Illegal medicinal plants...worth the risk?

[Gwynyvyr]

Opium poppies and Marijuana...will you or would you grow them on your homestead for medicinal use?

Lets tackle opium poppies first...



Today, people search the ‘Net for naturally-occurring medicines. A patchwork quilt of information suggests this quest is as old as time. Records indicate a variety of plant drugs were used by early civilizations. These peoples sought out the psychological boost of alcohol, tobacco or opium.

There were several variations of the benefits from a plant-derivative intoxication. The drug-induced state was sometimes used to see visions of the future. As medical knowledge expanded by discovery and conjecture, it was believed that one could remove the mental or physical symptoms that were caused by an imbalance of the Ancient Greek humors of blood, bile and phlegm by cleansing superfluous humors from the brain. One natural medicine in particular can be dated back to the earliest human settlements: the opium poppy Papaver Somniferum.

The earliest relationship between people and the opium poppy dates back to the Sumerians of approximately 3300 B.C. The Sumerians were one of the world’s first organized faming communities. They harvested the opium poppy as one of their many main crops. The Sumerians are credited with the invention of writing in the Middle East. They recorded using the opium poppy Papaver Somniferum for medicine and pleasure. The Sumerians called Papaver Somniferum the “plant of joy”. They used opium from the poppy to induce the same intoxicated and relaxed conditions as the manufacture of beer from barley crops. The poppy plant was also commonly used and traded at this time for its value as a supply of food, animal fodder oil and fuel.

The value of opium from the Papaver Somniferum poppy spread along trading routes from the Persian Gulf all the way to Greece. The records of the Greek physician Hippocrates contain prescriptions for the healing power of opium to cure insomnia. Other physicians would later agree with Hippocrates’ views on opium. Galen advocated eating opium as well as vegetable therapies. Dioscorides described how opium mixed with a liquid was a valuable medicine for added strength. Dioscorides described how the pod of the poppy could be crushed and mixed with the liquid. He is credited with proposing that the word “nepenthes” in a passage from Homer’s Oddessy may have been a drug mixture that included opium.

The apparent magic of the poppy’s ability to induce a drowsy state comes from morphine that is the principal active ingredient in opium. Raw opium contains a concentration of three to twenty percent morphine depending on its cultivation and processing.

[Gwynyvyr]

The most common means of taking opium was called a liquid elixir. The raw opium milk found in the seed pod was mixed with wine or water. This liquid did not cure the patient but the dreamy euphoric state helped lessen the patient’s pain. The early Greeks believed that the physical world around them was tightly connected to the quality of life provided by the gods. The abundance of poppy seeds in the dried poppy pod was seen as a sign of fertility by the Greeks.

The poppy spread east to India and China along trading routes during the seventh century. The Chinese welcomed the wonder of the poppy seed mixed with bamboo juice. The Chinese felt this mixture offered a tremendous healing power.

Present day findings have classified opium as a drug that dulls the senses and has listed opium as a narcotic. As narcotics opium, morphine and heroin are drugs tat relieve pain, relax spasms, reduce fevers and induce sleep.

Up to this point, the spread of the poppy seed had been very slow over land-based trading routes. The European development of ocean-going sailing ships rapidly expanded the introduction of opium into England and the United States. The wealthy class in Britain regularly consumed opium to relieve pain. Members of the British Royalty took opium to relieve a variety of aliments.

As use of opium spread, it was used to “treat” piles, chitis, cholera, dysentery, bronchitis, earaches and measles. The opium products calmed the patients and the temporary relief from pain caused an appearance of regaining good health. At this time, opium was called a ‘stimulant” because opium was considered to be a jump-start to well-being.

The search for medicines that could at least temporarily relieve pain in the 1700 and 1800s was sought by every developing nation. Opium was commonly consumed to get some relief from dropsy, consumption (tuberculosis) and rheumatism (rheumatoid arthritis). Britain and the United States imported hundreds of thousands of pounds of opium to meet the demand.

In these two countries the people preferred taking opium as a liquid known a s “Laudanum” or “black drop”. Laudanum was usually an opium-alcohol mixture. Another variation of Laudanum, Laudanum Cydoniatum, was made from a mixture of opium and vinegar. In Britain, Laudanum was very inexpensive and could be bought as easily as acetaminophen today. It was even sold in grocery stores as a medically-acknowledged temporary relief from coughing and pain. Records of bills from San Francisco to Vancouver show opium to be considered a grocery staple along with sugar, rice and tea.

Another form of use was a pill composed of opium, sweetened with saffron, castor, ambergris, musk and nutmeg to disguise the bitter opium taste. The opium pill was considered so safe that pregnant women could use it to control morning sickness.

In the 19th century opium was commonly listed as one of the ingredients in a wide range of patent medicines. A product called Ayers Cherry Pectoral contained opium as one of its key ingredients. This product was readily available to thousands of British and American parents to sooth babies who were crying due to teething, hunger or pains of childhood. Cough syrups in the mid-nineteenth century usually contained opium. Opium is still considered to be unsurpassed as a cough suppressant.

In 1931 Louis Lewin recorded opiates as a drug that sedated mental activity. He classified this sedation as “Euphorica”. Today the chemical properties of Papaver Somniferum are well documented, including images of changes to the brain activity

[Gwynyvyr]

Now, the raw product has been time-proven for thousands of years as a VERY effective medicine to treat:
Severe coughing, severe nausea, pain of all types, insomnia, muscle spasms, severe diarrhea and other ills.

Opiates are addictive and the unrefined raw form can become addictive as well, though usually not at the rate such refined products as heroin and morphine are. The side effects, when raw opium is used for occasional medicinal purposes, are by far less than the side effects one would or could experience from the use of common OTC (over-the-counter) medications. (Read the back of that bottle of Tylenol or Robitussion sometime)

Will I grow opium poppies when I get my land?
Absolutely.
The benefits far outweigh the risks in my book. I have grown them before and used them for medicinal purposes.
Cultivation and harvesting is simple and the seeds are easily available. A few opium poppies growing even in a suburban neighborhood are unlikely to attract any undue attention from local law enforcement.
A huge field of them on a farm would be another matter indeed!
I don't intend to sell, refine or distribute any of the products derived from growing them, they would be for medicinal use only for myself and for farm animals that needed it.

[Gwynyvyr]

Now...onto Marijuana...Cannabis Sativa, Herb, Weed, Pot, MaryJane....so many names, so many rumors....

C'mon...most of us tried it...or still use it. I don't, but that is mainly because the job I have employs frequent random drug tests. When I used it in high school, my grades didn't drop, I had an active social and extra-curricular life and I never went out and committed a crime because of it. So much for the current commercials screaming out of our t.v.s!

And theres this small article (NOT publicized by the DEA or the US gov't....)

A synthetic substance similar to ones found in marijuana stimulates cell growth in regions of the brain associated with anxiety and depression, pointing the way for new treatments for these diseases, according to University of Saskatchewan medical research published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Xia Zhang, an associate professor in the U of S neuropsychiatry research unit, led the team that tested the effects of HU-210, a potent synthetic cannabinoid similar to a group of compounds found in marijuana. The synthetic version is about 100 times as powerful as THC, the compound responsible for the high experienced by recreational users.

The team found that rats treated with HU-210 on a regular basis showed neurogenesis - the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus. This region of the brain is associated with learning and memory, as well as anxiety and depression.

The effect is the opposite of most legal and illicit drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, heroin, and cocaine.

"Most 'drugs of abuse' suppress neurogenesis," Zhang says. "Only marijuana promotes neurogenesis."

Current theory states that depression may be sparked when too few new brain cells are grown in the hippocampus. It is unclear whether anxiety is part of this process, but if true, HU-210 could offer a treatment for both mood disorders by stimulating the growth of new brain cells.

But Zhang cautions that HU-210 is only one of many cannabinoids. His previous work with marijuana shows that while the plant may contain medicinal compounds, they come in the same package as those that cause symptoms such as acute memory impairment, addiction, and withdrawal. Also, the HU-210 used in the study is highly purified.

"This is a very potent cannabinoid oil," Zhang says. "It's not something that would be available on the street."

Marijuana has been used for recreational and medicinal purposes for centuries, evoking public interest and controversy along the way. As a medicine, the plant is used to ease pain in multiple sclerosis patients, combat nausea in cancer patients, and stimulate appetite in people afflicted with AIDS. It has also been used to treat epilepsy and stroke.

Zhang's work is the latest product of the U of S Neural Systems and Plasticity Research Group, a multidisciplinary effort by researchers from the Colleges of Arts and Science, Engineering, Kinesiology, Medicine, Pharmacy and Nutrition, and Veterinary Medicine. The group collaborates to study the function of neural systems, from nerves to brain, in living organisms. In particular, they look at how these systems change over time with experience.

Zhang's research is supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), as well as a CIHR New Investigator Award. The Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation provided funding support to establish the Neural Systems and Plasticity Research Group, as well as post-doctoral fellowship awards to research team members Wen Jiang and Shao-Ping Ji. -- ©University of Saskatchewan

[Gwynyvyr]

Lets look at one section of it again :

Marijuana has been used for recreational and medicinal purposes for centuries, evoking public interest and controversy along the way. As a medicine, the plant is used to ease pain in multiple sclerosis patients, combat nausea in cancer patients, and stimulate appetite in people afflicted with AIDS. It has also been used to treat epilepsy and stroke.

The history of cannabis products and their use has been long, colorful and varied. "To the agriculturist, cannabis is a fiber crop; to the physician, it is an enigma; to the user, a euphoriant; to the police, a menace; to the trafficker, a source of profitable danger; to the convict or parolee and his family, a source of sorrow" (Mikuriya, 1969: 34). The fact is that cannabis has been held simultaneously in high and low esteem at various times throughout recorded history, particularly in our own times.

The volume of information available on the medical application of cannabis is considerable. Occasionally certain references have been condensed or deleted, but this should not detract from the completeness of the report.

This historical survey of the medical uses of marihuana is introduced by abroad overview of its use, including brief notes on current and projected research, and then considers specific historical settings and circumstances in ancient China, moving on to Egypt, India, Greece, Africa, and the Western World.

Cannabis sativa has been used therapeutically from the earliest records, nearly 5,000 years ago, to the present day (Mikuriya, 1969: 34) and its products have been widely noted for their effects, both physiological and psychological, throughout the world. Although the Chinese and Indian cultures knew about the properties of this drug from very early times, this information did not become general in the Near and Middle East until after the fifth century A.D., when travelers, traders and adventurers began to carry knowledge of the drug westward to Persia and Arabia.

Historians claim that cannabis was first employed in these countries as an antiseptic and analgesic. Other medical uses were later developed and spread throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

Several years after the return of Napoleon's army from Egypt, cannabis became widely accepted by Western medical practitioners. Previously, it had had limited use for such purposes as the treatment of burns. The scientific members of Napoleon's forces were interested in the drug's pain relieving and sedative effects. It was used during, and to a greater extent, following his rule in France, especially after 1840 when the work of such physicians as O'Shaughnessy, Aubert-Roche, and Moreau de Tours drew wide attention to this drug.

With the rise of the literary movement of the 1840-1860 period in France (Gautier, Baudelaire, Dumas, etc.), cannabis became somewhat popular as an intoxicant of the intellectual classes.

In the United States, medical interest in cannabis use was evidenced in 1860 by the convening of a Committee on Cannabis Indica of the Ohio State Medical Society, which reported on its therapeutic applications (McMeens, 1860: 1). Between the period 1840-1890, Walton states that more than 100 articles were published recommending cannabis for one disorder or another

[Gwynyvyr]

Concern about cannabis as an intoxicant led the government of India to establish the India Hemp Commission of 1893-94 to examine the entire question of cannabis use in India.

Paralleling the question over cannabis use in the latter half of the 19th century was the growing medical use of other medications superior to cannabis in their effects and more easily controlled as to dose. Consequently, medical use of cannabis declined and cannabis began to lose support of the medical profession.

During the years between 1856-1937, cannabis lost its image as a medicine and was left with a disreputable image as an intoxicant. Strong public reaction coupled with a campaign in the public press led to a federal anti-marihuana law in 1937. (The drug was illegal in many states before 1937.) The issue of medical use remained active, however, and Dr. William C. Woodward, Legislative Counsel to the AMA, an opponent of cannabis use and the only physician to be a witness at the Taxation of Marihuana hearings, stated:

There are exceptions in treatment in which cannabis cannot apparently be successfully subsituted for. The work of Pascal seems to show that Indian Hemp has remarkable properties in revealing the subconscious; hence, it can be used for psychological, psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic research (Hearings, House of Representatives, 1937: 91).

Although cannabis drugs are generally regarded as obsolete and rarely used in "western" medicine today, cannabis is "still used extensively in the Ayruvedic, Unani and Tibbi systems of medicine of the Indian-Pakastani subcontinent" ("The Cannabis Problem, 1962: 27). The Pharmacopoeias of India mention cannabis use in the recent past. Two preparations of cannabis, a liquid extract and a tincture, are listed in the 1954 and 1966 Pharmacopoeias of India which contain descriptions of cannabis and its extract and how it is made (Chopra & Chopra, 1957: 9).

A more recent source makes reference to the fact that "in contemporary India and Pakistan, there continues to be widespread indigenous medical, 'quasi-medical,' and illicit use of both opium and cannabis" (Chopra & Chopra, 1957: 12-13). Bouquet notes that hemp resin is occasionally used in the native medicines of the countries where it is collected. He points especially to India where, "the medical systems . . . make much use of cannabis as a sedative, hypnotic, analgesic, anti-spasmodic and anti-hemorrhoidal" (Bulletin on Narcotics, 1962:27).

According to the Canadian Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs:

There is no currently accepted medical use of cannabis in North America outside of an experimental context. Although cannabis has been reported to produce an array of possibly useful medical effects, these have either not been adequately investigated, or can be replaced by using other more readily available and convenient drugs. The natural product's variability in potency and instability over time are among the factors which have led to its disfavor in Western 20th century medicine.... cannabis has often been employed in the past, and is currently used illicitly in North America, to reduce the secondary symptoms and suffering caused by the flue and the common cold. These . . . alleged therapeutic properties of cannabis have not been adequately studied in a scientific context, and their general medical potential remains a matter of conjecture (1970: 74).

Similar statements regarding cannabis are to be found in Marijuana, edited by Erich Goode, and in the textbook Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics by Goodman and Gilman (1970: 300). Concerning therapeutic uses, the latter states:

Although cannabis was once used for a wide variety of clinical disorders and has even been demonstrated to have antibacterial activity, there are at present no well substantiated indications for its use. It is no longer an official drug. Preparations are rarely available (cannabis preparation and synthetic THC are obtainable only for research purposes), and prescriptions are regulated by special tax laws.

[Gwynyvyr]

The Department of Health, Education, and We] fare report to Congress in 1971, Marihuana and Health, repeats the statement of the Canadian Interim Report of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, and states: "There is no currently accepted medical use of cannabis in the United States outside of an experimental context" (DHEW: 1971: 27). Allen Geller and Maxwell Boas (1969: 4) think that cannabis' "unsavory reputation has largely stymied further research."

Despite the many statements discounting cannabis' therapeutic usefulness, some authorities maintain that its medical value might be reborn through further research and/or use. David Solomon, in his foreword to The Marihuana Papers (1968: xxi) argues that:

Marihuana should be accorded the medical status it once had in this country as a legitimate prescription item. After 1937, with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act and subsequent federal and state legislation, it became virtually impossible for physicians to obtain or prescribe marihuana preparations for their patients. Thus, the medical profession was denied access to a versatile pharmaceutical tool with a history of therapeutic utility going back thousands of years.

In a 1970 article, "Pot Facing Stringent Scientific Examination ," reference is made to Dr. Par who states that there are three areas in which "chemical and animal experiments are under way:"

(1) Analgesia-mood elevation plus analgesic power may make useful drug.

(2) Blood pressure reduction-hypertension may be helped by new drugs which lower the blood pressure by what seems to be action on the central nervous system.

(3) Psychotherapeutic-new compounds are antidepressants and antianxiety drugs (Culliton: 1970).

Mikuriya cites it studies concerning cannabis funded by the National Institute of Mental Health in 1961. The studies were "either specialized animal experiments, part of an observational sociologic study of a number of drugs, or explorations of chemical detection methods" (Mikuriya, 1969: 38).

Feinglass has pointed to four general categories into which the clinical studies of marihuana could be divided (1968: 206-208). They are:

1. Anticonvulsant effects-treatment of tetanus, convulsions of rabies, epilepsy, and infant convulsions.
2. Psychotherapeutic actions - appetite-stimulation, treatment of depression, and as a sedative and hypnotic in reducing anxiety; treatment of addiction.
3. Antibiotic properties.
4. Pain-affecting power.

Grinspoon suggests:

Very little research attention has been given to the possibility that marihuana might protect some people from psychosis. Among users of the drug, the proportion of people with neuroses or personality disorders is usually higher than in the general population; one might therefore expect the incidence of psychoses also to be higher in this group. The fact that it is not suggests that for some mentally disturbed people, the escape provided by the drug may serve to prevent a psychotic breakdown (1969: 24).

Mikuriya lists many possible therapeutic uses of THC and similar products in his paper "Marihuana in Medicine: Past, Present and Future." He includes:

Analgesic-hypnotic, appetite stimulant, antiepileptic, antispasmodic, prophylactic and treatment of the neuralgias, including migraine and tic douloureaux, antidepressant-tranquillizer, anti-asthmatic, oxytocic, anti-tussive, topical anesthetic, withdrawal agent for opiate and alcohol addiction, child birth analgesic, and antibiotic (1968: 39).

[Gwynyvyr]

China

The oldest known therapeutic description Of cannabis was by the Emperor Shen-Nung in the 28th century B.C. in China, where the plant had long been grown for fiber. He prescribed cannabis for beri-beri, constipation, "female weakness," gout, malaria, rheumatism and absentmindedness (Bloomquist, 1968: 19).

Egypt

In Egypt, in the 20th century B.C., cannabis was used to treat sore eyes. Additional medical usage was not reported until much later.

India

Prior to the 10th century B.C., bhang, a cannabis preparation, was used as an anesthetic and antiphlegmatic in India. In the second century A.D., a Chinese physician, Hoa-Tho, prescribed it as an analgesic in surgical procedures (Mikuriya, 1969: 34).

From the 10th century B.C. up to 1945 (and even to the present time), cannabis has been used in India to treat a wide variety of human maladies. The drug is highly regarded by some medical practitioners in that country.

The religious use of cannabis in India is thought to have preceded its medical use (Blum and Associates, II, 1969: 73; Snyder, 1970: 125). The religious use of cannabis is to help "the user to free his mind from worldly distractions and to concentrate on the Supreme Being" (Barber, 1970: 80).

Cannabis is used in Hindu and Sikh temples and at Mohammedan shrines. Besides using the drug as an aid to meditation, it is also used to overcome hunger and thirst by the religious mendicants. In Nepal, it is distributed on certain feast days at the temples of all Shiva followers (Blum & Associates, 1969, 11: 63).

The Hindus spoke of the drug as the "heavenly guide," "the soother of grief." Considered holy, it was described as a sacred grass during the Vedic period (Fort, 1969: 15). A reference to cannabis in Hindu scriptures is the following:

To the Hindu the hemp plant is holy. A guardian lives in bhang ... Bhang is the joy giver, the sky filer, the heavenly guide, the poor man's heaven, the soother of grief ... No god or man is as good as the religious drinker of Mang. The students of the scriptures of Benares are given bhang before they sit to study. At Benares, Ujjain and other holy places, yogis take deep draughts of Mang that they may center their thoughts on the Eternal . . . By the help of Mang ascetics pass days without food or drink. The supporting power of Mang has brought many a Hindu family safe through the miseries of famine (Snyder, 1970: 125).

Greece

In ancient Greece, cannabis was used as a remedy for earache, edema, and inflammation (Robinson, 1946: 382-383).

Africa

Cannabis was used in Africa to restore appetite and to relieve pain of hemorrhoids, its antiseptic uses were also known to certain African native tribes (O'Shaughnessy, 1842: 431). Various other uses, in a number of countries, included the treatment of tetanus, hydrophobia, delirium tremens, infantile convulsions, neuralgia and other nervous disorders, cholera, menorrhagia, rheumatism, hay fever, asthma, skin diseases, and protracted labor during childbirth.
The 19th Century

Documents of the 19th century report on the use of cannabis to control diarrhea in cholera and to stimulate appetite. In his reports of the late 1830's and early 1840's, O'Shaughnessy (1842: 431) stated that tetanus could be arrested and cured when treated with extra large doses of cannabis.

John Bell, M.D., Boston, reported enthusiastically in 1857, about the effects of cannabis in the control of mental and emotional disorders as opposed to the use of "moral discipline" to restrain the mentally ill. Similarly, in 1858, Moureau. de Tours reported several case histories of manic and depressive disorders treated with hashish (Walton, 1938: 3).

The Ohio State Medical Society's Committee on Cannabis Indica, convened in 1860, reported that their respondents claimed cannabis successfully treated neuralgic pain, dysmenorhea, uterine hemorrhage, hysteria, delirium tremens, mania, palsy, whooping cough, infantile convulsions, asthma, gonorrhea, nervous rheumatism, chronic bronchitis, muscular spasms, tetanus, epilepsy and appetite stimulation (McMeens, 1860: 1).

The India Hemp Commission (1894: 174) likewise was informed of similar medicinal uses for cannabis. Specific reports included the use of cannabis as an analgesic, a restorer of energy, a hemostat, an ecbolic, and an antidiaretic. Cannabis was also mentioned as an aid in treating hay fever, cholera, dysentery, gonorrhea, diabetes, impotence, urinary incontinence, swelling of the testicles, granulation of open sores, and chronic ulcers. Other beneficial effects attributed to cannabis were prevention of insomnia, relief of anxiety, protection against cholera, alleviation of hunger and as an aid to concentration of attention.

[Gwynyvyr]

MEDICAL USES IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Despite the fact that marihuana was made illegal in the United States in 1937, research has continued on the medical uses of marihuana. The findings include various possible medical applications of cannabis and its chemical derivatives.

One of the most recent and interesting findings (Frank, 1972) concerns the effect of cannabis in reducing intraocular pressure. It was found that as the dose of marihuana increased, the pressure within the eye decreased by up to 30%. This occurred in normal persons as well as in those with glaucoma, a disease of the eye in which increased intraocular pressure may cause blindness. Much more research is necessary in connection with this experimental clinical finding before final judgment can be passed on such a possible therapeutic value.

During the past 20 years in western medicine, marihuana has been assigned antibiotic activity; as a result, several studies relating to this possibility have been undertaken. H. B. M. Murphy (1963: 20) reported investigations in Eastern Europe. He stated that "it is alleged to be active against gram positive organisms at 1/100,000 dilution, but to be largely inactivated by plasma, so that prospects for its use appear to be, confined to E. N. T. (ear, nose and throat) and skin infections."

Dr. J. Kabelikovi (1952: 500-503) and his coworkers carried out tests on rats, which were similar to tests carried out with penicillin in vitro. The alcohol extract of cannabis was bacterially effective against many gram-positive and one gram-negative microorganisms. It was also found that a paste form of external application was successful. According to Kabelikovi, "from a study of 2,000 herbs by Czechoslovakian scientists it was found that cannabis indica (the Indian Hemp) was the most promising in the realm of antibiotics."

In a 1959 publication of Pharmacie, Krejci stated: "From the flowering tips and leaves of hemp, cannabis sativa var indica bred in Middle Europe, were extracted a phenol and an acid fraction. From the acid fraction, two acids were obtained, of which one preserved its antibiotic properties" (p. 349). In another Czechoslovakian publication, Krejci (1961: 1351-1353) referred to two additional samples with antibiotic activity.

Sample I in Fig. 1 has been sufficiently identified as cannabidiolic acid and sample 9 as cannabidiol. Both fractions show antibiotic activity. The results of tests lead us to conclude that the antibacterial action of cannabis sativa is not identical to the hashish effect found, for example, in tetrahydrocannabinol. However, it was established that cannabis sativa is effective as an antibiotic for local infections.

Kabelik, Krejci, and Santavy (1960: 13) include in "Cannabis as a Medicant" the various microorganisms against which cannabis is effective.

Proof could be furnished that the cannabis extracts produce a very satisfactory antibacterial effect upon the following microbes: staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, steptococcus alpha haemolyticus, streptococcus beta haemolyticus, enterococcus, diplococcus pneumonia, B. anthracis, and corynebacterium diptheriae i.e., all of them gram-positive microorganisms. Noteworthy is the effect upon staphylococcus aureaus strains, which are resistant to penicillin and to other antibiotics.

[Gwynyvyr]

So...without boring you to tears by posting more accounts of doctors and scientists that praise the medical efficacy of cannabis...let us continue...

It is easy to cultivate. Effects vary wildly of the end product due to cultivation.
However, this is one plant that will NOT pass as a decorative accent to your flower bed! A single plant growing in mid-cornfield can be spotted by searching LEOs due to it's unique heat signature on infra-red cameras.
Growing this for your medicine chest usually requires a little indoor horticulture. And a great deal of discretion.

I have always preferred to prepare this herbal treatment as a tea, rather than smoking it. As a tea, it focuses the effects on the body and doesn't give one the *head high* experienced by smoking.

As seen in the previous medical accounts, the uses are widespread...from glaucoma to arthritis to migraines to epilepsy...all legitimate conditions that could be treated by marijuana, if not for the gov't. crusade against it.

Will I grow it?
Again, absolutely.
I have seen first hand how effective a treatment it can be for several conditions, and since arthritis runs strong in my family, I plan on being able to sip a cup of tea to help out with the aches and pains of that condition should it ever strike me. As with opium poppies, the side effects are far less than those of medically prescribed treatments or even OTC medications.

[meancoyote]

we just had a vote in my state askin people if they wanted to make weed legal. it was closer than i thought it would be, but more people said no than yes. kinda sad that in this free country, i could go to jail for growing a plant.

[Boldylocks]

It is easy to cultivate. Effects vary wildly of the end product due to cultivation.
However, this is one plant that will NOT pass as a decorative accent to your flower bed! A single plant growing in mid-cornfield can be spotted by searching LEOs due to it's unique heat signature on infra-red cameras.
Growing this for your medicine chest usually requires a little indoor horticulture. And a great deal of discretion.

I have always preferred to prepare this herbal treatment as a tea, rather than smoking it. As a tea, it focuses the effects on the body and doesn't give one the *head high* experienced by smoking.

As seen in the previous medical accounts, the uses are widespread...from glaucoma to arthritis to migraines to epilepsy...all legitimate conditions that could be treated by marijuana, if not for the gov't. crusade against it.

Will I grow it?
Again, absolutely.
I have seen first hand how effective a treatment it can be for several conditions, and since arthritis runs strong in my family, I plan on being able to sip a cup of tea to help out with the aches and pains of that condition should it ever strike me. As with opium poppies, the side effects are far less than those of medically prescribed treatments or even OTC medications.


Gwynevyr, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I would not smoke it - because I rather teas and feel repulsed by smoking anything in my lungs. But I feel that the reason the government made such an issue out of Marijuanna is for the precise reason you mentioned-- because it is proven to be so effective against pain- even extreem pain while dying from Cancer, and because it has less side effects, (they need drugs to have side-effects, so they can push more drugs to "counter" those side effects and make more profits)

When I heard how Willie Nelson made the news as being some "big criminal " for having marijuanna on his possession-- I rolled my eyes at the media. You'll never see Willie Nelson with Crystal Meth and other synthetic drugs. He's not an abuser.-- The rate they were going , I'm surprised they didnt' also stick him in one of those FEMA camps near Alaska as a dissident example.

[Gwynyvyr]

Funny thing is, I have gotten over a half dozen emails since I posted this thread...people warning me about posting such info online and for admitting that I have grown and used such herbal remedies in the past.
I was told that *BHM is monitored by*...well...choose your favorite boogeyman...CIA, NSA, DEA, etc...etc...

People...if the crap hits the fan, you better realize that all those alphabet soup agencies will go kaput. So will your local pharmacy.
Get your knowledge NOW...you may need it later.
Maybe you don't want to go out and be *Johnny Poppyseed*...but don't you think it more advisable to have the knowledge but not need it than to need the knowledge and not have it?

[hillbilly_mom]

Stupid question time. ;D

So to NOT get high you can brew it into a tea instead of smoking it? This is the main reason I won't use it to try and rid myself of my neuropathy pain. I have an appointment with a pain clinic on the 27th. If they can't or won't help me, I feel like I will have no choice by to "self medicate" myself to relieve the pain. The only fear I have is of the "high" I HAVE to have a clear head to homeschool my kids, plus drive. My BIL, who also has neuropathies, has been told by his VA docs to smoke it. That isn't an option for me, because of my kids. The whole thing to me is trying to stay away from the high feeling. I don't want that. I only want my pain to be reduced enough to function as a normal human again, instead of feeling like I am a 100 year old woman in a 41 year old body.

And if drinking it as a tea can work as well without the high, how would one go about brewing the tea? TIA

[Gwynyvyr]

Approximately the same amount used in a small joint can be used to brew a good sized mug of tea. Steep in the hot water for 5 or 6 minutes...even longer is okay. Sweeten with honey to cut the bitter-herby taste if desired.
If the bud you get is very potent you can use much less per cup of tea. I have brewed with "BC bud" as little as what would fill the bowl on a small pipe (maybe a two-hitter?) and gotten good results.
If you have *trash* cannabis (very weak), it may take a bit more.
I strongly suggest you try the tea the first time on a night when you are feeling more or less okay and you don't have to drive anywhere. Gauge the effects it has on you and adjust your tea accordingly. A half cup of tea may all you need to face the day without the debilitating pains.

If you get your supply from a good trusted source, ask if you can have the *stems and seeds trash* they normally sell cheaply or throw away. I have made many satisfactory cups of tea from that. Just add a pinch of the good bud to it.

You can also use regular tea leaves with the pot to make your tea to make it more palatable.

[hangfire]

Very informative and detailed information you posted Gwyn... how did you learn all that??

As for how do you make tea, that's a pretty simple process from what I've read (NO I have never personally experimented with such). *There is a book available out there "Confessions of an opium eater" which I believe discusses the process. *There is also are a few message bases on www.poppies.org that I think people interested in that sort of thing may find interesting.

Yes, I agree that knowledge is a good thing, a very good thing. *I however would be reluctant to get on here andpost messages saying "I've grown em before, and I will grow em again." *I'd also reccommend finding a place other then my own property to plant a few... I've never done it, but I have read up on the topic.

I think we are moving into a new phase in the war on freedoms.... don't make their job easier by posting "come and get me" sorts of messages. *I also think that since we're all admitting that knowledge is a good and useful thing, it may be time for people to learn about caching, and that would apply to information as well as politically incorrect items. *Also learn about things such as Norton Utilities Disk Wipe. *As I said, why make the job easier?

*
I would suggest that things like this have become a good investment for storing data...
--------------------------------------------------------------
Simple Tech 1GB USB FLASH DRIVE
USB Removable Flash Drive

Transport and share files without a CD, DVD or Floppy Disk drive

Ultra Slim Product Design for stacked USB ports

Security feature to protect sensitive data

Lanyard and Personal Identification Labels

Enhanced Data Integrity (Reads data more accurately)


Avail at Office Max, Staples, etc....
-------------------------------------------------------------------

[bookwormom]

you sure remind me of a red headed pagan friend of mine, we call her viking woman.
I don't understand why they do not legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. I understand in England it is used. I have to read your complete post later, just too late now.
so far tussilago farfara has served us well for coughs. It is not illegal yet. valerian, passiflora and hops for calming down a bit. of course not as potent as poppy.
do you own your homestead? I understand they can take your land from you for growing something illegal. I mean, what recourse would you have?

[alma]

Thanks Gwenn:
I hope everyone will print it up, or otherwise store all this material.
It is just another thing we might be glad to have in future times.
I collect all kinds of info like this on floppies, and/or print them up, too.
Thanks for doing all the hard work it took to get this to us before the cig and whiskey industries sick the leos on you.
I agree that you have really put yourself on the line for us and i appreciate it, but worry about you. love, alma

[zebraman]

Hey Guys;First of all.Knowledge is Power,however growing Marijuana is a stupid idea.I personally grow opium poppies in my front yard in the Venice Canals,for the world to see.I do not harvest them,but grow them for flowers.Seeds are readily available in the US.Thompson and Morgan sells them as do a lot of other seed houses.Th&M also sells Lophophora williamsii seeds (Peyote)seeds as well.It is not against the law to grow these,just against the law to harvest them.
I used these in my youth,but later grew up.
If you are really interested in growing Marijuana,do the smart thing and move to Amsterdam.Oh,and just in case you haven't been to Amsterdam lately,let me clue you in.
The crime rate in the city is an F'ing Nightmare!
99% of drug addicts run out of money,sooner or later.And because Holland is a socialist country,You can't really earn enough to earn a living and have money left over for drugs.Oh and You Can't deal drugs to pay for your habit...Duh!What does that leave you?Robbery.
And for the record J.Paul Getty is who is responsible for outlawing Cannibus Sativa.He did this to outlaw Hemp in the process,which he rightly knew would take a giant bite out of his Paper Pulp business.(for Newsprint)He had a monopoly on this and didn't want to lose any of it to hemp farmers.

Hey Gwen;If you spent half the time (that you spend on this kind of worthless crap)on bettering yourself you could have a life worth living.
What good is all this knowledge if you don't have the foundation to support it?
I realize I am probably over stepping the boundaries a bit,
but I 've been on this site long enough to know most of your friends are not going to tell you the truth because it might hurt your feelings...Oh Well.
Here's the deal-I work in television for a show that interviews published authors.Your real writing is really good and quite marketable.(Your Gritty-veiws into your life at the truck stop and the real characters that float in and out of your life will make you famous if you follow it.Put All the Purple Prose in an old shoebox and give it to the Goodwill.The bogus stuff that you post on this site is a waste of time.
I am assuming you are still continuing your education,Take some writing classes,Not because you don't know what your'e doing but to get constructive criticism and direction.
You've already had a good run at doing it Your Way and,honestly it really hasn't paid off that well.-

[Gwynyvyr]

Hey Guys;First of all.Knowledge is Power,however growing Marijuana is a stupid idea.I personally grow opium poppies in my front yard in the Venice Canals,for the world to see.I do not harvest them,but grow them for flowers.Seeds are readily available in the US.Thompson and Morgan sells them as do a lot of other seed houses.Th&M also sells Lophophora williamsii seeds (Peyote)seeds as well.It is not against the law to grow these,just against the law to harvest them.
I used these in my youth,but later grew up.
If you are really interested in growing Marijuana,do the smart thing and move to Amsterdam.Oh,and just in case you haven't been to Amsterdam lately,let me clue you in.
The crime rate in the city is an F'ing Nightmare!
99% of drug addicts run out of money,sooner or later.And because Holland is a socialist country,You can't really earn enough to earn a living and have money left over for drugs.Oh and You Can't deal drugs to pay for your habit...Duh!What does that leave you?Robbery.
And for the record J.Paul Getty is who is responsible for outlawing Cannibus Sativa.He did this to outlaw Hemp in the process,which he rightly knew would take a giant bite out of his Paper Pulp business.(for Newsprint)He had a monopoly on this and didn't want to lose any of it to hemp farmers.

Hey Gwen;If you spent half the time (that you spend on this kind of worthless crap)on bettering yourself you could have a life worth living.
What good is all this knowledge if you don't have the foundation to support it?
I realize I am probably over stepping the boundaries a bit,
but I 've been on this site long enough to know most of your friends are not going to tell you the truth because it might hurt your feelings...Oh Well.
Here's the deal-I work in television for a show that interviews published authors.Your real writing is really good and quite marketable.(Your Gritty-veiws into your life at the truck stop and the real characters that float in and out of your life will make you famous if you follow it.Put All the Purple Prose in an old shoebox and give it to the Goodwill.The bogus stuff that you post on this site is a waste of time.
I am assuming you are still continuing your education,Take some writing classes,Not because you don't know what your'e doing but to get constructive criticism and direction.
You've already had a good run at doing it Your Way and,honestly it really hasn't paid off that well.-

I have a life worth living, thank you very much...
I write for my pleasure and to express myself.
I have been published and likely will be again, but on my terms.
I will continue to do things my way.
As far as having things *pay off*...some of us are not obsessed with money and social positioning and *things* as you are.
I enjoy my life and have friends, family and lots of fun doing what I do.

[shadowwalker]

WOW, I wonder if the marijuana that grows wild in kentucky and tennessee has and helping qualities. Also there are other plants for sale that are not illegal but only on "watch" lists.

[Suzy]

Hum....some really interesting info here....That said....just because something "grows naturally" doesn't necessarily make it great....like poison oak and a few goodies like that...

Also, I agree putting anything in my lungs is NOT a good idea....

I have studied widely about herbs and other natural plants and use them widely in my soaps, bath salts, etc....also make mixes for using in cooking....so I am not a complete dummy on this subject....

I also spent three years getting a false marijuana arrest off my record (remember how I made the local sheriff mad and I was framed?) (and no---he is NOT in politics any longer here)....and the money spent, toll on my health from the stress, was awful.....

So I wouldn't grow marijuana on my homestead because I wouldn't want to risk loosing what I have worked so hard for here....that is just reality at this point.

And as a certified drug counselor for many years, yes, I do know all the stats on how it's not supposed to hurt you....but I have an exhusband floating around somewhere in California at this time whose brain is completely fried and the ONLY drug that man has ever used is marijuana....but he has smoked it since age 13 and smoked it almost constantly and now at age 55 (and for the last 15 years) he barely is functional...the old stereotype of the Cheech and Chong drug addict is him made over....and it's a shame for someone who was so nice and so talented to now have a fried brain...

But this is just my opinion....I don't smoke "regular" cigarettes, and don't drink alcohol (and also don't drink any soda or other soft drinks as well because of all their additives....) In other words, I'm trying to live as healthful and organic life as possible.

I also try to never take prescription drugs as well, because I feel they usually do more harm than good....so I guess it's all in the viewpoint...

I did briefly interview that woman who was the first to use marijuana legally for her eye problems, she was living in Florida when I talked with her, but I can't recall her name right now....Her logic didn't really fly....

[oldnndway]

Cool post Gwyn
I enjoyed it...thanks for the effort

[DV8]

Never considered growing opium. I didn't think it would grow here. I grow enough marijuana for personal use, although I wish I would have had a better outdoor crop this year, as a male made it past us & we got seeds, lots of seeds.

But, yeah, I'd like more info on how to grow it, & also how to make tar opium if ya have it.

Thanx a million for the idea tho.

~DV8

[zebraman]

Hey DV8;I personally think Illicit Drug use is Stupid! However that said here is the point.Home-Grown Tobacco,cured in the shade without the application of heat is WAY MORE hallucinogenic and Euphoric than Cannibus.It is also LEGAL.It is of course against the law to sell it.You do have to roll the "Cigarettes quite small because overdose from smoking too much can be fatal.

With Opium Just drying the Raw opium that seeps out of the unripe seedheads will be sufficient.Of course if You plan on 'Chasing the Dragon" you'll need to get hooked on it first.-

[DV8]

thanx zebraman...

I may try that :)

~DV8

[sage_morgan]

I have purchased somniferum seeds; the penalty for having them is *seriously* less than for growing marijiuana! If a person has a serious life they don't want to mess up, ya don't mess with maryjane!

Where I live there is a ton and a half of cannabis sativa, as it was planted for rope-making in the 30s and went wild. It's everywhere. Those who smoke and throw out their seeds have "planted" cannabis indica and probably a ton of hybrids being fertile in the ditches: ditchweed.

If I find it in my yard, I kill it. Most cops here know it grows wild and can be found anywhere, but why take a risk?

[333]

Peace,

Ok to play the devils advocate here, its better to put your money in the coffers of Dupont and Dow chemicals and their synthetics then it is to exercise you natural right to sow and reap as you wish, smoke it, double boil it with butter in all recipes,(must strain after) , steep it, what ever at least you dont provide the elitest's chemical monopoly with their next bottle of latour or dom. Bottom line fact is and its amazing how the 80 years of propaganda (refer madness etc) has ruined the objectivity of every adamant anti "weed" fanatic.

THIS PLANT IS THE ONLY NATURAL NON POLLUTING COMPETITION FOR BIG OIL, LOOK IT UP, 1935 MARIJUANA TAX ACT, what a complete farce this senate hearing was read the transcripts. It is illegal because of all the jobs in the government its criminalization provides. not to mention that its illegality keeps its value comparative to the price of gold per ounce. Jack Herer "The emperor wears no clothes" an awesome compilation of the history of this extremely versatile plant. Stop the hate and discrimination, stop the spew with out the facts. Its illegality is big money and big business pure and simple.

Peace

[333]

Peace,

To make a competent rational choice one must have some doubts about their resolve. This is to say that one should pursue their doubts as adamantly as their beliefs. One must research all sides of the equation. For example if one wishes to comment on the benefits of a republic versus a fascist state then one must and should be as well versed in both positions. It is not subversive to know thy enemy as thy self. Admittedly if one were to walk around with the communist manifesto in the pocket they would undoubtedly be chastised to say the least by their peers. However if one were to walk around with that as well as the constitution and declaration ones argument of their quest for understanding would be irrefutable. Remember evil loves and needs ignorance that how it maintains control. Now its not enough to just have these polar opposites in your pocket, although it will deter the armchair philosopher, one with more skills would assuredly turn their argument to the definition of the lexicon instead of the subject matter. That is to say when an educated tyrant can not subvert ones obvious understanding of the truth of the subject matter, they will argue the definition of the word "is" or "of" etc etc. Ergo one now knows that they have turned the debate to their favor because we all know this defense is fruitful only, in as much as the confusion by interpretation it creates. One must carry the dictionary as well or as I like to call it "the big book of words". In conclusion the debate at this point will end with the tyrant resorting to personal defamation and bigotry, intimidation, and all the wonderful behavior despots enjoy.
Take no heed of these attacks as they are the confirmation that you are victorious in your debate, because evil reigns in the darkness of ignorance and abhors the light of the truth. Interpretation is a liberty immeasurable.

Peace

[clarkshomestead]

Ok, sorry but i must add her my view on the "Illegality" of consuming or useing natural substances for the reason of medicinal applications, recreation or spiritual enlightenment. The later being of my most concern. Shamanic societies have used plants and fungi for THOUSANDS of years without having the social disturbances we experience today. I am speaking from experience here, there is a certain level of introspection that never comes to most untill after a pshycotropic experience. Sure you may say that its all a hallucination but that hallucination is produced by a synergism of your life experiences + the ingested + your own boichemicals and your present environment. So short of a "revelation" from an omnipotent being this is the closest we get to clear view of the things we should be doing. I think every person should experience the feeling of oneness with all that is that I experienced when I found psilcybin. Those years have passed for me now but I still value all that I learned fron the little fun guys. I never used it in a "party situation" I studied shamanism from the time my Creek grandfather died, when I was 10. He always spoke of the circle of life, and all gardeners can attest that death is not the end in that we become the nutrients for the next crop of wild things unless we are burried so deep that we cannot contribute any more for thousands of years. Sorry for the rant but here is a place you can order some legal cactae that can help you find that oneness. Remember it's like the circle of life first you feel scared and wierd (adolescence) then you see the color and are passionate about the trip of life (twenties and thirties) then slowly you begin to loose these feelings and become more grounded dont fight it or take more to stay trippin' , there will be a feeling of loosing your trip that is like a mid life crisis. Then will come the looking back, the introspect of an old person HERE IS WHERE YOU WILL KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD DO TO SOLVE YOUR CURRENT PROBLEM. The nice thing is that you are not dieing you are living fast through the help of this God given thing to find the answers you seek.

There are two times in my life I have felt oneness. Once I felt oneness with the community and family that surrounded me when I was Baptised at age 13 at Bethel Baptist Church, The other was when I realised my place in this world as a caretaker of a small part of this small rock in the vastness of all that God created (the Universe), I was in a cave on the Chipola river near Marrianna, Fla. under the influence of Psilocybe Cubensis. Both of those experiences make me a better man, and I would not trade those feelings for all the money that exists in this world. Both of these have driven me to look for what I consider the best way to spend the short time I have here and to be at this forum looking for advise on how to achieve the ideal that was given to me by these and that all in one force some call God.
I hope this does not offend but this is my experience. Look at this site for some Legal ways to experience and BE CAREFULL as these are catalists that will bring out the tru you! http://www.shamanic-extracts.com/xcart/shamanic-ethnobotanicals/cactus-seeds/
Here is where to find me http://www.freewebs.com/clarkshomestead/

[alma]

Wow! Thanks again gwen and all.
I just happened to find a booklette i put together after going to a seminar on hemp a few years back.
It was given in a church by the peace and justice group here in nashville.
I'd forgotten all about it until now, but it sure has peaked my interest, particularly since we have been talking and listening to things on t.v. about peak oil.
Apparently hemp is a great food and produces fuel for cars, and henry ford made part of his car out of hemp and used it as fuel to boot.
It was outlawed by big powers that be who would lose a lot if it were allowed to take over their territory.
The paper made from hemp lasts for centureis,as i recall. --not so paper made from trees.
I've printed most of this up today, and will get the rest later, and also put it on floppy disks.
I wanna see just how much we could become fuel efficient and use it for food if and when the shtf. love, alma (some of these keys don't work, hence the need to modify.)

[homesteadingnky]

No they are not worth the risk! Not worth the risk of getting caught! Not worth the risk to your health! Not worth the risk to your family should you get hooked or worse (die)! I can't for the life of me figure out why someone would want to live that way. But then that's just my opinion. Glad I don't have to live that way anyhow! Life is great just as it is!!!!!!!! :)

Homesteading Dad n KY

[WileyCoyote]

I think you are missing the point, homesteadingnky.

The previous posts were, for the most part, talking about medicinal plants; i.e., medicinal herbs that are illegal. And all - yes ALL - drugs for current ills are decoctions of herb plants; digitalis from the foxglove, aspirin from lemon seeds and willow branches, etc. Marijuana is supposed to be a medicinal plant; as are all plants; it helps glaucoma patients reduce the ocular swelling granules that cause blindness and helps increase the appetite of cancer patients. ALL plants have their uses - and many are abused, but that is not the plants' fault.

What happens when there is a pandemic and people on medications to keep them alive can no longer get them? EX. I have a good friend who has to carry digitalis around with her; her heart will suddenly and inexplicably go into rapid fibrillation and she has to crush a dig tablet and lick it off of her hand or her heart beats itself to death. What happens when she cannot access her drug? She will die. What if she could grow her own foxglove and ensure that she would have a ready supply on hand? If she was caught growing and making her own foxglove/digitalis, though, guess what? She would go to jail.

What medications are you or members of your family on that, if you had no access to the little pills, you could make? The answer is simple - all of them! Except that doing so is against the law... guess why. It has nothing to do with drug abusers or the War on Drugs - it has everything to do with the government and pharmacutical companies' profiteering of of your health - or the lack thereof.Why do you think that they are prescribing drugs willy nilly now for any and every discomfort? one word - "Profiteering".

[alma]

Cannabis hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life.
No other single plant source provides complete protein in such an easily digestible form, nor has the oils essential to life in as perfect a ratio for huan health and vitality.
Another source of food and fuel if and when all else fails, me thinks. --at least in part.
I'm gonna be checking it out or awhile. Looks promising to me. love, alma

[Gwynyvyr]

No they are not worth the risk! Not worth the risk of getting caught! Not worth the risk to your health! Not worth the risk to your family should you get hooked or worse (die)! I can't for the life of me figure out why someone would want to live that way. But then that's just my opinion. Glad I don't have to live that way anyhow! Life is great just as it is!!!!!!!! :)

Homesteading Dad n KY

Felt like wandering on the web today and found myself back at BWH. So, I figured I would address Homesteading Dads concerns here..

Dear Dad...by using that moniker, I assume you have kids.
If you read all of my overly verbose analysis of the medicinal benefits of cannabis and the opium poppy, you read the benefits of said plants.
Now...lets go back to Hurricane Katrina.
Suppose you and your kids were stuck in that situation or attempting to *bug out* and one of the kids gets injured and needs something for their wound to stave off infection from the nasty water, etc and medical help is days off?
Would you turn your nose up at a marijuana poultice or an opium latex poultice that (as medical testing has proven) could prevent your child from developing gangrene in the wound?
And, dude, take from me...I never EVER heard of anyone smoking weed (untreated) that died from it.
If so, I should have croaked in 1974 at the after party for graduation at my high school. ::)

Opium poppy is another story...you CAN get addicted, you CAN die from over dose.
You can also get addicted and/or die with hundreds of PRESCRIPTION medications.
Mix alcohol (legal) and Valium or hydrocodone (widely prescribed).
A couple hundred babies die each year from their *required* vaccinations. And the autism thing...
Are your kids vaccinated?
If so--Why did you consider that an acceptable risk?
THINK!
There are risks in every behavior we, as humans, engage in.
From crossing the street to sex to smoking to driving a car to milking a cow to, well, every damn thing carries risk.
Unless, of course, you want to live in a plastic bubble.
OOPS! Wait...scratch that...the poly carbons used in producing the plastic could leach out or may have been treated with lead or other dangerous compounds to provide flexibility to the plastic.....

As for our shamanic friend and his mushrooms...
I have no problem with shamanic use of your mushroom friends.
I am not a shaman. I would not even want to hazard a guess at dosage limits, etc.
And I get into my own head fairly well enough that I don't think I need hallucinogenics. ;D

[mtwildflower]

ZEBRAMAN- I didn't know that tidbit about why growing hemp became illegal. Thanks.

Yeah, I'll pass on the Mary Jane too. I have too much going on in my life, and enjoy my freedom and the non-interference of not being 'watched' because I'm suspicious. I'll just stay quiet, ordinary, not make much noise and mind my own damn business.

I have my principals and detest big government, but they can still take away my house, reputation, kids, livelihood etc if I am found to grow the miracle weed in my house. I have too much to lose to risk that kind of behavior and that kind of principled stand isn't worth it to me.

I once dated a guy who grew it. (I broke it off after he brought weed to my house without even asking my permission. Uh sorry....too many HUGE assumptions there, mister!) Quite frankly, it smells like cat piss. Who the hell wants that growing in their house?

[clarkshomestead]

Well put Gwyn! Here's to living our lives as we see fit and sharing who we are with others like ourselves!

[zachweiss]

If I lived out in the boonies I'd grow a plant or two. ;)

It all depends upon the situation.....growing acres and acres of pot to sell to turn a profit is obviously a no-no. Growing a plant or two on the lower 40 to help grand-dad's back pain is a different story.

Shooting people is against the law too....but that wouldn't stop most us from burying a slug into someone's cranium in defense of our home/family.

If marijuana is the only thing that helps/relieves pain then a person is a retard for not using it.

[buck1842]

yes,yes,yes if you care what happens after society falls apart.i have before and ill do it again ater it hits the fan.You are the only one responsaible for you and your family and thats all that matters.the gov could not and will not be able to do anything for you so take care of yourself because no one else will.Love your post 8)

[buck1842]

absolutetly!!!!

[MelleeRN]

Very informative post and in my opinion well written. I just had to add my two cents. I have never treated someone for an overdose on marijuana, and I treat 4 to 5 overdoses in a 16 hour shift. Fact. the CDC has to date not one reported death related to the use of marijuana alone. They have reported two deaths that involved marijuana combined with ETOH overdose, which ETOH can kill you on its own in high doses. Fact. The government is synthesizing THC to treat pain, yet they just can't get it right yet. Opinions. They only reason that I believe that marijuana is illegal is because the government wants to make a profit off it as a pain medication in a pill form. I am not opposed to a person that has chronic pain, glaucoma, or using to treat for pain and nausea related to side effects of cancer and it's treatment. To answer questions posed, I do not grow or smoke marijuana. I hold too many professional license to risk a bad drug test. With that said, if anyone in my family was in need of treatment for pain and/or aseptic and there was not any medical services I would brew or roll them some up in a heart beat. I do however oppose the use for getting high. There is no sense in that use to me.
As a interesting foot note. All of our medications are developed from a living organisms, whether it is a plant, insect, tree, or animal than synthesized from a man made chemical.. All of you fellows out there would cringed if you knew what Viagra was first made out of....

http://www.nationalpainfoundation.org/MyTreatment/MyTreatment_Cannabinoids.asp

[sillymom]

crop duster air plane that fly over will tell on you for growing that stuff. That is how they find out about them in sheds and in fields.

[hardscrabble]

Good luck on the crop dusters LOL! Yes it is well worth the risk. Why shouldnt someone grow their own medicine?? Oh i forgot you proably want them to take some unwholsome drug that proably do more harm than good?? Lets not forget people that in this union of ares we have 11 medical marijuana states. After this election i pray to god there will be a few more!!

Keep your powder dry

[Gwynyvyr]

There are several different types of poppies.
Seeds are available from online stores from several sources.
http://www.onestoppoppyshoppe.com/servlet/the-View-All-Poppies/Categories
http://www.ethnobotanicals.com/opium-poppy-seeds.html
http://www.poppiesshop.com/index.html

Note: Not all of these poppies will have a medicinal effect. If you choose to use opiates for pain relief, please investigate fully as to desired dosages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy for some basic info.

[fnfredux]

I didn't read it yet gwyn, but know what REALLY makes me MAD? I cannot buy Oriental Poppies anymore and they are one of my favorite flowers. I had the most georgeous giant pinlk one...people would actually stop when they walked by my house to admire them. And BELIEVE me I have a semi-black thumb. Anyway the black part took over, I read that you should devde them, I did they rotted. Now I can't have them anymore. Imust go back and read because now I'm wondering, is there a patrol that ferrets these things out in people's yards?
My grandfather grew and smoked pot. Everybody did back in the old days in my mom's old neighborhood whenshe was young. They called it Indian tobacco... who knew? So that was never a big deal to me.
Right here I have some pretty strange mushrooms growing on the horse crap...weird ones colored ones. Mandrake and coltsfoot, Jimson weed , ditchweed (not here but many paces around here) and I'm sure many more plants that are halucinagens or narcotic. I guess I should read it because maybe I'm supposed to get rid of it. CRAZY

[Michael32170]

Gwynyvyr, what's ever come of Txanne63?

[crafty2002]

I just thought I would let everyone know I bought some 'Lilac" Poppy Seed from Ethnobotanicals.com and they are dead as a door nail. I haven't had the first seed sprout yet. So don't waste you time nor the 10 bucks.
I was looking forward to getting off these $200.00+ a month pills and just drinking a cup of tea as needed.
And yes, I would have tried it, and was going to until they failed to sprout.
I tried them in moist dirt, in water and ain a damp paper towel so they are not good seeds.
It says on the package, Cullinary Spice Sample/Not Intended for Sowing Unless Legal where Planted, but it didn't say they were lame. >:(
Just thought I would let anyone that hurts like I do know, it is a waste of money and time.
Dennis

[Gwynyvyr]

Okay, if you want poppies of the Oriental type, for pretty flowers or pain, here's a couple ideas:


http://www.botanicalinterests.com/images/uploads/Poppy_Bread_Seed_Hungar_lg.jpg
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Poppy/Hungarian-Blue-Breadseed

These give you poppy seed for baking and the pods can be milked for the latex AND they are lovely flowers that attract bees and birds (that gobble the seeds) if all you want are lovely flowers AND the dried pods are lovely additions to dried flower arrangements.

Poppy seed is notorious for low germination rates and can be hard to start. Follow directions on seed packet or go online for instructions on planting.

ANY poppy that carries the latin botanical name Papaver somniferum is an opium poppy.
I have found them at Family Dollar stores and at gardening centers.

[Gwynyvyr]

Gwynyvyr, what's ever come of Txanne63?

Michael, don't know, but I have been trying to pin down where she is and what's up with her.

[harvester]

Opium poppies and Marijuana...will you or would you grow them on your homestead for medicinal use?

Are you kidding? and risk everything ive worked for? Inprisonment, the loss of my job, my home? No way! There is one word here that seems to be being overlooked....."ILLEGAL"

imho, it seems to me that someone who is willing to risk it all to grow something illegal in this country would be better off moving to a country where these things are legal. If one is so desperate to have them, why risk it all when if you are that desperate, it would be worth it to move to a different country.
Ive found it pretty easy all my life to play by the rules. In no way would I change my moral standards to have something that a dr could prescribe to me legally, if i simply went to a dr to have my problems taken care of. they do a pretty good job too.

[walls0stone]

why grow oyur own when you live in a college town? LOL.. I've never done that stuff. I make habbits of things to easy.

I don't even drink if I can help it. But then if I needed it...enough people do grow it that I know how to get it.

Now Shine, that's another story. ;)

[buck1842]

Well i guess you can move to another country but i like it here.Grow inside much easier anyway.If you believe we are free people then you find a way to live your life in that matter.The last thing i worry about is how the "government feels about it,Thats the problem to many people scared of their govt.Wake up sheeeple and take your country back before you loose all your freedoms.Canabis will be legal at least medicinaly with in a year i'ts just a matter of time.All the lies and false propoganda about canabis are finally coming to light and the people are mad their govt. would lie to them.Finally people are seeing that the federal govt. is not your friend and could really care less about you and your rights. :-/

[idris]

What you are really after is a doctor who knows that he isn't going to get busted for prescribing Morphine; as for that other, wacky weed, it really does send folks over the edge, I have seen it happen. Also: that one who medicates himself has a fool for a physician. Could any one name any country where any of *this stuff is legal? I can not think of a one.
Proper Papaver somniforum have flower heads as big as golf balls, the rest are just cousins.
Go, Sillymom: I once found a crop growing in the scrub up the back of a farm I was minding: had the police out first thing next morning: who was going to be charged with growing it, if I had not spoken up before it had been spotted by helicopter? Me. Took only two weeks to find out who the nice guys were that put it there: they did not like me one bit.

[Gwynyvyr]

I don't care to move to another country. I've lived in 13 countries and this one suits me just fine, thank you. ::)

As for going to mainstream physicians....the majority of them are shills for Big Pharm. They give you one medication to *cure* something and then, of course, 4 more different medications to alleviate the side effects of the first medication.
You know how everyone screams about how freaking awful drunk drivers are and how they kill people willy-nilly and more laws and stricter penalties should be taken against them?
Yeah.
Well, medication mistakes (Made by physicians) and hospital mistakes kill THREE times as many people in the US each year as drunk drivers do.
Yet you implicitly trust them. ::)
My great aunt lived to be 102. She saw her first *real doctor* when she was in her 70s.
She told me she never trusted all the pills and stuff, so when she was prescribed something, she usually just threw away the prescription (she only went to the doctor to make her kids happy). Her younger sister (my grandmother) took everything the doctor prescribed and died at the age of 80. My grandmother died at the youngest age of all her siblings. There were 12 in her family. Except for my grandmother, all passed after the age of 90. (And two of them died in accidents!)

My own mother is almost 80. She is on several medications. When I asked her why she took so many, she said the doctor prescribed them, that was reason enough. Since she got on these meds, I have seen her health take a nose dive. Two of the meds are prescribed just to counter side effects of one of the other meds!

I am 52. I self-medicate with herbs, vitamin therapy and mineral therapy. When I was in my 30s, I started getting on that *medication train* like many of my contemporaries. I was feeling miserable. I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. I took all the crap the doctors prescribed and suffered the side effects.
I woke up when I was almost 40. I had studied herbal remedies and alternative therapies...at 40, I tossed away every (doctor prescribed) medication and went with what I KNEW was right. It was the best thing I ever did for myself.

I have 2 older sisters on the medication train. A conversation with either is like attending a a lecture at a pharmaceutical convention as they relate symptoms, side effects, dosages, etc. of the medications they take. I have tried to talk them over to my side of the street, but they are happier being miserable. My oldest sister who just turned 60 has already planned her funeral and mournfully says she knows she "only has a few years left." She looks it, too. :-[ Sad seeing her that way.

I think I am better off staying with the laws of Nature rather than the laws of Man. (of course, those of you of the Christian persuasion may recall that your Bible states that every herb was "good" and put here for a purpose, but if you prefer putting your faith in the hands of a doctor, go for it. As for having a fool for a patient..."Physician, heal thyself" or something like that comes to mind. ;) )

Look, if TSHTF, whatever *powers that be* that are left will have little concern for people growing their own medications.
In the meantime, do as your own conscience dictates. If that means stuffing yourself with the poisons put out by Big Pharm, so be it.
Here's what a healthy 52 year old looks like, btw...


http://i40.tinypic.com/34gsu9y.jpg

[crafty2002]

I hear ya girl. Danged me, I was thinking you was a guy. Best looking 52 year old guy I ever saw,,,, LOL ;)
Thanks so much for the shot in the arm. Taught me a bunch. You are a sweet girl and got, well, you know, ya got something for jumpimg up and saying what's what and you are 100% right.
Take care.
Dennis

[Laverney]

I am a disabled vet and suffer from severe pain issues relating to pinched nerves and disk problems, it would be great if I could use something other than manufactured drugs to help reduce the pain but my question is do you work? I was in the Air Force for 10 years and got random drug tests and now I work for a casino and get random drug tests and I think the majority of businesses do drug tests now. I understand the effects of the substances, having "read" ;) about them in my teen years, and get the fact that they are probably better for you than manufactured drugs but I guess I just can't justify doing something that can have such negative effects in other areas of my life like job loss, property loss, money loss and potential jail time. IMHO the stuff is illegal because the government can't regulate it effectively and although I am not a huge fan of the way government operates I am a huge fan of staying out of jail. I have worked very hard for the things I have and refuse to give them a "valid" reason to take it from me, so for me it is not worth the risk at all.

[rivahmom]

*I understand the effects of the substances, having "read" ;) about them in my teen years, and get the fact that they are probably better for you than manufactured drugs but I guess I just can't justify doing something that can have such negative effects in other areas of my life like job loss, property loss, money loss and potential jail time. IMHO the stuff is illegal because the government can't regulate it effectively and although I am not a huge fan of the way government operates I am a huge fan of staying out of jail. I have worked very hard for the things I have and refuse to give them a "valid" reason to take it from me, so for me it is not worth the risk at all.
This sums up the topic for me. Although I have no issue doing them if I need them medically, the risk is not worth it to me. I have children that take priority over any desire to break the law and I will not risk losing them for any reason. I'm hoping the gov. sees the error of their ways in the near future and legalize it all but until they do, I will remain law abiding.

[Gwynyvyr]

I am a disabled vet and suffer from severe pain issues relating to pinched nerves and disk problems, it would be great if I could use something other than manufactured drugs to help reduce the pain but my question is do you work? *

Yes, I work. The job I currently have does not require drug tests. But right now I am not using any of the *illegal* herbal variety.
I use them only under certain circumstances:

1) I know that the specific illegal herb is the most effective treatment for the treatment
OR
2) I have no other recourse for effective treatment.

For the vast majority of any ills I may have, I use herbal, vitamin and mineral therapies and treatments.

As for your pinched nerves and disc problems, have you been to a chiropractor? I know some people think they are *quacks*, but when my dad got out of the military he had a bad pinched nerve. Went to the VA dozens of times and all they ever gave him were more bottles of pills. Then, he went to a local chiropractor.
One treatment and he could walk without pain.
Two treatments and it never came back again.

[Laverney]

Yes, I have used them in the past for certain issues like hip or foot pain and that worked fine but my disks are less than a hair away from my spinal cord and it isn't something I want just anyone messing with. The most any chiropractor I have ever met will do is an xray before they work on you and the MRI is really the best way to see what you are really dealing with. If you go to chiropractor you are taking a risk that I can't afford to. I think if weed or bone snappers make you feel better that is fantastic and I wish nothing but the best for all it helps it just can't be my choice at this time.

[tufhelp]

“The most any chiropractor I have ever met will do is an xray before they work on you and the MRI is really the best way to see what you are really dealing with.”

Right on the money… I’ve been fighting severe back problems for over 3 years. I thought I injured myself pulling a gun safe up a step on a hand truck – Thought I was doing it all the right way… Anyway, later that evening, I was laying on the couch and couldn’t get up. What followed was incredible back pain, sciatic pain like I have never imagined. Someone convinced me to go to this chiropractor who snapped an x-ray and he deduced that I had broken my back sometime in the past (L4/L5 area) and my L4 was “moving forward". (Spindylosis Anterolisthesis – quite a mouthful) Months of bone snapping and “treatments” and PT and it finally eased up and went to an occasional dull roar.

Hopefully, an already long story shortened; December 08, I tweaked it again. This time went to a MD, he ordered an MRI, he then sent me to an Orthopedic Surgeon almost immediately. Turns out I have Severe Spinal Stenosis between L4/L5. An almost complete narrowing of the spinal canal which is tweaking my sciatic nerves to beat the band and not allowing me too much of anything else. It is repairable and will be sorting all that out soon. It is in all likelihood a degenerative, or birth defect, but I could have handled this 3 yeas ago had I gone to a “real” doctor… 20/20 hindsight, what a deal!

[Prairie]

I have never grown anything illegal, but if society breaks down or when cannabis becomes legal, I'll grow it for food and recreation. If, God forbid, I ever need something as strong as opium, I suppose I'll grow it as well. I'm scared of opium or any other highly addictive drugs. I have taken prescription pills for very short treatments, and I can see how they can quickly be habit forming. I'll stick to cannabis. I have a friend who sells Gold Spice in his shop. Anyone heard of this? I think it is mainly blue lotus.

[leera]

Ya know,that's one thing I have never understood,and probably never will.....it's a plant,that occurs naturally in the world,it'll grow anywhere,and I do mean anywhere....some countries actually rely on it for income,and yet it's illegal to grow or pocess(sp)??? I don't get it....

[Teg]

Ya know,that's one thing I have never understood,and probably never will.....it's a plant,that occurs naturally in the world,it'll grow anywhere,and I do mean anywhere....some countries actually rely on it for income,and yet it's illegal to grow or pocess(sp)??? I don't get it....


If you look at the sites below you can see some of the history of Marijuana/Hemp in America and some of it's many positive uses. Some of the conspiracy stuff might be a bit much for some, but there are a lot of interesting facts in the article as well.

http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/

http://www.illuminati-news.com/marijuana-conspiracy.htm

[Kelly]

Ya know,that's one thing I have never understood,and probably never will.....it's a plant,that occurs naturally in the world,it'll grow anywhere,and I do mean anywhere....some countries actually rely on it for income,and yet it's illegal to grow or pocess(sp)??? I don't get it....

not to mention that there is a synthetic version of THC available for prescription :confused: its called Marinol

so let me get this straight...
i cant grow/use cannabis because it is a schedule 1 drug (ie no medical use), but when a pharmaceutical company creates a man made version of the main substance it is ok to use?
this is just another way that big corporations control our government.....

[Pokeberry Mary]

I sort of think that anything you can grow or brew on your own should be legal for personal use-- as long as you behave yourself and don't make $ off it.

That might just take the profit out of it all and thus perhaps cut down its use.

But--then again-- maybe not.

I think it would certainly be good if the old skills were not lost at least--as one never knows when the time might come that we need them.

Its an interesting topic.

I think for a long time the idea of legal pot was what mainly kept me from going libertarian.

The pot users I have known in my life never really amounted to much in life and ended up dependent on something and someone to take care of them--irresponsible etc.. I have always believed that long term pot use stunts maturity. but I guess I'm only going by what I see in my own family and friends--which is not encouraging.

I suppose if they could grow their own at least they'd be DOING something.:(

At this point though, I've gone libertarian for other reasons--I feel the parties in power have abandoned us and have no concern for liberty or our rights. Thus I've decided that legal pot isn't as important as it used to be to me.

[Wyobuckaroo]

Was just jumping around reading parts of different subjects, and ran across this.
Usually read something that Gwen posts, because she has some interesting insights into a variety of subjects.

Now the coincident part. Shortly after reading this, went to run an errand and crossed the bridge over the little creek that separates a couple subdivisions here. Right off the end of the bridge by the walk way were two teen age boys examining the top 1/4 of a couple plants growing there that appeared to be five feet tall or so, at this time of year.

Never have seen the stuff grow wild. Most likely would not recognize it, if I saw it. Have heard of "Maui Wowie" and "Yukon Thunder F---" and another one called something "Gold"
But have never seen it. I think these terms date me back to the mid 60s.

Never tried any thing like this. Beer always got me in enough trouble.

Wyo

[Pokeberry Mary]

If it ever got to be legal they would tax it.

I'd like to grow ephedra-- or whatever it is that you make ephedrine from. I don't want to make meth.. just want to breath through my nose.

but you can get in big trouble with that too.

I don't even know if you can buy ephedra plants or if its legal to grow it or if it will grow in SC.. I'd grow if it you can though.