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Science Proves Marijuana Is Not A Gateway Drug, And Never Was

Terry Hacienda
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Science Proves Marijuana Is Not A Gateway Drug, And Never Was

Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, America’s leading drug warrior, took another shot at his herbal enemy: Cannabis.

During a speech decrying the nation’s opioid addiction epidemic, Sessions displayed his reefer madness tendencies by claiming, “The DEA said that a huge percentage of the heroin addiction starts with prescriptions. That may be an exaggerated number; they had it as high as 80 percent,” Sessions said. “We think a lot of this is starting with marijuana and other drugs too.”

Wrong. Instead of saying “I think,” perhaps America’s top cop should say “I read.” The latest in a countless string of studies regarding the “Gateway Theory” was released earlier this week and it demonstrates that Sessions is out of touch with reality.

According to a paper published in the journal Drug And Alcohol Review:

Given the expansion of cannabis legalisation throughout North America, it is encouraging that cannabis use was associated with slower time to initiation of injection drug use in this cohort. This finding challenges the view of cannabis as a gateway substance that precipitates the progression to using harder and more addictive drugs.

Sessions, of course, is infamous for saying that “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” so it’s pretty obvious he is not the most objective person on the subject. But it has been demonstrated over and over and over again that there is no empirical evidence that marijuana use causes harder drug use.

A report by RAND’s Drug Policy Research Center explains:

The new DPRC research thus demonstrates that the phenomena supporting claims that marijuana is a gateway drug also support the alternative explanation: that it is not marijuana use but individuals’ opportunities and unique propensities to use drugs that determine their risk of initiating hard drugs.

Furthermore, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests marijuana actually reduces opioid use. Data has shown that medical marijuana legalization lowers the number of people misusing opioids.

According to Canadian brain researcher, Dr. Matthew Hill, “I’d say the whole idea of cannabis being a gateway drug is a debunked thing at this point. …I don’t think there’s any evidence to support that,” said Hill, who is an assistant professor at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary.

How Marijuana Can Help With The Pain From Endometriosis

Richard Faulk
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How Marijuana Can Help With The Pain From Endometriosis

One of the more bizarre, and bizarrely long-lived, diagnoses of ancient Greek medicine was an imagined malady called the wandering womb—which is exactly what the name implies: a footloose uterus that bonks into surrounding organs, causing myriad ailments, including weakness (that is to say, even greater weakness than ordinary affects women), dizziness, death, and madness.

It’s the madness part that lingered the longest. Even until the end of the 19th century, when doctors had known for generations that internal organs don’t just get up and leave on their own, it was still a given that a dysfunctional womb could cause any number of emotional illnesses. Hence the synonym for insanity, hysteria, from hystera, the Greek word for uterus.

Today we know with scientific certainty that wombs do not wander. But they can migrate. Or at least, part of them can.

Endometriosis is a painful condition in which the inner lining of the uterus—the endometrium—starts colonizing its neighbors in the pelvic cavity. The endometrium is the thing that thickens, breaks down, and then bleeds out every month. So having endometriosis is like having multiple periods—not just from your womb, but from a bunch of other parts on your insides. (I don’t even have a period, but I’m getting crampy and bloated just thinking about this.)

The most common target is the ovaries, but endometriosis can affect the peritoneum, bladder, intestines—any of that viscera stuff.

While endometriosis is not life threatening, it can make you wish you were dead with a bodyblow of intractable cramps, extra long and heavy periods, nausea. It can also be to blame for painful sex and infertility.

Like many a woman’s health issue, we know scandalously little about endometriosis, including what causes it and what can fix it. The growing body of evidence that cannabinoids can quell inflammation (as in arthritis and Crohn’s disease) and slow proliferation of—and even induce death in— cancer cells, however, suggests that cannabis might help us understand and treat endometriosis.

The research on this subject is scant, but promising. A 2012 review examined 8 studies on the ednocannabinoid systme and endometriosis (it’s not many, but it’s what they came up with) and concluded that cannabinoids “appear to have a favorable action in limiting cell proliferation and in controlling pain symptoms” of endometriosis. Another review, from 2013, expands to the focus to the female reproductive organs as a whole and reaches a similar conclusion: “it is possible to speculate that reduced cannabinoid signalling might underlie the enhanced proliferative capacity of endometriotic lesions.”

This isn’t a cure, but it is solid evidence to justify more research.

Here’s How You Can Permanently Delete All Of Your Social Media Accounts

Maria Loreto
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Here’s How You Can Permanently Delete All Of Your Social Media Accounts

Social media is supposed to connect you with the world, giving you access to tons of people you wouldn’t otherwise interact with on a day-to-day basis. In theory, social media is amazing. In practice, it can be overwhelming, absorbing, and hard to cope with, making some people unhappy and stressed.

If you’ve decided to pull the plug on social media and want to cut it out of your life, here’s what you should do: 

Cover Your Bases

https://giphy.com/gifs/sherlock-holmes-RaLIOPl8MLyWA

For starters, make sure you’re deleting your account for the right reasons, and that you back up your important photos, contacts, and information. If you want to switch your username, there are a few ways in which you can do this without erasing everything, so look into every option and do your research.

Deactivating Accounts

https://giphy.com/gifs/movie-lisa-kudrow-romy-and-micheles-high-school-reunion-3og0IzFCXnbb5uURH2

Deactivating an account is temporary. When you deactivate your Facebook, your page will be deleted from your friends’ feeds and all your posts will disappear, but they’ll be back if you decide to reactivate it. To deactivate your Facebook go to the site, choose “Settings,” then “General,” and then “Manage Account.” Look for the “Edit” option, click on it, and you should see “Deactivate account.”

Instagram also allows you to deactivate your account. To do so, you have to access the Instagram site through a computer (I’m sure they do this to make things even harder for you), where you have to click on “Edit Profile” and select “Temporarily disable my account.” For other users, your Instagram page will be gone, but once you log in, it’ll be back to normal.

Deleting Accounts

https://giphy.com/gifs/thesimpsons-xT5LMOMG1Q3Q4Jq63K

If you want to delete Facebook forever, you’ll have to visit this page on a browser. You’ll disappear immediately from your friends’ timelines, but if you change your mind, you’ll have a period of 15 days where you’ll be able to log in to Facebook again and cancel the elimination process.

You can eliminate Twitter by visiting this page on a laptop. Click on “Deactivate account” and follow all the steps Twitter provides. Twitter gives you 30 days to change your mind; 12 months if you’re a verified user. Your tweets will be invisible during this time, but you can still reactivate your account and not lose anything.

To eliminate Instagram you have to visit this page on a browser. Give your reason why you’re leaving them and then click on “Permanently delete account.” If you decide to come back, you’ll have to start over from the beginning. Are you feeling lighter already?

Here’s Why This Yoga Teacher Asks Her Students To Get Naked

Amy Hansen
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Here’s Why This Yoga Teacher Asks Her Students To Get Naked

Rosie Rees, who teaches nude yoga in Australia, encourages her students to take their clothes off in order to promote body image and mind and body well-being.

According to the 30-year-old’s website, “Women’s Nude Yoga is not just about practicing yoga in the nude, it is a practice in vulnerability, courage and radical self acceptance. Simply turning up to the workshop is a major feat for some women and enough to change their entire life.”

If you’re making an “ew” face right now, Rees says the benefits outweigh the nudity:

Women of all ages, shapes, sizes and shades come along for a powerful 3 hour immersion in surrender, softening and letting go of our acquired armour, masks, masculinity, shame & body insecurities, which we gather over time from not feeling or believing we are “good enough”, especially in relation to the media’s current standard of “beauty”.

And you don’t have to get naked at first  – guests arrive wearing robes (or something similar) and get naked when they feel comfortable doing so.

Rees quit her job in 2012 as a Finance Recruiter in Sydney to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a sex therapist. She headed to Perth to study sexology and, according to Rees, “Once in Perth, I moved into a shamanic beach shack with a nude-positive, sex-positive, tantra-trained guy who taught me how to become comfortable in my naked skin and how to freely express myself.”

She says in addition to boosting confidence in her students, naked yoga enhances both sleep and sex, helping women feel sensual and sexually free.

In addition to teaching workshops in Australia, she has been invited to the Naked In Motion studio in New York later this year.

 

Chrissy Teigen Creatively Skirts Around Instagram’s Nudity Policies

Brendan Bures
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Chrissy Teigen Creatively Skirts Around Instagram’s Nudity Policies

Sometimes you just want to show off your fruits and vegetables when you’re preparing a salad. That was Chrissy Teigen’s m.o. when she posted a pic on Instagram of herself crafting what looks to be a delicious salad at home.

Oh, and she was partially nude, did we mention that part?

Teigen, who is pregnant with her second child, couldn’t help flirting with Instagram’s nudity policies, which prohibits photos of female nipples. (Rihanna’s account once got suspended over this very issue.) So how did she get around this hiccup? By playfully posting salad emojis over her breasts, effectively covering them up.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfEa8Dln1JO/?utm_source=ig_embed

“Plz don’t shame me I am a strong proud salad making woman just being natural and trying to live my life,” she wrote in the caption.

Teigen, author of the best-selling Cravings cookbook, had a food disaster of another kind on social media recently. She posted a relatable and hilarious story on Twitter about the moments when you cook something amazing and still manage to ruin it. Chrissy Teigen is all of us. Minus the salad pasties.

https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/962937670245601280

Nashville Law Enforcement Agencies Have No Clue What CBD Is

Terry Hacienda
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Nashville Law Enforcement Agencies Have No Clue What CBD Is

It’s yet another episode of the “Can Our Law Enforcement Officials Be Even More Ignorant About Cannabis?” show. This one takes place in Tennessee and it plays out like Keystone Cops.

In a months-long joint investigation involving officials from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, “Operation Candy Crush” — yes, this is absolutely true — shut down  nearly two dozen stores for allegedly selling illegal marijuana products that look like candy. But the candy in question contained CBD from industrial hemp, and law enforcement officials admitted the products did not contain any THC, the psychoactive substance found in cannabis.

Just look at the roster of agencies involved in Operation Candy Crush (and then ask yourself how much this cost the taxpayers):

  • U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
  • Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office
  • Murfreesboro Police Department
  • Smyrna Police Department
  • La Vergne Police Departments

This collection of not-too-educated law enforcement officials found an equally challenged judge — Circuit Court Judge Royce Taylor — and received permission to confiscate all CBD products from the store. And then ordered them padlocked until further notice.

The raid of the non-psychoactive products forced the shut down of 23 stores across the county and 21 peopled were indicted for selling illegal products.

“We’d like to inform the parents to be aware of what your children are bringing home with them,” Rutherford County Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh said in a news conference outside one of the shuttered businesses. “It’s an illegal drug. It’s a CBD product. It’s a derivative of marijuana, and it is an illegal drug except in medical situations.”

Smyrna Police Chief Kevin Arnold did his best Barney Fife impression when addressing the throng of media. “This [CBD gummy bears] isn’t’ healthy at all,” Arnold said, ignoring the fact that CBD, in fact, is healthy and is used to treat a wide variety of ailments.

But Arnold didn’t stop there. When asked during the press conference what the purpose of the product is, Arnold blurted out without skipping a beat, “It’s used to get high.” When the reporter corrected the police chief and calmly explained that it is not purchased to get high, Arnold doubled down on his ignorance. “Then why are they buying it?” he asked.

Um. People are buying it not because it gets them high. They’re buying it because it has medicinal value. You would think that a quick Google search would have aided this seven-agency task force. Nope. According to Arnold, “We have been on this radar for several months.”

So, nobody from the two federal agencies, one state agency, one county agency and three local agencies bothered to check what CBD is?

But, believe it or not, it keeps getting worse. Arnold was informed during the press conference that CBD products are sold at Wal-Marts. When asked if he will go after the retail giant, Arnold said, “If they [consumers] can get it at Wal-Mart, that’s where we’ll go.” Arnold was asked if the police department would be padlocking the doors of Wal-Mart. “If the judge approves it,” he said.

The raid cost 23 small, local store owners their ability to keep their businesses open. Meanwhile, the largest retailer in the country stays open and sells products with the same ingredients.

Arnold, Smyrna’s top cop, stated the obvious at one point: “This is not some obscure product. … They [store owners] know it’s there and what the purpose for it is.”

Yes, Chief, the store owners know what the purpose for it is. Sadly, you have no clue.

Terminally Ill Patients Might Soon Be Able To Access Marijuana In Utah

Amy Hansen
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Terminally Ill Patients Might Soon Be Able To Access Marijuana In Utah

Two bills that would allow terminally ill patients access to medical marijuana grown and distributed by the sate of Utah has passed the House.

House Bills 195 (which allows doctors to recommend medical marijuana for the terminally ill) and 197 (which puts the grow op in the hands of the state Department of Agriculture and Food) are both sponsored by Rep. Brad Daw (R) and approved by the House Health and Human Services Committee.

After dying on a narrow vote last week, House Bill 197 was resurrected on Tuesday.

Said Daw, “This bill becomes the way to supply a genuine cannabis medicine for both those programs. We need to pass this bill if we want to have patients the ability to try both under right to try and under research.”
Rep. Derrin Owens (R) says he is still concerned: “We expect to follow the order of law and with passage of this, we would be in noncompliance with federal law.”

Others, like House Minority Leader Brian King, (D), announced he was flipping his vote in support of  a ballot initiative that would greatly expand who can use medical marijuana in Utah. Supporters are trying to gather enough signatures to get it on the November ballot.

“I’m suspicious and concerned that what this bill really is is an attempt to undermine the ability of the people of the state of Utah to weigh in on this in the form of a ballot initiative,” said Owens.

HB 197 passed 38-32 and now goes to the Senate.

Couple’s Marijuana Wedding Included $8K Of Marijuana

Brendan Bures
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Couple’s Marijuana Wedding Included $8K Of Marijuana

While marijuana-themed weddings have become an ongoing trend in the past couple of years, with cannabis companies sprouting up to serve that specific wedding market, those people have nothing on this couple. Call them the OGs of the marijuana wedding craze.

Dani Green and Zak Walton both use cannabis instead of prescription painkillers to help significant medical ailments. Dani has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Cushing syndrome, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, while a shattered herniated disk gives Zak serious nerve pain. The two met about 12 years ago, quickly becoming smoking buddies, and felt they should honor how influential marijuana has been in their lives.

When they announced plans to throw a marijuana wedding, their families were aghast. “She can’t do this,” was Dani’s mother’s initial response. But Dani explained to her mom that it would be tasteful and not at all what she expected.

Via Forbes:

Dani and the bridesmaids carried bouquets studded with cannabis buds and flowers; Zak and the groomsmen wore boutonnieres starring cannabis leaves and buds. All of the special foliage came from Harborside’s farms. At the end of the ceremony, rather than reciting personalized vows or smashing a glass, “we sealed it with a dab,” Dani said. Then, to get the party started, everyone lit up a joint on a beach.

That doesn’t begin to cover the rest of the evening, a reception for 70 guests held at a private event venue in Monterey. The 200-square-foot outdoor dab bar was stocked with 50 grams of hash, the 20-square-foot vaping area snuggled under a tall tree studded with twinkling lights, and the edibles bar featured six kinds of goodies. Of course, the vibe was more Ella Fitzgerald than Phish concert: Guests enjoyed a farm-to-table meal, including steak and salmon grilled while they watched, as well as a gluten-free, organic wedding cake.

Beer, wine, and champagne were also made available to guests uncomfortable with partaking in the cannabis consumption. When toasts were made, guests could choose between the two for cheers-ing.

“The secret is that cannabis is probably a part of most American weddings whether or not the whole family knows it or not,” celebrity activist Steven D’Angelo, whom Dani works for, said to Forbes. “It’s consumed discreetly and in private. Now it’s coming out of those shadows into the public realm.”

All the cannabis was donated, with a retail value of over $8,000. Dani’s mom later said it was “the classiest wedding I’ve ever been to,” while the bride said her vision came true and people now ask her to plan their cannabis weddings.

Even Meghan Markle’s Handbag Is Breaking With Royal Tradition

Maria Loreto
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Even Meghan Markle’s Handbag Is Breaking With Royal Tradition

While clutch purses have become a sort of staple for the royal ladies, Meghan Markle stepped out in Edinburgh, Scotland with a cross-body bag that allowed her to interact and greet people, and even pet a pony.

Prince Harry and Markle were visiting Scotland as a part of her obtaining a larger introduction to the United Kingdom. The pair was greeted by tons of people, including a pony named Cruachan IV, who tried to bite Prince Harry.

Markle’s cross-body bag is from Strathberry, a local Scottish brand, and is known as the East/West bag in a deep forest green shade. According to Travel and Leisure, it’s already sold out. Who’s surprised?

You can find other shades of the same bag on their site for $660. Not that expensive for a royal accessory.

Are You Thinking Of Giving Up Cannabis For Lent? Read This First

Terry Hacienda
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Are You Thinking Of Giving Up Cannabis For Lent? Read This First

Almost everyone loves to party it up for Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Carnival or whatever you choose to call the bacchanal celebrated every year at this time. But what about Lent? That solemn season that begins Ash Wednesday and lasts about six weeks?

For many Christians who observe Lent, it’s the time of year when they give up alcohol or cigarettes or chocolate as a way to replicate Jesus’ sacrifice described in the Bible. What about marijuana? Will you forgo the herb for Lent? And what is the Catholic Church’s position on marijuana anyway?

Well, it depends. But for the most part, the Catholic Church frowns on the God-made herb. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense.”

And according to Father Gerald Coleman, an adjunct professor of ethics at Santa Clara University and a lecturer on bioethics:

The Catholic moral tradition teaches that for human persons to flourish, we must use our reason to decide what is for our well-being. If any activity undermines or degrades our rational capacities, we have moral reasons to avoid that activity. The THC level in recreational marijuana often induces hallucinations and delusions, diminishes the use of one’s full reasoning abilities.

Pope Francis, considered a progressive in many worldly issues, also strongly opposes cannabis.  In 2014, he said, “the scourge of drug use continues to spread inexorably, fed by a deplorable commerce which transcends national and continental borders.”

It should be noted that it used to be a sin for Catholics to drink coffee until Pope Clement VIII gave his blessing to the caffeinated beverage in the early 1600s. Pope Clement VIII was urged to denounce coffee by his counselors who believed the beverage was a “bitter invention of Satan” because of its popularity among Muslims. However, after sipping the hot brown beverage, Pope Clement VIII declared, “This Satan’s drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it.”

Clement allegedly blessed the coffee bean because it appeared better for the people than alcoholic beverages. Maybe Pope Francis will do something similar. But in the meantime, let your conscience be your guide. 

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