How to make Cannabis Oil

General Barry McCaffrey is best known for being in charge of the failed drug war while Clinton was in office. During his time as the Drug Czar he also offered Tv stations financial incentives (using tax dollar money) to smuggle anti drug messages into their television programming. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office found that the ONDCP had violated domestic propaganda and publicity prohibitions by preparing prepackaged news stories that did not disclose to television viewers that the government had produced them and had illegally spent appropriations to develop, produce and distribute the covert propaganda. Due to a three year statute of limitations the GAO opinion (B-303495) was limited to fiscal years 2002, 2003 and 2004 however its detailed analysis of the core legal issues involved is applicable to the McCaffrey era ONDCP propaganda scandal. During his time in office the use of all drugs increased across the board. In 1996 22.1% of respondents to a poll stated that they had used illegal drugs compared to 28.4% in 2001. Even though drug usage rates increased while he was the Drug Czar he has since found a new source of income by spitting the same tired propaganda on news outlets. Generally he is used as the voice of prohibition and I personally feel he does a great job since he still believes the same propaganda he used in 1997 will work today. He’s a very soft target in any debate and he could probably get cut down by an 8th grade debate captain. Here’s some of his greatest hits.

Crime is among the most urgent concerns facing Mexico, as Mexican drug trafficking rings play a major role in the flow of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transiting between Latin America and the United States. Drug trafficking has led to corruption, which has had a deleterious effect on Mexico’s Federal Representative Republic. Drug trafficking and organized crime have also been a major source of violent crime in Mexico.

Mexico has experienced increasingly high crime rates, especially in major urban centers. The country’s great economic polarization has stimulated criminal activity in the lower socioeconomic strata, which include the majority of the country’s population. Crime continues at high levels, and is repeatedly marked by violence, especially in Monterrey, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Michoacan, and the state of Sinaloa. Other metropolitan areas have lower, yet still serious, levels of crime. Low apprehension and conviction rates contribute to the high crime rate.

In this documentary Ross Kemp follows some of the most dangerous drug running routes on the US/Mexico border. A grim reminder of what has happened since Calderon decided to “take on the cartels”. It’s not rocket science. The more enforcement. The more fractured the drug gangs are. This may seem like a good thing to those fighting “The Drug War” however there are some very serious consequences which have come as a result. The escalation of violence from the Mexican government has destabilized what were previously gang turf. This means that as the police take control of one section, the gangs must move into someone elses turf in order to continue their business. The second effect is that by decreasing supply the police are also raising the price of the products so the gangs end up making more money off of a product if there is more stringent enforcement.

“When We Grow…This Is What We Can Do” is an educational documentary concerning the facts about cannabis. In this feature length documentary we explore everything there is, from industrial hemp to medicinal cannabis use, from the origins of cannabis prohibition to the legality of growing equipment.
A film by Seth Finegold and presented by Luke Bailey.

Featuring Interviews with:
Professor David Nutt
Peter Reynolds (Head of the Legalize Cannabis Alliance)
Sarah Martin

Find out more at:
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For more information contact:
Finegold2 (via YouTube messages)

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Ever wondered if it’s possible to make a bonsai marijuana plant? Well, it’s not surprising that it’s possible but in this great video from Jason in BC we see his beautiful technique for making gorgeous small marijuana bonsai plants.

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents with the help of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department raided the Zen Healing Collective and Alternative Herbal Health Services medical marijuana dispensaries in Hollywood, California on March 15, 2011.

The warrants served were federal and law enforcement took one individual into custody, which may result in arrest.

Agents did not want to speak on camera but spokesperson for the DEA Sarah Pullen gave this statement to Reason.tv:

“The DEA, with the assistance of the LAPD and the LASD served federal search warrants at approx. 210 pm this afternoon, March 15, 2011, as part of an on-going investigation. The warrants are federal and under seal by order of the court. Locations were 7800 and 8400 blocks of Santa Monica blvd, West Hollywood. We have one individual in custody right now, which may result in an arrest. Since the warrants are under seal I am unable to discuss any details regarding the warrants or investigation at this time.”

When asked about raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in California in February 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder indicated raids would end on state approved dispensaries.

“What the president said during the campaign … will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement … What (President Obama) said during the campaign … is now American policy,” said Holder.

Obama told the Medford Mail Tribune in Oregon during the 2008 campaign “I’m not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue.”

“I think the basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that’s entirely appropriate.”

On March 10, Los Angeles voters passed Measure M, or the “pot tax,” which will tax dispensaries by collecting $50 out of every thousand dollars made.

Pregnancy and Marijuana

First things first. Anyone dispensing any sort of advice concerning medicine must have a disclaimer. This is one of the reasons why every single article you ever read about online starts out with “make sure to consult your doctor first”.  So. Yeah. Make sure to consult your doctor about any questions you have.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way. Let’s get into the issue at hand.

Many times the question will arise whether or not it is a good idea to smoke marijuana during pregnancy. This is obviously a huge question that involves a host a factors. If you stumbled upon this page you’re obviously looking for answers. But to be fair, there really isn’t any besides anecdotal evidence.  The first thing to consider is that one must be very careful with the information that is given out to women during pregnancy. Pregnant women are already in a highly emotional state and can be easily frightened by propaganda. Unfortunately many of those against marijuana are willing to put out disinformation concerning the scientific evidence as to whether marijuana is truly harmful to a fetus during pregnancy for their own business interests. There simply isn’t enough evidence to make a claim that marijuana in any way does any harm. According to DrugPolicy.Org’s own website they state that

Studies of newborns, infants, and children show no consistent physical, developmental, or cognitive deficits related to prenatal marijuana exposure. Marijuana had no reliable impact on birth size, length of gestation, neurological development, or the occurrence of physical abnormalities. The administration of hundreds of tests to older children has revealed only minor differences between offspring of marijuana users and nonusers, and some are positive rather than negative. Two unconfirmed case-control studies identified prenatal marijuana exposure as one of many factors statistically associated with childhood cancer. Given other available evidence, it is highly unlikely that marijuana causes cancer in children.

But this is possibly only one side to the story. So let’s be fair. The first thing a woman must understand is that prescription drugs (given to pregnant women by their doctors) have accounted for a thousand times more birth defects than anything ever directly tied to marijuana. The prescription drug market is extremely powerful and because of the many symptoms that women face during pregnancy the pharmaceutical companies see a way to make a profit by alleviating these symptoms. The drugs that are put on the market do undergo some testing (many times on animals, not humans) but there are still literally hundreds of thousands of cases of prescription drugs which have been directly connected to birth defects.  Thalidomide being the most extreme example where hundreds of thousands of women were given the drug which was directly tied to their babies being born with no arms and legs. I won’t post any pictures here, but a quick google search will show what the result of this drug were.  However there are more common substances which can also have devastating effects on a developing fetus.

Alcohol, Caffeine, and Tobacco have all been extensively studied and all of these are currently not recommended for repeated consumption during pregnancy.  Unlike the studies concerning marijuana there is hard evidence that all three of these legal substances can adversely effect a woman’s child during pregnancy.  However, this is where we get an important lesson about how “Science” works concerning these types of studies.  All three of these substances (alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco) also had industry run tests which studied their effects on pregnancy. While now it is considered to be fact that it is a bad idea to use these substances during pregnancy; it was only 20 years ago that all three were fighting to try and prove the opposite. “Science” unfortunately many times takes a back seat as corporate interests ensure that the money keeps flowing. Of course the opposite is also true and keeping marijuana “unsafe” during pregnancy also makes many pharmaceutical companies a lot of money because pregnant women will use their products instead of marijuana for pain relief, morning sickness, inducing hunger etc.  This means that it is in the best interest of many companies to ensure that marijuana remains “unsafe” during pregnancy.

BUT! The one thing that should be considered is that most anything a woman ingests can also have an effect on a developing fetus. This includes, but isn’t limited to Prescription Drugs, Air Quality (distance to power plants), drinking water, eating genetically modified foods, and of course using legal substances such as Alcohol, Tobacco, and Caffeine. It should also be noted that many doctors still routinely prescribe Oxycontin, and Hydrocodone during pregnancies and these are Schedule one Narcotics! The amount of data connecting withdrawl symptoms to Hydrocodone, Vicodin, and Oxycotin are numerous, however to my knowledge there still isn’t any hard evidence linking these substances to any detrimental effects. This leads us to another important factor considering the use of substances during pregnancy. There isn’t a lot of studies done on pregnant women because the results have the potential of being so terrible that no drug company in their right mind would ever carry them out. A pharmaceutical company that makes billions of dollars off of a drug isn’t going to risk potentially impacting their bottom line (which is to make money, not to help people) by doing such tests on pregnant women.

Now that we’ve covered some of the potential scientific proven effects on what marijuana and pregnancy have let’s take a look at the worst effect that marijuana can have on a pregnancy. These don’t have anything to do with children being hyperactive (a common myth perpetuated by marijuana prohibitionists) and everything to do with the fact that marijuana is illegal. While it is currently legal to take Hydrocodone and Vicodin during pregnancy (both schedule 1 narcotics similar to Heroin) there can be dire circumstances for a mother that uses marijuana to treat morning sickness or increase appetite. These have everything to do with the fact that marijuana has been villified for the past hundred years in the United States.  In many states a babies first drug test will come when it is literally hours old. It doesn’t take long for the government to start prying into the lives of newborns, however it is probably for the best because it should be considered a form of child abuse to use substances such as Alcohol, and Cocaine during pregnancy. The amount of data tying the use to these two substances to birth defects is insurmountable and if a child is going through withdraw symptoms then the health care providers do have an obligation to take the necessary steps to ensure the child receives proper care.  However, even though there are no conclusive tests which show that marijuana has any detrimental effects on a child, it should be noted that Child Protective Services have removed children from their parents simply because they used marijuana. This is a practice completely unique to the United States and doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. The moral of this story is that the biggest side effect of smoking marijuana during pregnancy doesn’t have anything to do with testable, replicable, results, and everything to do with the insanity of its prohibition.  The most detrimental effect your child could suffer would come at the hands of the state who could do untold psychological damage by removing an infant and placing it into foster care. Because of this if you are in a conservative state I would be very careful about any marijuana use during pregnancy. They can literally take your baby away from you and place it into the foster care system just because you tested positive for marijuana. This RARELY happens but I’m trying to put out the most honest information that I can, and in doing so I must acknowledge this fact. Sadly, marijuana probably won’t effect a fetus or newborn in any way, but the Government enforcing their prohibition can have obvious detrimental effects. Be careful.

If you are looking for further material concerning giving your child the best chance I would suggest looking into various pregnancy diets available online, as well as abstaining from as many toxins as possible. If you are a constant smoker who is stoned all the time this may greatly change the effects that a child has as it is may be substance that the baby becomes accustomed to. If you are smoking occasionally to treat morning sickness, or increase hunger then I would say the potential side effects of drinking a cup of coffee are probably much worse than smoking a joint. But in no way would I (nor could I Imagine the medical community) ever suggest that smoking all the time will be “good” for the child.  Any substance that is taken on a habitual basis can effect a child. However the effects of marijuana and pregnancy are often grossly exaggerated.

If you are pregnant it is very important that you give that kid the best chance it has while it is developing.  This means eating a healthy diet, avoiding stress,  getting enough rest, and avoiding any type of toxins. While the studies don’t necessarily prove that marijuana has some sort of overwhelming detrimental effect on a developing fetus it must also be remembered that because marijuana is illegal this has also prevented a lot of testing on the drug as a medicine.  So, having results being “inconclusive” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s completely safe.  Those of us in the Marijuana Legalization community have an obligation to try and put out the most accurate information available, and we can’t just act like eveything is fine and dandy until science says otherwise.  I believe in Science, and I believe that as marijuana becomes legal we will know a lot more about any side effects that may occur in instances such as these.  It’s fine to put whatever you want into your body, but pregnant women do have an obligation to protect that child until it is born.  I know it’s unfair, and it sucks, but the best thing would probably to make sure that you are taking care of yourself in the best way possible. If you have terrible morning sickness, and aren’t eating then perhaps smoking some weed, relaxing, and eating a ton of food may actually be more beneficial than anything. The thing is, I can’t say this as fact because the studies simply aren’t there.