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“What if he was out there slinging rocks?”
Welcome to another fun filled educational episode of everyone’s favorite cannabis podcast, The Hot Box! We work hard to bring you informative marijuana information that you care about each and every week. There’s so many things wrong with how people who smoke marijuana are treated, and with how the plant itself is treated. Keep reading after the break for our good friend Denton Ramsey from the CannaTruths podcast writing about how hemp and cannabis can change the world. Keep reading after the column for show notes and links on what we talked about in the show. Over to you Denton.
Fighting For the Future: How Hemp and Cannabis Can Change the World
By Denton Ramsey, aka “Dean Shwag”
It may be a line out of X-Files, but I truly believe “the truth is out there” when it comes to cannabis.
From industrial hemp to recreational cannabis to medical cannabis, this plant was created by the Creator for numerous purposes.
And today, I’d like to briefly bullet a few ways hemp and cannabis can change the world.
Industrial Hemp
From paper to lumber, hemp can be that substitution this country and the world has been “searching for,” regardless of the fact this plant has been around since the beginning of time.
Especially here in Texas, miles and acres of fields would be filled with a sea of hemp: helping to revitalize a struggling farmer’s market in the Lone Star State and beyond.
Think about it for a minute: the misconception of this plant revolves around the fact that hemp is completely different than cannabis, lacking any THC—the “psychoactive constituent” in cannabis—while only benefiting the country and the world in terms of everyday use.
And creating a truly green environment both starts and ends with hemp production.
Recreational Cannabis
Moving on to the plant this country has demonized since the political propaganda began under President Richard Nixon, let’s discuss the idea of recreational cannabis.
During the Super Bowl, Budweiser ran an ad that revolved around “the end of prohibition,” and those four words speak wonders when it comes to activists daily battles to re-legalize cannabis.
Alcohol, a leading killer in both automobile accidents and future health issues, is one of the most widely-abused “drugs” in the world today.
Numerous hard-working individuals come home from a tough day at work to open a beer, pour a glass of wine, or stir up a mixed drink to “simply relax and unwind.”
The truth of the matter is cannabis, even used recreationally like alcohol, is a MUCH safer alternative.
Look at the facts, ladies and gentlemen: zero deaths and zero overdoses have resulted in the use of cannabis.
Medical Cannabis
Another “controversial” concern regarding cannabis is the medical use of this plant, and I truly don’t understand why any such “controversy” exists.
It’s been proven time and time again that cannabis can and does heal numerous ailments.
It’s fantastic for an appetite enhancer; for decreasing and stopping cramps; and cannabis has even been medically proven to kill cancer cells.
In addition, a majority of individuals out there don’t even realize that the countless strains of cannabis can accurately be used to pinpoint different areas of healing: giving patients a specific strain of cannabis based on their medical needs.
For example, for someone such as myself—having Irritable Bowel Syndrome—an indica-dominant strain is the best for healing and suppressing the constant cramps and pains associated with the ailment.
And individual strains work differently on individual people: giving doctors and pharmacists a plethora of healthy choices when it comes to treating their patients.
Smokeless Cannabis: Tinctures, Topicals, Edibles, and More
Another concept many out there tend to be clueless about revolves around smokeless cannabis.
In fact, many out there right now are saying, “what?!?”
From tinctures to topicals to edibles and more, cannabis can and IS used in many smokeless ways. Even vaporizing the plant is a safer and smoke-free way to enjoy cannabis; while others prefer using a liquid form of cannabis known as tinctures, or using a cannabis-based butter to cook edibles such as cookies, brownies, and complete meals.
There’s also a little something called “topicals,” where a cannabis-based paste is used to treat everything from dry lips to acne.
You know what? We’re also only just scratching the surface of this miracle plant. Hopefully, one day America and the world-over will wake up and smell reality: re-legalizing, as former Drug Enforcement Agency Judge Francis Young once said, “one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man” in cannabis/hemp.
And when that day comes, you’ll see me as one of many running down the streets proclaiming, “it’s over; the prohibition of cannabis is finally over!”
Denton Ramsey, a cannabis columnist and activist for many years, is the host of CannaTruths and the co-host of Reefer Rhetoric, two podcasts available on both iTunes and online. All of Ramsey’s prior cannabis columns may be accessed online at http://cannatruths.wordpress.com. He may be reached via email at CannaTruths@gmail.com.
In this weeks episode of the Hot Box…
Watch live each week on Hot Box TV, and give us a call at 406.204.4687.
If you use Android, I want you to start texting smarter. Use TextSecure Beta to encrypt your text messages on the phone, and if you and a friend are both using TextSecure Beta, your messages to and from each other will be encrypted. If you want to see more cool stuff they create, check out the Whisper Systems website.
I was incorrect, it’s not 256 bit AES. Which is not a 500 year brute force attempt time. But it will keep your messages safe. The TextSecure encrypted SMS protocol is based on the popular “Off The Record Messaging” protocol developed by Nikita Borisov and Ian Goldberg. TextSecure aims to adapt the principles of OTR (forward-security and deniability) to the SMS environment by compressing the message format to fit in the limited space provided by an SMS message. To this end, TextSecure uses ECC keys rather than Diffie-Hellman keys, and a protocol format that was designed with space efficiency in mind. All the ECC parameters were chosen based on the NSA Suite B specification for Top Secret material. Cool right?
How many laws do we have on the books that cause more problems than the actual crime? Marijuana prohibition is one such law. Now what can we do about it? We already ignore the law. How can you make a difference?
Did you hear? Someone died from weed. Oh wait, never mind. He was just shot by the police. Hey, another person dies from the POLICE! Did you hear?
What was your gateway drug? Alcohol? Opiates? Email info@hotboxpodcast.com and let us know! Did you take 21 shots on your 21st birthday? Inquiring minds want to know!
Again props to the great discussion that comes from the Great Debate page on Facebook. Come join the discussion!
Keep an eye on what’s going on with medical marijuana in Michigan. Thanks to Berger for the heads up. If you live in a state that is trying to get some medical marijuana going, email info@hotboxpodcast and let us know. Are you in a different country? Let us know what’s going on there. You can be our roving reporters.
Back to the old smoke and drive argument. Where did you get your stats this time?
So what are you doing for work? I’m the man, duh.
And in this episode of Dispensary Etiquette… You can’t go to the pharmacy and ask for a front, or ask for a couple extra pills can you? Well, then you probably shouldn’t at your dispensary either. Remember, honesty is rewarded.
Should people on probation or parole be able to get medical cannabis? Yes, next question. What do you think?
Have you ever been to prison? What is the prison economy like? Email info@hotboxpodcast.com or send us a form on the bottom of this page.
Thanks for joining us, be sure to catch our live show on Hot Box TV. Follow the Hot Box on Twitter and join the Facebook page and the Hot Box Facebook gr0up.
