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Nat V asked:


My friend was perscribed pain killers which he says have thc (the chemical in marijuana) in them, an alternative for medical marijuana (since medical marijuana is illegal). Whats this pill called? Is he telling the truth? He said it was called hydrochlorine or something, but I’m pretty sure he’s remembering the name wrong.

Dirk Hanson asked:


Attention marijuana users: The President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy thinks it has a pretty good idea of where you live. Last month, the office released its 2008 Marijuana Sourcebook (PDF), which includes a map of marijuana usage.

Prime marijuana territory, according to the estimates, includes Northern California, upstate New York and New England, Alaska, Northern Florida, Northern Arizona, and Western Montana. Areas showing little interest in pot include Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and Utah.

The Marijuana Sourcebook also features the controversial gateway hypothesis: “For younger users, the risk of marijuana abuse or dependency exceeds that for alcohol or tobacco. Recent research supports the ‘gateway’ dimension of marijuana — that its use creates greater risk of abuse or dependency on other drugs, such as heroin and cocaine.”

Many addiction researchers consider the gateway hypothesis to be outmoded at best. In a 2006 article in the America Journal of Psychiatry, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School could find no evidence that teenage marijuana use is predictive of drug and alcohol abuse in later life. According to Ralph E. Tarter, professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and lead author of the study, “the reverse pattern is just as accurate for predicting who might be at risk for developing a drug dependence disorder.”

The Sourcebook also concludes that “smoked marijuana is not medicine,” and reminds readers that the FDA has not approved the use of cannabis for anything, at any time. The Office of National Drug Control Policy has always held that the medical marijuana movement is nothing but a front for increased drug trafficking. The report puts the case in terms nobody is likely to misconstrue: “The FDA, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, do not support the use of smoked marijuana for medical purposes.”

Even our friendly neighbors to the North come in for a bashing. “Canada is a consumer as well as a producer of marijuana,” the Sourcebook says, claiming that Canadian use has doubled since 1994.

In addition, under the heading, “Marijuana Growers Present Environmental Hazards,” the Sourcebook estimates that one marijuana garden can generate “up to 53 30-gallon garbage bags of trash.”

Amelie Mag asked:


Marijuana, like any other hallucinogen plant or substance is illegal in some countries. Of course, there are some parts of the world more civilized than others that have understood cannabis as a personal choice. Thus they’ve legalized it. Places like these are very appreciated by tourists because they get to try not necessarily illegal substances, but perhaps a whole new lifestyle in a place where pot is not an issue and they can make their own decisions. This is what education needs most - to let people assume responsibility for their acts. Letting them grow Dutch marijuana seeds and witness marijuana germination shouldn’t be a problem as long as they know their risks and they’re willing to take them.

Also called weed, cheeba cheeba, devil’s grass or pot, marijuana has had a lot of names throughout the years and it has been a much disputed subject. A lot of people talk about it without knowing anything about this plant, its growth process and the effort put into obtaining the best products from it. Few have paid interest in the details so many websites offer about Dutch marijuana seeds or about marijuana germination. Most only get to know one fact about it -that it’s good for smoking. But cannabis also has a medical purpose as it is used in treatments for serious diseases like glaucoma. Because of its curative powers, cannabis is not illegal if prescribed by a doctor in a certain drug. However, marijuana is mostly known for the hallucinations or state of well being it induces.

Growing marijuana is very tricky if you want to obtain high quality products. Cannabis can survive and develop in any conditions and in any kind of soil, but it won’t meet certain standards. As most people who are interested in this plant use it to sell it for treatments, they have to know certain details that allow the growth of quality cannabis. First of all, the seeds are of primary importance. Dutch marijuana seeds are the most recommended and, if one browses the Internet a little, he can find information as to why this is so. The Dutch marijuana seeds are known to be the best ones out there and they insure a high marijuana germination rate. After getting some Dutch marijuana seeds (and this shouldn’t be very difficult with a little research and an online order), careful plantation and close surveillance are necessary.

Marijuana germination of a considerable number of Dutch marijuana seeds is insured only by following strict rules as to how the plant should be looked after. The best place to germinate the Dutch marijuana seeds is in a sterile soil, vermiculite or hydroponic medium of rockwool. You will see the results, meaning the marijuana germination process, after just a week. Vermiculite is such a good medium because it can give the seeds a lot of oxygen. The seeds need to have water at all times and for expected results a nutrient solution is a great idea. The container the seeds are put into is very important also. It’s not recommended to transplant the seeds more than two times before the first harvest so you should put the Dutch marijuana seeds in the same pot you plan to grow the plant in. As one can notice after carefully examining only the instructions that have to be followed to witness the marijuana germination, a lot of hard work has to be put into growing cannabis.

Even after the marijuana germination period has ended and the plant has sprouted, one still has to take good care of it. The plant needs darkness during the marijuana germination period, so you can cover the soil where the Dutch marijuana seeds are with black paper to keep the light out. After the seeds have sprouted they will need light. A sun light or an UV lamp can be used because the small plant needs a lot of light. It’s best to keep them under a light source for eighteen hours a day.

Not knowing about the effort that has to be put into making the marijuana germination happen and not paying any interest in the difference between normal seeds and Dutch marijuana seeds is a major mistake. Education should involve all this information because a certain respect for the entire process would be induced to teenagers who only care about smoking. Knowing of the positive as well as the negative effects marijuana has on people would be a huge step in civilization. With this data and more, children would know the power such a plant has over the human body. They would learn to respect and sometimes fear the unknown and most importantly, they would learn responsibility for their actions is no one’s but their own.

Children should learn about the entire process to make marijuana germination happen and about the hard work put in. They should be instructed on the medical effects of treatments that include plants developed from Dutch marijuana seeds. Maybe later, they will wish to open a pharmacy that sells products based on cannabis. People would learn to hope for new discoveries made by these children in the future because someone told them, when they were easy to impress, how the marijuana germination should be handled and what seeds to use. You never know when knowledge takes a leap forward if education helps young minds to better comprehend positive aspects and hope to eliminate the negative ones.

Tarun Gupta asked:


Marijuana is one of the most commonly abused drugs in the world. This is because it is relatively cheap in its true form and can be easily bought and grown. As a plant, its leaves are green with five spiky separations per leaf, like a spread out hand. It can grow fast and is hardy hemp that is named Cannabis Sativa.

Marijuana is sold as a dry greenish brown mixture of flowers, leaves, stems and seeds of the plant. People usually smoke this plant just like a cigarette or maybe put it in a bong (a glass device for inhaling the smoke, much like a pipe). Others also use it as a tea or mixed with food. Many heated debates have been launched in support of the plant and against it. It has been used for different reasons for centuries but mainly for the hallucinogenic effect and it medicinal properties. Many countries across Asia still use it in spite of its ugly reputation and the question of legality.

Effects of Marijuana

Marijuana has short term effect and long term effects on people. Within a few minutes of inhaling the smoke of the cannabis hemp, it should take effect on your brain. The main chemical element in Marijuana that usually affects people is THC, also known as delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol. Some protein receptors in our nerve cells actually bind with THC and this starts off a series of events in our brain. This series of events in our brain ultimately ends with the high that users experience. It enters the body within minutes if it is smoked since it passes through the lungs into the bloodstream. It is not actually the Marijuana that is detected by the drug test kits but metabolites which are residue of the drug.

Many of the protein receptors that bind with THC to create the high are located in the part of our brain that influence our sensory, memory, concentration, pleasure, thought, time perception and movement. This is the reason why so many users like getting high because they actually sense pleasure and happiness with the high which the cannabis creates. On the other hand, Marijuana can also affect an individual’s judgment, learning, memory, distorted perception and cause increased heart rate. Long term effects of Marijuana are loss of memory, distorted perception and stress.

Marijuana also affects the heart by exposing the user to four times the risk of a heart attack within the initial hour of using the drug. It can also cause upper respiratory complications such as a painful cough and stinging throat and mouth. Users are prone to acute chest illness, high risk of lung infections and prone to obstructed airways.

Marijuana stays in an individual’s system for as short as three days and more than ninety days. The length of stay depends on how long the individual has used Marijuana and the metabolism of a person. This means not everybody has the same length of time when Marijuana stays in your body.

Lora French asked:


I do not understand western medicine’s fascination with medication. It seems these days that everyone is searching for a pill that will be the answer to all of their ailments. Take this pill for that. Take that pill for this. Research which drug will cure this or aid with that. It simply goes on and on. We have become a medicated nation.

I am baffled by this when we see the consequences of drug addiction in our communities. We think our problems with addiction will be solved if only we can get a handle on the meth problem or the heroin problem or the marijuana problem. We can’t see that many of the medications that are being handed by our doctors and pharmacies can be just has destructive as so-called street drugs. What’s frightening to me is that we are trying to solve the drug addiction problem in our country by creating new drugs that these drug addicts can take to cure their drug addiction.

Does this faulty thinking make any sense? Are more drugs truly the only way to handle a drug addict’s drug problem? Why can’t we provide those suffering from addiction with a comprehensive drug free rehab program? Yes, I said it. Drug-free. This means skip the methadone clinic. Skip the Subaxone. Skip the anti-depressants. Skip the quick fix.

The cover story for the July 16, 2007 issue of Time Magazine delves into the nature of addiction and how “new brain research is helping us understand why we get hooked.” The researchers involved use addicts’ brains to “design new drugs that are showing promise in cutting off the craving that drives an addict irresistibly toward relapse.” Great! Right? If an addict just didn’t crave the drug, he would be fine.Partially, yes. But there is so much more to what causes an individual to get hooked on drugs. There are always underlying issues that the once sober individual is trying to escape. Giving an addict a drug to stop the craving only addresses a part of the problem. There must be drug free ways to reduce the cravings an addict experiences and provide a complete drug free rehab for the drug addict.

Holistic approaches to drug addiction have been developed and have been proven to work. One such program, the New Life Detoxification program offered at Narconon Vista Bay, truly addresses the cravings an addict experiences by cleansing the body of drug residues in a drug free setting, using vitamins and a sauna program at its base. The end result is that the cravings for drugs have disappeared. However, the program also addresses the underlying causes for the addiction in the first place. None of these wonder drugs for addiction deal with the root causes, which in all honesty, makes me question the motivation behind developing these types of drugs.

Who profits from these wonder drugs? Is it the drug addict who now has to support his new habit? What happens to this addict when he can’t afford to get his medication? Will he return to using the bad street drugs and find himself caught in the trap of addiction all over again? These drugs to cure addiction are new. That means long term side effects are unknown. What will they be? What side effects will the addict have to deal with?

We have already seen what happens to those on methadone. We know that Subaxone is classified as a narcotic. We have seen that Ritalin, a methamphetamine, causes serious problems for our children. And yet, we keep pushing this idea that medication is the answer to addiction. When will see that drug free rehab is truly the only solution to our drug addiction problems?

Kerry Ng asked:


Having any type of digestive tract problem is very uncomfortable and painful for any person. Some people have the sad affliction of suffering with chronic digestive tract problems that are difficult to control and difficult to live with. One problem that is not often talked about but is a very real problem is constipation. This problem may not seem like a big deal to some one who has never had to deal with it but it is a very uncomfortable and harmful situation for a person to deal with. Untreated constipation can result in bowel impaction and can require surgical intervention when it becomes severe. Other problems that can occur with constipation are things such as hemorrhoids, **** fissures or prolapse.

It is important for anyone who suffers with this problem to find adequate and efficient ways of relief that will prevent complications and pain from occurring. Doctors usually recommend that people with constipation need to increase fluid intake, increase physical activity and most importantly increase fiber intake. A very beneficial way to increase fiber in the diet is for a person to have an intake of flax seed. Flax seed, otherwise known as linseed, is a very beneficial supplement in the diet that will not only help the digestive tract to function well but will provide other benefits to the human body.

How Flax Seed Works To Relieve Constipation

Flax seed is a very compact fiber that is very effective. The term fiber when used in terms of digestion suggests that the substance is not digested or broken down as it moves through the intestinal tract. Because it is not broken down the flax seed or other fibers make the stool bulkier and easier for the body to move by the action of peristalsis. With the bulky stool and an adequate fluid intake the person is able to eliminate wastes through the bowels more efficiently and constipation is prevented. Without adequate fiber intake of such items as flax seed the stool is smaller and clumpy making more difficult to move through the intestines.

Why Flax Seed Is Best

There are many types of fiber a person can use to aide in the efforts to relieve constipation but flax seed has proven itself to be one of the best fibers for the human diet that has been found. The reason this is so is because flax seed will not only prevent and treat the constipation but it has many other health benefits as well. Flax seed is rich in oil that contains Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been proven to help in several areas of body functioning. One important discovery of Omega-3 fatty acids is that by having an adequate intake of it in a diet a person will have reduce cholesterol and less incidence of heart disease. Omega-3 fatty acids have also been linked with a reduction of many types of cancer. Flax seed may also help in the treatment of diabetes by stabilizing the blood sugar levels. The studies in this area are not complete but it is surely something well worth investigating. A person who takes flax seed for constipation will also have these other benefits making flax the best fiber choice.

Who Should Use Flax Seed

Of course, any person who is thinking of adding a supplement to their diet should consult their physician. Flax seed should not be contraindicated for the average person but some people may find that they do not tolerate the fiber well. Most people, even those without chronic constipation, will find that they have great results in taking the flax seed not only functioning of the heart and other organs of the body. It is well worth trying as the benefits are only just beginning to surface in the scientific world.

John Wellington asked:


Normally legal herbs are also referred to as legal alternatives to marijuana. Basically legal herbs are different varieties of plant species that can be either smoked or burned like incense to produce a sense of well being, and for some individuals, euphoria or a mild marijuana like effects. Comparatively speaking, marijuana alternatives like legal herbs are less expensive their illegal counterparts, and are agreeable to smell without any noxious odors.

One can purchase different strains of legal herbs that are available from online retailers for very reasonable prices. These vendors feature legal herb varieties that are a potent, pleasurable alternative to tobacco products, and are available in different forms also, for instance buds, blends and smoking herbs.

Retailers of legal herbs carry similar; Marijuanilla, Kanna, Blue Lotus, Wild Dagga and Damiana are few of the well-liked legal herbs and each one of them is said to have different therapeutic actions. Sites that feature legal herb products for sale such as http://www.majuanaalternatives.com, http://www.legalherbs.org or http://www.herbshangout.com are promoted as potent and exotic, a healthy alternative.

In the case of Damiana, it is said to act as a mild aphrodisiac and creates a feeling of euphoria that can go on up to 1 ½ hours. This also acts to stimulate the genito-urinary tract. Whereas Wild Dagga and its close relative Marijuanilla are dubbed as the best legal herb alternatives available; both generate a pleasant euphoric effect, and the smoke produced is smooth and pleasant tasting. A potent legal herb, Kanna has been around for centuries as a mood enhancer and is related to St. John’s Wart, which is mainly used to treat depression. It is a good idea to check first with your doctor, especially if you are taking any medications before you use any type of herbal or dietary supplement.

Just like any other smoking substances there are certain risks involved when inhaling or burning any type of legal herb. As with a majority of combustible substances, the tars and toxins of the plant are prone to be released into the air or into the lungs. Any substance that has been smoked regularly has been shown to have detrimental effects on health; as a result moderation is the key. In spite of the occasional use of legal herbs has not been linked to any long term health effects, but just as with anything, use with care and common sense.

If you would like to learn more, you can purchase a copy of “Legal Highs: A Concise Encyclopedia of Legal Herbs & Chemicals with Psychoactive Properties” by Adam Gottlieb, to view a complete listing of a number of substances used by people around the world for various reasons. Definitely worth checking out!

Tarun Gupta asked:


Many organizations are pushing for the legalization of Marijuana as a medical drug. Marijuana has many medical advantages which include it being a therapeutic drug for cancer and AIDS patients. Many other research and studies dedicated to Marijuana has shown early signs that it can also inhibit cancer cell growth in animals.

In spite of these recent findings, many other organizations have tried to block the legalization of Marijuana as a medical drug. These organizations cited that only some isolated elements of Marijuana can be regarded as medically helpful and that the practice of smoking it does not necessarily have to be done.

Organizations Lobbying For Legal Marijuana Use

Patients out of Time and Law Enforcement against Prohibition are just two of the numerous organizations asking the government to change its mind regarding the prohibition of Marijuana use. Patients out of Time is an organization that has dedicated itself to the education of health care professionals and the general public regarding the therapeutic use of cannabis. This organization believes that Marijuana can be utilized as a drug to help patients who are suffering from several various diseases and illnesses.

LEAP or Law Enforcement against Prohibition is an organization that consists of former and current officers of the law and other individuals who wish to point out the failure of many drug policies. They believe that having a systematic regulation and control of drugs can benefit the community more than prohibition.

Anti-Marijuana

There are other organizations that believe that legalizing marijuana is a good idea and others also want to veto these suggestions from the pro organizations. Other research studies have also pointed out that using Marijuana can adversely affect the brain and the body. These are lifelong effects that can manifest themselves long after an individual has given up using Marijuana. The anti-marijuana organizations stress that there are other products in the medical market that have the same positive effects of Marijuana with little or none of the negative side effects.

Researches regarding the use of Marijuana in some individuals who are already sick have shown that it can complicate the illness and add to the severity of it. Most of these organizations that are against the use of Marijuana as a medical drug urge the government for more extensive research to bring to light the effects of the plant.

As of the moment, the laws enacting the illegality of using and growing marijuana are still in place. The government has not budged regarding the many lobbyists who ask for the lifting of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In spite of the many advocates of pro-Marijuana use, the studies that have been done regarding the usefulness of the drug is still not enough to convince the government of its efficiency in the medical field. Some states in the United States of America have laws and regulations which are more lenient than other states. This is in lieu of sick people who wish to have release from pain and suffering caused by illnesses but there is a legal limit which needs to be followed.

The move to legalize the use and propagation of Marijuana will always have opposition since this plant is controversial. If the government does allow the use and propagation of Cannabis, there will always be a loophole which will be used by drug addicts and traffickers to be able to make money from the lifting of the ban.