Culture

Cypress Hill Leading Protest Of Feds’ Attack On Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 27, 2012 Culture, Medical, News

Thursday, March 1 at 4:20 pm in Downtown Los Angeles

Cypress Hill SmokeOut has teamed with Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and Medicine & Music Project for a peaceful protest in response to recent federal activities against medical marijuana as well as the local Los Angeles ban on medical marijuana.

The event will start with protesters meeting at the west steps of City Hall at 4:20 pm and will then proceed to the Edward R. Royal Federal Building where speakers will include Cypress Hill’s B-Real, Americans for Safe Access’ California Director Don Duncan and more.

The goal of the rally is to draw attention to local threats towards patient access and federal interference in efforts to regulate medical marijuana. The scope of the federal crackdown is shocking, as federal officials and agencies have threatened providers, growers and property owners.

Worth Repeating: Marijuana and the Psychology of Optimal Experience

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2012 Culture, Medical

Cage Potato

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

The reductionist, “group think,” cold, dogmatic drug warriors of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the DEA, and the FDA have been digesting their own misinformation for so long they have lost their humanity.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, the” high” or “feel good” buzz from marijuana is an actual “therapeutic effect” that heals the brain, produces homeostasis and prevents many neurodegenerative conditions.

Brain homeostasis is restored by the direct action of THC/CBD-activating CB1 receptors in the amygdala which regulate our “happiness / emotional salience module.” This pathway is dedicated to seeking for “meaningfulness” in our existence.

This innate drive is the need for self-actualization. THC increases the probability of these events occurring, through inducing metaphysical “flow states” and “peak experiences.”

We live near the edge, where the view is better.

Miley Cyrus Spotted Shopping At A Marijuana Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2012 Culture, Dispensaries, News

X17online.com

Miley Cyrus, in the shorts, and an unidentified female friend leave Therapeutic Health Care, a medical marijuana dispensary in Sherman Oaks, California

Pop tart and self-proclaimed “stoner” Miley Cyrus was photographed leaving a medical marijuana dispensary in Sherman Oaks, California, with a friend this week. Hey Miley, are you about ready to stick up for weed, yet?

Cyrus, 19, was looking casual but hot in denim cut-offs and a Pat Benatar t-shirt when X17online.com got some paparazzi shots of her and a female friend exiting Therapeutic Health Care. Miley didn’t seem to be very worried about being spotted outside the dispensary; after all, medicinal cannabis is legal in California for anyone with a doctor’s authorization.

Therapeutic Health Care (THC, get it?) is listed on WheresWeed.com as selling ounces of OG Kush indica for $18 a gram, $50 an eighth, $90 a quarter, $140 a half, or $280 an ounce. Oddly, no other strains are listed.

Former Baseball Star Tries To Eat Bag Of Weed, Gets Busted

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2012 Culture, News

Fox Sports

Elijah Dukes was arrested after allegedly trying to eat a bag of marijuana

Former Major League outfielder Elijah Dukes was arrested in Florida early Thursday after he allegedly tried to eat a bag of marijuana, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Dukes, 27, who played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2003 to 2007, then the Washington Nationals from 2008 to 2010, was pulled over about 1 a.m. in Tampa “after he committed a traffic violation,” an officer wrote in the arrest report, reports the Tampa Bay Times. The police report does not specify the violation.

Cannabis Contradictions: People vs. Politicians [Infographic]

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2012 Culture, Legislation, Medical

Via: TakePart.com

Marijuana has traditionally been regarded as such a third-rail issue that mainstream politicians have lacked the courage to address it.

As far as the U.S. federal government is concerned, legalizing cannabis even for very sick people is off the table, and not a valid subject for discussion.

But the public sees it differently.

Worth Repeating: Like Dangerfield, THC Doesn’t Get Any Respect

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2012 Culture, Medical

Every Truck Job

“I smoked half a joint the other day, and it made me so hungry I ate the other half.” ~ Rodney Dangerfield

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

This post is dedicated to the great comic genius Rodney Dangerfield, who in life had a lot in common with THC, the cannabis plant’s main cannabinoid molecule.

THC is responsible for the the “high” that helped Rodney survive and manage severe anxiety and depression caused by a childhood filled with parental neglect and abuse, and childhood PTSD.

Rodney’s anxiety behavior of twitching and jerking on stage was not an act.

But it was marijuana that saved Rodney’s life and helped him achieve self-actualization through a comic genius that is in effect a dual form of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.

‘American Weed’ TV Series Premieres Wednesdays

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2012 Culture, Dispensaries, Products

Steve Schrenzel/NGT

The Stanley brothers inspect young crops at their medical marijuana growhouse.

A new TV series called “American Weed” is premiering on the National Geographic Channel tonight (Wednesday, February 22) at 10 p.m. ET/PT. According to NatGeo, the show “goes inside Colorado’s pot culture and explores the legal world of medical cannabis from various perspectives, including the growers, patients and dispensary owners, cops, caregivers and opponents.”

The all-new series “finds Colorado medical marijuana businesses under scrutiny and facing mounting pressures from local residents,” according to National Geographic.

U.S. Becoming More Progressive On Marijuana Than Canada

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2012 Culture, Global

Cannabis Culture

While Canada moves toward stricter sentencing with the mandatory minimums included with Bill C-10, many states in the U.S. are shifting in the opposite direction, toward control and regulation of the marijuana trade, according to Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).

A high-profile group of current and former law enforcement officials allied under the LEAP banner points to the 16 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that have already passed laws allowing the medicinal use of cannabis, the 14 states that have taken steps to decriminalize marijuana possession.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canadian senators, the law-enforcement officials point out the failure of the War On Drugs in the U.S., and that the country now seems to be moving in another direction even as Canada is poised to tighten the screws.

Holy Uncool: Nepal Cracks Down On Cannabis At Hindu Festival

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 20, 2012 Culture, Global

Tuhin Subhra Day/Fotopedia

Towards infinity: A Nepali sadhu smokes hashish from his chillum as part of the religious festival Shivaratri.

Police in Nepal say they have cracked down on public marijuana use at a major Hindu religious festival where the herb is smoked legally by thousands of holy men to honor the Hindu god Shiva.

The wandering mystics, known as sadhus, use an ancient legal loophole to smoke cannabis during a night of celebrations in honor of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, reports Agence France Presse. But unfortunately, ordinary, every-day Nepalis aren’t allowed to join them.

“We have arrested 70 people including dozens of youths who took excessive marijuana,” said Nepal police spokesman Dhiraj Pratap Shah, who apparently thinks he gets to decide what’s “excessive.”

“We have not arrested any sadhus,” Pratap claimed.

Hawaii Church Takes Cannabis Claims To Federal Appeals Court

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 20, 2012 Culture, News

Oklevueha Native American Church

Michael Rex “Raging Bear” Mooney, right, and the Oklevueha Native American Church want their marijuana back.

The 9th Circuit last week heard arguments to let a Native American church get some marijuana replaced that federal drug agents confiscated and local police destroyed years ago.

Michael Rex “Raging Bear” Mooney and the Oklevueha Native American Church of Hawaii filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in 2009 after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized a FedEx package with about five pounds of cannabis in Tupperware containers inside, reports Purna Nemani at Courthouse News.

Mooney said he planned to use the marijuana in certain religious ceremonies, specifically “lunar use” and “sweat lodge use.” He contends that the DEA interfering with those activities constitutes a violation of his religious freedom.

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