Yeah I know, not original but hey it's a conversation starter. So is any conversation about cannabis these days. Ever notice that all you have to do is mention cannabis in a conversation and right away people will start talking to you about it and for the most part very positive about it. It's funny how things change, there was a time when you didn't even mention it now everyone is talking. Makes you think they had a lot of pent up feelings about it.
When you think about it, cannabis prohibition has had a free hand in spreading their propaganda. Information that anti legalization groups are using still today. Thankfully the internet has helped dispel most of what they say but that still doesn't wipe out the 60 plus years head start they have enjoyed at our expense.
The one that bothers me most is how cannabis is being compared to alcohol, when it comes to being impaired. You could put five people under the influence of cannabis and five people who were drunk on alcohol in a room and it would take you long to see the difference. Not that any intoxication beyond your ability to control yourself is good but the difference between cannabis and alcohol make it impossible to judge one by the other.
There are times when a person who may have smoked cannabis can pull themselves together while under the influence and act rationally. A drunk stays drunk till they sober up. The idea of stoned drivers is an unproven accusation. Most people don't want to drive when they are under the influence of cannabis. They'd rather stay where they are and enjoy the feeling for awhile before they have to "come down" and drive. Drunks believe the more they drink the better they drive. The fact that cannabis can be tested in your system long after the effects have worn off make it impossible to determine if you're impaired. I will also state that I have never been with a group of people smoking cannabis that have degenerated into violence of any kind unlike a lot of places where alcohol is served.
Okay, I feel a ramble coming so hold on; I love to garden. I grow a lot of what I eat in the summer and year to year I grow more. It's beautiful what you and nature can create with the right ingredients. This is true with everything including cannabis. I grow fruits, my blueberry's will be coming on soon. I grow vegetables and herbs and there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to grow cannabis as well and consume it as I do other products of my garden.
Cannabis unlike any other so called intoxicant needs no processing to do what it does. You grow it like anything else you pick it, dry it, cure it and use it. The Coca plant is natural, it's only through a man made process that we get cocaine. The natives in South America chew the coca leaf for energy as they have done for thousands of year. It's only through the process of making into a powder, that it becomes dangerous. Alcohol is the same way. The ingredients in whiskey by themselves wont affect you however you put them through the process and you can get drunk on them. Whiskey like cocaine comes with a price, addiction and health problems are common with the use of either one. But not with cannabis.
As I've said before I love to garden and I have come across many plants that surprise me but none amazes me like the cannabis plant. The many ways in which you can use it, besides consuming it for just pleasure, make recreational use a welcome addition to it's flexibility. However no plant, that I know of, has the receptors in our bodies like cannabis does. The other amazing thing is how the thc, one of the active ingredients in cannabis, stays in your body long after the mind affects are gone. What is your body doing with it for that length of time. We need to study this plant so badly with no prejudices.
I got to thinking about all this while remembering a conversation I had with a young Marine. He was retired, disabled from the Iraq war. He suffered from PTDS and he told me when the darkness starts to come he goes out back and loads a bowl of cannabis and after a couple hits the darkness goes away. It helps him forget and move on instead of relying on pills that let you down. I thought about how nice it would be if veterans could grow cannabis in their gardens or someone could grow for them.
We still have a ways to go but through the efforts of some dedicated individuals we came a long way this year. it's just a matter of time now. I hope we don't lose too many before they have the courage to do the right thing. We need to repeal the Controlled Substance Act . There is irrefutable evidence that cannabis has medicinal value and it rating as a schedule 1 narcotic makes null and void the Controlled Substance Act. It has no validity and needs to be repealed. Lets have a serious debate about legalization!
