Cannabis

What you know and didn't know.

Many people know Cannabis as Marijuana in my PowerPoint, I start out with a simple question, that is somewhat deceiving. How long has Marijuana been in existence? Marijuana has only been inexistence since the 1930’s. Marijuana was a slang term used by the Hispanic migrant workers in the farm industry during the 1930’s. Cannabis however, has been known since written history over 5,000 years ago. The Sumerian language describes Cannabis and it’s uses. In the early days of the colonial America, people were required to grow hemp and they paid their taxes with hemp.

When you understand how our laws are created and how slang terms aren’t allowed to be used. Dictionary or encyclopedia terms are used, if a lawmaker doesn’t know the term, he can look it up in a dictionary or encyclopedia.  It makes you question how a law about a slang product that is commonly known by other terms could be a legal law. The answer is it’s not a legal law and never has been. Marbury vs Madison stated “Congress cannot pass laws that are contrary to the Constitution, and it is the role of the judiciary to interpret what the Constitution permits.” So, what does that mean to the average person. Any law that violates the Constitution is not a valid law. As Thomas Jefferson said, “it is not your duty, but an obligation not to follow an unjust law.”

The legal history of Marijuana is interesting and provides numerous options to take trips down different rabbit holes that each one individually is Very very deep, long and wide. Combined will give you an insight to the overarching problems society faces and why. To briefly explain the process, we have to identify historic persons, and some of the milestone court cases. I will regard this as a brief overview. Otherwise, this piece would be close to hundred of pages and would take you a week to read.  Let’s start with some of the cast of characters.

William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper publicist and owner who had numerous timber holdings in the country. Pierre Lamont Dupont, Hearst’s partner who invented the patent to make paper from wood pulp. Paper at the time was made from hemp and was of superior quality. Hemp paper was used on the first draft of The Declaration of Independence, and is still on display in a historical museum. Andrew Melon at the time was Secretary of Treasury for the United States. Andrew Melon was DuPont’s financier through Melon Bank. Andrew Melon’s nephew in law, was Harry Anslinger, who was made Director of the National Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Harry Anslinger drafted a bill and submitted it to the Ways and Means Committee of Congress. If the Ways and Means Committed passes a bill it can go directly before the whole Congress for vote. Understand that during these times most of the population were familiar with Cannabis Indica, as most of the elixirs, tinctures, and syrups at the pharmacy or general store were elixirs of cannabis Indica. Everyone knew what Hemp was, all their rope, cloth, turpentine, and other products were made from hemp. Anslinger’s bill was against “Marijuana” The bill took a total of 90 seconds on the floor of the house of congress to be passed. Most of the legislators didn’t know what they were voting for. This bill created the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act. Where you needed a Tax Stamp to grow Marijuana. In order to get a tax stamp, you had to provide the bureau a sample of your product. When you showed up to get a stamp. You were arrested for interstate transportation of a controlled product. The Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was passed in 1937.

In the late 1960’s Timothy Leary of the LSD fame challenged the constitutionality of the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act in court and won. The court ruled the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was unconstitutional and was entrapment. In the early 1970’s The Controlled Substance Act (CSA) was being created and hearings were being conducted. President Nixon announced an “All out War on Drugs.” Nixon hand picked Raymond P. Shafer to conduct hearings, specifically on Marijuana and how it fit into the Controlled Substance Act. The whole committee was hand picked by Nixon due to their strong and out spoken stance on drugs. The year after the Shafer Commission’s report to Congress, cannabis arrests increased to over 100,000 arrests for simple possession of cannabis. But what was the Shafer Commission’s report to Congress? The Shafer Commission after 2 years of deep research and interviews, spending over 2 million of 1970’s dollars. The Shafer Commission reported “Cannabis doesn’t fit into the Controlled Substance Act, cannabis should be deregulated and treated like alcohol or tobacco.

In the mid 1960’s cannabis under the name of Marijuana became the most popular product to youth and adults alike. Nixon’s “all out war on drugs” didn’t slow cannabis use, it exploded it. By the early 70’s when the Shafer commission report to congress was presented, it went against everything Nixon had planned. Congress didn’t care about the Shafer commission report and “Temporarily listed cannabis as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, a dangerous drug, due to its popularity. When the Shafer Commission Report was ignored by congress, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) sued Congress to get the Shafer Commission Report implemented. It took 12 years to move the suit through the court system to the Supreme Court.

In 1976, Robert Randall sued the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for arresting him for cannabis possession. Robert Randall had severe Glaucoma; the only substance known to reduce the inter ocular pressure caused by Glaucoma was Cannabis. Robert Randall won his suit. The court required the Government to provide Robert Randall with his medicine. Thus, the beginning of “The Investigative New Drug Program (JNDP).” was implemented. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) provided Robert Randall as the first patient in the INDP, he was provided by NIDA 300 Marijuana cigarettes each month. This caused a problem for cannabis and the Controlled Substance Act.

For a substance to be classified as a Schedule 1 drug, one of the criteria is it has No Known Medical Use. Well, if cannabis had a medical use, lowering the interocular pressure of the eye. It could no longer maintain it’s status as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. Each year tens to hundreds of thousands of people were arrested for Marijuana possession.

In 1988 the DEA’s own Federal Law Judge ruled: “The administrative law judge recommends that the Administrator conclude that the cannabis plant considered as a whole has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, that there is no lack of accepted safety for use of it under medical supervision and that it may lawfully be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule II. The judge recommends that the Administrator transfer cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II.” All this would do is allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for patients. The DEA Administrator exercised with a vengeance, his prerogative to reject the recommended decision. Understand Marijuana arrests were the statistics that increased the DEA’s budget. NORML sued to get the DEA to follow the ruling and the Federal Appeals Court ruled: “Three of the factors in the Administrator's eight factor test appear impossible to fulfill and thus must be regarded as arbitrary and capricious. … Since the government did not respond clearly to the argument, we are left in doubt as to the argument's validity." Under our governing cases, we must remand for the requisite explanation."

In a subsequent third Federal Appeals Court, the DEA was able to get a judge to rule: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should have been involved in this suit from the beginning. The case was dismissed on a technicality after 20 years of moving through the court system. My initial questions were what was the cost to tax payers for this case to move through all these courts for this BS decision? Second, how many people had their lives ruined by being arrested for simple possession of Marijuana? Especially when you have the knowledge from the beginning of this article that Marijuana is a slang term and therefore not a valid law. How long has the corruption been going on? How deep is the corruption in our government and court system? Marijuana possession was the most common crime for the majority of prisoners in our prisons. Follow the money!

Now let’s get some specifics about the CSA. Most aren’t aware of this game. During the public hearings for the Controlled Substance Act, congress assured that the medical community would be making he decision for medical efficacy for substances in the Act. The highest-ranking person in the medical establishment is “The Surgeon General” who did congress appoint to determine medical efficacy under the Controlled Substance Act? The Attorney General! What medical background does the Attorney General have? Who did the Attorney General appoint to determine medical efficacy, the Surgeon General? NO!! The Administrator of the DEA. Do you now see why I called this a game? You cannot make this stuff up! The CSA treated Marijuana like no other drug. The only acceptable use for Marijuana under the CSA was research. What was the process the researchers needed to go through to get Marijuana to research from the FDA and NIDA? First an application to the FDA needed to be approved, this wasn’t an easy task. Once you passed this hurdle, you had to move your application through NIDA. NIDA refused to fund, (supply marijuana for research) any application that was designed to study the benefits of Marijuana. Researchers had to manipulate their studies to look for harm, if they found benefits, it wasn’t the objective of the study so the benefits could be ignored. Remember Cannabis was listed in the pharmacopeia until the 1940’s.

Three questions regarding the CSA: 1. Marijuana has no acceptable medical use in the United States. 2. Marijuana is not safe for use under medical supervision. 3. Marijuana has a high potential for abuse. The term United States was included in the first question to keep studies from other countries that show benefits of cannabis / marijuana.  Number 2, The DEA Administrator stated, The FDA hasn’t approved cannabis / marijuana as medicine so there is no acceptable use in the United States. The FDA only approves new drugs. Cannabis / marijuana has been used for over 5,000 years so it’s not a new drug. The Lethal Dose for cannabis, or LD 50 which is 50% of a lethal dose medicinally, the LD 50 for cannabis / marijuana is 1500 lbs. which would have to be consumed within an hour. In other words, you cannot overdose on cannabis / marijuana. Number 3. The FDA hasn’t approved cannabis / marijuana as medicine so there is no accepted use in the United States. Since there is no accepted use, any use is abuse, cannabis / marijuana is the most abused substance in the US because of it’s common use. “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams (1770).

The 1999 Institute of Medicine Study (IOM). “In contrast with the many disagreements bearing on social issues, the study team found substantial consensus among experts in the relevant disciplines on the scientific evidence about potential medical uses of marijuana.”  The first conclusion of the IOM study: “At this point, our knowledge about the biology of marijuana and cannabinoids allows us to make some general conclusions” Cannabinoids likely have a natural role in pain modulation, control of movement, and memory. The natural role of cannabinoids in immune systems is likely multi-faceted and remains unclear. The brain develops tolerance to cannabinoids. Animal research demonstrates the potential for dependence, but this potential is observed under a narrower range of conditions than with benzodiazepines, opiates, cocaine, or nicotine.  Withdrawal symptoms can be observed in animals but appear to be mild compared to opiates or benzodiazepines, such as diazepam (Valium). These last two speak directly to abuse. The DEA wants us to believe Cannabis is more addictive than Morphine (opiate) and Cocaine, both Schedule 2 of the CSA, benzodiazepines are Schedule 3 of the CSA, this study directly contradicts what the DEA is telling the courts. The second conclusion Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation; smoked marijuana, however, is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances. The combination of cannabinoid drug effects (anxiety reduction, appetite stimulation, nausea reduction, and pain relief) suggests that cannabinoids would be moderately well suited for particular conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting. The Third Conclusion The psychological effects of cannabinoids, such as anxiety reduction, sedation, and euphoria can influence their potential therapeutic value. Those effects are potentially undesirable for certain patients and situations and beneficial for others. In addition, psychological effects can complicate the interpretation of other aspects of the drug's effect. The psychological effects of THC and similar cannabinoids pose three issues for the therapeutic use of cannabinoid drugs. First, for some patients—particularly older patients with no previous marijuana experience—the psychological effects are disturbing. Those patients report experiencing unpleasant feelings and disorientation after being treated with THC, generally more severe for oral THC than for smoked marijuana. Second, for conditions such as movement disorders or nausea, in which anxiety exacerbates the symptoms, the anti-anxiety effects of cannabinoid drugs can influence symptoms indirectly. This can be beneficial or can create false impressions of the drug effect. Third, for cases in which symptoms are multifaceted, the combination of THC effects might provide a form of adjunctive therapy; for example, AIDS wasting patients would likely benefit from a medication that simultaneously reduces anxiety, pain, and nausea while stimulating appetite. The Fourth Conclusion Numerous studies suggest that marijuana smoke is an important risk factor in the development of respiratory disease. The chronic effects of marijuana are of greater concern for medical use and fall into two categories: the effects of chronic smoking and the effects of THC. Marijuana smoking is associated with abnormalities of cells lining the human respiratory tract. Marijuana smoke, like tobacco smoke, is associated with increased risk of cancer, lung damage, and poor pregnancy outcomes. Although cellular, genetic, and human studies all suggest that marijuana smoke is an important risk factor for the development of respiratory cancer, proof that habitual marijuana smoking does or does not cause cancer awaits the results of well-designed studies.

Proposition 215, The Compassionate Use Act. In 1996 the people of California brought forward an initiative to amend the California Constitution. Since this amendment came through, We The People, instead of through the normal process of the legislature. This amendment carries with it more clout and some very specific rules because the only way to change the legislation is by a vote of the People! The legislature cannot change, impede, or modify the legislation in any form without a vote of the people. This legislation passed in 1996 and was initially challenged through the courts. The courts ruled it was law and cannabis for medicinal use turned into the wild wild west. Until 2003 when Senate Bill 420 passed the California Legislature. What SB 420 did was provide guidance to law enforcement, and local governments on the implementation of Proposition 215. There have been numerous court cases that went before the California Appeals courts and some guidance was given through those court cases. In the more recent years Cannabis / Marijuana has been passed for recreational use in most of the states, with a few hold out states. As a side note, magic mushrooms are moving in a similar fashion as Cannabis did. Only with less push back by Law enforcement and governmental agencies.

2007 Harvard study on THC and Cancer. The only clinical trial testing THC as a treatment against cancer growth was a recently completed British pilot study. For three weeks, researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells, and found that tumors were reduced in size and weight by about 50 percent in treated animals compared to a control group. There was also about a 60 percent reduction in cancer lesions on the lungs in these mice as well as a significant reduction in protein markers associated with cancer progression.

2009 Dr. Donald Tashkin study: In 2009 Dr. Donald Tashkin released the findings of his 8-year study of over 600 lung cancer patients, 600 upper thoracic cancer patients and 1040 control subjects. The study was conducted to show that cannabis had a higher cancer ratio than tobacco. They had already identified cannabis has more carcinogens than tobacco. The study found even with heavy cannabis use there was some protective effect with cannabis use. Heavy cannabis smokers who also smoked tobacco had a similar occurrence of cancer as non-smokers. The only category with an increased cancer ratio was tobacco only smokers. Cannabis only smokers had a slightly lower incidence of cancer than non-smokers. This was the most comprehensive study on cannabis to date and only came about due to a sub-section of Senate Bill 420 that allowed the University of California System to start studies for Cannabis.

Now that we have the legal history of cannabis behind us lets get a better look at this plant and what makes it such a beneficial plant for a human experience. Cannabis covers 3 plants of similar genetics. Cannabis Sativa, Cannabis Indica, and Cannabis Ruderalis. Cannabis sativa is a vine type plant that mainly grew in the equator region, but adapted itself well to other latitudes other than the far northern latitudes. It can be described as from a vine like plant with small thumb sized flowers, up to tall trees of around 15-20 feet tall with long branches with flowers compacting into buds of around 1-3 inches in diameter. Cannabis Indica was grown in the upper latitudes and mountain areas of Asia and the eastern countries. It is a shorter broader leaf plant that is cold tolerant more so than cannabis sativa. Cannabis indica grows to around 10-15 feet very broad leaves, and flowers compacting on the branches to form very solid buds of from 2-5 or more inches in diameter. Cannabis Ruderalis is unique of the three, this plant mainly grows in the higher latitudes of Russia and Asia. Due to the light cycle near the north pole the plant is what is known as an auto-flower.  

Cannabis Sativa and Cannabis Indica transition from a vegetative growth stage to a flowering stage due to the change of light. As the sun moves into the Fall months with less and less sunlight each day these plants transition into their flowering stage to create seed for the next years propagation. Cannabis Ruderalis transitions to flower due to time. Usually around 60 days the plant will start to flower regardless of the light cycle. That is why they are called auto-flower. Cannabis Ruderalis normally has a low THC content and many growers have used it to shorten the flower time of many pure sativa strains.  All of the three genera of cannabis have been cross bread to create numerous strains.

Speaking of seeds and strains, this is a good place to mention feminized seeds. Growers want the best female plants they can get. A hardy high THC moderate CBD and a good mold resistant strain. Some growers want to grow the same female plants from seed. They use chemicals to shock the plant into producing a male flower so they can get their female to grow the same plant from seed. The problem with this is when you grow that seed that has been created by stressing the plant. If the new plant from seed gets stressed it can also hermaphrodite and start throwing male flowers. If that plant is grown close to other plants you can seed a whole garden when the wind blows. I’ve seen gardens with 12 – 18-foot trees spaced about 10 feet apart and 20-30 trees in the garden. One plant that starts to throw male flowers can seed the majority of that garden. When the plants seed it lowers the THC and you have seedy buds. You lose the value of the flowers if they are seeded. I selectively seed lower branches of my plants. Mark the branches so when it comes harvest time, I know which branches have seeds and separate those branches to collect the seeds. I still get unseeded flowers from the same plant.

Many people are aware of clones, if you grow a nice plant and want to propagate that same plant next year a lot of growers take clones of their favorite strains, put them under lights to over winter them and next year they grow the same strain from clone. The problem with this is when you clone year after year the plants sooner or later start to weaken and not produce as well as the original plant.

Now that we have discussed some basics of the plant, let’s look at the medicinal effects of the plant. Having spent 20 years as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) first responder and learning emergency medicine I was never taught about the Endocannabinoid system. I was aware of all the life support systems of the body. Well, every mammal with a spine has an Endocannabinoid system. Endo in medicine means internal so humans have an internal cannabinoid system that controls all life support systems in the body. Many other plants have cannabinoids but only one or two. Cannabis is the plant with the most known cannabinoids over 100 knowns. Cannabis also has flavonoids and terpenes both have medicinal qualities. One of the puzzle pieces that helped for me to put the picture in a clearer form having found all the jigsaw pieces. The Endocannabinoid system helps the body maintain homeostasis or balance.

I often compare sailors in the early days of sailing and exploring the oceans. One of the common issues during those times was scurvy. Scurvy is a lack of vitamin C. When sailors would go to see for months at a time. The fresh fruits and vegetables were the first to spoil and rot. They were thrown overboard. The sailors lived on beer and bread. Nothing providing vitamin C. When they returned to port and were able to eat fresh fruit their scurvy went away.

Cannabis was made illegal in 1937. Prior to that many farmers fed the livestock hemp. Hemp provided the livestock with cannabinoids; the humans ate the livestock and obtained the cannabinoids. Since 1937 a slow process of cannabinoid starvation occurred. Our bodies weren’t getting the external cannabinoids to keep our Endocannabinoid systems charged. About the late 1940’s to early 1950’s we started to see an increase of numerous diseases, cancers, diabetes, abdominal / digestion issues neurological issues, etc. Who knows what the symptoms of a depleted Endocannabinoid system are? Could it be cancers, diabetes, abdominal / digestion, and neurological issues? That is my piece of the puzzle. That is why cannabis cures or eliminates symptoms of many of the modern-day diseases. Because we’ve been starving one of the main systems in our bodies that control all other systems of the body. When we replace the cannabinoids, we move back to homeostasis or balance. Dr Raphael Mechoulam discovered the cannabinoid our bodies make; he named the cannabinoid Anandamide which means Bliss in Israeli. His laboratory also later discovered 2arachidonoyol glycerol or 2ag a different endocannabinoid our bodies make.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a cannabinoid that has shown to cause Apoptosis or programmed cellular death. Cancer is a cell that is mal-functioning and bypassed the apoptosis stage. The body isolates it and all it can do at that point is reproduce mal-functioning cells. THC causes those cells to reprogram to death, then they are replaced with good stem cells. Cannabidiol (CBD) has some apoptosis abilities but they are minor when compared to THC. CBD is known for reducing the blood supply to a tumor or cancer cell, or metasets.

There are numerous people who will say Cannabis Cures Cancer. No medical person will say that if they have letters after their name. Why is that? The medical establishment can only deal with cancer in the way the American Medical Association deals with cancer and most dis-ease. Cut, burn, or poison are the only acceptable treatment options for MD’s. My problem with MD’s is they go to school for 4-12 years and are taught they will learn everything they need to know about medicine. Yet they get only 19 hours of nutrition. Unless they are a functional medicine doctor or Nutritionist. What does that tell MDs about food? Ask your doctor what you should be eating. Most common answer is “It doesn’t matter.” Well let me tell you, you will never feel like a million eating off the dollar menu!!! You are what you eat. Well, it gets better for MD’s. After school they take the Hippocratic oath, named after Hippocrates who has 2 famous quotes that I like to use. “Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food” and “Physician Heal Thyself.” If doctors can’t see the problem, I’ve just stated they aren’t smart enough to work on me.  

So, if you say you cured something with something the medical police come and sue you into oblivion. Yes, Cannabis cures most cancers in most people. But there is a specific way it’s done. You cannot obtain a medicinal dose for cancer by smoking cannabis. Smoked cannabis is excellent for pain relief because you can easily dose it. Take a small puff from a pipe or joint. If in a couple minutes the relief isn’t what you need take another one. For issues like cancer, it’s a different game. You need to take concentrated cannabis oil. Full Extract Cannabis Oil (FECO) Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) or similar product. You use a large amount of cannabis and through an extraction process remove the oils from the plant. The oils contain the cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes. This oil is highly potent when taken orally. Delta 9 Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) when metabolized by the liver turns into Delta 11 THC. 10 times more powerful. You cannot overdose to death on cannabis. Even in the oil form. However, you can take too much and sleep for about 3 days. Cannabis isn’t a central nervous system stimulant or depressant. It stimulates the Endocannabinoid system NOT the Central Nervous System. You may feel like you are dying but you will just go to sleep for a long time and wake up a bit stoned. I refer you to the LD 50 mentioned above in this article.

Depending on the cancer this oil is extremely good medicine. It combines the medicinal properties mentioned above and helps with eliminating pain, increases appetite, helps with digestion and helps create balance. As I stated earlier the liver metabolizes Delta 9 THC into Delta 11 THC. If you are consuming cannabis medically you can avoid the liver process by taking oil sublingually. Or under your tong. Most people start their oil journey with a 50/50 oil 50% THC and 50% CBD. This is a balanced oil that will work well with most people and most cancers. Cancers of the sex organs, Breast, cervical cancer, prostrate cancer, and similar cancers react different to oil in some people. After about 6 weeks on the oil, pain is significantly decreased, movement and balance are more fluid, the person in general is feeling much better. Keep getting your numbers checked.  Around 6 weeks some people’s cancer build a tolerance to the oil. You have to mix things up a bit if the numbers increase. We will get back to this. We need to discuss dosage for the oil. Start slow and work up to a medicinal dose. Start with a bit of oil about half or one grain of rice. Increase the dose every 5-7 days to double the dose. Until you reach taking a gram a day. This allows your body to become accustom to the delta 11 THC. When you are at a gram of oil a day you start your 90-day process. Back to the cancers of the sex organs. If your numbers increase after about 6 weeks. You increase the CBD with an isolated CBD oil. If within two to three weeks the numbers don’t drop back down and continue lowering. Stop the CBD isolate and increase the THC with a THC isolate oil.

With that statement above that is for using cannabis to heal the physical body. We have several bodies. If you have an emotional wound that you didn’t process and heal. You may heal the physical body but the emotional wound will present a symptom somewhere else. Same with a mental dis-ease. If you don’t heal the root problem you will get more symptoms. We are Body Mind and Spirit; you need to heal all 3 to effectively heal. Also, if all you eat is junk food Salt oil and sugar. You are not providing your body the fuel it needs to heal. That may be what caused the dis-ease to begin with. Diet is critical to health. Fresh raw foods are best when you have a condition like cancer. Eliminate anything white except for cauliflower. No sugar (sugar feeds cancers) flour, or processed foods. If you have a diagnosis of cancer, I would recommend starting with a 3-day water fast and slowly move into a raw food diet from there.

Speaking of food, cannabis is edible, the leaves, flowers and stems if you could chew them, remember they make hemp rope out of the fibrous stems. Cannabis seeds are especially nutritional. Cannabis seeds are what is known as a single source food item. What that means is if all you had to eat was cannabis seeds, they would sustain your life. So, all you preppers out there plant your hemp…hahaha. Cannabis seeds have 30-65% protein, not just any protein but a globulin protein very similar to the Hemoglobin in your blood. Making cannabis seed protein one of the most bio-available proteins known to man. Cannabis seeds also have all the amino acids our bodies require, especially the ones our bodies don’t make enough of or even make at all. The omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are in the perfect ratio for human bodies.

As mentioned earlier you have to be careful when eating cannabis. Edibles don’t react like smoking cannabis. Smoking cannabis the effects are felt almost immediately, within a couple minutes. Eating cannabis, the effects can take up to 2 hours before you start to feel the effects. Smoked cannabis the effects can last about a half hour before they start to fade. Eating cannabis, the effects can last up to around 8 hours or more depending on the potency of what you are eating. If you are eating a concentrated oil the effects could last a few days. Like I stated earlier, you will go to sleep for a few days and wake up a bit stoned.

Eating raw cannabis bud is different. In the raw form, cannabis won’t get you high! Fresh flowers right off the plant won’t have the effect you are looking for if you are looking to get high. Raw cannabis flowers have the cannabinoids in an acid form. THC is actually THCA, CBD is actually CBDA in the live plant form. Even cured flowers eaten raw will not get you high. For the THCA to metabolize into THC it requires exposure to heat, light, or age. That is why any THCA products are recommended to be stored in the refrigerator to keep them from metabolizing. Once metabolized the THC will get you high. Most cannabis has a peppery taste with subtle hints of other flavors like citrus, or grape, that would depend on the flavonoid profile of the plant grown. From this study: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.1c00318  More than 20 flavonoids have been identified in C. sativa, most of which are flavone (apigenin and luteolin) and flavonol (kaempferol and quercetin) aglycones and glycosides. (5,6) Interestingly, three prenylated/geranylated flavones, cannflavin A, B, and C, were isolated in C. sativa (Figure 1A). It is worth noting that, although cannflavins are often referred to as flavonoids unique to C. sativa, cannflavin A has also been identified in Mimulus bigelovii, a plant in the Phrymaceae family. (7) Since biosynthesis of the core flavonoid skeleton in plants and bioactivities of the common flavones and flavonols have been widely studied and reported, this mini-review will focus on the biosynthesis and bioactivities of the relatively unique cannflavins as well as the applications of C. sativa flavonoids.

Another compound worth mentioning when discussing cannabis is terpenes as they work with the cannabinoids and flavonoids in a healing environment known as the entourage effect. Which means they all work together synergistically to help the body heal.  Common cannabis terpenes from this article: https://thcdesign.com/blog/its-all-about-the-terpenes/

WHAT ARE CANNABIS TERPENES?

One of the significant compounds used in essential oils, terpenes, is most commonly derived from plants, including teas, herbs, and, of course, cannabis. Terpenes can also be found in animals. Terpenes are essentially found in an animal’s egg yolk, fish scales, and feathers.

Terpenes created in unique combinations are what give plants their fragrance, taste, and appearance. A plant’s terpenes are also a way to protect itself from predators or to attract insects for pollination. 

We value terpenes for their therapeutic and medicinal purposes. They are in spices, teas, and essential oils we use every day. Two of these spices are Curcumin and Thyme. Curcumin is a much-loved spice in Indian dishes. It boasts a wide range of healing qualities but is best known as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. Thyme is another spice routinely used in our cooking. Therapeutically it has both antibacterial and antifungal properties. 

Teas we drink for their healing qualities include green, Rooibos, and Turmeric. The terpenes in these teas are known for their anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and calming characteristics. 

There are also a wide variety of terpenes found in marijuana. Cannabis terpenes are similar to the more well-known compounds of THC and CBD. Like these main chemicals, marijuana terpenes have various therapeutic attributes that include analgesic, anti-anxiety, and anti-inflammatory properties.

MOST COMMON CANNABIS TERPENES

In cannabis strains, there are both primary and secondary terpenes. The primary cannabis terpenes are the major influence on how the plant looks, taste, and aroma it gives off. Secondary terpenes are the underlying substances that add depth and layers to all of these plant features. 

Marijuana strains are divided into two categories, Indica or Sativa. These two groupings are based on the type of hybrid-traits the plant has, including taste and aroma, and what effects a strain has on the user. Typically, Indica strains give the users an all-over body relaxation. Sativa strains are known for their energizing, creative highs. The taste, scent, texture, and effect a strain gives goes way beyond the Indica vs. Sativa division. What variety of marijuana terpenes are in a particular strain and whether that terpene is primary or secondary is the real reason a strain is Indica or Sativa. 

Terpenes are the properties that create your favorite marijuana strain. With the wide variety of aromas, tastes, and textures, you can enjoy everything from the subtle wave of joy to the over-whelming relaxation of “couch-lock.” With so many to choose from, there is a cannabis happy place for every user. 

Now that we have a better understanding of some of the common characteristics of this wonderful plant this paper wouldn’t be complete without a very brief growing guide. This like this whole document can be best described as a brief overview on cannabis. The cannabis grower’s bible is about 2 inches thick with thousands of pages. This over view will get you started but not much more than that. To grow cannabis, you first need some seeds. In some states you can get clones from a female plant and bypass the seedling stage. I’m a firm believer that seed grown plants are stronger, healthier, and more pest and disease resistant than clones. But we will cover both starting with seeds. The seeds need to germinate before they actually start to grow. The most common way to germinate seeds is to use a small starter pot or cup, filled with a loose soil medium, and put the seeds in the cup and cover with a little more soil medium to about ¼ to ½ inch of cover and water well. Put the pots in a window sill or other temperature-controlled environment, like a green house. Generally speaking, you want the temp to be controlled to between 60 F and 80 F. Be patient and soon seedlings will pop up out of the soil. Another way is to dampen a paper towel, put some seeds on one half of the paper towel, fold the paper towel over on the seeds and place in a plastic baggie. Put the baggie into a drawer that doesn’t get opened often. Check it about every 5 days to a week. When you see little white tails coming out of the seed that seed has germinated. Now very carefully place that germinated seed into a small pot filled with soil medium, and lightly cover with soil medium no more than ¼ inch.

Now you have a seedling. The first two real leaves, they are different than the first leaves of the seedling the first seedling leaves are round, the first real leaves are pointed with serrated edges most commonly two opposing leaves. These are Nodes. Keep the soil medium damp. Cannabis plants like a wet dry cycle for watering. Don’t saturate the pot every day, if you saturate it leave it for 3-5 days before watering. If you water daily only lightly water, just enough to dampen the top of the soil. One of the most common problems with cannabis is overwatering. Now that you have a seedling, you want to end up with one plant per pot. So, when you have several seedlings in one pot. Once they get 3-4 nodes transplant into slightly bigger pots with one seedling per pot. At this point the more light they get the better, but if you are using some kind of artificial light it must be kept close to the top of the plant or the plant will stretch to the light. Your internodal space will be several inches and the plant will grow more vine like than a tree. Be careful you don’t burn the top of the plant from the plant growing into the light. You can grow cannabis indoors under lights and get a good product. Many growers this is the way they grow. Understand you are creating an artificial environment to grow a plant; any pests or diseases will spread through the environment and cause issues. Spider mites are one of the most common pests in indoor grows. When you grow outdoors many of these issues are not an issue. If your plant starts to get spider mites; lady bugs, praying mantis, spiders and other bugs will eat the spider mites and the eco-system maintains its own balance.

If you are looking to grow trees, know it’s a learning process. Yes, cannabis can grow through the cracks in the sidewalk. You won’t get an 18-foot tree growing through a city sidewalk. A common saying for growers is “The bigger the root, the bigger the fruit.” If you are going to grow in containers. Understand you are limiting the size of the roots to the size of the container. A 5-gallon bucket will grow about a 3-4-foot-tall plant. Yes, I know your buddy grew a 12-foot plant in a 5-gallon bucket. If you are just beginning you will be lucky to complete a plant from seed to harvest over 4 feet in a 5-gallon bucket. If you are new to growing cannabis. Just like planting your first garden. You are going to kill off a lot of plants. So don’t spend $50.00 on 2 seeds and expect to be successful in your first grow season. Use your $50.00 to buy 100’s of seeds so when you kill your first dozen before you take a plant to harvest you don’t stress over what you are doing. The master pot growers killed more plants than most people. That is how they became master growers. They learned from each plant they killed. If you intend to grow trees, you will need a spot with a 6-foot diameter area about 4 feet deep of a good high nitrogen soil medium with a lot of air circulation. I use a mushroom compost and for about each yard of compost add about a quarter yard of peat moss and pearlite. This will keep your soil damp and allow air to flow into the soil. Your soil biology is critical if you plan on growing trees. As I have stated before, Cannabis Sativa and Indica flower by light cycle. They grow in a vegetative stage until the Summer Solstice or the longest day of light of the year. As the sunlight decreases as the season moves from summer to fall. The plants move from vegetate growth into flower. Usually, late August to mid-September the plants go into what is known as the stretch, they will double to triple if not more in size in about a months’ time. Then flower production increases and your flower stack into buds. The branches become heavy with flowers, holding the oils and trichomes. The trichomes look like little white crystals on the flowers. The branches will get heavy and start to open up or grow more horizontally instead of vertically. Many strains build such thick flowers and the branches become woody, whole branches can break off the plant. Especially during a fall rain with large flower plants. You want to make sure to get the water off the flowers or many strains will melt to nothing due to mold.

Your Indica’s are more of a body high and couch lock. You sit on the couch and smoke and your butt gets locked into the couch; you can’t move until it starts to wear off. Sativa dominant plants are more of a cerebral or head high. You feel a bit spacy and still have energy to do stuff. Many people use sativas during the day and Indica’s during the night. The reason for this mostly is due to the type of trichomes each plant grows. Trichomes are the little mushroom shaped crystals that grow on the flower. Many people have experienced smoking a joint and their heart rate increases, the get either real anxious or paranoid. In my opinion this is due to consuming immature trichomes. The trichome life is it starts out as a small stem clear, as it grows it grows into a mushroom shape. Once the mushroom shape occurs, the mushroom will change from clear to milky white, after a few days to a few weeks, the milky white trichome will turn amber. After turning amber a few days to weeks, the amber trichome will dry up and turn a rust color and may get more trichomes to grow on top of the over mature trichome. You want to harvest your flowers when they are mostly amber and milky white. Less than 10% clear trichomes. Without a 60-100 power scope you cannot tell the maturity of the trichomes. One of the ways I know it’s time to start to check with the scope is when the branches are so heavy, they grow horizontal and the flower tips are bent down to the ground. After a few days to weeks the tips will start to grow back up towards the sky. That is the signal I use to start looking at trichome maturity. Now some strains may be over mature by this point, but that is rare. Sativa dominant strains at higher latitudes than the equator have a hard time getting mature trichomes. I grew a pure sativa haze plant one year. It went to February and I finally harvested the last branch that didn’t melt down to nothing due to mold. The trichomes were 10% amber. Way too immature for my consumption.

In conclusion, cannabis is a powerful plant with many uses and highly beneficial for a human body. Our creator designed this plant for human consumption. After reading this brief over view of the plant it becomes obvious why the Deep State made the plant illegal so they could gain in so many different areas. What product replaced hemp in the textile industry? Cotton, at the time 90+ % of all agricultural chemicals were used to grow cotton. Remember Pierre Lamont DuPont? The chemist? He created nylon rope around the same time. Hemp rope and sails were used for ocean going ships because other ropes and sails wouldn’t last against the salt water. Nylon rope replace hemp rope. There are many areas I wasn’t able to get into with this plant or like I said starting out, this would be over 100 pages long and would take you a week or more to read. If you find an area that interests you, use your favorite search engine and look up that issue. On a personal note, I spent 20 years fighting fires. I’ve breathed in more smoke than most people. I don’t often smoke cannabis. I do have a fingernail to thumb nail size flower in my coffee every morning with a little coconut oil. Cannabis is oil soluble not water soluble. The trichomes will move into the oil when boiled. That’s how many make, canna-butter.  Then they make brownies or cookies with the butter. I hope I didn’t bore you to death with this thesis. But this is the study that started me down the rabbit hole of how our country got to be so messed up. Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you learned at least one thing. Then it was worth my effort for you to read it. And remember, Walk Your Day in Love or above. God is Love, so when you walk your day in Love, you put on the Full Armor of God… be blessed… Peace…