News for the “Medical Marijuana”/420 crowd: Israeli firm grows “highless” marijuana strain

What if the so-called “medical marijuana” proponents could have their cake, and eat it to?

That is, what if they could have the “benefits” they claim they derive from smoking marijuana, while NOT having its intoxicating effects?

Would they still smoke it?

That would tell the story.

It certainly would.

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What a drag, Israeli firm grows “highless” marijuana

A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. REUTERS-Baz Ratner

By Maayan Lubell SAFED, Israel | Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:48am EDT

(Reuters) – They grow in a secret location in northern Israel. A tall fence, security cameras and an armed guard protect them from criminals. A hint of their sweet-scented blossom carries in the air: rows and rows of cannabis plants, as far as the eye can see.

It is here, at a medical marijuana plantation atop the hills of the Galilee, where researchers say they have developed marijuana that can be used to ease the symptoms of some ailments without getting patients high.

A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner

“Sometimes the high is not always what they need. Sometimes it is an unwanted side effect. For some of the people it’s not even pleasant,” said Zack Klein, head of development at Tikun Olam, the company that developed the plant.

Cannabis has more than 60 constituents called cannabinoids. THC is perhaps the best known of those, less so for its medical benefits and more for its psychoactive properties that give people a “high” feeling.

A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner

But cannabis also contains Cannabidiol, or CBD, a substance that some researchers say has

Research: Marijuana smokers (stoners) under influence longer, stronger & can’t drive safely. So much for the “pot never hurt anybody” crowd.

It’s time to 1.) Call the dogs; 2.) Pee in a cup, and 3.) Mandate pre-licensing testing & renewal testing.

But perhaps more than anything, this conclusively proves that the impairment effects of marijuana are more long-lasting than previously thought, or claimed by legalization proponents.

So much for the folks who claim no one ever died while stoned from smoking pot, because there are clear cut examples of those who have been permanently injured by those who have taken the wheel after toking.

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Driving sobriety tests likely to miss medical pot

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK | Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:15pm EDT

(Reuters Health) – A new, small study suggests medicinal marijuana may impair users’ driving skills – but might be missed by typical sobriety tests.

At doses used in AIDS, cancer and pain patients, people weaved side to side more and had a slower reaction time in the hours after using the drug, researchers from the Netherlands found.

For people who hadn’t built up a tolerance to marijuana, those effects were similar to driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08, the point at which drivers are considered legally impaired, they said.

Support Schools & Private Enterprise, Drink Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Whiskey

Having apparently not blogged about this, I find myself remiss that I so negligently – if inadvertently – omitted this news story… which I’m about to bash.

Before I proceed however, Alabama‘s governor, Dr. Robert J. Bentley, MD (a retired dermatologist), when he was campaigning for the office, on Thursday, June 17, 2010 vowed that, “I will forgo a salary as state representative for the rest of my term and will not accept a salary as Governor until Alabama reaches full employment.” To his credit, he has lived up to that vow, and has only accepted what is legally mandated – $1.00/month as representative, and has been reimbursed for minimal incidentals or travel-related expenses. The state’s records show he has collected about $2,100 in travel reimbursements during his term as governor. Alabama’s governor’s salary is about $112,000; and so far, as governor, he has only been paid $2 in salary.

Part of the irony of liquor, taxes and employment is that Dr. Bentley is a Southern Baptist. And for many years he has been a deacon at First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa. As a denomination, Baptists are well-known and avowed tee-totalers, who continue to badmouth beverage alcohol. I suppose in some way, they could be considered modern Prohibitionists. But here, in this scenario, Alabamians – whose population is significantly Protestant – have enjoyed the jobs and money that making whiskey provides.

I suppose, however, that the irony is not lost on others, for the Amish grow tobacco, yet eschew its use. Similarly, many religious Afghanis (most who practice Islam) have grown marijuana and/or opium poppy to provide for their households, yet use neither. The discussion of the ethics of such decisions would be fascinating – at least it would be to me.

Now, on to the news.

It’s not the news, per se, but the atrocious writing which aggrieves me so.

Actually, the plant will be near Decatur, Alabama. More specifically, it will be located in the Mallard Fox West Industrial Complex, along Alabama Highway 20 in Trinity, Alabama. The complex is located in Lawrence County, which is the adjacent county WEST of Morgan County.

Location of Mallard Fox West Industrial Complex in Lawrence, County, Alabama

But this raises another question, and it is this: If someone wrote that New York was in Los Angeles, you’d think them insane, right?

Well, why then would you not think the same for those who make such egregious errors as is so blatantly displayed in the following headline, and story?

DAMN IT, MAN!

GET IT RIGHT!

And

Uruguayan government to sell marijuana to registered buyers

The United States has spent billions up on billions in the so-called “Drug War” which was started by Richard Nixon, and over the years, the only thing it’s gotten us, is deeper in debt.

All the while, murdering narcotrafficking international criminal enterprises have arisen and grown by leaps and bounds. With them, hundreds of thousands of lives have been unnecessarily lost in the process, both innocents and those directly involved in trafficking.

Prisons have been overcrowded – worse even than sardines in a can. And that has cost us equally dearly.

Again, there are few signs that use of illicit narcotics have declined, but rather, they have increased.

And that is just in the United States, which is perceived by many – and very well may be – to be the world’s major consumer of illicit narcotics. Further, the sale of illicit narcotics – including marijuana – has funded international terrorism, including alQaeda.

Not good.

We must embark upon a path which will decrease use of illicit narcotics, which ultimately harms everyone. And to embark upon that path, we must engage in honest, and forthright dialogue. The greatest obstruction to that, is the current level of impasse in our Congress – House and Senate.

We must change.

Change, we must.

Or, we shall all perish.

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Uruguay plan to let gov’t sell marijuana

By PABLO FERNANDEZ, Associated Press – 2 hours ago

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguay’s national government said Wednesday it hopes to fight a growing crime problem by selling marijuana to citizens registered to buy it, and will send a bill to Congress that would make it the first country in the world to do so.

Under the plan, only the government would be allowed to sell marijuana and only to adults who register on a government database, letting officials keep track of their purchases over time.

Minister of Defense Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro told reporters in Montevideo that

Catalina Clouser, Where are the marijuana advocates when you need ‘em?

Here are your “heroes.”

Presenting, “One more really good reason not to smoke dope!”

It makes you stupid.

And no… it has nothing to do with her hair color.

Uhh… can I haz more marijuana, pleeze?

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Baby in Phoenix road left on car roof; mom arrested

by Sonu Munshi – Jun. 2, 2012 01:56 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

A 19-year-old mother is under arrest on child abuse and aggravated DUI charges after police say she left her five-week-old baby strapped in a car seat on top of her 2000 Ford Focus and drove off.

Loser of the Week: 19 year-old Catalina Clouser, pictured here in this booking photo by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (AZ), was stoned on marijuana and left her baby on the roof of her car, then drove off. Authorities found the baby in the road.

The child is said to be in good condition and now in custody of Arizona Child Protective Services.

At about 1 a.m. Saturday, Phoenix police officers got calls from the 45th Avenue and Cholla area, just south of Cactus Road, that a baby was in a car seat in the middle of a road.

Phoenix Fire Department officials found the baby and

Californians Speak: 50% Oppose Marijuana Legalization for Recreational Use

Proponents of marijuana legalization assert such things as “marijuana never killed anyone,” “no one ever crashed their car while on marijuana,” and other such nonsense.

Numerous records exist that prove otherwise. One such case is the unfortunate & preventable 2004 tragedy involving Lisa Torti, the Los Angelino who pulled her friend Alexandra Van Horn from her wrecked car, which also resulted in Miss Van Horn’s permanent paralysis.  It was colloquially referred to as a test or invalidation of the 1980 Emergency Medical Service Act, sometimes called California‘s Good Samaritan Act.

Court records indicate – such information can also be found in various news reports – that Misses Torti and Van Horn had both smoked marijuana and consumed beverage alcohol before that fateful event.

Concerning other negative health effects of marijuana usage, there are indisputable, verifiable, long-term, scientifically valid medical & health studies that conclusively prove a positive correlation, cause-and-effect for increased risk of schizophrenia with marijuana use.

In other words, smoke dope, and you risk losing your mind. It’s not hype, nor is it the assertion of a poorly made B Hollywood movie.

Yeah.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Marijuana and Schizophrenia – A Clear and Unmistakable Link… ignored in America

posted Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Marijuana Use Increases Psychosis Risk

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

In this nation, we are long overdue for a genuine discussion of behavior and mental health.

In some cases – for one reason or another – people turn to substance abuse (which can be of illegal or legal substances, including food), or irrational behavior to cope or deal with the problems of their lives. Substance abuse only serves to amplify behaviors or problems, and they certainly don’t lessen their severity.

If we were to address such root issues of human behavior, we could genuinely advance this nation, drive down criminality & incarceration associated with the production, sale & consumption of illicit substances, increase individual & national productivity, and so much more.

But only if we move forward… and that does not mean to “take the nation back.”

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USC DORNSIFE / TIMES POLL

Most California voters don’t support legalizing pot, poll finds

Eighty percent support doctor-recommended marijuana use for severe illness, a poll finds. But only 46% support legalization of ‘general or recreational use by adults.’

By Joe Mozingo, Los Angeles Times

May 31, 2012

In California, cradle of the marijuana movement, a new poll has found a majority of voters do not support legalization, even as they overwhelmingly back medicinal use for “patients with terminal and debilitating conditions.”

Pat Robertson: Legalize Marijuana, because “this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.”

What a shocker!

Reckon he’s been toking?

Read on!

Pat Robertson Says Marijuana Use Should be Legal

By JESSE McKINLEY

Published: March 7, 2012

Of the many roles Pat Robertson has assumed over his five-decade-long career as an evangelical leader — including presidential candidate and provocative voice of the right wing — his newest guise may perhaps surprise his followers the most: marijuana legalization advocate.

Photo by: Clem Britt/Associated Press

Pat Robertson, center, has taken a surprising stance after his long career as an evangelical leader.

Related

• Times Topics: Marijuana and Medical Marijuana | Pat Robertson

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“I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol,” Mr. Robertson said in an interview on Wednesday. “I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.”

Mr. Robertson’s remarks echoed statements he made last week on “The 700 Club,” the signature program of his Christian Broadcasting Network, and other comments he made in 2010. While those earlier remarks were

Marijuana Use Increases Psychosis Risk

Marijuana Use Increases Psychosis Risk

Well folks, here it is again. Yet more studies that conclusively demonstrate that SMOKING MARIJUANA IS BAD FOR YOU!!

Regular readers of my blog will have already read the other numerous scientific studies about which I have previously written.

Here are two more studies – one involving 20,000 people with psychotic illness, and another involving 1,923 people ages 14-24 over a period of 10 years.

Dutch researchers led by Jim van Os from Maastricht University conducted the decade-long youth study in Germany and ruled out those that presently smoked marijuana and those with pre-existing psychosis. They found that new marijuana use doubled the risk of new psychotic symptoms, even after accounting for age, sex, socio-economic status, other drug use and other psychiatric disorders.

Dr Matthew Large, from Australia’s University of New South Wale’s School of Psychiatry and Prince of Wales Hospital worked in partnership with Melbourne, Australia’s St. Vincent’s Hospital and the U.S.’s George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, pooled patient data from more than 80 studies which had probed the link between psychotic illness and substance abuse. Previous studies had examined the role of marijuana, alcohol and other psychoactive substances, but this new study examined marijuana alone. They found that most of the schizophrenic patients had been marijuana smokers, and of those who had been, the onset of mental illness occurred 2.7 years earlier.

Smoking pot may hasten onset of mental illness

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110207/hl_nm/us_smoking_pot
By Nancy Lapid Nancy Lapid – Mon Feb 7, 5:19 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Smoking marijuana has been linked with an increased risk of mental illness, and now researchers say that when pot smokers do become mentally ill, the disease starts earlier than it would if they didn’t smoke pot.

Marijuana and Schizophrenia – A Clear and Unmistakable Link… ignored in America

There is a significant and growing scientific body of medical evidence that marijuana use contributes significantly to schizophrenia – a particularly debilitating mental health condition that strikes during the most productive years of one’s life.

Medical marijuana anyone?

Maybe you’d prefer your mental health, instead.

It’s a shame that mental health professionals and other researchers in the United States almost wholly ignore the vast, longitudinal (long-term) and increasing body of evidence that conclusively demonstrates that marijuana DIRECTLY contributes to schizophrenia.

Of course, the elemental breakdown between reality and perception most characteristic of schizophrenia does seem to be present in this latest (and I believe ill-fated) and contradictory decision by the Mexican government to legalize small quantities of all illicit narcotics, including cocaine, heroin and LSD.

While this recent decision allows “small amounts” for “personal use,” apparently it doesn’t allow manufacture, sale or distribution of large amounts. However, “small amounts” always come from “large amounts.”

Complicating matters, the Mexican government has a long-time, well-known and rightfully-deserved reputation for corruption at all levels.

Mexico has continually been a “Third World” nation in the Western hemisphere. For years, in hopes for a better life abroad, their people have

“What did I learn?”

“What did I learn?

Support Drive-by Shootings… Smoke Marijuana

It’s SPRING BREAK, kiddies!

Go to Juarez, Mexico, get drunk, smoke dope, copulate with strangers… and come home in a body bag!

We’ve never had such fun!

Yeah, and you’ll never have it again.

It’s no joke people.

If you, or someone you know smokes marijuana, you support not only the illicit drug trade, but