Monday, September 26, 2011

Cannabidiol and Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

     I always love finding study after study of the positive health effects of cannabis.  One such study that I came across in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology shows that the leading non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), has been shown to reduce the harmful effects of diabetes-related heart conditions, including cardiac dysfunction and inflammation, fibrosis, and oxidative stress. See for yourself *here*.
Now, mind you, as of last year this was all pre-clinical findings.  What does that mean?  According to the study, mice with diabetic cardiomyopathy were used as well as actual human heart muscle tissue. Actual diabetic human testing has not yet occurred.
    For years people have found relief of their diabetic symptoms by using cannabis.  NORML's website highlights findings of cannabis and diabetes.  Here is a *link*.
     I am keeping it short and sweet today.  Please share this with friends and family that could benefit from these findings.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Bud of the Week - Cinderella 99

     Just like the fairy-tale princess of this bud's namesake, Cinderella 99 is a royal strain with humble beginnings. She is the ultimate by-product of the happenstance of a breeder visiting a coffeeshop in Amsterdam and finding a few seeds in a bud of Jack Herer.  The breeder, from the now-defunct Brothers Grimm, grew the seeds out and isolated one under the name "Princess". Princess' father was unidentified , but the sweet, pineapple aroma was appealing, so the breeder took Princess' brothers and pollinated them with a ShivaSkunk female.  The resulting seeds yielded males, which began the cubing process with Princess and the finished product was "Cinderella 99".
    Unfortunately, this generation is no longer available.  An F2 version was created with the attempt to keep the original traits of the F1 hybrid.  At this point, I will be referring to the F2 in this blog.
     Under 1000W lights, C 99 has yielded two ounces of finished product from 3 gallon soil grows.  The good news is this plant is only in flower for under 60 days.  C 99 can be a pain to manicure due to the abundance of fine leaves common to sativas.
     Be cautious when using this strain as the high is potent and has caught people off guard - even to the point of muscle twitching and paranoia!  The smell is strong of pineapple but the aftertaste has been described as chemical or burnt leaves.

Medicinal Uses: Chronic Pain, Cancer, Nausea, Depression, MS, Migraines 
   

Thursday, September 22, 2011

DuPont hates Cannabis - Part 3

     Until now, I have left one factor out of this saga's equation: *William Randolph Hearst*.  Hearst was the owner of the largest newspaper conglomerate in his day and he took full advantage of it. Using yellow journalism and smear tactics, Hearst's papers painted a false picture of cannabis as being a factor in violent crimes and interracial unions.  
     It is ironic that this occurred around the same time as the invention of the hemp decorticator (1935), a device used in separating the cellulose fibers from the plant.  Much like the cotton gin did for cotton, the decorticator allowed for hemp fiber processing time - and ultimately production costs - to drop significantly.  Previously (in 1916), the USDA concluded that pulp made from hemp was "favorable in comparison with those used in wood pulp".Here is a *link* to a downloadable copy of their findings.  Hemp was on course to become America's leading cash crop!  
     Hearst had other plans, however. Because the Hearst corporation also was a major logging company, Hearst had vested interest in hundreds of thousands of acres of timber. DuPont produced the chemicals for the treatment of raw wood pulp into usable paper.  DuPont also was a huge advertiser in Hearst's publications. These two giants were not about to let hemp get between them and dollar bills...
     The vast size of the newspaper empire of the Hearst Corporation allowed for Hearst to propagate completely made-up tales of rape, murder, and "madness"! It was claimed that white women would be seduced by marijuana to "seek sexual relations" with "Negroes and  Mexicans and entertainers".  With society being duped of the purportedly dangerous effects of cannabis, the stage was being set for prohibition.  Remember Andrew Mellon? He was the Treasury Secretary at the time and he appointed his nephew, Harry Anslinger, to be head of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics (by the way, cannabis is not a narcotic).  Anslinger hated minorities and believed that "the Devil's music", Jazz, was a direct  result of marijuana use by minority entertainers.  
    It is quite sad that all of this greed, racism, and lies have set America back. Because of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1938, cannabis was virtually outlawed (by doubling the cost for registered possessors and multiplying the cost a hundred-fold for unregistered possessors).  If you haven't, please read "DuPont hates Cannabis" in all three parts.  Also, share these blog entries with people who think marijuana was outlawed with good intentions.  
     

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

DuPont hates Cannabis - Part 2

     In Part 1, I mentioned society's shift from using hempseed oil to synthetic chemicals in paints and varnishes.  I would like to now draw your attention to behind the historical "curtain".  In the late 1800s,  "Agriculture" was begining to lose marketshare to the up-and-coming  "Industy". Several billion dollars were at stake.  In 1896, Rudolph Diesel's new engine had been designed with the presumption that vegetable and seed oils (like hempseed oil) would be used as fuel.
     Have you ever heard of Chevron? Chevron was the result of the merger of Standard Oil and Gulf Oil companies in 1985.  Gulf Oil had been throughout most of the twentieth century one of the major manufacturers of fuels and lubricants. Fuels and lubricants that were made from petroleum instead of natural oils such as hempseed oil.  It was in 1913 that Gulf Oil opened its first drive-in gas station - the same year Ford Motor Company began using the assembly line for automobile manufacturing.  At this time I shall mention briefly that the Alcohol Prohibition of 1919 falls right in line with the fledgling automotive industry's decision of which fuel to use - ethanol ( alcohol produced from grains) versus petroleum-derived gasoline.
     The special interests do not stop there - we are just getting started!  One of DuPont's larger financial backers, a man by the name of Andrew Mellon became the Treasury Secretary of this nation.  Mellon had taken over Gulf Oil.  In 1914, DuPont had purchased $25 million in stock of a little known company called General Motors.  Pierre DuPont, the founder of DuPont, became president of GM in 1920.  The ties between DuPont and the Oil and Automotive industries had been made.  They were going to rise or fall as a group - they needed each other.
     As this story unfolds, I hope you are beginning to see the corruption that is starting to brew and how it all links in the prohibition of cannabis.  Stay tuned for Part 3!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

DuPont hates Cannabis - Part 1

     If one is willing to take a moment and do some homework, he or she would find that DuPont, one of the world's leading chemical corporations, was a major player in the "Let's eradicate cannabis from the planet!" campaign.  I will try to give my readers a condensed version of this story, but please take some time and search out these facts for yourself.  Due to the fact that I try to keep my blog entries to a few paragraphs per blog, I will not pour out everything there is to know about this "relationship" between cannabis and DuPont in this blog entry.  I will begin by focusing on the use of cannabis in paints and varnishes.
     Prior to DuPont's multiple petrochemical creations hitting the market, *hempseed oil* was used in the manufacturing of virtually all quality paints and varnishes. It has been a staple in the industry for thousands of years.   In 1935, 116 million pounds of it were designated for paint and varnish use in America alone!  The testimonies of DuPont lobbyists between the years of 1935-1937 to Herman Oliphant (Chief Counsel for the Treasury Department) that hempseed oil could be synthetically replaced by DuPont's new chemical products are undoubtedly tied in with Oliphant's drafting of the Marijuana Tax Act, which was submitted to Congress and passed in 1938.
cont. in Part 2
   
 

Monday, September 19, 2011

Simpson Oil (or "Why Cancer Foundations are a Fraud")

     Have you ever wondered why, in spite of BILLIONS of dollars being funneled to major players in the pharmaceutical industry and the multiple cancer research foundations, we still do not have a cure for cancer, but rather, cancer is on the rise - especially among children and young adults?  If they discovered a cure - which, in my opinion, they have - they would ultimately be out of work and out of money.  This is where Rick Simpson steps in...
     Rick Simpson decided to treat his Basal Cell Carcinoma with oil that he extracted from the cannabis plant using naphtha to dissolve the cannabinoids from the unwanted parts of the plant.  Rick didn't realize at the time, but when he showed his doctor the wonderful results of the "Simpson Oil" on his skin cancer, he soon discovered that the medical world did not appreciate this and soon Rick was being dealt with by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The following video documentary (about one hour long) explains his story in full:
     In an additional video, I have included the "recipe" for making Simpson Oil.  Certain states, like California, do not allow solvent-extracted concentrates of cannabis.  The making of Simpson Oil can be dangerous, so make it at your own risk!  Here is the video:
     I conclude by saying that cancer's best "cure" is prevention.  Unfortunately, society has committed to processed, artificially colored and flavored foods and toxic petroleum distillates in skin-care items.  Our tap water is laden with fluoride and crops are coated with radioactive pesticides. I could go on but the point is made... With that being said, cannabis has shown clinically and anecdotally to combat cancer and we hear nothing of it from the mainstream sources.  Let us do something about it! Tell your friends that you support cannabis and help inform people of its benefits.