Panga boat with passengers spotted off SLO County coast

Uh, no you don’t “P”!!!

Years of direct contact with the “medicinal users” doesn’t necessarily mean you have an informed opinion about cannabis…

Cannabis was part of the United States Pharmacopeia (do you know what that is?) as early as 1850. In 1906 it was part of the Food and Drugs Act that was signed into law. In the 1930s at least two American companies, Parke-Davis and Eli Lily, were selling standardized extracts of marijuana for use as an analgesic, an antispasmodic and sedative. Another manufacturer, Grimault & Company, marketed marijuana cigarettes as a remedy for asthma. By the late 1930’s all 48 states had laws in place to regulate marijuana. The Marihuana Tax Act in 1937, opposed by the AMA, was passed into law which criminalized the possession and/or use of marijuana without a prescription. And because of the huge influx of pharm’ drugs such as heroin, morphine, cocaine and many others cannabis was dropped from the United States Pharmacopeia in 1947 after being there for almost 100 years! About 30 years later the federal drug classification system was established and cannabis would be placed in schedule 1, which means (1) it has no medical value and (2) is a public health danger.

And here’s the kicker to this idiocy: While the government denies the benefits of medical marijuana? Wait for it….!!!! It holds a patent for those very same benefits (October 2003, U.S. patent #6630507 entitled “Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants” was assigned to The United States Of America As Represented By The Department Of Health And Human Services)! The patent mentions cannabidiol’s “ability as an antiepileptic, to lower intraocular pressure in the treatment of glaucoma, lack of toxicity or serious side effects in large acute doses, its neuroprotectant properties, its ability to prevent neurotoxicity mediated by NMDA, AMPA, or kainate receptors; its ability to attenuate glutamate toxicity, its ability to protect against cellular damage, its ability to protect brains from ischemic damage, its anxiolytic effect, and its superior antioxidant activity which can be used in the prophylaxis and treatment of oxidation associated diseases.” It has so much confidence in these benefits that the FDA, who now has the patent, licenses its use to pharmaceutical companies.

Here’s a couple of other things to ponder:

“Make the most of the Indian Hemp Seed and sow it everywhere.” – George Washington, U.S. President

“We shall, by and by, want a world of hemp more for our own consumption.”

– John Adams, U.S. President

“Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country.”

– Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President

“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.” – Carl Sagan

“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.” – Albert Einstein quote on Hemp