Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 10:49 am | By: Radical Russ
I have about a half dozen Vietnam vets as friends who would tell you, “no shit,” but it’s always good to get the official science on our side.
Newswise — Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder patients. This is exposed in a recent study carried out at the Learning and Memory Lab in the University of Haifa’s Department of Psychology. The study, carried out by research student Eti Ganon-Elazar under the supervision of Dr. Irit Akirav, was published in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience.
The present study, carried out by Dr. Akirav and research student Eti Ganon-Elazar, aimed to examine the efficiency of cannabinoids as a medical treatment for coping with post-traumatic stress. The researchers used a synthetic form of marijuana, which has similar properties to the natural plant, and they chose to use a rat model, which presents similar physiological responses to stress to that of humans.
Dr. Akirav and Ganon-Elazar also examined hormonal changes in the course of the experiment and found that synthetic marijuana prevents increased release of the stress hormone that the body produces in response to stress.
According to Dr. Akirav, the results of this study show that cannabinoids can play an important role in stress-related disorders. “The results of our research should encourage psychiatric investigation into the use of cannabinoids in post-traumatic stress patients,” she concludes.
I agree with Willie Nelson when he says “The biggest killer on the planet is stress and I still think the best medicine is and always has been cannabis.” I think cannabis is good not just for PTSD, but for everyday stress most of us feel from time to time. How much could we reduce road rage, ulcers, and domestic abuse if our hyper-stressed, always-on culture embraced a little more cannabis and a little less caffeine?
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 10:20 am | By: Radical Russ
All Things Considered, April 20, 2009 · There’s a surge of public interest in legalizing marijuana as a partial answer to a host of problems. Last week, Mexico’s congress debated legalizing cannabis as a way to undermine cartel income. And when President Obama held his online town hall last month, he was swamped with the question: Why not legalize pot as a way to help the economy?
NPR came up with a hypothetical scenario and asked experts to play along, commenting on their imagined outcomes. The scenario: Marijuana has been legal for two years throughout the U.S. It is treated, in the eyes of the law, similar to alcohol. It is taxed and regulated, and users must be 21 or older. Pot smokers can buy it by the gram at licensed dispensaries. Predictably, the law change would make some people very happy — and others deeply concerned.
Imagine if you turned on the radio and heard this: “From NPR News in Washington, I’m Carl Kasell. After 70 years of prohibition, marijuana becomes legal today for personal consumption throughout the United States for persons 21 and older …”
How would the world change if cannabis finally came out of the closet, if it were fully legal to possess, sell and cultivate?
Willie Nelson, the 76-year-old iconic balladeer and cannabis connoisseur, says there are pros and cons.
“We don’t worry about going to jail anymore for smoking it,” he says. But, “a lot of our old friends who dealt it are out of work.”
No, your old friends who dealt it now just have to work in a legitimate industry, with job applications and business licenses and taxation and regulation and sick days and vacations and social security and 401Ks, just like the rest of us. I know there is a segment of the cannabis community making their living from marijuana growing and dealing. I do not fault any two adults who wish to conduct a consensual business transaction; however, every dollar of profit made in a prohibited market comes at the cost of lives ruined. Keeping marijuana illegal so a few people can make black market income is not a good enough justification for imprisoning 40,000, arresting 872,000, and curtailing the freedom of 22 million.
According to Dr. Dale Gieringer of California NORML, legalized marijuana, where it could be grown in massive industrial fields and harvested with the most efficient technology, would cost $1-$2 per ounce. That is, it would cost as much to produce as any other leafy crops. Currently these old friends are selling it for $200-$450 per ounce. All that markup owes to prohibition, so to profit from that is to profit from the lockup of our own people.
That’s not the fault of the grower/dealer, of course, it’s the fault of the bad law; he’s merely providing the goods people want, and everybody’s willing to take the risk of arrest for themselves, too. In the current illegal environment, there’s not a good moral choice; you either profit from prohibition as a grower/dealer or somebody else does while you starve. But don’t ask me to shed a tear when the grower/dealer will have to compete like any other legitimate farmer growing and selling a legal crop.
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It’s a special holiday Stash for you today. Â Dr. Mitch Earleywine and I discuss hemp and the holidays throughout history, Cheech & Chong tell the tale of Santa Claus and His Old Lady, and Chief Greenbud, Willie Nelson, Jet Baker, and Trixie Smith perform in an extended holiday musical break. Â Enjoy!
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w00t! It’s the Weekend… and I drink your milkshake! (My 25-year-old brother is visiting and he tells me that is funny.)
Today we visit with Steve Bloom from CelebStoner.com for a look at the legacy of George Carlin. Plus Steve has the latest Paris Hilton pot-fast news and the salacious marijuana details of Bill Murray’s divorce.
We get a little music from Willie and a little comedy from Carlin before it’s all done. Grab a bubbler full of bubblegum and enjoy your NORML Daily Audio Stash.
Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 1:32 pm | By: Radical Russ
For today’s musical break we feature the Redheaded Stranger, longtime NORML supporter Willie Nelson, along with his family, on a tune called “Peaceful Solution”. Willie’s still going strong at over 75 years old and the man walks the walk – his bus the Honeysuckle Rose runs on biodiesel and the people inside it run on fine cannabis sativa.
I thought it fitting to end the week that began with the death of George Carlin with a song about finding peaceful solutions to problems rather than declaring war. Carlin spoke out against our American propensity to declare war on anything we disagree with – war on poverty, war on drugs, war on illiteracy, war on crime, etc. (but not a war on homelessness, there’s no money in that!)
If America could just make peace with drugs, especially marijuana, we would all live in a better place. In America of 1900, there were no drug laws and about 1.3% of the population had serious drug addictions. In America of 2000, we have draconian drug laws and about 1.3% of our population have serious drug addictions. It’s time to come up with a different way to deal with the issue of drugs.
The cannabis law reform movement has never had a better, more honest or longer-serving goodwill ambassador for cannabis consumers as well as a dedicated proponent of hemp as an industrial crop that should be within the ambit of choices for the American farmer. Even on the rare occasion that Willie has been arrested on cannabis prohibition-related charges, the arresting law enforcement officers involved have oddly been embarrassed, giddy and ultimately honored to have the opportunity to meet Willie in person.
On one occasion in Texas in 1995, Willie was arrested for possessing a couple of hand-rolled cigarettes that just happen to consist of cannabis rather than tobacco, and in a totally unlikely scenario the local sheriff was the individual who bailed him out!
To the man who once smoked a joint on the roof of the White House and has donated the proceeds from events like the 2007 Austin Freedom Festival to support cannabis law reform advocacy, on behalf of NORML’s nationwide membership and chapters, as well as the board of directors, thanks for all your help and support for too many years.
riday is Cannabis Community day on the Stash, and coming up after the news, we’re speaking with Steve Bloom, our regular Friday guest who brings us the latest on celebrity and cannabis from CelebStoner.com. Â Steve tells us about some controversy over the new album from the Black Crowes, a look ahead to Willie Nelson’s 75th birthday, and the unveiling of CelebStoner.com’s “Stoners for Obama” campaign.
Cannabis Karri brings us got some music from P.A.I.N. (the Propaganda and Information Network) and their song called “Grow More Weed”.
Then we wrap thing up with a replay of our conversation with Dan Viets, a Missouri attorney specializing in civil rights and the Drug War, as we examine the new record prison population in the Land of the Free.
So sit back and relax with your favorite strain and enjoy your Daily Audio Stash…
RevRayGreen: MASS TWEET THIS -@ChuckGrassley Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer sadness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
RevRayGreen: @ChuckGrassley http://bit.ly/55Ejsi Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer madness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
SneakerPimp: one last thing Puff puff pass to any one who wants it
SneakerPimp: i wanna here about the imminent MiniSpof sounds like time for some
SneakerPimp: im estatic and excited for NSL today.
SneakerPimp: mountain time wake n bake
SneakerPimp: oh yea also wake n bake
SneakerPimp: its central im high as a kite everybody
SneakerPimp: ill grab that WUD
WakeUpDead: @Russ, I dont think that wireless is going to work out for the show, it was choppy and studdered just like last week. Hardline may be the only way. Puff [...]
WakeUpDead: A MINI Spof, Lock up your Weed, in 18 years that is. Really Man congrats! Greatest days of my life when my kids were born, hell yeh, great news [...]
BenJaMin: Late night Stash!!!
SneakerPimp: heres a bong rip for spof
RevRayGreen: errr test over....
RevRayGreen: on hold..
RevRayGreen: @RR I'll try and lob a call to you.....
SneakerPimp: where is the first field of cannabis gonna be?
SneakerPimp: !
Radical Russ: Breaking News: MrSpof's wife's water just broke! A MiniSpof is imminent!
SneakerPimp: oh russ its not my fault that i dont understand choppy word:stoned:
SneakerPimp: @Mrspof congratulations tell us all about it tommrow
Radical Russ: OK, test over. Sorry. Only needed a half hour. Be back tomorrow afternoon.
slash5city: don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west
thaistik: Local Crime Stoppers notice.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Pot shop burglars sought
Crime Stoppers is looking for information on the suspects who police say burglarized a medical marijuana dispensary and stole cash, drugs [...]
American Medical Association Calls For Scientific Review Of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status; Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than European Average, Study Says […]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today's pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do. Moderator: Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com * Toby Grear, MMA fighter * Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmm […]
Cannabis Law Reform's Missing Link: Law Enforcement Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper; LEAP and NORML Advisory Board; Author of Breaking Rank Putting the Mexican Cartels Out of Business Mexican drug cartels now employ over 100,000 soldiers and are responsible for nearly ten thousand deaths per year. Their largest source of income is marijuana. […]
Cannabinoids show promise in treatment of post traumatic stress disorder
sounds like time for some 
mountain time wake n bake 
don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west 
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