(02-07) 20:43 PST Brattleboro, Vt. (AP) –
Blame global warming. An Albany, N.Y., man is accused of riding nude in a gondola at Stratton Mountain Resort on Dec. 15. William N. Barrett III, 46, pleaded not guilty to felony lewd and lascivious conduct and misdemeanor marijuana possession Tuesday in Vermont District Court.
A witness reported to lift attendants that Barrett was nude and touching himself inappropriately while riding the lift.
Barrett, who was fully clothed when he reached the bottom of the hill, denied being nude. He told police he had taken off his jacket and shirt because of the nice weather.
He also was charged with marijuana possession. Police found a glass pipe and film canister containing marijuana in his pocket when they arrested him, authorities said.
Today the journal Nature released some interesting new results in endocannabinoid research. Scientists have found a possible treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
Endocannabinoids are naturally occurring compounds in the human body that are similar to those in marijuana. While the research does not indicate that smoking marijuana treats Parkinson’s, it does confirm what medical marijuana patients have been saying for years regarding the therapeutic properties of cannabinoids.
A treatment for Parkinson’s disease has been dramatically improved by boosting the levels of natural marijuana-like chemicals in the brain.
Researchers combined a drug used to treat patients with another that prevents the breakdown of substances called cannabinoids in the brain and noticed an almost complete recovery in mice that developed a Parkinson’s-like disease.
The scientists focused on a region of the brain called the striatum, which has been linked to a range of brain disorders including Parkinson’s. They uncovered two distinct brain circuits they believe play a key role in Parkinson’s disease. The first brain circuit activates normal movement, while the second works to restrain unwanted movements. Continue reading original
In the past, the best hope we often had was symptom relief. Now, cannabinoid research is beginning to find hope of treatment for many diseases. But some avenues of cannabinoid research, such as medical marijuana, are blocked by the DEA.
That’s right. Some of our most hopeful scientific research is being blocked, not by scientists or doctors, but by cops. Those who speak on their behalf wrap themselves in morality and assure us they are doing what is best for us by protecting us from ourselves. While it is the prohibitionists who choose to allow human suffering over facing their fear of a plant that has never killed anyone. Bravo, moral crusaders. By your fruits we shall know you.
When senior citizens are taken advantage of, Americans get pissed off. As soon as some dirtbag defrauds a group of old people, evening TV shows scurry to produce dire warnings because they know that a huge number of Americans will be concerned enough to tune in. Why then, when it is our government that exploits and defrauds our seniors, do we shut our mouths?
Senior citizens vote in extraordinarily high percentages compared to other demographic groups. Any suit in Washington can tell you that nobody goes to the Hill without the approval of the grandparents. And winning their votes is expensive.
Members of Congress fill their campaign war chests with huge donations from Big Pharma and the major health care companies. According to opensecrets.org, Big Pharma alone has given almost $138 million in campaign contributions since 1990. Members of Congress need the money from the drug companies to attract the senior vote so they can keep their seats in Congress.
To keep their donors happy, Congress has done everything it could to keep drug prices high for seniors – even making it illegal to bargain for bulk drug pricing in Medicare Part D (Have you ever asked your Representative why?). Senior citizens elect members of Congress to represent their interests in Washington, but Congress has sold those interests off instead.
Some seniors are fighting back by buying their drugs online or taking a bus into Canada or Mexico to save money. Others, however, have found another cheap, effective medicine that has few side effects; they have turned to medical marijuana. In response, the men and women they elected to represent them have declared war on their constituents. In the face of a growing population of elderly medical marijuana patients, Congress has issued its proclamations against marijuana like some kind of frantic monarchy and begun the jailing of marijuana smoking seniors. Why?
Last September, Adrian Hilton walked into the American Bank & Trust in Iowa City, Iowa and deposited a bag of marijuana. The following day he returned, withdrew the marijuana, and became the first American to use his bank as a stash spot. County prosecutor David Tiffany tried to lay the wood to Hilton for almost five months, but with no evidence, Hilton walked this week with his weed and his 15 minutes.
Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945. Although he died at 36, Marley left the seeds of social change in the hearts of millions around the world. He showed us the way to remain peaceful and compassionate while never backing down - as few leaders have been able to do. Since his memory has been covered recently On Marijuana, it’s probably best to let Marley speak for himself today.
Happy Birthday, Tuff Gong. You’re still changing the world.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Some say its just a part of it:
We’ve got to fulfill de book.
Taboo is one hell of a seductress. You make anything naughty and you make it a drug. In addition to whatever benefit we would have received from the taboo behavior, now we get - at minimum - an adrenaline rush as well. That’s what Steve-O was getting at when he told celebstoner.com, “I think it’s more exciting keeping it illegal” (Click here for celebstoner’s interview with Steve-O).
When it comes to marijuana, prohibition has done exactly what we would expect it to do – it has made marijuana exciting. Marijuana smokers know that when you get to know marijuana, the biggest surprise is how much ado there really has been about nothing at all. It is not uncommon to hear a marijuana smoker remark that alcohol is much more hardcore. Because of this, nobody is more responsible than the marijuana enthusiast when it comes to marijuana education for his or her own children. Marijuana is not a big deal, and if we make it one it becomes a beacon. You want children to stop experimenting so early in life? Tell them the truth.
One of the bravest and best children’s books I have seen in a long time is It’s Just a Plant. The book is written and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés and is being offered in .pdf format FREE on justaplant.com until Valentine’s Day. It’s worth a look even if you don’t have kids.
When social conservatives start pursing their lips at books like this, you’ve got to laugh. They’ll usually spout some catchy phrase about the “long-haired, maggot-infested, dope-smoking crowd” or the “secular progressives” (or whatever their AM talkgods have instructed them to call us) and how we are trying to “indoctrinate” their children and ruin America. Because to them, education is a bad thing – at least when it comes to subjects that make them uncomfortable. Whether it’s the way we love each other or the herb we smoke, facts and children shall not mix. But when you preach opinions and bury facts, it is you who indoctrinates.
It might be easier to see with your own children, in light of an issue you can relate to.
In “Guns,” “A reference to toy water guns morphs into a simple description of how guns work, the dangers of bullets to human life, and rules for gun safety. Bright illustrations enhance the text.”
Reading level: Ages 4-8
You teach your kids about guns because you want them to be responsible and safe. Shouldn’t you keep them responsible and safe with marijuana as well?
Stop What You Are Doing and Read: Marijuana Will Kill You
By Curtis DeBaun IV
If you smoke marijuana it will kill you. To be honest with you there are many things worse that can happen to you if you partake in this recreational adventure. Marijuana is a horrible drug and I can not be persuaded to believe any different. I have seen the commercials on the television, and to be honest, I would take the word of the television over any marijuana smoking hippie.
There are a few things that those who smoke the marijuana cigarette should be aware of, aside from the obvious fact that it can kill you. By smoking marijuana you will waste your life away. This will happen, there are NO exceptions. If you are currently in high school or college you will drop out. This is because marijuana makes you lazy. Look at the hippies of the 1960’s. Those were some lazy people if I have ever seen any. All of those individuals were smoking the marijuana.
Marijuana may very well likely cause you to hit a girl riding a bicycle as you leave the drive thru at your favorite fast food restaurant. Believe it or not, this is actually true. I saw this on television. It is highly doubtful that the television would air a commercial that would mislead viewers in regard to this. This point needs to be stressed. The odds are very likely that you will hit a young girl on her bicycle if you smoke marijuana.
There are those who claim the marijuana is not really a drug. This is absolutely not true. It is as much of a drug as any other. Marijuana is a gateway drug and could very well lead to drugs such as cocaine and heroine. If you smoke marijuana you could very well become a heroine addict. I heard this from a reliable source.
Marijuana is illegal. The government would not illegalize anything unless it is for our own good. Many of those who are in prison for marijuana related charges will spend more time in prison than convicted rapists. There is a reason for this. Marijuana is very dangerous, to us and those around us.
The marijuana smoker is not the only victim of this deadly drug. Many marijuana addicts steal money from their grandmother’s purse. They do this in order to feed their habit. How do you think the addict will feel once their grandmother passes? What if that money they took from her purse was money that grandma was planning to use to purchase her medicine? That marijuana addict may have killed his own grandmother.
Marijuana addicts often forget to pick up their little brothers from school. This may not sound serious, but it is. This teaches the child that being irresponsible is alright. Ultimately it teaches the child that marijuana is alright. This will lead to the downfall of that child. This child will never make anything out of his life because his or her older brother smoked the marijuana.
Marijuana does not only hurt you, but those around you. The drug ruins life, and is on the same level as cocaine and heroine. In conclusion I urge you to put down that marijuana cigarette, and to get those who are addicted to the drug off of the green leaf. Jesus would not smoke marijuana, neither should you.
When bureaucrats try to conduct a scare campaign about something they know little about, the results are sometimes unintentionally entertaining. Long before we were using plastic sheeting to keep out the smallpox, Americans were learning the dangers of a popular new drug called marijuana. According to this classic video, smoking marijuana can turn an ordinary virginal nerd into a hip cat who parties and pulls ass.
If anyone else had produced this piece, it would be called promotion. Only in the dead world of the prohibitionist are people frightened by dancing, laughing and sex.
Our leaders don’t need to be members of Mensa to govern well, but they shouldn’t require special education either. In many state Legislatures (as in Congress), we find a disturbing number who do. That we trust them to ponder society’s biggest decisions is evidence that we are either just as dense or way too apathetic.
A measure introduced Friday would ban retailers from selling lollipops, gumdrops or other candy flavored to taste like the drug.
The legislation is aimed at businesses that sell products with drug-inspired names such as “Kronic Kandy” and “Pot Suckers,” said state Rep. Judy Manning, R-Marietta.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” she said. “Why would you give somebody something to eat that’s illegal?”
Needle across record….
Now, apparently, the mere suggestion of marijuana is illegal - at least in Judy’s head.
Someone please cut this person’s hotline to Homeland Security before she sees a child with an Atomic Fireball.
Police in Plymouth say they have discovered a batch of cannabis which has been contaminated with glass.
The batch was seized in December 2006 and subsequent tests revealed it was contaminated with tiny glass particles.
They say it is the first instance of them finding so-called “grit weed” in Devon or Cornwall.
The health consequences are as yet unknown but officers warn one danger is that smokers could inhale glass into their lungs.
It is thought the glass is added to the drug to bulk up its weight before it is sold.
Would glass in your herb be dangerous? Your lighter won’t vaporize it and it’s a stretch to think that you could pull the glass into your lungs. I’m not sure, but it seems like you’d just be getting ripped off. Moreover, I don’t know a single marijuana user who wouldn’t notice a serious uptick in quantity consumed if the bud were loaded with glass.
But I am just a common stoner. This is one case where we should probably listen to the authorities. I’m sure the officers cited know a bit about glass transition temperatures and the human respiratory system.
Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945. Although he died at 36, Marley left the seeds of social change in the hearts of millions around the world. He showed us the way to remain peaceful and compassionate while never backing down - as few leaders have been able to do. 
In “Guns,” “A reference to toy water guns morphs into a simple description of how guns work, the dangers of bullets to human life, and rules for gun safety. Bright illustrations enhance the text.”
Police in Plymouth say they have discovered a batch of cannabis which has been contaminated with glass.
