If this turns out to be true...

[paperburn1]

here is a study
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal- ... ims-n81126
now they did not say what the effects were, just that it warped the brain.

[ladajo]

The actual findings report:

http://jn.sfn.org/press/April-16-2014-I ... 005529.pdf

I am sure the pro-drug crowd will attempt to dismiss it as "continued conservative conspiracy to deny us our freedoms".

An oft cited statement regarding Pot use:

Cannabis use is associated with impairments of cognitive
functions, including learning and memory, attention, and
decision-making. Animal studies show structural changes in
brain regions underlying these functions after exposure to 9-
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component
of cannabis (Lawston et al., 2000; Downer et al., 2001).

[Diogenes]

The actual findings report:

http://jn.sfn.org/press/April-16-2014-I ... 005529.pdf

I am sure the pro-drug crowd will attempt to dismiss it as "continued conservative conspiracy to deny us our freedoms".

An oft cited statement regarding Pot use:

Cannabis use is associated with impairments of cognitive
functions, including learning and memory, attention, and
decision-making. Animal studies show structural changes in
brain regions underlying these functions after exposure to 9-
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component
of cannabis (Lawston et al., 2000; Downer et al., 2001).

I have reached the point where I generally reject out of hand "research" which purports to show either benefits or harmlessness of various drugs. I now realize there are agenda driven people doing "research" with specific outcomes in mind, and therefore they are just propagandists with lab coats.

I have likewise reached this point with "Gay" research, or "Global Warming" research, or H*ll, a whole slew of other "Research" topics. There is very simply little left of objectivity in modern "research" which has some connection with political agendas.

[mvanwink5]

It has been reported that 40% of the US population has at least one chronic disease and 25% has two or more. Palliation that suppresses the immune system is the single protocol used to "treat" such diseases, so "feel" good drugs legal or illegal are what is the standard allopathic medical offering. Furthermore, "Vitamin" D is not a vitamin but a steroid (secosteroid to be specific), which is a hormone, and our food supply is saturated with it as an additive. Steroids are generally immune system suppressive as they are antagonists for immune system nuclear receptors.

The point is that until there is a protocol that actually cures chronic diseases and not just palliates them, the druggies will win this debate in the political arena.

[ohiovr]

The actual findings report:

http://jn.sfn.org/press/April-16-2014-I ... 005529.pdf

I am sure the pro-drug crowd will attempt to dismiss it as "continued conservative conspiracy to deny us our freedoms".

An oft cited statement regarding Pot use:

Cannabis use is associated with impairments of cognitive
functions, including learning and memory, attention, and
decision-making. Animal studies show structural changes in
brain regions underlying these functions after exposure to 9-
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component
of cannabis (Lawston et al., 2000; Downer et al., 2001).

I have reached the point where I generally reject out of hand "research" which purports to show either benefits or harmlessness of various drugs. I now realize there are agenda driven people doing "research" with specific outcomes in mind, and therefore they are just propagandists with lab coats.

I have likewise reached this point with "Gay" research, or "Global Warming" research, or H*ll, a whole slew of other "Research" topics. There is very simply little left of objectivity in modern "research" which has some connection with political agendas.

Sadly I agree too

[Diogenes]

It has been reported that 40% of the US population has at least one chronic disease and 25% has two or more. Palliation that suppresses the immune system is the single protocol used to "treat" such diseases, so "feel" good drugs legal or illegal are what is the standard allopathic medical offering. Furthermore, "Vitamin" D is not a vitamin but a steroid (secosteroid to be specific), which is a hormone, and our food supply is saturated with it as an additive. Steroids are generally immune system suppressive as they are antagonists for immune system nuclear receptors.

The point is that until there is a protocol that actually cures chronic diseases and not just palliates them, the druggies will win this debate in the political arena.

Quite likely. I simply see it as another manifestation of our current Western Culture's death spiral.

[williatw]

High Tech

How Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are
rushing to cash in on cannabis.
By Mat Honan

Like many people in San Francisco, Sasha Robinson is working on a startup out of his home. His living room is a riot of wires, battery packs, pliers, and metal casings. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was a bomb maker. But these are just the raw materials for a new gadget he’s creating. It’s something revolutionary, he thinks, and he should know. In the 2000s, Robinson ran software development at industrial design firm Moto, where he oversaw new product development for the Flip HD camcorder. Before that he was at Juniper Systems and Silicon Graphics, two of the Valley’s foundational tech firms. His cofounder, Mark Williams, has also bounced around Valley software firms, but his main experience was at Apple, where he managed a Mac OS design team. These guys have tech cred.

They also met at a Burning Man party. “We would hang out socially and always ended up talking about ideas and inventions,” says Williams, explaining how they came up with their new product in his living room. “We were sitting on my couch in my apartment, smoking. I was over 40 then, we could really feel it in our bodies. We were social smokers, but we both felt it …”

“Wait. Are you talking about tobacco here,” I interjected.

“Yes … ,” Williams says, looking sideways and grinning. “I am?” Pregnant pause. Robinson chuckles. “That’s what the line has to be from any manufacturer importing into the US,” he says. Openly acknowledging that your product—in this case a high tech vaporizer called the Firefly–is intended for marijuana use exposes you to classification as a distributor of drug paraphernalia, opening you up to the risk of the federal government seizing your assets and bank accounts. And that makes it difficult to pay a lawyer.


Sasha Robinson and Mark Williams in Robinson’s San Francisco home, which doubles as Firefly’s prototyping lab and office. Ariel Zambelich

So, officially, the Firefly is for pipe tobacco. But I didn’t try any pipe tobacco in it. You probably won’t either. I did, however, sample some marijuana, for which it’s really, really great. A personal disclosure: I’ve smoked a lot of pot. I’m no stoner, but I’ve been smoking it for more than 25 years, and in that time I’ve used all sorts of vaporizers. They’ve evolved a great deal over the years, from giant complex tabletop devices to today’s generation of e-cig-style vapes that deliver brain-hammering doses of butane-extracted cannabis oil. The Firefly does those devices one better, magically and almost instantly vaporizing actual plant material at the touch of a button. It is just wonderful.

It offers all the convenience of a pipe—it’s portable and downright stealthy; you can slip it in your pocket, carry it loaded up with marijuana—but it’s less harmful than a conventional pipe, because you are inhaling vapor, not smoke. The Firefly uses a lithium-ion battery to power a convection heating element that reaches 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The chamber is insulated by air, which means the Firefly’s housing doesn’t get hot enough to burn your fingers, or anything else, when you slide it back into your pocket.

Like many people in San Francisco, Sasha Robinson is working on a startup out of his home. His living room is a riot of wires, battery packs, pliers, and metal casings. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was a bomb maker. But these are just the raw materials for a new gadget he’s creating. It’s something revolutionary, he thinks, and he should know. In the 2000s, Robinson ran software development at industrial design firm Moto, where he oversaw new product development for the Flip HD camcorder. Before that he was at Juniper Systems and Silicon Graphics, two of the Valley’s foundational tech firms. His cofounder, Mark Williams, has also bounced around Valley software firms, but his main experience was at Apple, where he managed a Mac OS design team. These guys have tech cred.

They also met at a Burning Man party. “We would hang out socially and always ended up talking about ideas and inventions,” says Williams, explaining how they came up with their new product in his living room. “We were sitting on my couch in my apartment, smoking. I was over 40 then, we could really feel it in our bodies. We were social smokers, but we both felt it …”

“Wait. Are you talking about tobacco here,” I interjected.

“Yes … ,” Williams says, looking sideways and grinning. “I am?” Pregnant pause. Robinson chuckles. “That’s what the line has to be from any manufacturer importing into the US,” he says. Openly acknowledging that your product—in this case a high tech vaporizer called the Firefly–is intended for marijuana use exposes you to classification as a distributor of drug paraphernalia, opening you up to the risk of the federal government seizing your assets and bank accounts. And that makes it difficult to pay a lawyer.


Sasha Robinson and Mark Williams in Robinson’s San Francisco home, which doubles as Firefly’s prototyping lab and office. Ariel Zambelich

So, officially, the Firefly is for pipe tobacco. But I didn’t try any pipe tobacco in it. You probably won’t either. I did, however, sample some marijuana, for which it’s really, really great. A personal disclosure: I’ve smoked a lot of pot. I’m no stoner, but I’ve been smoking it for more than 25 years, and in that time I’ve used all sorts of vaporizers. They’ve evolved a great deal over the years, from giant complex tabletop devices to today’s generation of e-cig-style vapes that deliver brain-hammering doses of butane-extracted cannabis oil. The Firefly does those devices one better, magically and almost instantly vaporizing actual plant material at the touch of a button. It is just wonderful.

It offers all the convenience of a pipe—it’s portable and downright stealthy; you can slip it in your pocket, carry it loaded up with marijuana—but it’s less harmful than a conventional pipe, because you are inhaling vapor, not smoke. The Firefly uses a lithium-ion battery to power a convection heating element that reaches 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The chamber is insulated by air, which means the Firefly’s housing doesn’t get hot enough to burn your fingers, or anything else, when you slide it back into your pocket.

http://www.wired.com/2014/04/high-tech/

[JLawson]

here is a study
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal- ... ims-n81126
now they did not say what the effects were, just that it warped the brain.

Great. I had a hard enough time stuffing my brain into its cavity as it was. If it gets warped, I'm going to need a hammer and a crowbar, along with some WD-40, and I'm not going to guarantee any results or functionality afterward.