A Word about Weed …

 

Prescription Drug Overdoses Killed 23,000 Americans in 2010; Cannabis – 0

Posted on February 20, 2013 at 10:08 am by David Downs in Health
Drug overdose deaths rose for the eleventh straight year in America, fueled by legal prescriptions for OxyContin and Valium. Medical cannabis, meanwhile, continued its 10,000 year-long streak of not killing anyone by overdose.

There is no physical way to overdose on smoked or ingested cannabis, making it one of the safest, most non-toxic painkillers, sleeping aids, and stress relievers on the planet. It’s also a Schedule One narcotic that the U.S. government says has no medical use and a high potential for abuse.

Blue Dream: safer than FDA-approved drugs, by a long-shot

Drugs that the U.S. government considers safer – like OxyContin, Vicodin and Valium – caused about 60 percent of the 38,329 drug overdose deaths nationwide in 2010, the CDC reports. “Anti-anxiety drugs including Valium were among common causes of medication-related deaths, involved in almost 30 percent of them. Among the medication-related deaths, 17 percent were suicides.”

Legal drugs deemed safe by the FDA killed more people than illegal heroin and cocaine overdoses combined, reports state. Those numbers promise to increase when statistics for 2011 and 2012 come out.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speaker Nate Bradley – an ex-cop from Sacramento, CA. – says the figures add up.

“I saw so many people die from pills,” he said. “My first autopsy was a Vicodin overdose – the accidental Vicodin overdose of a 38 year-old woman. And I sat there and watched them take apart her body, because she accidentally had too much.”

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Some of the little-known benefits of cannabis:

Hemp oil (not to be confused with hemp seed oil) has been shown to actually cure cancer.  All forms.  All stages.

Hemp seeds are considered one of nature’s most perfect “superfoods”.  They provide a “perfect” protein, packed with both Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils.  Just three tablespoons a day can provide a full day’s protein needs for the average adult.  And they can be grown in any climate, in any soil (there’s a reason it’s called “weed”!!!).

From hempbasics.com:

On an annual basis, 1 acre of hemp will produce as much fiber as 2 to 3 acres of cotton. Hemp fiber is stronger and softer than cotton, lasts twice as long as cotton, and will not mildew.

Cotton grows only in moderate climates and requires more water than hemp; but hemp is frost tolerant, requires only moderate amounts of water, and grows in all 50 states. Cotton requires large quantities of pesticides and herbicides–50% of the world’s pesticides/herbicides are used in the production of cotton. Hemp requires no pesticides, no herbicides, and only moderate amounts of fertilizer.

On an annual basis, 1 acre of hemp will produce as much paper as 2 to 4 acres of trees. From tissue paper to cardboard, all types of paper products can be produced from hemp.

The quality of hemp paper is superior to tree-based paper. Hemp paper will last hundreds of years without degrading, can be recycled many more times than tree-based paper, and requires less toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process than does paper made from trees.

Hemp can be used to produce fiberboard that is stronger and lighter than wood. Substituting hemp fiberboard for timber would further reduce the need to cut down our forests.

Hemp can be used to produce strong, durable and environmentally-friendly plastic substitutes. Thousands of products made from petroleum-based plastics can be produced from hemp-based composites.

It takes years for trees to grow until they can be harvested for paper or wood, but hemp is ready for harvesting only 120 days after it is planted. Hemp can grow on most land suitable for farming, while forests and tree farms require large tracts of land available in few locations. Harvesting hemp rather than trees would also eliminate erosion due to logging, thereby reducing topsoil loss and water pollution caused by soil runoff.

Hemp seeds contain a protein that is more nutritious and more economical to produce than soybean protein. Hemp seeds are not intoxicating. Hemp seed protein can be used to produce virtually any product made from soybean: tofu, veggie burgers, butter, cheese, salad oils, ice cream, milk, etc. Hemp seed can also be ground into a nutritious flour that can be used to produce baked goods such as pasta, cookies, and breads.

Hemp seed oil can be used to produce non-toxic diesel fuel, paint, varnish, detergent, ink and lubricating oil. Because hemp seeds account for up to half the weight of a mature hemp plant, hemp seed is a viable source for these products.

Just as corn can be converted into clean-burning ethanol fuel, so can hemp. Because hemp produces more biomass than any plant species (including corn) that can be grown in a wide range of climates and locations, hemp has great potential to become a major source of ethanol fuel.

Literally millions of wild hemp plants currently grow throughout the U.S. Wild hemp, like hemp grown for industrial use, has no drug properties because of its low THC content. U.S. marijuana laws prevent farmers from growing the same hemp plant that proliferates in nature by the millions.

From 1776 to 1937, hemp was a major American crop and textiles made from hemp were common. Yet, The American Textile Museum, The Smithsonian Institute, and most American history books contain no mention of hemp. The government’s War on Drugs has created an atmosphere of self censorship where speaking of hemp in a positive manner is considered politically incorrect or taboo.

United States Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, used products made from hemp, and praised the hemp plant in some of their writings.

No other natural resource offers the potential of hemp. Cannabis Hemp is capable of producing significant quantities of paper, textiles, building materials, food, medicine, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, and fuel. Unlike other crops, hemp can grow in most climates and on most farmland throughout the world with moderate water and fertilizer requirements, no pesticides, and no herbicides. Cannabis Hemp (also known as Indian Hemp) has enormous potential to become a major natural resource that can benefit both the economy and the environment.