Renewable Revolution

Rick Simpson's hemp oil is the gold standard for topical and internal use as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZXGH6mYr3Y#

Notice in the above video that a lot more of the plant is used than just the seeds to make the oil.
Also, in the video the topical use benefits, which are many, are not mentioned.

Snippets on Simpson formula Hemp Oil use article:

Once people understand the effects this medication has on them, most enjoy taking it. In some situations, the oil can be used as a suppository. But for the most part, the main ways of use are ingestion, vaporizing, or the oil can be used topically full strength. Also, it can be mixed with skin creams or salves, or you can produce a cannabis tincture by mixing the oil with alcohol.

When hemp is smoked, over ninety percent of the medicinal aspect of the plant material just went up in smoke. To get the full benefits, one must ingest the raw unburned cannabinoids in a pure state, and this is what high quality oil provides. The rate at which the oil is used or consumed will depend on the condition and how bad the person who has it wants it healed. The more you can take and the faster you can take it, the sooner you will be healed. But I like to see people stay in what I call their comfort zone with this medication.

If a proper protocol is followed, very few people have trouble taking the oil as a medication. The idea is to get off the chemicals and replace them with the oil. We have found that this oil, if properly produced, can replace practically all pharmaceuticals. In a great number of cases, the use of hemp oil will not only control the condition, but cure it. The beauty of using hemp oil as medication is that it is harmless. You can use it your whole life with no ill effects.

The oil from many strains of hemp is a wonderful natural pain killer that is not addictive or harmful.

Every time I talk to people, I tell them “you don’t have to believe a thing I am saying”. Simply prove it yourself. Get an ounce of high-quality indica bud and produce the essential oil from it. This should give you three to four milliliters of high grade oil. Now find someone with skin cancer or a diabetic ulcer. Apply the oil topically and cover the area with a bandage. Re-apply the oil and a fresh bandage every three days and watch what happens. Now you have seen for yourself what this oil can do, there is your proof.”  :icon_sunny:
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Full article here:

http://phoenixtears.ca/articles/hemp-oil-the-real-medicine/                     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNeDk-_mMqs&feature=player_embedded
Willie Nelson talks Hemp to make farms profitable AND environmentally friendly

10 Health Benefits of Marijuana
Michelle Schoffro Cook
August 7, 2014
 
Marijuana frequently gets a bad rap. How much of it is deserved? After my earlier blog, “Should Marijuana Be Legalized?” I conducted research to find out the benefits and problems linked with marijuana use. While there are many, here are ten of the health benefits attributed to marijuana and, of course, some of the problems linked to its use:

Alzheimer’s—Marijuana may be able to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research by the Scripps Research Institute and published in Molecular Pharmaceutics.

Anxiety—Harvard Medical School found that marijuana may have anti-anxiety effects. Of course, keep in mind that high doses may increase anxiety and paranoia.

Arthritis—Marijuana can alleviate pain and inflammation linked to arthritis.

Cancer—Research in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics found that cannabidiol found in marijuana, turns off a gene called “Id-1,” which cancer cells use to spread.

Epilepsy—Marijuana has been shown in studies by Virginia Commonwealth University, to stop seizures in the school’s animal studies.

Glaucoma—Researchers are working on developing new drugs based on cannabis to treat glaucoma pain after learning its effectiveness for treating the condition. Glaucoma is a condition that increases pressure inside the eyeball and can lead to vision loss.

Improves Lung Health—Research in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that marijuana can increase lung capacity, not decrease it as many people have long believed.

Multiple Sclerosis—A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that cannabinoids found in marijuana significantly reduced multiple sclerosis pain.

Nausea—Marijuana contains a minimum of 60 chemicals known as cannabinoids, of which THC is the primary one associated with its mind-altering effects.  THC has been used in the treatment of nausea, including drug- or chemotherapy-induced nausea.

Parkinson’s Disease—Research published in MedPage Today found that marijuana use eased tremors and improved fine motor skills in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
 

Problems Linked with Marijuana Use: Agelbert NOTE: ALL the BELOW apply MUCH MORE SO to Alcoholic beverages!   

Addiction—that’s a fairly obvious one. Also, it can cause uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms in people who discontinue use.

Anxiety and Paranoia—In high doses or in sensitive individuals, marijuana can cause anxiety and paranoia.

Memory Impairment—As anyone who’s ever talked to someone who is high knows, memory impairment is common.

Mind-Altering Effects—This is particularly evident among people who haven’t used it before as well as many young people.

Heart Attack—One study found an increase risk of heart attack within the first hour of smoking marijuana.  Agelbert NOTE: Uhh, HOW MANY HOURS did the "study" run? Answer, ONE!    

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/shocking-health-benefits-of-marijuana.html#ixzz39rtb0lVa

By Daniel Roberts March 14, 2016

The weed business is booming
.

In its annual report on the U.S. cannabis industry, Marijuana Business Daily predicts up to $44 billion in economic impact by 2020. To put that into some corporate context: it's roughly equivalent to the current market cap of Netflix (NFLX) or Caterpillar (CAT). Last year's report predicted $14 billion to $17 billion in impact for 2016. The publication has been producing the report since 2012.
The impact figure is separate from sales of marijuana; it represents sales plus all the money pumped into the economy as a direct result of sales. It encompasses everything from wholesale growers to grow-light manufacturers to marijuana accoutrements and everything below it touched by the trickle-down effect of marijuana money. It even extends to home purchases in places like Colorado, which has attracted new residents since legalizing recreational use.

The marijuana mag assigned the marijuana economy an economic multiplier of 4—that means every dollar spent on marijuana leads to another $3 working its way into the economy.

"We've been expecting rapid growth in the marijuana industry for a while now, and that's exactly what's playing out," says MBD managing editor Chris Walsh. "The main drivers of the growth in recreational sales are Colorado, Washington and Oregon. And also, interestingly, even the mature medical marijuana markets are growing very quickly, like Arizona, New Mexico, and states that have had medical programs for years now. And then you have new medical marijuana states like Illinois, Nevada and Massachusetts." In other words, there's marijuana momentum almost everywhere.

As for actual sales of marijuana, that figure is estimated at $3.5 billion to $4.3 billion for this year in just states that have legalized medical and recreational use. That's up from $3 billion to $3.4 billion last year, and in 2014 it was $2 billion to $2.4 billion. The overall sales market for marijuana each year in all states (not just where legalized), in case you wondered: "Between $30 and $45 billion in the U.S., and that includes the black market," Walsh says. For just legal sales, MBD projects $6 billion to $11 billion by 2020.

Of course, the cannabis revolution could be heavily affected by a change in political regime—and federal law still prohibits marijuana, which has made it extremely difficult for marijuana businesses to get bank accounts.

But Walsh bets that there's too much momentum now for any one politician to slow it down. "You might get an anti-cannabis president in January, but even then, it's hard to see this going in the opposite direction," he says

. "The genie's out of the bottle, half the country has legalized medical marijuana and an increasing number of states are legalizing recreational. Anyone who tries to stand in its way is going to have a hard time." 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/marijuana-economy-will-hit-44-billion-impact-by-2020-133004729.html#

By Austin Kilham, Caring.com author | Last updated: Dec 05, 2016

Anita Mataraso began using marijuana therapeutically 25 years ago to ease the physical discomfort and other symptoms of Lyme disease. The disease left her with side effects like nerve damage and fibromyalgia that she had trouble treating with conventional medications.

Though at the time she wasn’t aware of the medical applications of marijuana, Mataraso knew that it was one of the few things that made her symptoms feel better. “When I smoked, I was able to escape the pain in my body for a couple hours, and it was very helpful to me in that regard,” she says. More than two decades later, Mataraso is now the director of the Rossmoor Medical Marijuana Education and Support Club at the Rossmoor senior community in Walnut Creek, Calif.

She now finds herself at the forefront of a growing trend of seniors turning to medical marijuana for recreational and especially therapeutic purposes. The club has grown from 20 members just five years ago to a roster of 500 people. “Our mission is to educate people about cannabis and how it may impact their lives, particularly in terms of senior issues,” says Mataraso.

A National Trend

Statistics suggest that the membership growth Mataraso has seen at Rossmoor reflects a national trend. The prevalence of past-year cannabis use among adults age 50 or older rose significantly between 2006 and 2013, increasing 57.8 percent for adults age 50–64 and a whopping 250 percent for those 65 and older, according to a study released by the National Institute of Health.
 
Meanwhile, public opinion on the legalization of marijuana has shifted dramatically over the years. Some 57 percent of Americans say that marijuana use should be legal, while 37 percent say it should be illegal, according to a Pew Research Center survey. A decade ago, popular opinion was nearly the reverse: 60 percent opposed legalization and just 32 percent were in favor.

As opinions change, so does the perceived stigma surrounding pot use.

“Probably the single most motivating factor changing the way people think of marijuana is that, in many jurisdictions, the regulated use of marijuana by qualified patients or any adult has shifted from illegal activity to legal activity,” says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, or NORML, an organization that seeks to legalize the responsible marijuana use among adults. “Many seniors who in the past were ineligible to use marijuana or who were violating the law are now able to do so,” he explains.

Why Marijuana Use is Growing

Armentano cites two other reasons for the uptick in pot use among seniors: a growing awareness of the therapeutic applications of the drug and the fact that many baby boomers are resuming marijuana use after many decades as they retire and their children are grown.

“This is a population that, in many cases, has some past firsthand experience with cannabis,” he says. “But the majority of adults ceased their use because they entered the workforce at 20 or 30 and had kids. Now that the children are grown up, and the folks are retired, they’re returning to the use of substance they once enjoyed.”
 
A number of states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, and as of mid-November, 2017, a total of eight states had legalized recreational marijuana use for adults. Yet federal law, through the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, continues to list it as a Schedule 1 drug—in the same category as heroin. Officially, the federal government finds that marijuana has no medicinal value, and research on the therapeutic properties of the drug has been limited in the U.S.

Even so, research and anecdotal evidence points to marijuana being a potentially useful treatment for many common medical conditions that seniors grapple with, including chronic pain.

“There is also an awareness that many conventional medications that are prescribed possess a litany of significant and adverse side effects, and many older adults are making a calculation that they can substitute therapeutic cannabis for some of their other medication,” says Armentano.

Cheryl Shuman, founder of the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club and the founder of marijuana activist group Moms for Marijuana International, has noticed an uptick in demand from seniors for products they can use therapeutically, so much so that she plans to roll out a line of products designed specially for seniors. “Seniors more than any other group can benefit the most because when you consider the fact that many of them have glaucoma, Alzheimer’s, dementia, pain—and marijuana works,” she says.

Shuman began using therapeutic marijuana after receiving a diagnosis of ovarian cancer at age 47. She was visiting her elderly parents at the time and was rushed into emergency surgery, and her prognosis was not good. Doctors advised her to consider hospice care.
 
After receiving her diagnosis, Shuman reconnected with a high school friend who suggested she try marijuana with a high level of cannabidiol (CBD), which is not psychoactive and is reported to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. “By month two, not only was a walking and doing light exercise, I was showering on my own again, working on computer and doing yoga,” she says. “Within 90 days I was in full remission and able to go back to work full-time.”

At first, Shuman’s parents were skeptical of the effectiveness of marijuana and wary of its illegality. They even refused to allow her into their home. But after seeing the success their daughter had using the drug, their views changed. “It went from my parents not allowing me in the house to my mom calling me everyday and asking about my progress,” she says. “My mom even asked if I thought it could work for her.” 

Trend Expected to Grow

The legal strides marijuana legislation has made have made it much easier for people to explore and discuss their use of the drug. And though some stigma and stereotypes surrounding pot remain among seniors, Armentano says he expects the trend toward greater acceptance and use to stay. “Support is only going to grow in the future,” he says, pointing out that younger generations are even more supportive of pot use than seniors and baby boomers.

Mataraso agrees. “The trend will continue and the research and the science is going to knock out the [misinformation] that’s been going around all these years,” she says. “You don’t have to go smoke a joint tomorrow, but if there’s something out there that’s nontoxic and non-invasive that works, don’t you want to know about it? Don’t you want to do whatever you can for the best quality of life? Of course, and it starts with education, awareness and dispelling the old myths and belief systems,” says Shuman.

This article first appeared on SeniorHomes.com.

https://www.caring.com/articles/seniors-marijuana

Jan 31, 2017  cultivation, Maine, ME, Paul LePage, possession, Question 1

A voter-approved initiative to end marijuana prohibition in Maine officially took effect Monday, making it legal for adults 21 and older to possess and grow limited amounts of marijuana.

Under Question 1, which voters approved in November and Gov. Paul LePage certified on December 31, adults 21 years of age and older can legally possess up to two and a half ounces of marijuana, grow up to six flowering marijuana plants and 12 non-flowering plants, and possess the marijuana harvested from those plants inside their residence. It will remain illegal to use marijuana in public and to drive while impaired by marijuana. The law will not affect employers’ drug-testing policies or their rights to prohibit marijuana use by employees.

The legislature is in the process of establishing a regulated system of marijuana cultivation and sales, which is currently scheduled to be up and running by

https://blog.mpp.org/tax-and-regulate/maine-legalization-takes-effect/

Jan 12, 2017  cancer, cannabinoids, chemotherapy, chronic pain, NAS, National Academies of Sciences, spasticity

The National Academies of Sciences released a report on the health impacts of marijuana Thursday, confirming the existence of medical benefits and dispelling some long-held myths about the substance.

The review of more than 10,000 scientific abstracts found, “There is conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective” for the treatment of chronic pain in adults, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and multiple sclerosis spasticity. 

The report also dispels several myths about the health impacts of marijuana.

It found no links between smoking marijuana and the development of lung, head, or neck cancers, nor did it establish a link between marijuana use and asthma or other respiratory diseases. The respiratory problems that it did link to smoking marijuana, such as bronchitis, appear to improve after the consumer ceases their use.

According to the report, “There is no or insufficient evidence” linking marijuana use to all-cause mortality (death), deaths from overdose, or occupational accidents or injuries. It also found no substantial evidence of a link between the use of marijuana and the use of other illegal drugs. The report also does not appear to make any links between marijuana use and violent or aggressive behavior. Several of these findings were also included in the National Academies of Sciences’ previous report on marijuana, which was released in 1999.

https://blog.mpp.org/research/national-academies-sciences-confirms-marijuanas-benefits-dispels-myths/