Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Cannabis Hope for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

With articles like, Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer and another article that stated "New Test Reveals Cannabis Damages Young Brains More Than Originally Thought, Study Finds Hardly anything that the website, Science Daily says is creditable and its usually a bunch of B.S. but every once in a while they'll post a little gold...

ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2009)
— Chemicals found in cannabis could prove an effective treatment for the inflammatory bowel diseases Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, say scientists.

Laboratory tests have shown that two compounds found in the cannabis plant -- the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol -- interact with the body's system that controls gut function.

Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, which affect about one in every 250 people in Northern Europe, are caused by both genetic and environmental factors. The researchers believe that a genetic susceptibility coupled with other triggers, such as diet, stress or bacterial imbalance, leads to a defective immune response.

Dr Karen Wright, Peel Trust Lecturer in Biomedicine at Lancaster University, presented her soon-to-be published work at The British Pharmacological Society's Winter Meeting in London.

She said: "The lining of the intestines provides a barrier against the contents of the gut but in people with Crohn's Disease this barrier leaks and bacteria can escape into the intestinal tissue leading to an inappropriate immune response.

"If we could find a way to restore barrier integrity in patients we may be able to curb the inflammatory immune response that causes these chronic conditions."

Dr Wright, working with colleagues at the School of Graduate Entry Medicine and Health in Derby, has shown that cells that react to cannabinoid compounds play an important role in normal gut function as well as the immune system's inflammatory response.

"The body produces its own cannabinoid molecules, called endocannabinoids, which we have shown increase the permeability of the epithelium during inflammation, implying that overproduction may be detrimental," said Dr Wright.

"However, we were able to reverse this process using plant-derived cannabinoids, which appeared to allow the epithelial cells to form tighter bonds with each other and restore the membrane barrier."

The research was carried out using cell cultures in a dish but, interestingly, when the team attempted to mimic the conditions of the gut by reducing the amount of oxygen in the cells' environment, much lower concentrations of cannabinoid were needed to produce the same effect.

Dr Wright added: "What is also encouraging is that while THC has psychoactive properties and is responsible for the 'high' people experience when using cannabis, cannabidiol, which has also proved effective in restoring membrane integrity, does not possess such properties."

Science Daily

Monday, December 21, 2009

Weekly Ramblings

Its starting to look a little like Christmas outside... It really doesnt look like that around here in Denver with temps today topping off at 58 but rest assured there is a cold front moving in just before Christmas Eve. We might just get that "White Christmas" this year. I read the other day that snow has fallen only 11 times the past 110 years, That's a mere 10%. There has been snow on the ground but not falling a whopping 45% of the time...

With all that Christmas hoopla going on and everyone out of work and people are starting to get hungry. And when that happens place start getting robbed. 14 Banks were robbed in Denver over the course of last week. 14 Banks! And lucky nobody has gotten hurt so all the media shows is a little tiny clip in the back of the local section talking about a bank robber that got away, maybe a small pic Denver Post And unfortunately another trend is starting to occur in Denver. Medical Marijuana Dispensary robberies! Granted there were only 2 last week but the local media got there meaty hands on and exploded the situation and spreading fear throughout the community.

Please if you have a dispensary take the extra steps to secure your venue, patients and medicine. Once the robbers realize that robbing a dispensary is no better than robbing a 7-11, the practice will stop.

In other Marijuana news...

Marijuana cultivators surrender...

Fiji: More than 60 marijuana cultivators up in the highlands of Navosa have surrendered themselves to police and are now providing critical information and taking police to locations where drug deals are being made.

Officer-In-Charge Drugs Inspector Rajeshni Mala confirmed that this year they have uprooted more than 66,000 matured marijuana plants with a street value of more than $1 billion.

She said this is the biggest drug bust in the history of the Fiji Police Force.

According to Inspector Mala they have adopted a different approach towards the marijuana farmers and only those farmers who do not corporate and resist arrest are taken into custody.
FijiVillage.com


70-yr-old granny arrested with 40kg marijuana

Mumbai: At 70, Gangubai Kshirsagar looks like a granny who would love to divide her time between praying and her grandchildren. But Kshirsagar seems to be far more adventurous than that.

The Bandra unit of the police's anti-narcotics cell (ANC) on Saturday arrested Kshirsagar with 40kg marijuana worth Rs10 lakh. A middle-class Maharashtrian from Solapur, the police say she is one of the biggest drug suppliers in the city and has been involved in the narcotics trade for over a decade.

Kshirsagar had two sons, but one of them died. Her other son and grandchildren live in Dombivli, where they run an indoor games facility.

"She is a record-sheet drug supplier and has been arrested in the past by the ANC and the local police. In 2005, she was held with 50kg marijuana. She served one-and-a-half years in prison for it," said inspector Mrityunjay Hiremath from the ANC.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The new M3 Magazine Live

Writing a introduction piece for Mile High NORML in the new M3 Magazine Live, A Social Network for the Marijuana Community! M3 Live

Monday, December 14, 2009

Cannabis Health Fair in Denver



Yesterday at the Holiday Inn in Denver, over 40 Cannabusiness, 2 lawmakers and thousands of people gathered for the first ever Cannabis Holiday Health Fair brought us by the amazing and hardworking Laura Kriho of Cannabis Therapy Institute or C.T.I.

“It’s really exciting to nurture the little seeds and introduce ourselves to the community and show how professional we are and how important we are to the economy, I think we’ve done that very successfully.” Kriho told the reporter of Denver Daily News. One of the several news agency's in the city to cover the event

And even though they might not like each other personally, The two Colorado lawmakers who have been leading the push to regulate the industry — Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown and Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver — both made appearances at the fair.



Romer meet one on one with several patients and talked with attendees and defended his bill to an often-disagreeing crowd. Brown also made the rounds talking with businesses and attendees stopping at our table only only for seconds, to get an ear full of complaints regarding his city proposal's.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this an amazing event and one I hope to see every year here on out as we move into 2010 and another step closure to Freedom!

Friday, December 4, 2009

A message from Rick Simpson

Last week while attending the annual cannabis cup in Amsterdam, Rick Simpson who for the past seven years, has been making oil from cannabis grown on his property and providing it freely to cancer patients, house was raided by the Canadian Police and Rick says that he refuses to return home to face prosecution

Posted on Friday the 4th of December, 2009

On November 25th, one day before I was crowned the Freedom Fighter of the Year 2009 at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, I received a word that I have been raided again by the RCMP (Mounties). I contacted Tim Hunter at the Amherst attachment and asked I was being charged. Of course, he refused to give me straight answer. All he would say was that the RCMP wanted to talk to me.

After openly growing hemp in my backyard this past summer and announcing this fact to the public on tom Young´s open line talk show in June, how could the RCMP not be aware of my activities? The truth is they knew exactly what I was doing. RCMP officers were even sending people that needed help to me. I can only surmise that the purpose of this raid was to keep me from returning to Canada.

If I return home, I will be arrested and put in jail without bail or medicine. I am not afraid of their jails but I cannot go without my medicine, the system has nothing that could help me with my conditions. So for me to return to Canada would be like committing suicide. I would be thrown in jail and denied my medicine and a short time later you would hear in the news that Rick Simpson died of natural causes. I cannot tell the people of Canada who are depending on my presence to help their medical conditions how sorry I am. But it was not me who caused this situation.

It seems the goal is to keep me from returning home and they succeeded. But to what end? All hemp magazines on this planet are now telling their readers how to heal themselves with this wonderful medicine. If governments want to live in denial, it will be short-lived. We are gaining tens of thousands of followers every day. You cannot stop the truth.

For me, going to the Cannabis Cup was a great adventure and I would like to thank Greenhouse Seeds for making this trip possible. To stand before hundreds of people and being crowned as the Freedom Fighter of the Year was a great honour. But it is an honour that comes with a price. Most people who have worn the tricorn hat have gone to jail for spreading the truth.

To have this honour bestowed on me and to join the ranks of people like Jack Herer and Eddy Lepp has given my life even more purpose.

Jack Herer believed as I do that the key to hemp´s complete legalisation is in the magnificent medicine this plant can produce. Once the public becomes aware of the fact that properly made hemp medicine can cure or control practically any medical condition, who is going to stand against the use of hemp?

I must also mention the great work done by Steve Hagar and High Times magazine. Cannabis cures cancer right on their cover. It is so refreshing to know that the system has no control over hemp publications. What a shame are so-called free press and news media refuse to print the truth.

I must also tip my tricorn hat to the Weed World out of the UK. They were the first hemp magazine to cover my work. They even released a special edition in September 2009 featuring a number of articles that I wrote about hemp medicine and other aspects of the hemp movement. I must also acknowledge the great work done by Bayer & Romsy Hemp Cosmetics and Konoptikum hemp magazine of the Czech Republic. This publication has also done much to spread the truth about hemp in Europe.

Presently, I am staying with friends in Europe but it saddens me to be unable to be with my family and loved ones during Christmas. For the time being, it seems I will be seeking asylum in Europe. This may not be a bad thing since seminars about hemp oil are being arranged in many countries. I hate to go begging but if anyone out there has an extra few dollars they can donate to us, it would greatly ease the burden on me. Of course it costs money to live in Europe and we are expending a great deal putting on seminars and spreading the word. So any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

They say everything happens for a reason, so I will simply put my head down and continue forward. To anyone in Canada or the US requiring help, simply follow the information we provided at www.phoenixtears.ca. Almost anyone can produce this medicine without difficulty, if they follow the instructions. Again, I apologize to everyone for not returning. But as you can see, my hands are tied.

We are at the dawn of new age in medicine and a new day for mankind. Not only can hemp save the world, it can eliminate a great deal of human suffering and can even put an end to starvation. What are we waiting for? Join with me and let us put an end to this madness. It can only survive if we continue to sit on our backsides and do nothing. Stand up and be counted and let us give ourselves a chance to heal.

Best wishes,
Rick Simpson

Hemp Medicine´s Emperor´s Political Exile in Europe
– a message from Rick Simpson