TheBongPlace: The Marijuana Blog

There is an initiative in the works that could end up on the November ballot that allows for marijuana to be sold to anyone, and anywhere that already sells alcohol. Its being called The Inalienable Rights Enforcement Initiative. From the full text of the measure:

This initiative will amend the Constitution of California to defend and safeguard the inalienable rights of the People against infringement by governments and corporations, providing for the lawful growth, sale, and possession of marijuana. Marijuana will be taxed through a system of stamps and licenses–a $5 stamp will be required for the sale of an eighth ounce of marijuana and a $50 annual license will be required for the growth of one marijuana plant. To protect participants and encourage participation in the system, such licenses and stamps will be available anonymously in stores where marijuana is sold.

So instead of getting some quack doctor to give you a prescription for $100 because of your supposed “anxiety” or alleged “insomnia”, you will just pay an extra tax each time you buy yourself another 8th.

Aside from allowing all willing adults to be able to buy weed easily, this initiative will start to generate revenue for California, and stimulate our struggling economy. More weed stores means more jobs for Californians, more taxes to be collected, and more people enjoying better weed. And finally marijuana will be put into the same file as Alcohol and Cigarettes where it belongs, instead of it being equated with crack-cocaine and heroine.

The initiative goes on to say why they believe this to be a necessary measure:

We also hold these truths to be self-evident-That, as an intoxicant, marijuana is far less harmful to the health and safety of the People than alcohol–That, as a smoking substance, marijuana is far less addictive or harmful to the health of the People than tobacco–That, even though alcohol is harmful to the health and safety of the People, the prohibition of alcohol from 1920 to 1933 only increased the harms associated with alcohol use: criminals seized control of the alcohol market, crime and violence increased greatly, and poverty, unemployment, and corruption flourished, while otherwise lawful alcohol drinkers were treated as “criminals” subject to detention, arrest, and incarceration, even though they had not harmed the rights of anyone–That, as with alcohol prohibition, the prohibition of marijuana has only increased the harms associated with the use of marijuana: criminals control a multi-billion dollar market, crime and violence have increased greatly, and poverty, unemployment, and corruption flourish, while otherwise law-abiding marijuana smokers are treated as “criminals” subject to detention, arrest, and incarceration, even though they have not harmed the rights of anyone-That the history of marijuana prohibition is a history of repeated injuries and infringements upon the inalienable rights, powers, and best interests of the People.

Fuck Yes! Preach on, brothers! They go on to point out that alcohol, tobacco, and big-pharma lobbyists have the politicians that are supposed to represent the People in their back-pockets and serving the interests of the alcohol, tobacco, and big-pharma industries.

Despite the harms of marijuana prohibition, politicians persist in imposing and upholding marijuana prohibition, because these politicians are not working for the People–they are working for the corporate executives who financed their campaigns, such as corporate executives in the alcohol industry who want to protect their monopoly on intoxication, corporate executives in the tobacco industry who want to protect their monopoly on smoking, corporate executives in the pharmaceutical industry who want to protect their monopoly on expensive medicines, and corporate executives in the many industries threatened by competition with hemp. These corporate executives pull the strings of the government to perpetuate marijuana prohibition despite its harms, because they do not care about the inalienable rights and best interests of the People–they care about taking as much money from the People as possible. These corporate executives also use their control of the mainstream media to make it seem like marijuana prohibition is a failed attempt to serve the interests of the People, censoring the idea that marijuana prohibition is a successful attempt to serve corporate interests at the expense of the People. For these corporate interests, politicians sacrifice the inalienable rights and best interests of the People. This corruption and corporate influence is worse at the national level, where the People can least afford political influence and the media is most effective at manipulating public debate. Because of this corruption, it is futile for the People to turn to the federal government for protection–because the federal government is the source of the harm. The repeated attempts by the People to reduce the harms of marijuana prohibition have been answered only by repeated injury. The harm from marijuana prohibition is ongoing and the need for relief is urgent. Such is the suffering of the People, and such is the necessity that constrains us to alter our former systems of government. A government with a character marked by every act that defines a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Therefore, appealing to humankind for the rightness of our intentions

They need 694,354 signatures by September, 5, 2008. I think it’s totally do-able. Its been over a decade since Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, was passed with over 5 million votes in favor.

So 12 years later… are we more or less tolerant of recreational use of marijuana? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.

Via LAist

Cannabis is a safer drug than aspirin and can be used long-term without serious side effects, says a book by a leading Oxford scientist.

The Science of Marijuana, by Dr Leslie Iversen of Oxford University’s department of pharmacology, found many “myths” surrounding marijuana use, such as extreme addictiveness, or links with mental illness or infertility are not supported by science.

He also found cannabis is an inherently “safe drug” which does not lead to cancer, infertility, brain damage or mental illness. Legalisation of the drug for medical conditions should be considered, he says.

Dr Iversen’s findings will increase pressure on the Government to reopen the debate about the decriminalisation of marijuana.

The author, a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society, found cannabis was far less toxic than other drugs and had “an impressive record” compared with heroin, cocaine or tobacco and alcohol.

His study showed that the active element of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ), which made users high, had a lot of potential as a safe drug to treat Aids patients and people suffering severe pain.

He also found “stoned” drivers were less dangerous and able to co-ordinate than people who were drunk. “By any standards, THC must be considered a very safe drug both acutely and on long-term exposure,” he writes. “The available animal data are more than adequate to justify its approval as a human medicine, and indeed it has been approved by the FDA [American drug authority] for certain limited therapeutic indications.”

The book says “alarming claims about the harmful effects of long-term exposure to cannabis” should be “put to rest”, and there “is no evidence the drug causes any impairment in fertility or sexual function in men or women”. He says people who stop using cannabis do not suffer long-term side-effects.

“Cannabis does not cause structural damage to the brains of animals as some reports had claimed, nor is there evidence of long-term damage to the human brain or other than slight residual impairments in cognitive function after drug use is stopped.” The author says many adverse effects of cannabis are related to smoking the drug.

But cannabis itself did not appear to cause cancer. Compared with alcohol and cigarettes, which led to more than 100,000 deaths a year, cannabis had a far better record.

“Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug,” he said. “Despite the widespread illicit use of cannabis here are very few if any instances of people dying from an overdose. Even such apparently innocuous medicines as aspirin and related steroidal anti-inflammatory compounds are not safe.

“Thousands of people die every year because of the tendency of these drugs to cause catastrophic gastric bleeding.”

via wise perception

There still seems to be a lot of confusion with growing medical marijuana in the states, the growing laws seem to vary significantly.

To make things more confusing we need to consider state and federal law as well.

San Francisco was considered to be a safe state for medical marijuana growers. Unfortunately Stephanie Lander has been sentenced to 41 months for growing medical marijuana in San Francisco.

Stephanie was under the impression she had approval from the police to grow medical marijuana in San Fransisco, to help people with a range of illnesses.

Please watch the following growing medical marijuana video which reviews the plight of Stephanie Lander.

via medical marijuana blog

This is a really cool time laps video of mushrooms growing

In my years of getting stoned, I’ve found that there are generally two types of stoners: the industrious stoners and the lazy stoners. There are the folks who smoke a joint before alphabetizing their record collection, cleaning the bathroom grout with a toothbrush, or designing dynamic and user-friendly computer programs. These are people who, despite a full-time job and maintaining a grow-house, still manage to whip up a marijuana-spiked flourless chocolate cake for a weekday dinner party. These people are successful, productive, and yet somehow, constantly stoned.

Then there are, of course, the people like myself: the lazy stoners. We enjoy sharing a doober, making nachos, then watching two hours of Family Guy and Two and a Half Men reruns. The culinary feats we dazzle our friends with include frozen pizzas, spaghetti and meatballs, and occasionally flipping a few flapjacks on a Sunday afternoon. But thankfully for us, there are lots of easy ways to bring that big bag of marijuana into the kitchen, and none of them require a Moroccan couscoussière.

But whether you’re a magician in a kitchen, or your best dish is a jar of bean dip, we’ve got recipes that will keep you from stressing about the holidays—and instead, drifting through them in a giggly stupor. After all, it’s going to be a long, dark winter. So let’s pass the time in a productive and enjoyable way—by throwing a party and experimenting with drugs. But please be a responsible host and let your guests know if the food is loaded.

RECIPES FOR THE GANJA GOURMET

Bud Butter

Though preparing marijuana butter can take an entire afternoon, you can store it for future projects. Even lazy stoners might want to take a stab at whipping up a batch of the THC-laden butter—it lasts a long time and can be used anywhere you’d use regular old butter. The possibilities are endless!

What you’ll need:

1 gallon water

1 pound butter

1 ounce or more of marijuana shake

1 large cooking pot

1 large bowl

Put the water, marijuana, and butter into a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer up to five hours. Turn heat off and run the mixture through a fine metal strainer or cheesecloth into a bowl. Squeeze cheesecloth to remove whatever butter you can from the marijuana. Discard the weed when you’re done. Put the bowl of hot water and butter in the fridge or freezer. When the butter hardens, dump out the water, microwave the butter a bit, and then transfer to a Tupperware container. The butter will keep for several weeks.

Marijuana Milk

Like marijuana butter, marijuana milk has countless purposes. Use it in milkshakes or pancakes, or better yet, homemade hot chocolate spiked with Baileys. Now that should give you enough assistance to get through even the most mind-numbing family gatherings.

What you’ll need:

One quart milk

One eighth to one quarter marijuana shake

One medium-sized cooking pot

Pour the milk and sweet leaf into your pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. Thrill your guests with herby mashed potatoes that will blow their minds.

Stoner Suds

For the home-brewers who are suddenly everywhere, throwing some weed in your brew is sure to make holiday parties more surreal. (Look, all your coworkers are totally fucked up!) For five gallons of beer, boil about a half-ounce of weed in water, then simmer for about two hours. Then add the weed and water mix to a high-alcohol brew that is almost done fermenting. Give it a couple days and you’re ready to bottle and drink.

Pot Truffles

These pot truffles are insanely rich and delicious, and the chocolate flavor goes great with the pot.

What you’ll need:

6 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

An 8-ounce package of cream cheese

1/8 ounce of weed

3 tablespoons instant coffee

2 teaspoons water

1/4 cup pot butter

double boiler or microwave-safe bowl

Melt four cups of the chocolate chips and the weed in a microwave or double boiler. Remove from heat and mix in cream cheese, coffee, and water. Chill in the fridge for about an hour until the mix is firm enough to shape into one-inch balls. Place on wax paper and place in freezer for another hour until very firm. In microwave or double boiler, melt final two cups of chocolate chips and butter. When smooth, drop a few frozen balls at a time into the chocolate mixture and stir quickly. Remove the balls quickly and put on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Allow time to cool and harden.

RECIPES FOR THE LAZY STONER

Chocolate Chip Pot Cookies

This is a favorite recipe that tastes great while requiring almost no cooking skill.

What you’ll need:

1 roll pre-made cookie dough

1/4 ounce of weed

spice grinder

baking sheet

Throw your weed into spice grinder and grind until it is fine dust. Cut slices from your cookie dough log and coat each slice in marijuana dust. Put cookies slices on greased baking sheet and follow the baking instructions on the package.

Thanksgiving Day Dope Stuffing

What you’ll need:

8 cups slightly stale bread torn into pieces

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup celery

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup chopped marijuana

2 tablespoons red wine

black pepper

saucepan

Sautee celery and onion in butter in your saucepan, then pour in broth, marijuana, red wine, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Then pour over breadcrumbs, stir, and use to stuff your bird.

The Green Dragon

The Green Dragon is a dangerous cocktail that could knock you on your ass. But then again, you might have fun on the way down.

What you’ll need:

One fifth of vodka

1/4 ounce marijuana

fine mesh strainer

Pour vodka and weed into a saucepan. Heat slowly without boiling for 15 minutes. Strain and cool in the freezer. Drink Green Dragon straight over ice or with mixers.

*These recipes are only intended for use during parties to which only people who are legally prescribed medical marijuana are invited. Seriously.

10. Cocaine Elmo

9. Cocaine Banana

8. Heroin Baseball Bats

7. Cocaine Implanted in Thighs

6. Giant Squid Stuffed With Cocaine

5. Cocaine Filled Snakes On A Plane

4. Marijuana in Bear Beds

3. Cocaine Pringles

2. Heroin Covered Cocaine

1. Heroin Implanted in Puppies

Author: Top 10 Kid

The DEA raided a dispensary on Jan. 22, the first such act by federal law enforcement since Obama’s inauguration earlier this week.

The raid flies in the face of campaign promises made by Obama, who said he would rein in this type of behavior from federal agencies. Holistic Solutions is was the name of the dispensary, and while cash and marijuana were seized, no arrests were made.

Senator Obama said in an August 2007 statement:

I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It’s not a good use of our resources.

I’m not quite sure if kicking down the doors of an unoccupied, state-sanctioned medical facility is the biggest waste of federal tax dollars (see: Bridge to Nowhere), but it has to be up there.

According to a statement on the Americans for Safe Access Web site, the raid is just one of more than 100 in California in the last two years (roughly two per week for those without a calculator). No surprise, since CA has received an overwhelming share of federal scrutiny for its pioneering of federally-outlawed efforts at medical marijuana.

New Mexico, which recently adopted a MMJ card program, was threatened by the DEA for its plan, according to the same release.

Although marijuana has some medical values but due to its addictive nature its consumption is considered illegal. There are several blogs, forums where you will find people sharing their good and bad experiences with marijuana and many of them have even stated for and against the legalization of marijuana. There are several terms related to marijuana and they are taken as joint, blunt, bong or pipe. All of these are the ways that people would like to take. When a cigarette is rolled with marijuana it is called a joint and when a cigar rolled with marijuana is called a blunt. Marijuana can also be smoked through a pipe or a bong. Marijuana is also known as cannabis, ganja, grass, Mary Jane, pot, skunk, smoke, weed, etc.? The chemical THC that is known as Tetrahydrocannabinol present in the weed is known to be very active that causes pleasurable sensations as described by those who take marijuana. There are several tell tales symptoms that will help to determine that the person is high on marijuana. The symptoms are odor on breath and clothing, sleepiness, loud talking, laughing unnecessarily, irritated eyes, carrying drug stuff, unclear sense of time intervals and forgetfulness. There are some who do not take to weed often but there are some who are addicted and the sign of addiction are that they frequently focused on the drug at all times and have uncontrollable urge to use the drug continuously despite the physical, emotional, mental and social cost associated with it.? Among the different losses associated with drug use in the workplace the decreased productivity, workers compensation claims, insurance claims and onsite accidents are really bothersome as these directly hits the reputation of the company. To prevent such mishaps and ill reputation employers of their respected company makes drug testing mandatory to remain on the safe side. THC drug testing is highly beneficial for the employers, as it helps to maintain a safe working environment for employees and keeps productivity up.? ? Marijuana drug testing can keep jobsite healthy and ensure that employees are safe, healthy and working to the best of their ability. It is easy to perform and also laboratory perfect in most cases. You will come across different types of marijuana drug test kits and they are hair drug tests, urine drug tests, saliva drug tests and spray drug tests all of which have their own pros and cons Among these marijuana drug test kits, the urine drug test is the most popular for marijuana drug testing both at home and in the workplace. The dipstick, or other testing device is subjected to the collected urine sample and the results is displayed within few minutes. Easy to use drug testing kits helps the worried families wrap up whether or not their child is abusing drugs and take the necessary and judicious actions and help them to beat their drug compulsion.

Author: John Smart