IDEAS

It all begins with Ideas.

It ALL begins with ideas.

For without ideas,

all is nothing more than cosmological radiation.

IDEA:

Matter is Energy, and Energy is Mass multiplied by the square of the speed of Light.

IDEAS:

The Brain regulates the Body. The Body is Matter multiplied by DNA. When the Body fails, The Mind becomes absent. The Mind is energy multiplied by DNA.

IDEAS + 1:
DNA shapes the Mind. DNA is matter. DNA is shaped by the Environment. The Environment shapes the Mind.

IDEAS - 1:
Culture programs the Mind. Culture is Information. Information programs the Mind. The censorship of Information enslaves the Mind.

IDEAS + 1:
Information only exists in the Mind of an Observer. Observers are designed by DNA. The Tools of observation are designed by DNA and Culture. Information is Quanta. Quanta is latently Universal.

IDEAS - 1:
Observer's are shaped by DNA. DNA is shaped by the Environment. The Environment is Entropy. Observer's are shaped by Chaos.

IDEA 0:
It all begins with Ideas.

It ALL begins with ideas.

For without ideas,

all is nothing more than cosmological radiation.

NORML news

Drug Czar Responds To NORML's Refutation Of 'Potent Pot' Claim

Washington, DC: NORML's criticism of an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) report alleging that the average strength of cannabis is now at an all-time high has drawn a heated response from the Drug Czar's office.NORML's critique, which appeared in an essay on the HuffingtonPost.com as well as in select newspapers, countered the White House's claim that today's marijuana averages 9.6 percent THC (pot's primary psychoactive component) or is particularly dangerous to health.

Armentano wrote, "[B]y the University of Mississippi's (which conducted the study) own admission, the average THC in domestically grown marijuana - which comprises the bulk of the US market - is less than five percent, a figure that's remained unchanged for nearly a decade." He continued, "THC - regardless of potency - is non-toxic and incapable of causing a fatal overdose. Currently, doctors may legally prescribe a FDA-approved pill that contains 100 percent THC, and curiously, nobody at the University of Mississippi or at the Drug Czar's office seems particularly concerned about it." Armentano concluded, "If lawmakers … were really concerned about potential risks posed by potent marijuana, they would support regulating the drug, so that its potency would be known to the consumer."

The Drug Czar's office responded to NORML's criticisms on their Pushing Back website by falsely accusing NORML of seeking to "legalize [all illegal] drugs." The ONDCP also argued, oddly, that the data cited in their report regarding the average potency of domestically seized pot was likely inaccurate.

"Name me another agency that publishes data, but then denies the validity of said data the moment somebody highlights it," Armentano said. "This sort of slipshod research would receive a failing grade on a high-school term paper. It's an embarrassment that the most well-funded drug policy agency in America would engage in such an admitted act of duplicity."

NORML's Deputy Director and Drug Czar John Walters continued their debate on Wednesday on the nationally syndicated Dr. Drew Pinsky radio show.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of NORML's essay, "Don't buy the potent pot hype," is available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-armentano/dont-buy-the-potent-pot-h_b_107458.html.

Teen Pot Use Falling In States With Medical Marijuana Laws

Washington, DC: States that have enacted legislation authorizing the use of medical cannabis by qualified patients have not experienced an increase in the drug's use by the general population, according to a report issued this week by the Marijuana Policy Project and co-authored by NORML Advisory Board Member Mitch Earleywine.

Among the twelve states that have legalized the use and cultivation of medical cannabis, all but one (New Mexico) have experienced an overall decline in teen marijuana use since the enactment of their medi-pot laws. (Data was unavailable for New Mexico, which passed its law last year.) In seven of the twelve states, marijuana use among young people declined at rates that exceeded the national average.

"Opponents of medical use of marijuana regularly argue that such laws 'send the wrong message to children,' but there is just no sign of that effect in the data," said Earleywine. "In every state for which there's data, teen marijuana use has gone down since the medical marijuana law was passed, often a much larger decline than nationally."

A previous 2005 review of medical cannabis laws and their impact on use reported similar findings, noting that teen use in California had fallen nearly 50 percent since the passage of that state's medi-pot law in 1996. A 2002 report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) concluded that state medical marijuana laws were operating primarily as voters and legislators had intended and had not led to widespread abuses among the general population.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Marijuana use by young people: the impact of state medical marijuana laws," is available online at: http://www.mpp.org/assets/pdfs/pdf/TeenUseReport_0608.pdf.

Medical Pot Use Not Associated With “Serious” Side Effects, Study Says

Montreal, Canada: The medical use of cannabis is not associated serious negative side effects, according to a meta-analysis published this week in the journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMAJ).

Investigators at McGill University Health Centre and McGill University in Montreal and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver reviewed 23 clinical investigations of medicinal cannabinoid drugs (typically oral THC or liquid cannabis extracts) and eight observational studies conducted between 1966 and 2007. Authors concluded that subjects given medical cannabis experienced a slightly higher risk of experiencing "nonserious adverse events," specifically dizziness, compared to non-using controls.

By contrast, investigators "did not find a higher incidence rate of serious adverse events associated with medical cannabinoid use." Responding to the study, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: "Cannabinoids possess a safety profile that is unmatched by virtually every other available prescription drug or over-the-counter medication, including aspirin. To think that almost no serious adverse side effects have been associated with drug's medicinal use over a 30-year period is remarkable. What other medications can make such a claim?"

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Adverse effects of medical cannabinoids: a systematic review," appears in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

hey DEA, FUCK YOU!

A BRAVE NEW AMERICA

SCHOOLS' BACKING OF BEHAVIOR DRUGS COMES UNDER FIRE
By KATE ZERNIKE AND MELODY PETERSEN
Published: August 19, 2001
NY TIMES

Some of Ritalin's competitors are breaking with 30-year-old international marketing restrictions to advertise directly to parents, selling the idea that drugs may be the answer to their children's problems in school.At the same time, state legislatures are moving to prevent schools from recommending or requiring that parents put their children on medication.
(snip)
The legislative push is a reaction to what its advocates call overprescription of the drugs. They say an excessive reliance on Ritalin and several competing drugs is driving parents away from traditional forms of discipline and has created a growing, illegal traffic in what are potent and dangerous speed-like stimulants. Last year, doctors wrote almost 20 million monthly prescriptions for the stimulants, according to IMS Health, a health care information company. Most of those prescriptions were written for children, especially boys. The drugs had sales last year of $758 million, 13 percent more than in 1999.
(snip)
The problems associated with these drugs have escalated. The Drug Enforcement Administration says Ritalin and other stimulants are among the most frequently stolen prescription drugs. Some students are crushing and snorting pills for a speed-like high; in Orem, Utah, an elementary school principal was sentenced to 30 days in jail after he stole his students' Ritalin pills and replaced them with sugar pills.
(snip)
In Millbrook, N.Y., Patricia Weathers said her son's school told her to put him on Ritalin in first grade. By fourth grade, he was showing signs of severe anxiety, she said, chewing his clothes and paper. When Mrs. Weathers took him off the drugs, she said, the school called the state's office of child protective services and accused her of medical neglect. ''You have the school psychologist, the teachers, the principal, all bombarding you, saying this is the only way to go,'' she said. ''I fell for it, and I believe most parents fall for it. They want to do what's right for their child, and if the professionals are telling them this is right, you think, 'They must be right.' '' She, like many parents who think Ritalin is overprescribed, complain that there is no scientific basis for the diagnosis of the disorders for which it is prescribed. ''You can't tell me they all have this brain disorder during the school year, when during the summer they're fine,'' said Mrs. Weathers, who now instructs her son at home.

Correcting Common Myths About ADHD
ADHDinfo

Myth:
Poor parenting is responsible for ADHD behaviors in children.

Fact:
ADHD is a physical disorder caused by differences in how the child's brain works. Anxiety-producing factors, such as family conflicts or disruptions, can aggravate the disorder, but they do not cause it.

ADHD is NOT a physical disorder. ADHD is a false disease constructed by scientists that know very little about how a child's brain works. The cognitive aspects of "ADHD" are actually adaptations to certain kinds of environmental habitats.

Myth:
Children treated with stimulant medications will become addicted or will be more likely to abuse other drugs.

Fact:
Stimulant medications are not addictive when used as directed. Studies have shown adequate treatment of ADHD may reduce the risk of substance abuse.

NOT A FACT. Most prescription drugs taken for ADHD require a "step down" period when dosage is gradually reduced to avoid unpleasant withdrawl symptoms.

Stimulant Drugs for ADHD and ADD
those ADHD drugs!

Since 1991 prescriptions for all drugs to treat ADHD have quintupled. This year about six million children, roughly one child out of every eight, will take Ritalin or other forms of methylphenidate. The number of stimulants prescribed for children 2 to 4 has increased 200% to 300% between 1991 and 1995. Studies show that stimulants cause especially severe reactions in young children. Since there are no good studies, no one knows what it does to the development of the very young child's brain.

First it is important to realize that all of the stimulant drugs prescribed for ADHD/ADD are closely related to some illegal street drugs. These include dextroamphetamine (dexedrine) (street name: "dexies"), methamphetamine (street name: "crystal meth"), and, of course, cocaine. We imprison people for making drugs very similar to the drugs we prescribe to our ADHD children.

A research report in the Archives of General Psychiatry states, "Cocaine, which is one of the most reinforcing and addicting of the abused drugs, has pharmacological actions that are very similar to those of methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta), which is now the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medicine for children in the U.S."

SLATE
New World Disorder
WAS ADHD AN EVOLUTIONARY ASSET?
By William Saletan
Posted Thursday, June 12, 2008, at 12:52 PM ET

Is ADHD a disease?
The U.S. government says it is. So does the professional Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders. The condition's very name incorporates this assumption: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Lots of kids with ADHD have trouble functioning in modern society. But what if society were different? What if it were structured so that having ADHD was actually an advantage? This isn't some futuristic thought experiment. A new study suggests that this ADHD-friendly world may actually be part of our past.
(snip)
The study, led by Dan Eisenberg of Northwestern University and published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, examined a Kenyan tribe called the Ariaal. Part of the tribe has recently settled into an agricultural community. Another part remains nomadic. The tribesmen were tested for DRD4 7R, a genetic variant that, Eisenberg notes, "has been linked to greater food and drug cravings, novelty-seeking, and ADHD symptoms." He and his colleagues report:
DRD4 7R+ genotypes were associated with indices of better nutritional status among nomads, particularly higher fat free mass, but worse indices in the settled individuals. This suggests that the 7R allele confers additional adaptive benefits in the nomadic compared to sedentary context.
This difference, the authors report, is "consistent with past findings of higher 7R allele frequencies in nomadic populations around the world."
(snip)
Increased impulsivity, ADHD-like traits, novelty-seeking like traits, aggression, violence and/or activity levels may help nomads obtain food resources, or exhibit a degree of behavioral unpredictability that is protective against interpersonal violence or robberies. … It might be that the attention spans conferred by the DRD4/7R+ genotype allow nomadic children to more readily learn effectively in a dynamic environment (without schools), while the same attention span interferes with classroom learning in Songa, the settled community. 7R+ boys might develop into warriors (the life-stage of an Ariaal male that lies between childhood and manhood) and men who can more effectively defend against livestock raiders, perhaps through a reputation of unpredictable behavior that inspires fear. Among 7R+ men in the settled community of Songa, such tendencies might be less well suited to practicing agriculture and selling goods at market. It might also be that higher activity levels in 7R+ nomads are translated into increased food production, while such activity levels in settled men are a less efficient use of calories in food production.
(snip)
I don't know whether the speculated reasons for the gene's benefits will pan out. But the benefits do seem real. And that finding suggests two things. First, we should be careful about designating diseases and disease genes. Traits that are harmful in one setting can be helpful in another. Advantages or "defects" that we think of as natural may actually be products of our cultural decisions. As Eisenberg puts it, we might "begin to view ADHD as not just a disease but something with adaptive components."
Second, our society may be the wrong place to assess a gene's evolutionary harm or benefit. As the authors note, "[N]on-industrialized or subsistence environments … may be more similar to the environments where much of human genetic evolution took place."
(snip)
The lesson of the Ariaal study is simply that society can adapt to genes instead of the other way around.

*********************************************

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?!!!!

Existential Patriotism

I hate fascists.

You know, those government officials that deny the facts of human history to maintain a corrupted and inhumane status quo?

The same fascists that sit in polished rooms in Washington D.C. and in state capitals around the 50 states and pretend they are doing what's best for the nation. They must pretend in order sucker we the citizens into letting them chip away at our basic human dignity until we are nothing but trendy, underpaid consumers eating shit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I hate fascists. I don't like to use the word hate all that much, but I hate fascists. As a pacifist and proponent of non-violence, I regret to admit that I would enjoy watching my corrupt government collapse in another cloud of smoke.

Perhaps that's extreme, but extreme is relative.

For me, extreme is founding a nation on the "inalienable" principles of civil liberty, while at the same time enslaving an entire population based on the color of one's skin, and then becoming rich on the backs of those slaves.

For me, extreme is a nation going to war with itself to resolve the conflicting issue of civil liberty versus slavery.

For me, extreme is adopting laws like Jim Crow that establish an inequality of law among the citizens of a "free" nation depending on the color of a citizen's skin.

For me, extreme is dropping two fission atomic bombs on major foreign population centers.

For me, extreme is building an arsenal of weapons, of which any one of them may potentially poison the Earth thus rendering it inhospitable to all life for hundreds of years.

For me, extreme is banning some of humanity's oldest medicines, and incarcerating the sick people that possess or use them, while at the same time, running opium and cocaine into strategic population centers to undermine civil resistance.

For me, extreme is when a government manipulates the facts of a political theater to start a needless war.

For me, extreme is when the belligerent acts of a government results in the death of thousands of innocent people.

For me, extreme is starting a false war and then looking the other way when the blood begins to run.

I look forward to the day when something our government does flies back to take the government out.

It's not like I hate America. Not at all. In truth, I'm actually more inclined to believe that the America I was taught to believe in NEVER EXISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Then again, I believe in human dignity. I believe in the freedom of thought as it is expressed through religion, through speech and the press, through art, and through all the other facets of human consciousness. I believe in pursuing the truth, even though I understand that i will never fully know it. I believe in reason, compassion, but I also believe that I must stand up for what I believe in when the going gets tough.

guess America does exist somewhere afterall...

then again,

maybe I am nothing.

Datura tales part 3

Datura tales part 2

Datura tales part 1

"it is the fourth most feared botanical on this planet"

"it's growth is widespread"

"it can kill you. you can die easily"

YET, it is still legal.

At one time, this plant was used by Native Americans as a medicine, vehicle for divination, and as a rite of passage for children entering adulthood.

but for some reason...

our society is ignorant of the traditional uses of this plant.

Hmm, I wonder why...

A Declaration of Reason

It is a fact that between 70% - 90% of all pharmaceutical drugs are derived directly or indirectly through plants and plant metabolites, depending on how one defines the terms. Before humans had modern science, humans obtained medicines from plants. Plants are the basis of the entire food chain, and how they are used by humans influences the evolution of both humans and plants. Yet, there are still many more question than there are answers. For example, why do botanical metabolites like THC, DMT, LSA, Psylocibine, Mescaline, and Opiates bind to pre-existing neuro-receptors in the central nervous system? Why is the human central nervous system genetically equipped to accommodate plant metabolites? Why do plants produce metabolites that function as neurotransmitters in the central nervous system?

I am seeking answers to these questions. I find it offensive that the 1970 U.S. Controlled Substances Act and the 1989 Texas Controlled Substances Act prohibit the scientific investigation of these cannabinoid metabolites in America. I find it even more offensive that this poorly written, poorly informed, and grossly destructive act of legislation acts to censor science, medicine, and the economy in America. But what I find most offensive is that both my Grandmothers, and my maternal grandfather died of diseases that were treatable with cannabis based medicines. Right now, my father-in-law has Multiple Sclerosis. My wife has eczema. These diseases are also treatable with cannabis sativa and cannabis indica. It utterly disgusts me that my nation would lie to its citizens about a plant that has been beneficially used as a medicine in human society since humans first cultivated these plants many thousands of years ago.

The 1989 Texas Controlled Substances Act is a misinformed, piece of legislation that requires reform. Section 481.002, line 26, defines “Marihuana” as Cannabis sativa L. The superior medical cannabis plant is not Cannabis sativa L, but rather, Cannabis indica, which is not defined in the Texas Controlled Substances Act. Cannabis indica is a genetically distinct species different from Cannabis sativa L. Cannabis indica is native to central Asia, while Cannabis sativa L is native to Europe. Yet, due to the alarming rate of marijuana arrests, law enforcement is not equipped to distinguish between Cannabis sativa L and Cannabis indica. Furthermore, line 26 states that “all parts” of the Cannabis sativa L plant are illegal. However, across the state of Texas, organic food stores sell HEMP SEED OIL as a nutritional food supplement. One tablespoon of Hemp seed oil contains 2.5 grams of Omega three fatty acids. This essential fatty acid can not be manufactured in the human body, yet the human body requires this protein complex to heal scarred or wounded tissue and to produce and regenerate healthy tissue cells. According to Section 481.002 line 26C, “oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant” are illegal in Texas. The reality is that this law is flawed. Hemp seed oil from the Cannabis sativa L plant is distributed, sold, and consumed in Texas. One can find hemp seed oil at Whole Foods and other supermarkets that provide natural, organic dietary supplements. The distribution, possession, and consumption of Hemp seed oil is protected under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Section 481.033 states that, “A nonnarcotic substance is excluded from Schedules I through V if the substance may lawfully be sold over the counter without a prescription, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Section 301 et seq.). The Texas Controlled Substances Act fails to define both Cannabis sativa L and Cannabis indica as a narcotic substance under Section 4881.002 line 29.

There is much debate concerning whether or not Hemp Seed Oil contains THC. The oil itself contains many cannabinoids, with trace levels of THC present. During oil extraction, external shell husks may occasionally contaminate the seed oil with higher levels of THC. Hemp seed oil manufacturers on the West Coast and in Canada have taken precautionary washing steps to minimize the presence of THC in the oil. However, consumers of hemp seed products have occasionally tested positive for THC in drug tests. In 1998, a military court-martial jury aquitted U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Kevin Boyd of testing positive for marijuana on a drug test. The Marine had been supplementing his diet with hemp seed-based supplements.

One does not need to look hard to find state and federally supported medical and dietary uses of cannabis-based products. The Texas Controlled Substances Act, Section 481.002 line(16) states, “"Drug" means a substance, other than a device or a component, part, or accessory of a device, that is: (A) recognized as a drug in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, official National Formulary, or a supplement to either pharmacopoeia or the formulary; (B) intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals; (C) intended to affect the structure or function of the body of man or animals but is not food; or (D) intended for use as a component of a substance described by Paragraph (A), (B), or (C).” Under the Texas and U.S. Controlled Substances Acts, “marihuana”, i.e. Cannabis sativa L., is defined and scheduled as an addictive substances with a propensity for abuse and containing no medicinal attributes (Texas C.S.A Section 481.035). The historical, scientific, ethnographic, and ethnobotanical facts suggest the opposite. “Marihuana” is considered by many historians, patients, doctors, and scientists to be one of humanity’s oldest cultivated medicinal plants. Cannabis sativa L, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis have all been cultivated by humans and used by human culture as medicine and fiber for many thousands of years.

Section 481.035 (FINDINGS) states, “(a) The commissioner shall place a substance in Schedule I if the commissioner finds that the substance: (1) has a high potential for abuse; and(2) has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or lacks accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision.” However, California, Oregon, Washinton, and nine other states have sanctioned the use medical cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Clear legal precedents do exist for the medical attributes of cannabis. How can our government deny this history and civil establishment to define “marihuana” as a non-medical plant with a propensity for abuse? To do so is a logically flawed exercise beyond reason. This ultimately threatens to undermine the ideals of our state and federal constitutions.

Section 481.034 line (d) states, “In making a determination regarding a substance, the commissioner shall consider:(1) the actual or relative potential for its abuse;(2) the scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known;(3) the state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance; (4) the history and current pattern of its abuse;(5) the scope, duration, and significance of its abuse;(6) the risk to the public health;(7) the potential of the substance to produce psychological or physiological dependence liability; and (8) whether the substance is a controlled substance analogue, chemical precursor, or an immediate precursor of a substance controlled under this chapter.” It is clear that the “commissioner’s” position on “marihuana” stands contrary to the scientific, historical, and cultural heritage of cannabis use among human populations.

Section 481.106 (CLASSIFICATION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
ANALOGUE) states, “For the purposes of the prosecution of an offense under this subchapter involving the manufacture, delivery, or possession of a controlled substance, Penalty Groups 1, 1-A, and 2 include a controlled substance analogue that: (1) has a chemical structure substantially similar to the chemical structure of a controlled substance listed in the applicable penalty group; or (2) is specifically designed to produce an effect substantially similar to, or greater than, a controlled substance listed in the applicable penalty group.” This section of the Texas Controlled Substances Act criminalizes all human citizens. It is a fact of human physiology that the central nervous system produces Anandmide, a close molecular analogue of Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabidinol. Anandamide is an endogenous cannabinoid in the human body. The human Endo-Cannabinoid system is major regulatory system in the human body. Does this section of legislation exclude endogenous cannabinoids? This is unclear. What is clear is that the human nervous system produces molecular analogues of DMT, Lysergic acid amide, morphine, phenylethamines, and amphetamines. By making the analogues of plant metabolites illegal, Congress has made every central nervous system illegal as well.

THC binds to specific cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system. Anandamide binds to these same receptors and exhibits similar neurological effects. The human central nervous system does NOT distinguish between THC (the external metabolic cannabinoid) and Anandamide (the endogenous metabolic cannabinoid). If the central nervous system can not distinguish between these molecules, how can a drug test?

U.S. Representative from Texas, Ron Paul, states “As a medical doctor, I have a particular interest in this issue. Please be assured, I will oppose any and all attempts to use federal power to prevent the people of any state from adopting laws legalizing the use of medical marijuana. I also oppose the use of federal funds to finance the "drug war," and particularly the outrageous attacks on those who use marijuana for medical reasons. I think it is important to emphasize that the federal government has no constitutional authority to intervene in or regulate the medical or drug industries. Moreover, the federal government is prohibited by the Constitution (via the ninth and tenth amendments) from meddling in doctor/patient relationships. With that understanding, I can certainly agree that medical marijuana researchers and drug companies alike should receive "equal and fair treatment" from the federal government. Additionally, I would agree that there should be no federal ban on medical studies. This is why I am an original cosponsor of the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act, which restores the ability to make decisions about medical marijuana to the states. In recent years, our federal government has abandoned individual liberty and states' rights in the name of a federal "war on drugs." However, constitutionally, there are only three federal crimes. These are treason against the United States, piracy on the high seas, and counterfeiting. The federal government's role in law enforcement must be limited to these constitutionally federal crimes and should certainly not extend to the doctor's office. I will continue my attempts to educate my colleagues that ours is a federal government of limited powers, restricted by the United States Constitution and the too-often-forgotten Bill of Rights.” (please see attached letter).

Cannabis as an herbal medicine has a four thousand year history of recorded medicinal use. Cannabis has been used for medicinal and spiritual purposes in the ancient cultures of Europe, China, India, Africa, Egypt, and the Middle East. It is considered to be a divine sacrament according to Hindus and Buddhists, and a blessing from God according to Coptic Christians, Rastafarians, and Sufi Muslims.

The government of the United States has already investigated any negative side effects of cannabis use and found little evidence to justify the classification of marijuana as a schedule 1 substance. A 1925 tribunal by the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Panama concluded that marijuana posed no “appreciable deleterious influence on the person using it”. The 1944 New York City Mayors Committee on Marihuana found that cannabis was not chemically addicting, that its smoke does not constitute a social hazard, and that its use is not detrimental to the health of the user, even over long periods of time. The 1973 Shafer Commission came to a similar conclusion, and suggested the decriminalization of the possession of marijuana. In 1988, after viewing hundreds of government documents related to marijuana substance abuse, DEA judge Francis Young stated that, “marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substance known to man”.

In 1975, anthropologist Vera Rubin, under the funding of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, published a report entitled “Ganja in Jamaica” that investigated the potential dangers of the frequent short-term or long-term use of marijuana among the people of Jamaica. The study concluded that marijuana use was responsible for the decrease in alcohol consumption within the population, that the long-term use of marijuana had no hazardous effects on mental or physical health, that there was no link between marijuana and crime or harsher drug use, and that the open-environment of marijuana use among Jamaican communities created cultural control mechanisms that governed the drug’s use. These taxpayer-funded investigations resonate with the conclusions of scientific investigations spanning decades of research with good reason.

Medicinally, Cannabis is very healthy. Cannabis seed oil is high in essential fatty acids like Omega-3 and Omega-6, and protein, all of which are necessary to the human body for building strong cells, and more importantly, healthy nervous and brain tissue. Cannabis oil and resin can be used topically to treat bruises, small infections, eczema, arthritis, body aches, and many kinds of pain. Cannabis oil and resin has a very low toxicity and can be used internally to alleviate or treat glaucoma, stress and anxiety, depression, insomnia, epilepsy, and post traumatic stress disorder, as well as to treat many of the symptoms of debilitating disorders like AIDS, and Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s Disease. Furthermore, the cannabinoids of marijuana seem to have anti-cancer properties. Recent research from scientists in the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy suggests that THC molecules produced in the resin of cannabis species actively “switch off” the growth of cancer cells in laboratory tests. If this holds true of human cancer cells, then humanity can add cancer to the long list of diseases and disorders treatable by cannabis sativa. Unfortunately, American scientists are impeded in their medical research on cannabis sativa. The War on Drugs has made legal access to this age-old medicinal plant difficult at best. (please see THE RESTORATION OF HUMAN HERITAGE ACT for all references).

The historical, scientific, and medicinal definitions of Cannabis sativa L, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis, and all parts of these plants including their oils, seeds, flowers, and leaves stands in contradiction to the government’s definition in the state of Texas and in the Federal government. As a citizen of Texas, and of the U.S., with civil liberties protected by the Constitutions of these states, I demand an account of the facts that removes the flawed prohibition of cannabis and places the practical and beneficial use of this plant back in the hands of We the People.

I offer this letter as a testimony to the court concerning the practical and reasonable application of Cannabis sativa L, Cannabis indica and all other natural Cannabis-related medicines. I implore the court to recognize the medicinal attributes of cannabis; to do otherwise would be unreasonable and detrimental to the ideals of reason and logic as it applies to civil justice and civil liberty.

Cannabis prohibition actively censors medicine, science, history, and the religious expression of shamanic practitioners that use plant medicines to heal. Cannabis prohibition is a denial of the facts of human heritage. Cannabis prohibition is an attack on the constitutional ideals of our state and nation. Cannabis prohibition must end if we are to continue to value reason, logic, facts, and human dignity within our Social Contract.

I am a decent, productive, intelligent, and compassionate citizen of Texas and of the United States of America. I want only the best for my family, my people and my government. It is unfortunate that a flawed and poorly informed act of legislation may potentially incriminate myself and other researchers, doctors, and patients. However, I stand on the side of the truth. If this places me in contradiction to the policies of my government, then it is my government that must conform. This is the America way. This is the rights expressed to me via the 1st Amendment of the Texas Constitution, and of the American Bill of Rights.
This is the truth as I know it.

Your Taxpayer Dollars at Work

Geopolitics of Drugs: Narcoavión de Guantánamo

Call me old fashioned, but this is just evil.

Why would an American Gulfstream jet, serial number N987SA, that was once used to ferry CIA interrogators from Connecticut and Washington D.C. to the prison camp in Guatanamo Bay crash outside of Tixkokob, Yucatan with over four tons of bundled cocaine two weeks after the CIA sold it to a non-U.S. businessman with a front company?

What's going on here?

This happened last September. The ONLY mainstream American media outlet that carried the story was NPR. But, this story is famous in Mexico.

Haven't heard about it either? Well, click on the above link and read the investigation, or better yet, listen to the NPR journalist's podcast to get a better picture of what is happening.

If this story angers you half as much as it does me, then hopefully, you'll put down the remote and the Starbucks and call your state and federal representatives demanding accountability.

I have several times. I will continue to do so.

The CIA has a history of funneling illegal drugs into specific populations that represent potential threats to power. These strategies work because they worked for the British when they flooded China with Opium to quell Chinese resistant to British Imperialism. During the Vietnam War, the CIA flew opium into Vietnam to undermine the rural resistance to "pro-democracy" powers. The CIA also channeled cocaine into urban back communities in the late sixties to undermine the emerging militant civil rights movement.

When the American ban on narcotics began in the early 20th century, legislation was aimed at providing a means to incarcerate racial minorities. America was (and still is) a racist nation. The 1970 Controlled Substances Act provided leverage for the Federal government to continue incarcerating poor ethnic minorities despite the civil rights reforms that took place during the sixities. This is why, still today, black, mexican, and latino populations represent a disproportionate share of America's prison population.

So, why is the CIA continuing to funnel cocaine from central america to Florida?

Something has to change. Otherwise, the ideals of our nation are nothing but broken pipe dreams.

You might be happy living in a dysfunctional society in denial.

I am not. I want change. I'll make change.

Who's with me?

The Lion's Den

First things first.

I believe in science, although I often challenge contemporary scientific understanding. I also believe in God and the beauty of God's creation. It may seem a contradiction to believe in these forces, but I don't worry about the contradictions because I know I'll never understand the complete picture. I believe this is impossible with our limited human minds.

I do believe in living life the best way I can, which includes caring for the people around me and helping them when I can. I am cursed in that for what I can offer, and can really only do very little.

So, I aim small.

One person at a time.

I meet an ex-chief of police at work. He managed parking lot traffic during busy weekends at the plant nursery. Being that he was in law enforcement, I was curious to know what he knew about the plants in our plant nursery. Overtime time, I told him more and more about the plants on the yard, the ones like Datura, Passiflora, Brugmansia, Phalaris, Trichocerus, etc. These plants were once esteemed with magical healing powers. Today, we consider their metabolites, atropine, harmaline, scopolamine, DMT, and Mescaline, to be "dangerous" hallucinogenic drugs. Still, these plants are legal to grow in the U.S., and we sell them at our plant nursery.

As my friendship with this person increased, I learned more about his health. He was on prescription medications, and he complained they weren't working. I offered to make a tea for him that would help him with his physiological problems: ulcers, high blood pressure, anxiety, and acute adult ADD. I prepared the tea weekly or bi-weekly, giving him the plant matter to soak in warm water at his leisure.

This is how I made the tea: 1 part cacao powder, 1 part dried tagetes lucida leaves , 1 part dried camellia sinesis leaves, 1 part dried passiflora edulis leaves, 1 part dried cannabis indica leaves and bud, 1 part lemon verbena, a pinch of ginger and a pinch of stevia (as a sweeter).

He drank this tea daily or almost daily for three months. His medical conditions improved. He was able to stop taking his medicines. Things looked on the up and up...

and then came the drug test...

He tested hot. Of course, because cannabis is not a medicine but a drug, and it's a crime that elevated levels of cannabinoids were found in his blood stream.

Now, I get to explain why cannabinoids where in my friend's urine in court.

Now, I get to stand before the Lions in the Den and prove to them why their law is a lie.

If I must stand alone, so be it.

but deep down I know that I stand on the side of the truth.

Does Uncle Sam?

Stay tuned to find out...

Rhetorical Freedom

What does it mean to be free?

Does government make the individual free?

Does the individual make government free?

How does one become free?

???

Why are we not free?

Rhetorical Security

What is security?

Does government regulate the individual's security, or does the individual?

What happens when the government that regulates an individual's security simultaneously acts to weaken an individual's security?

What does it mean to be safe?

???

Can "the terrorists" really take this away?

Rhetorical Health

what is healthcare?

Is it healthy for governments to regulate an individual's healthcare?

Is it healthy for a science that is biased by the economy and censored by the government to regulate an individual's healthcare?

Is it healthy for censorship to influence the application of healthcare?

???

will we ever find answers to these questions?

Dear George W. Bush the Terrorist

Don't attack Iran, you ignorant evil fuck.

If you do, you will get what you deserve.

As for me, I will not be associated with evil government. Your government is evil. You will not bring me down.

I support life. If my government feels the other way, the government can collapse. Life will be better that way.

Thanks to you, America is all but dead. If our government burns to the ground, I will be holding one of the brightest torches... in your name.

That is the American way.

Sincerely,

the sourmonkey

the monkey in the cage

I remember going to a mall in Waco, Texas and seeing a baboon in a cage on display. The trainer was nearby, answering questions from the crowd of onlookers.

Inside the cage, the baboon paced back and forth. It grunted, mumbled, slapped its head, and slapped the metal bars. It was agitated, restless, and trapped. It was in despair at being confined to a cage. It was helpless.

I identified with that baboon, I identified with the cage.

I still do.

That's why I rattle it...

and dammit, I'm going to show you, dear reader, that the cage can be opened.

CONSCIOUSNESS EXPLAINED?

(written in response to a debate forum topic concerning Daniel C. Dennet's, CONSCIOUSNESS EXPLAINED, and Jared Diamond's GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL)

Somethings are so obvious, they seem obscure. Obscurity is ripe for profit, which is what most scientists seek.

Is the brain a computer? Is the body a genetic robot? What is culture? How does consciousness really work?

The answer is so simple, we have overlooked it. In truth, not just have we overlooked it, we have hated it and sought to cast it out of society. What is the answer?

Plants.

Jared Diamond almost nailed it when he published his book, Guns Germs and Steel, for which he won the Pulitzer. But, his thesis is incomplete. For example, it is a known historical fact that the European navies required the fibers of cannabis sativa to sail the high seas and conquer the New World. This fact was left out of Mr. Diamond's book, probably because it hadn't dawned on him that the same plant that harnessed the wind for the great Old World imperial navies was the same plant that the gangs in L.A. go to jail for selling. Mr. Diamond eloquently illustrates how the resources of the natural environment influence cultural development. He failed to address how the natural environment influences human cognition.

Why does Cannabis sativa produce cannabinoids like THC and CBD, and why does mammalian physiology also produce endogenous cannabinoids like anandamide? Why do Psychotria viridis, Acacia, Mimosa, and Pomegranite trees produce DMT, and why is this hallucinogenic molecule also produced in the human pineal gland? Why does caffeine mimic endogenous adenosine? Why do nicotine, atropine, and scopolamine mimic endogenous acetycholine? Why do psylocibine, LSA, LSD, and Ibogaine mimic endogenous serotonine? Why do mescaline and cocaine mimic endogenous dopamine? Why do opiates mimic endorphins? Why do secondary botanical metabolites mimic neurotransmitters in the animal central nervous system?

After all, ants have nicotine and GABA receptors, goats are stimulated by coffee, spiders and fish trip out on LSD, and monkeys hallucinate on DMT. In sum, the reason why human consciousness evolved the way it did is found in the subsistence relationship our genetic ancestors had with the plants of the natural environment. The earliest archaeological records of the "Creative Explosion" circa 40,000 - 30,000 B.C.E. suggests that shamanic cultures in prehistory were investigating the cognitive capacities for altered states of consciousness. It is a fact that all animal life is dependent upon plants for survival. What we forget is that we share much of our DNA with plants.

The building blocks for human consciousness were first forged in the genetic darwinian battles of plant survival. These genes were later passed down genetically to ALL animals. Thus, plant metabolites are the foundation of intelligence in the animal kingdom. We have just overlooked it for so long because we've trained ourselves to believe that these are "bad drugs" and not what they truly are, that being, sacred ethnobotanicals that represent some of humanity's first cultivated crops.

Despite the War on Drugs, these plant metabolites still represent commodities, cognitive release from cultural stress, and passageways for access to the divine. That they have become addictive, that is our own fault. We have taken what was once sacred, and ultimately turned it into a weapon.

Thus, you have a better understanding of how animal intelligence evolved in a symbiotic relationship with botanical life. Now, how consciousness actually works, that comes down to the circuits, which are represented by the endogenous metabolites like DMT, acetylcholine, dopamine, adenosine, and the internally produce marijuana cannabinoids.

Unfortunately, American scientists are limited in understanding these metabolites.

This will continue as long as Uncle Sam sees demons, and not history.

THE RUN FROM THE CURE

Perhaps its a good thing that, to keep this plant menace out of the hands of stupid teenagers, our government is willing to let police officers die, cancer patients die, and innocence by standers be killed by anarchic gangs fueled by prohibition.

Perhaps not...

Human Ontology 201

Why is it that a person can sit in front a a movie or television screen and experience a fabricated reality from two dimensional light patterns?

Why does the soldier experience an adrenaline rush during combat?

Why does the marathon runner experience an anandamide high after a lengthy period of strenuous exercise?

Why does the human psyche shift so dramatically after puberty?

Why does sex sell?

Why does violence attract?

Why drink coffee before work?

What is art, and how do people experience it?

What is the creative process?

What is culture?

What is a nation?

Why are sports and rock concerts so engaging?

What is religion?

Why do people believe in spiritual truths despite the lack of concrete empirical evidence?

Are we all just autonomous genetic robots hallucinating on our own endogenous tryptamines and other assorted neurotransmitters, or is there more to us than that?



Welcome to Human Ontology 201

You first homework assignment is to consider the former questions. These questions have no clear answers yet, but perhaps, your search might lead to a new understanding of what it means to be human.

The world as we know it is much, much more than it seems, and we are slowly losing it. Anthropologists, biologists, botanists, and most environmental scientists, through extensive acts of observation, data collection, and analysis, have come to realize that the success of human population development and survival depends upon a society's regulation of natural resource depletion and waste production.

Modern humanity began in Northern Africa. Favorable shifts in climate provided the ecological room for an increase in human population densities. More rain= more plants= more foods; medicines; cultural tools for clothing, shelter, hunting, economy, and political exercise. Less rain= fewer plants= fewer food sources and other ethnobotanical adaptations.

During the time of our ancient ancestors in Africa, northern Africa was rich in ecological life, thus accommodating the development of human societies. However, after the occurrence of a global warming trend, ancient human populations deforested the rich ecological systems of northern Africa, turning the land into a desert.

From Africa, our ancestors slowly migrated into the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Climate trends over thousands of generations continued to shape these populations in much the same manner as in Africa. Successful populations benefitted from favorable climates, while poor climate shifts destroyed societies and forced migrations. Human civilization has its birth in the Fertile Crescent. Again, like Africa, the Fertile Crescent is now a desert.

It can never be understated that human society is dependent upon botanical life. What is over looked is the extent that humans have shaped botanical life on earth as well as the ecosystems of the planet. Most importantly, however, we can not ignore the fact that the environment has shaped human society and the cognitive abilities of our people.

But we've forgotten something, something key to understanding our very nature. Without this key, we are unable to unlock the door to a better understanding of the human ontology.

In order to pass Human Ontology 201, you must find this key.

Here's a hint, though. The key is in our most important plants. Find the plants, and you'll find the key to human ontology.

Once you pass Human Ontology 201, you may proceed onto Cognitive Evolution 301.