will give off the same volume of smoke as one ounce of high-quality cannabis. Also many people do not smoke cannabis in joints but take the healthier carbon-monoxide-and-tar-free route by using vaporization techniques. Smoke-free vaporization is discussed in detail later in this chapter.
Myth #3: Hydroponics Makes Cannabis Stronger Hydroponics is a method of cultivation whereby soil is replaced by a soil-less substrate, such as rockwool, Oasis, perlite or vermiculite. The plant is placed in this soil-less substrate and fed an aerated nutrient solution. This method allows the plant to receive the optimal levels of water, air and nutrients it needs in order to survive and thrive.
Trie very nature of hydroponics allows the plant to expend less energy in the pursuit of nutrients, air and water, and to divert more energy towards plant growth. This results in increased plant size, better health and bushiness (plants grown in hydroponics tend to produce more nodes because of the optimum growing conditions involved).This does not result in increased potency.
Why? Because potency is determined at a genetic level. The environment may influence the final expression of the gene but it certainly does not change the gene to increase potency. Potency cannot increase past the gene's threshold with any known type of growing method, growth hormone or stimulant.
A plant's genotype (what is encoded as the plant's D.N.A.) is expressed in the plant's phenotype (what you can see, smell, taste, etc.) when the plant is growing. Phenotypes are genetically governed but are also influenced by the environment. Even in optimum growing conditions the plant will never increase past its threshold for potency levels, or size contained in its genotype.
It is also worth noting that hydroponic growing does not guarantee that you will automatically increase your overall yields. Many new soil-based methods can achieve the same or better results. The notion that hydroponics somehow increases cannabis potency.
Myth #4: New Lighting Technology Means Stronger Cannabis HID lighting has indeed changed the world of indoor growing over the past twenty years. HID lighting like MH (Metal Halide) lights and HPS (High Pressure Sodium) are the choice of professional indoor cannabis growers the world over. However, all these lights do is provide the optimal lighting conditions plants require in order to live up to their full genetic potential. It does NOT improve potency, which is genetically determined.
Also, HID lights may be a good replacement for natural light but natural light is still the best light you can use for cannabis cultivation. Geographical and environmental conditions prevent growers from having complete access to this light for at least six months of the year. Some Cannabis Sativa plants require up to six months flowering before they reach their full potential—which, after three months of vegetative growth, adds up to nine months growing time! Lighting is clearly important to achieving optimal growth, but the notion that new lighting technology had led to stronger marijuana is flawed.
Myth #5: Feeding Products and Growth Hormones Make Cannabis Stronger
Most feeding products contain primary nutrients, secondary nutrients and micronutrients. None of these nutrients, in any combination, will increase a plant's potency. They are simply elements that the plant needs in order to grow and thrive.
The only way in which a growth hormone can affect marijuana potency is if the hormone causes D.N.A repair malfunction, which can lead to a mutation of the plant's D.N.A. However this type of mutation is not controllable and the chances of it happening and resulting in increased potency are very slim. In addition, the plant may exhibit other side-effects that could be negative. So even if you did succeed in increasing the potency via a growth hormone or a D.N.A. repair mutation, you could end up with a sickly or inferior plant on your hands that is hard to grow or reproduce. The notion that feeding products and growth hormones make cannabis stronger is flawed.
Myth #6: New Extraction Techniques Make Hashish Stronger
The reason why hash may seem stronger is because it is not always pure. In fact most mass-produced hash contains traces of adulterates like tranquillizers, opium, heroin and even commonly purchased medicines to help add spice to the product. This is very common with imported cannabis products but does not mean that cannabis produced at home is not adulterated too.
The black-market creates an incentive to produce and sell adulterated marijuana products. Remember that there are absolutely no content restrictions on illegal cannabis and most people have no way of knowing what it is they are taking. Hashish can be cut just like other drugs during production so that the drug manufacturer can sell its product for more money because it is better. Cannabis prohibition fuels that!
In Amsterdam, where cannabis is legal, nearly 100% of all cannabis consumed comes from local, regulated cultivation companies. The bud and hash they produce is not contaminated with any foreign drugs.
New hashish extraction methods, like cold water bubble hash extraction (the best of methods), do not increase potency; they simply reduce the amount of foreign bodies (leaf, stem, dirt) in the hash. The objective of the extraction method is to try to produce almost pure THC.This does not make the product stronger, or more potent, per se. It makes it more concentrated and pure, so that smaller doses are needed to achieve an effect. The notion that new extraction techniques make marijuana stronger is flawed.
Myth #7: More Crystals Means More THC and Stronger Cannabis
Crystals are simply indicators of trichome development on the flowering pistils and its surrounding leaves and stems of the female cannabis plant. Under close observation these crystals look like mushroom heads on a long stalk.That is why they are also known as stalked capitate resin glands. The head of the trichome and stalk contain the highly prized cannabinoids.
Trichome growth and potency levels are two very different traits. You could have an extremely frosty plant with low cannabinoid content in the trichomes or you can have a plant with hardly any trichomes that are extremely high in cannabinoid content.
Although high trichome numbers do not mean high potency levels, breeders generally try to stabilize high trichome numbers with high cannabinoid levels for aesthetic and manicuring purposes intended for the final product's presentation. The notion that more crystals means more THC and stronger cannabis is also flawed.
SO, IS CANNABIS GETTING STRONGER?
Hopefully I have made some headway in explaining how cannabis has changed since the 60s and 70s. The bottom line is that, to-date, nothing on the market has proven to beat the potency levels of the strains of the 60s and 70s. However this does not mean that plants with hyper-cannabinoid levels do not exist. They do "if you can find them" and then set about either cloning the strain or stabilizing them.
THE TRUTH ABOUT HYPER-POTENT CANNABIS
Random mating of plants may eventually lead to the emergence of a plant with the right genetics to contribute to a breeding program for hyper-increased potency.
• Most new traits are discovered accidentally, and not always by people with breeding knowledge who can harness the trait and continue it.
• If you did discover this trait, you would have to grow extremely large selections of test offspring to breed such a plant. You would have to test each and every plant to find the trait and stabilize it so that all of its offspring would produce the same hyper-potent trait. This could take a matter of months or a number of lifetimes to achieve.
• Sometimes the authorities get to it first, bringing your hyper-cannabinoid breeding program to an abrupt halt.
• The strains of the 60s and 70s still have not been beaten for cannabinoid levels because these old strains have been selected by generations of local growers compared to our mere 40 years of marijuana cultivation and breeding agendas.
• It is less common to find poor strains being produced by breeders these days.This means that nearly all commercial & medical marijuana is potent in some way shape or form.
• Only a handful of cuttings (clones) in the world exist which have proven to be hyper-potent—Cali 0, MTF, Champaign, Chemo and G13, to name a few.
• Clones are not sold by internationally known seed banks, perhaps because clones are difficult to ship around the world.
• Only good (not to mention lucky) breeding techniques or GM (genetically modified) crops can make cannabis genetically stronger, or more potent.
• The only group to claim to have truly hyper-potent cannabis plants is the U.S. government, which conducts experiments into genetically modifying marijuana. They have never released them to the public.
So, What Has Actually Changed?
Maybe now would be a good time to list some actual changes that have taken
place over the years.
1. The introduction of Cannabis Indica species has led to the development of hybrid plants that combine the head high effect with the body down effect.
2. Good cannabis breeders have eradicated poorer forms of cannabis from the gene pool in their breeding programs.This includes hermaphrodite plants that can never produce sinsemilla crops.The net effect is that there are less poor cannabis plants on the market so nearly every type of home grown marijuana is good to some degree as long as it has been grown, flowered, harvested and cured correctly.
3. Sinsemilla crops are flowering female plants that do not bear seeds because the males have been removed before pollination occurs. This does not increase potency. It does increase yield because the plants can divert energy from seed production towards flower production.
4. There are many variations of cannabis on the market with different tastes, smells and high types. The Cannabis Sativas of the 60s and 70s are very strong and are not really suitable for the novice smoker.
5. Imported hashish usually contains adulterates. It is rarely, if ever, just cannabis.
The bottom line is that since the marijuana plant first started being used by humans the gene pool has not undergone some form of a major potency increase. What has changed is our ability to stabilize traits in a plant population and to ensure that traits are continued in the offspring.
Laws against cannabis have also brought about serious and harmful change. If you look at the facts you will learn that we humans have been using the plant for thousands of years without any major problems. Cannabis prohibition also prevents people from accessing a useful crop and potential fuel source. It also fuels terrorism, extortion, misinformation, scare tactics, murders, beatings and child labor. It allows criminals to control the cannabis black market where they sell their own inferior or adulterated product to adults and children. It puts innocent people all over the world in jail or in jeopardy.These are major problems and we need to get cannabis back under our control. Prohibition does not improve lives—it destroys them...and this FACT cannot be disputed. Given these negatives, how can there be a logical reason for marijuana prohibition?
Having said this, there are some health risks and social issues associated with cannabis that should be part of a healthy, open discussion on the subject. Some of the issues are addressed in the section that follows.These should not be treated as reasons for cannabis prohibition, because regardless of cannabis prohibition these issues still exist. A few key issues are addressed in the section that follows.
How to Avoid Taking Cancer Causing Agents
Is cannabis a carcinogen? The answer is yes if you smoke it using a flame directly in contact with the cannabis, which causes a process called combustion. This is because carbon monoxide is released during combustion and carbon monoxide can be deadly to humans.
Whatever way you look at it, regular inhalation of carbon monoxide will eventually destroy your lungs. If there is a history of cancer in your family then chances are that constant, prolonged inhalation of carbon monoxide will cause cancer to develop in you. The risks are staggering if you think about it. Most people who ^ breathe in a lot of carbon monoxide die from carbon monoxide-related diseases. 1 Of course, pollution from modern society (cars, industry, etc.) has produced much ; more carbon monoxide than cannabis smokers ever have or will.
Nicotine was also recently discovered to be a carcinogen. It was thought for a long time that it was just the tar and carbon monoxide that were carcinogens, but the more we look at less suspicious substances, the more we find that they are indeed carcinogens as well.
At the moment it is not known if cannabis is a carcinogen because cannabis is made up of so many different types of materials, including cannabinoids and their thousands of related gases that are released during combustion. The number of compounds we need to analyze to be able to say for sure probably runs in to the ten of thousands.
So before anyone discovers carcinogens in these compounds, we might as well assume that some of them are bad, and are actually the result of the combustion process. It makes good sense to remove the risk of contact with carbon monoxide from the equation.This is easy to do: you can either cook with cannabis or use a process known as vaporization.
Cooking with Cannabis
Non-smokers can enjoy marijuana without the effects of carbon monoxide. The Marijuana Chef Cookbook by S.T. Oner, is a great cannabis cooking guide for all marijuana lovers. It covers the basics of cooking, cannabis drinks, desserts, vegetarian marijuana meals, main marijuana courses, starters and soups. It contains quite a number of recipes for you to choose from.
Cooking with cannabis is a healthy way to enjoy marijuana. Many cannabis users have found that cannabis foods are just as delightful as smoking a joint or using a vaporizer. If you like marijuana you should give cooking a try.
VAPORIZATION
Vaporization is the key to the future of smoking cannabis. The vaporization technique simply uses heat instead of a flame to convert your cannabis matter into a fume rather than smoke that contains carbon monoxide.
Imagine placing a small amount cannabis on a knife and gradually heating the knife over a stove. As the knife heats up, the marijuana begins to heat up as well, but it does not burn or catch fire right away. As the knife heats up, a vapor drifts out from the bud. After a while the knife will become very hot and the cannabis will catch fire (if there is still some matter left) and give off a plume of gray and blue smoke.
There is a point at which the cannabis is converted into fumes without releasing carbon monoxide. It will only start to release the cancer-causing agent when the temperature of the knife increases to the point at which cannabis reaches its combustion threshold and starts to burn. In other words, you do not need to burn cannabis in order to smoke it. All you need to do is heat the knife to the point at which THC vaporizes. This is what a vaporizer does.
Like a bong, hookah or any glass pipe, the vaporizer holds the vapor or fumes in an enclosure before you inhale. Most vaporizers are electric and require charging before the heating element is ready for the application of cannabis. Since the temperature of the heating element never rises above the threshold of THC combustion you do not release carbon monoxide. The boiling point of THC is 200°C (392°F). Between 200°C and 300°C will release THC more quicker. Between 300°C and 400°C carbon monoxide may be released along with THC. Between 400°C and 500°C carbon monoxide will be released along with THC. Temperatures of 500°C and above result in complete combustion with maximum carbon monoxide emissions. Everything burns up, leaving very little ash. Vaporizer users stick with 200°C (392°F) to achieve the desired effect of keeping carbon monoxide levels either at zero or to natural levels present in air.
Vaporizers can be bought in all sizes, shapes and forms. Pharmaceutical companies spend hundreds of thousands on industrial vaporizers in order to reduce carbon monoxide emissions from their factories. Make sure that your vaporizer has an adjustable temperature function so that you can choose how hot you want the element to get.
Before you buy a vaporizer you may want to check out the low-cost, do-it-yourself method described below. Remember though, that you are much better off buying a professional vaporizer to ensure that no carbon monoxide is released.
The Light Bulb Vaporizer
The light bulb vaporizer is a simple vaporizer that you can make using common household products. It allows the user to smoke cannabis without inhaling carbon monoxide in the process. This is one of the safest ways you can consume marijua
ITEMS NEEDED:
1. A screw-type 100-watt domestic light bulb
2. A normal plastic screw-type bottle top
3. Two straws or a 10 cm glass tube and a 3 cm glass tube
4. A multipurpose pocket knife
5. Water
PREPARATION:
Be careful when you hold the bulb that you do not break it. Very little pressure is needed to complete this procedure. Hold the bulb in a thick cloth or use padded gloves for protection if you need too.
Step 1. Prepare the items as shown in the above picture.
Step 2. Use the knife to cut the base of the bulb at the last screw-threading groove. The knife should sink in easily because this metal is very light.
Step 3. After cutting the base of the bulb it should come off easily.

Step 4. If you look into the bulb you will notice some glass in the way of the element.
Step 5. Push down on this area very gently with a knife, turning the knife as you do so.
Step 6- With very little pressure, the glass inside will crack and the element will become dislodged. The knife will pass all the way through.
Step 7. Empty out the contents. There will be broken glass here so be careful. If you have trouble getting the element out, keep tipping the bulb back and forth until a wire protrudes through the opening. Catch this wire and you will be able to pull the element out.
Step 8. Using the knife, churn out any remaining glass still present on the rim of the opening.
Step 9. You now have a bulb which has the end cut away and all the inside contents removed. Look inside to make sure that all the glass has been tipped out.
Step 10. Give the bulb a rinse with water to remove any of the remaining dust particles or glass. If your bulb is not the clear type, then this process will wash away the inside coating, making your bulb transparent. Make sure to let the bulb dry before using it again.
Step 11. Take the plastic bottle top and make two holes in it using the pocket knife. By using the screwdriver part of the knife you can easily make a hole.
Step 12. Insert your straw or glass tubes into the holes in the bottle cap.Glass tubes last longer than plastic tubes.
Step 13. Screw the bottle cap with the straws attached into the bulb. The bottle cap should easily screw onto the bulb's grooves.
Step 14. If you are using straws you can cut them down to size to match the example. You will notice that one of the straws is smaller than the other. This smaller straw is just an air-flow straw. It simply allows air to enter the bulb as you inhale cannabis fumes through the top straw.
Step 15. Unscrew the cap and put some bud in before sealing.

Using your light bulb vaporizer:
Use a naked flame to heat the bulb just under the bud. Swirl the flame around j a circular motion like a scientist. Inhale through the longer tube. After about fif teen to thirty seconds you will taste some vapor. This vapor contains varioil cannabinoids without carbon monoxide. You can inhale this without inhaling ca bon monoxide. As you continue to heat the glass, more vapor will be relea However the longer you heat the glass, the more the temperature will increase-eventually passing the boiling point of THC so that carbon monoxide is relea You will see this clearly in the glass because it will begin to fill with smoke. Yo will also taste the difference.The taste of carbon monoxide mixed with cannabi-j
noids is like hay. Do not inhale this if you want to stay healthy. Although this!
:|
smoke does contain cannabinoids, it also contains carbon monoxide. Have a tis-f sue nearby to wipe the glass after you are finished. Unscrew the cap and dump out the used bud. A black residue will develop on the outside of the bulb. This is the result of the flame coming into contact with the glass. You can wash your bulbs out after a few uses and start all over again.
Conclusion
Vaporization is a safe and effective method of smoking marijuana as long as yout do not release and inhale carbon monoxide. Regulating the flame can also help^ prevent the bud reaching temperatures that cause carbon monoxide to be; released. Professional vaporizers are more controllable than the light bulb method because the temperature of the heated bud can be kept well below the point of carbon monoxide release.
CANNABIS LEGALIZATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Cannabis and Young Adults
Many parents and teachers are opposed to cannabis decriminalization and legalization because of concerns about risks to the health, the wellbeing and future of children. This is very understandable.
Most adults agree that children should not use drugs and most cannabis users and enthusiasts recognize this. In fact many shops, web sites and message board forums related to marijuana actively seek to prevent children from using or growing cannabis.
Although this cannot achieve 100% effectiveness, it does demonstrate that many cannabis users take the issue seriously. Sadly though the same cannot be said for some of those who deal cannabis on the black market, which is a result of prohibition. This is yet another reason to bring cannabis back under our control.
If you have seen the Academy award-winning film Traffic then you will probably understand that there is also a need for closer parent/child communication with regards to drug education. The concept that cannabis decriminalization or legalization will lead to more (or less) children using cannabis is flawed. But then, the illegality of cannabis doesn't seem to stop them from using it either. Cannabis is a very popular recreational drug.
So ask yourself this basic question: if my child is determined to get hold of cannabis would he be better off procuring it from the black market or from a controlled, regulated manufacturer or retailer?
We should be dealing with the cannabis issue in terms of REALITY and not in terms of myths that are propagated by anxiety or fear, most of which is the result of pseudo-scientific or political misinformation.Too many people let their emotions be their guide instead of relying on reason where marijuana is concerned. The fact is that your child can buy drugs whether or not cannabis prohibition exists. A storefront does not make cannabis any more or less accessible than it already is to your child, right now, in reality. It does, however, make it less dangerous.
CANNABIS IS A REALITY
Cannabis does not disappear because it is prohibited. Cannabis is a very common illegal drug, and most users who experiment with illegal drugs are bound to try cannabis at one point. Most of these users are totally unaware of the effects of cannabis because prohibition stifles proper education and research. There are well over 15,000 scientific papers on cannabis and a lot of them explain how cannabis is used and what effects it has on the user without using scare tactics or fear to induce a psychological block with regards to cannabis information. Scaring people can prevent people from doing something, however it does so by controlling them, not educating them.
Some people suggest that cannabis is only taken for euphoria. However there are many other reasons why people take cannabis. Some take it for medical use. Others take it to feel more relaxed and not for its euphoric properties. Cannabis is a substance that has many more uses than getting you high.

THE ALCOHOL VS. CANNABIS DEBATE
Even though Alcohol is water-soluble and is cleared from the body at the rate ofl one unit per hour (the amount in half a pint of beer, a single whisky, or a glass of| wine) it can still kill you.* A drop of pure alcohol is enough to send any grown! man to the local ER ward. Some will even die if the problem is not treated soon! enough. That is why there is a legal limit on how much percentage of alcohol isf allowed per bottle. Go above this limit and you can seriously hurt people if not kill1 them outright.
Alcohol poisoning is common. Upward of 5,000 people die from alcohol overdos-1 es every year in the United States alone. People die because of alcohol poisoning. •]
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50% of THC is still present in the body five days after use and 10% after a j month. Traces can be detected in hair and urine for months after that. However this does not mean that the psychoactive effects of cannabis are still active in the
=3
brain. It simply means that the body is disposing of THC in its own way, over time, j
Cannabis does not directly kill people. Unlike alcohol, pure, concentrated THC will not kill you unless you have some rare allergy to it. There are more deaths associated directly with alcohol than there are indirectly with cannabis. The only deaths associated with cannabis are either indirect (cancer from smoking) or avoidable (car crashes or other accidents), and even the chances of getting cancer from THC can be avoided by using alternative medical smoking methods or eating cannabis.
Animal testing has shown that extremely high doses of cannabinoids are needed to have a lethal effect on the animals. At this moment the hypothetical toxicity amount needed to cause death derived from these studies is 1:40,000 for cannabis. That means that you would have to consume 40,000 times as much cannabis as you normally would in order to reach the hypothetical toxicity amount that causes death.
In the annals of medical history no one is ever reported to have died from a cannabis overdose. In the annals of medical history hundreds of thousands have died from alcohol overdose or alcohol poisoning. Alcohol abuse will damage more vital organs in the body than cannabis use. In most cases cannabis-related damage (mainly lung disease) can be reversed by discontinuing the use of the drug or taking it in another form (unless cancer is contracted in which chemotherapy is usually the treatment option).* With alcohol, most damage cannot be reversed and damaged organs can only be replaced via a transplant operation (if you can afford one or afford to wait for one).
Deaths recorded in the United States** in any typical year are as follows:
Tobacco deaths 400,000
Alcohol deaths 80,000
Workplace accidents that result in death 60,000
Automobile accidents that result in death 40,000
Cocaine deaths 2,200
Heroin deaths 2,000
Aspirin deaths 2,000
Cannabis deaths 0
The Califano Report from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University is also worth noting.
Far more people are hospitalized for alcohol-related illness than cannabis-relat-ed illness even though we know that cannabis is the third most commonly used drug in the Western world. Also there are more types of alcohol-related illness than cannabis related illness to deal with.The burden on taxpayers to solve alcohol related-illness is significantly higher than cannabis-related abuses, even in countries that have decriminalized or tolerate cannabis use.
Any type of drug abuse can cause a different personality to emerge. Abusers can become stubborn, cannot manage themselves properly, find it hard to deal with disapproval and feel misinterpreted.This is common to all types of drug abuses and should not be singled out with cannabis alone. Mobile phone addiction, Internet addiction, computer game addiction and television addiction can also cause these types of personality disorders to emerge and yet mobile phones, computer games, the Internet and television are not illegal. All these things have suspected or proven health risks associated with them too.
With regards to cannabis addiction there are no signs or evidence of physical addiction. Many major pharmaceutical companies have tried to develop pills, to help cure cannabis physical addiction, however these drugs have never been approved by medical boards because the pharmaceutical companies have been unable to prove any physical addictive properties associated with cannabis. There are many pills, on the market however that help deal with the physical addiction of other drugs like tobacco, alcohol and hard drugs.
Psychological addiction* is treated by psychiatrists and not doctors of internal medicine (who are used in the treatment of other drug abuses like alcohol and hard drugs) and for personalities who express psychological cannabis addiction, treatment is administered through psychotherapy and perhaps occupational therapy alone.
DRIVING WHILE UNDERTHE INFLUENCE
Cannabis has been brought into the intoxicating driving debate. The bottom line to any debate is that you should not do drugs and drive, period. Even though some people have suggested that cannabis causes more road accidents than alcohol, this is certainly not reflected in reality where the majority of DUI road accidents are the result of the driver's use of alcohol. This is why the government actively uses alcohol detection methods in its attempt to prevent driving related crimes.
LIBERATE THE HERB, LIBERATE THE INNOCENT, AND FREE SOCIETY
The Federal Bureau of Prisons estimates that they have house roughly 170,000 inmates for any given month. Out of these roughly 84,000 (55%) are in their drug related offenses. This is more drug-related incarcerations per capita than any other nation in the world. Since 1965 America has arrested more than ten million people for marijuana-related offences.**
In 2002 the annual report on the state of the drug problem in the European Union and Norway concluded that: "Use of illegal substances is concentrated among young adults and particularly males in urban areas, although some spreading to smaller towns and rural areas may be taking place."***
Recent cannabis use (last 12 months) was reported by 5 to 15% of young adults in most countries. Recent amphetamine use was reported by 0.5 to 6%, cocaine use by 0.5 to 3.5%, and ecstasy use by 0.5 to 5%.
Lifetime experience of cannabis is reported by 10 to 30% of European adults, while amphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy have been tried by about 1 to 5%.
Cannabis use increased markedly during the 1990s in most EU countries, particularly among young people, although in recent years its use can be leveling off in some countries. Cocaine use may have increased in recent years in some countries, although this trend is less clear.
There is an incentive for individuals who are subjected to drug tests to choose harder drugs as their form of recreational drug because these substances disappear from the system more quickly. Again another indication that drug testing does not help the cannabis problem in any way.
Cannabis remains one of the most confiscated drugs in the world and makes up almost a whopping 80% of all illegal confiscations even though it is considered a less problematic drug than alcohol or harder drugs. If cannabis were legalized tomorrow drug enforcement agencies would automatically loose 80% of their figures, which are used as a basis for government budgeting on drug enforcement programs. On many levels, cannabis prohibition could be more about money than most government officials would care to admit.*
CANNABIS AND VIOLENCE
This is the original myth used to support cannabis prohibition (think Reefer Madness). Cannabis prohibition has not reduced acts of violence or crime. It has increased after cannabis prohibition. No study has shown a link between cannabis use and crime. Likewise no study has shown a link between cannabis use and violence.
A notable incident occurred in the U K. A British member of parliament and labor government minister, Johnathan Prescott, debated the issue that cannabis causes people to become violent and should therefore remain illegal. He did this on national television and without any evidence to support his claim. Shortly after making this statement Minister Prescott punched a man twice for throwing an egg at him during a political rally. Since then he has earned the nickname "Two-jabs" Prescott from the media and surprisingly managed to retain his position as a government Minister.
CANNABIS AND BRAIN DAMAGE
There is no scientific evidence to suggest thatTHC damages the brain** in any way, shape or form. Animal asphyxiation experiments, using monkeys, were conducted in the 70s and subsequently used to prove that cannabis kills brain cells. Monkeys were gassed to death with cannabis smoke over a long period of time. The monkeys had electrodes implanted in their brains to monitor the effects of cannabis smoke exposure.The monkeys died and the brain cells were counted. A healthy monkey was also killed as a control experiment and its brain cells where counted.The U.S. government was brought to court on this issue to reveal the experiment under the "Freedom of Information" act. When the hoax was exposed (and the unnecessary animal deaths) the U.S. government never used these findings again.The study was harshly condemned for its inadequate sample size of only four monkeys, its complete failure to manage experimental prejudice, and the misidentification of the monkeys brains as "damaged".
Two noteworthy studies were conducted in 1977 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). These studies showed no evidence of brain damage in heavy marijuana users.These facts have never been disproved. In the same year as these studies were released, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially proposed decriminalizing marijuana—a proposal that was ignored by the American DBA.
MEDICAL CANNABIS SHOULD NOT BE A LEGAL ISSUE
In cancer terms one joint is thought to be the equivalent of five cigarettes. However joint smoking is a mostly western phenomena. Prohibition prevents good scientific investigations into the prohibited substance from occurring unless it is considered acceptable for medical use. Many fear that the medical use of cannabis will result in good scientific investigations of cannabis, which will result in many of the current cannabis prohibition laws being repealed.
Cannabis prohibition is currently a very profitable business for some but not all! Many jobs would be lost if cannabis prohibition was discontinued. However far more jobs would be created in the scientific, agricultural and production sectors if prohibition were lifted.
Also, there is nothing new about medical cannabis. Medical cannabis has its roots in western civilization dating back to the 1700s and even before. It is only in recent times that medical cannabis has been prohibited but only because of legal issues and not its medicinal values.

Cannabis and the Immune System
Cannabis use may affect the immune system. For some illnesses it is advised that you discontinue cannabis use until the illness has passed. Consult your doctor for further information.This is because cannabis may cause fewer white blood cells to be produced, which are used in the fight against some diseases. Discontinuing cannabis use will restore the immune system to its previous condition before cannabis was used.
Cannabis and Sexual Dysfunction
Sperm production may also be decreased with cannabis use. Discontinue cannabis use and sperm production should return to normal levels again.There is no scientific evidence to suggest that young men will develop breasts if they use cannabis. This is a red herring associated with a testosterone decrease in some individuals who use cannabis. There is absolutely no evidence to support a case that this decrease is permanent. Cannabis tolerance can also occur, bringing levels back to normal again even though cannabis has not been discontinued.
Cannabis and Pregnancy
Babies that are born to cannabis-using mothers may have some abnormalities like being small, hyperactive and show certain types of behavioral problems. There may also be an increase in leukemia with children born to cannabis using mothers, however none of this is definitively proven. However, the bottom line here is the same advice that has always been administered to pregnant women: only take drugs that your doctor recommends when pregnant. It is your duty to discontinue cannabis use if you are pregnant.
Cannabis and Human DNA Repair Malfunction
There is no scientific evidence to support the case that cannabis directly causes D.N.A repair malfunction in human beings. D.N.A repair malfunction results in a mutation at the cellular reproduction level. A D.N.A repair malfunction type mutation is usually random and can result in anything. There are no specific conclusions to random D.N.A repair malfunction although scientists can cause certain types of malfunctions to appear using specific techniques. However these techniques may result in other types of uncontrollable mutations from occurring alongside the controllable one. The notion that cannabis can cause a certain type of, or any type of, D.N.A repair malfunction in human beings is not scientifically proven.

SO WHY IS CANNABIS ILLEGALTHEN?
With the underwhelming amount of evidence to support the fact that cannabis is dangerous, you might wonder why it is then illegal. Cannabis is illegal because the U.S. government incorrectly classed cannabis as an opiate during the opium wars and this notion has been adopted throughout most of the rest of the world.

The prohibition campaign was also backed by the cotton industry, which wanted to see an end to the cannabis hemp industry for its own gain and profit. The cotton industry financially backed politicians who made statements to the newspapers and public about cannabis.

Cannabis-related violence was used as the main reason for cannabis prohibition. Violent crimes did not decrease after the prohibition of cannabis. They increased if anything. During WW2 the prohibition of cannabis was lifted so that cannabis could again be used to help the war effort. George Bush Senior's parachute was made from cannabis when he ejected safely from his burning plane.

Shortly after WW2 cannabis was again prohibited because it was claimed that it would make men docile and unable to fight the communist threat.There has been a complete turnaround in the reasons for cannabis prohibition over the last 60 years. This is because there have never been logical grounds for cannabis prohibition. This is the very reason why intelligent people can see through the hoax while others are fooled by it.
Consult the book The Emperor Has No Clothes by Jack Merer, for a full disclosure on the real reasons for cannabis prohibition and how the hoax has been maintained. The book contains lots of information with regards to the inaccuracies of some pseudo-scientific approaches to cannabis prohibition.

PEOPLE ARE NOT SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS
It is a lie to suggest that in all of history, no young people have ever taken marijuana regularly on a mass scale. This occurs all the time in countries that have never prohibited cannabis use. Therefore the implication that our youngsters who use cannabis are somehow guinea-pigs in a tragic experiment is absolutely flawed. THC receptors evolved naturally in the human brain and are proof of our long-term association with the cannabis plant. We have been using cannabis throughout our entire evolution.

It is only in the past 80 years that cannabis has been prohibited in some countries. Most of those who have taken cannabis all their lives will attest to the fact that they have not been adversely affected. Some believe that the Netherlands is a good example of how cannabis tolerance leads to an increase in crime. This completely misses the mark. The rate of marijuana use among Dutch teenagers is actually lower than that among American and European teens from countries in which cannabis is illegal.

CANNABIS AND THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE (IOM)
In 1998, 109 distinguished scientific researchers held a discussion on medical marijuana in New York. Their documents and deductions were published in 1999. They said that marijuana or THC do not qualify as safe or effective medication which aim at restoring or maintaining physiological functions of cells, organs and organisms. They have no place in a modern pharmacopoeia from which cannabis was eliminated in the first part of the century. However these 109 distinguished scientists' findings where voided by the Institute of Medicine soon after.

In March 1999, the U.S. government-sponsored Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report concluded that: "Until a nonsmoked rapid-onset cannabinoid drug delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting..." The U.S. DEA ignored this and has said: "Any determination of a drug's valid medical use must be based on the best available science undertaken by medical professionals. The Institute of Medicine (under the National Academy of Sciences) conducted a comprehensive study in 1999 to assess the potential health benefits of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids.The study concluded that smoking marijuana is not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition." This is a lie and in direct conflict to the IOM findings.

CANNABIS AND HARDER DRUGS: THE GATEWAY THEORY
The suggestion that marijuana use leads to hard drugs is flawed from the outset. Most hard drug users have taken cannabis, however out of the 100s of millions of people worldwide who have tried cannabis, we do not find 100s of millions of hard drug users. In fact 1 in 100 cannabis users will likely try a harder drug however this is not because of cannabis use. How many bicycle riders grow up to become motorcycle drivers? The thing to note is that the majority of people who use cannabis will never do another illegal drug.

If a cannabis user cannot get cannabis then they may take a harder drug that is more readably available from a dealer. This is why drug dealers are also called drug pushers. The cannabis user may be pushed to buy something else because the dealer does not have cannabis available. This is very important and we find that most cannabis users come in contact with hard drugs as a result of contact with the same source who does not have any cannabis available. Drug dealers can also use this tactic to sell the user stronger and more expensive drugs. This is a major reason why cannabis should be disassociated with other forms of harder drugs. It is a problem that springs from prohibition.

In 1993 the Rand Corporation cannabis study concluded that hard drug abuse emergency room situations decreased in places that had decriminalized marijuana in contrast to places that did not. This has a name. It is called the "negative gateway" effect. It is a fact that cannabis legalization results in less hard drug abuse.

CANNABIS AND MEMORY
Cannabis does affect short-term memory until you terminate its use. Cannabis use does not affect short-term memory permanently, which is a misconception derived from the statement that cannabis impairs the short-term memory.

CANNABIS AND PAPER PRODUCTION
Most cannabis prohibition campaigners advocate that paper from trees is much cheaper than paper made from cannabis. Do you see the obvious lunacy in the suggestion that we should continue cutting down trees for paper instead of using a plant that takes a minimum of 3 months to grow to full maturity as opposed to 50 years for most trees?
The same argument goes for most types of linen too which are made from chemical and waste producing factories. In the long term it is far cheaper and more natural to use cannabis in many different types of fabric production.

CANNABIS AND ILLEGAL DRUG CLASSIFICATION
Incorrectly classifying cannabis as a hard drug has led some of the 1 out of every 100 cannabis users to believe that they can handle any hard drug because they can handle cannabis.This is a totally false notion caused by cannabis prohibition.
High percentages of hard drug users also use soft drugs however their preference is for hard drugs. 1 in 100 soft drug users may use hard drugs. 99 out of 100 soft drug users prefer to stick with soft drugs and will never use a hard drug.

The illegal drug classification system is nonsense in itself. Even doctors would admit that the drug classification system is only there to support incarceration and sentencing laws. It actually means nothing scientifically.

CANNABIS AND MIND CONTROL
That idea that "Drugs take control of your mind. No person can do that—no parent, no teacher, and no friend. You can't make rational decisions" is flawed. Most companies, governments, education systems have policies in place that are geared towards controlling an individual or a population of people. Prohibition is used to control people's minds! The War on Drugs, Just Say No. What are these if not a form of propaganda and mind control?
To prevent cannabis from having an effect on your mind you simply discontinue using the drug. The effect goes away. This does not change your mind or personality in any way unless you develop a psychological dependency to cannabis. Very few people will develop this dependency because long-term cannabis use usually leads to boredom. Most people stop using cannabis because they get bored with it or do not have the time to use the drug anymore.
CANNABIS PROHIBITION HAS FAILED
With regard to alcohol and tobacco the idea that "If discovered today they would certainly be controlled drugs. Do we really want another legal drug like cannabis?" is flawed. Cannabis is clearly already there and being used by people even though it is prohibited. Prohibition sweeps the problem under the carpet and decentralizes control of the drug and hands it over to the black market instead.
We know that prohibition is a failed concept because all types of drug use are on the increase with all kinds and type of people of all ages. In 80 years, drug prohibition has done nothing to help this in any way shape or form. People use drugs irrespective of prohibition. People can easily acquire drugs irrespective of prohibition. People take drugs irrespective of prohibition. In some cases the very fact that something is illegal makes some people want to do it! This is one reason why cannabis is used more by people in America and the UK than in Holland.The Netherlands partially legalized marijuana with some restrictions in the 1970s. Since then, hard drug use has declined so substantially that the argument that marijuana is a "gateway" drug that leads to hard drug use has been proven invalid.

Reports on cannabis never seem to be consistent. Some will claim the drug is harmless, others will claim that it is dangerous and should not be legalized. Many scientists, doctors and cannabis users have come out and said quite openly that cannabis is not as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco. In fact such statements caused the Home Secretary in the UK to lower the classification of cannabis to a class C drug instead of a class B drug.
The War on Drugs was lost long ago. The war on drugs began by using jail as a deterrent. The reason for mixed messages, confusion and bewilderment in our youth is the fact that the war against drugs like cannabis has changed back and forth from "it will make you violent" to "it will make you docile."

Its reasons have always changed because science has pointed out the validity of pro-cannabis legalization statements. It changes to suit its own agendas and not to suit scientific facts. In the majority of cases, like the ones mentioned above, the war on drugs seeks to actively ignore scientific fact in favor of legal law enforcement agency statements on the issue which, in most cases, are in direct conflict with scientific advice and knowledge. See the 10M statement under the heading "Cannabis and the institute of Medicine (IOM)" in this chapter.

Harm Reduction is important.The very knowledge that a vaporizer exists will stop large numbers of cannabis users from smoking joints or inhaling carbon monoxide for the remainder of their lives. The idea that "teaching young people about how to use cannabis is bad because it is introducing people who will never use cannabis into cannabis" is flawed. In school, 85% of what we teach our children will never be used by our children again. It is there to educate them, to get them to think for themselves; not to brainwash them into doing what we preach as some would have you believe. In fact teachers who support the idea that teaching young people about how to use cannabis is bad are likely more concerned about making the student do whatever they tell them to do, rather than teaching the student to think for themselves.

Mo two politicians, doctors, scientists will ever cite the same reasons for cannabis prohibition. This is because there are no reasons for cannabis prohibition. This is the root cause of all mixed messages that people are receiving as a result of the cannabis prohibition hoax.

CANNABIS PROHIBITION AND LAWSUITS
Your hard-earned tax money is extremely vulnerable to cannabis prohibition compensation claims (there are lawyers waiting on every corner to give this a shot).
The government can end up owing cannabis prohibition criminals damages because of a hoax which may seem real at the moment but as it is exposed for the hoax that it is (currently happening now) things will eventually change. Should cannabis prohibition be deemed illegal based on scientific findings in the legal/political arena then your tax money may go to pay for compensation claims for those who have suffered any legal consequence of cannabis prohibition.

It is worth a thought that the professionals who deliver false, misleading and often downright incorrect pro-prohibition information should be the first to pay out for compensation claims before anyone else does because TH EY are the perpetrators behind the hoax. Would they support their cause if they where held accountable for the hoax?
Most cannabis prohibition campaigners currently enjoy diminished responsibility. Your hard-earned tax money is currently paying for their support of cannabis prohibition. In turn, your tax money is also going to pay for cannabis prohibition compensation claims should cannabis be legalized. Do you see how cannabis prohibition has totally made a mess of everything? You lose money either way. Prohibition is the cause of this. That is why cannabis prohibition is the wrong method of management for the cannabis issue. It always has been and always will be.

CANNABIS AND THE AUTHOR
I am a cannabis user and have been able to still write and compile this book for you to read. Does this look like the work of a disorganized/violent/docile mind?
I have never been involved in a crime other than using/growing cannabis. I have never even received a parking ticket. I have only met a police officer once in my lifetime and this was because he thought I was doing 40 mph in a 30 mph zone. I pointed out to him that I was wrong and that I was sorry and that I genuinely try to adhere to rules of the road, which I do. He understood and let me go. Fair play to that man.

I have never profited from growing cannabis either and I would advice you to do the same. Teach people how to grow cannabis but do not grow just for profit. You should be growing marijuana for yourself so that you do not have to engage in the black market. This is one of the reasons why I wrote this book. This is all about producing high-quality non-adulterated cannabis for yourself. Do this for yourself on your own property and you will jump over the heads of those fighting among themselves over this non-issue.

I have never seen a violent cannabis-related incident except where black market hard drug money was concerned! I see far more violent alcohol-related crimes than cannabis ones. In fact I can safely say that I have never met a true stoner who wished another harm. I have seen black market hard drug dealers crack a few heads open though. I am sure many black market hard drug dealers have been killed or kill because of who they choose to be and what they choose to do.There is absolutely no reason that cannabis needs to be associated with this black market violence, yet many people still support cannabis prohibition! Cannabis prohibition is a human error without any justified scientific, moral or societal grounds.

Supporting cannabis prohibition is a sure-fire way to fail society. If you still have any doubts then reread everything again.

Individuals have the author's permission to copy this section of the book and to send it to your local politicians, doctors, school teachers, pharmacists, municipal leaders, publicans, writers, journalists, artists, newspapers, magazines, shops, etc.
If you read this and think that it makes sense then please forward it to someone else.

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