Showing posts with label CANNABIS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CANNABIS. Show all posts
23/10/2024
15/09/2022
One out of every 20 daily users can expect to develop schizophrenia if they don't quit - How weed became the new OxyContin
https://www.sott.net/article/472133-How-weed-became-the-new-OxyContin
Big Pharma and Big Tobacco are helping market high-potency, psychosis-inducing THC products as your mother's 'medical marijuana.'
For 30 years, Dr. Libby Stuyt, a recently retired addiction psychiatrist in Pueblo, Colorado, treated patients with severe drug dependency. Typically, that meant alcohol, heroin, and methamphetamines. But about five years ago, she began to see something new.
"I started seeing people with the worst psychosis symptoms that I have ever seen," she told me. "And the worst delusions I have ever seen."
These cases were even more acute than what she'd seen from psychotic patients on meth. Some of the delusions were accompanied by "severe violence." But these patients were coming up positive only for cannabis.
Stuyt wasn't alone: Health care professionals throughout Colorado and all over the country were seeing similar episodes.
Ben Cort, who runs an addiction recovery center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, watched a young man jump up on the table in the emergency department and strip naked, claiming he was the God of thunder and threatening to kill everyone in the room, including two police officers. A collegiate athlete Cort worked with also had a psychotic episode and was shot five times by the police with a beanbag gun before he was subdued. In Los Angeles County, Blue Stohr, a psychiatric social worker, had a patient who climbed a 700-foot crane and considered jumping off of it, not because he was suicidal but because he thought he was in a computer simulation, like The Matrix.
Those patients, too, were high only on cannabis.
In 2012, Colorado legalized marijuana. In the decade since, 18 other states have followed suit. As billions of dollars have flowed into the new above-ground industry of smokable, edible, and drinkable cannabis-based products, the drug has been transformed into something unrecognizable to anyone who grew up around marijuana pre-legalization. Addiction medicine doctors and relatives of addicts say it has become a hardcore drug, like cocaine or methamphetamines. Chronic use leads to the same outcomes commonly associated with those harder substances: overdose, psychosis, suicidality. And yet it's been marketed as a kind of elixir and sold like candy for grown-ups.
"I got into addiction medicine because of the opioid crisis," said Dr. Roneet Lev, an addiction medicine doctor in San Diego who hosts a podcast about drug abuse. Years ago, she advocated against the overprescription of opioid painkillers like OxyContin. Now, she believes she's seeing the same thing all over again: the specious claims of medical benefits, the denial of adverse effects. "From Big Tobacco to Big Pharma to Big Marijuana — it's the same people, and the same pattern."
Prior to legalization, marijuana plants were bred to produce higher and higher concentrations of THC, a naturally occurring chemical compound in the plant that induces euphoria and alters users' perceptions of reality. In the 1960s, the stuff the hippies were smoking was less than 2% THC. By the '90s, it was closer to 5%. By 2015, it was over 20%. "It's a freak plant that resembles nothing of what has existed in nature," said Laura Stack, a public speaker who has advocated against the industry since her son, Johnny, killed himself three years ago at 19 years old after years of cannabis abuse drove him into psychosis.
In the era of legalized weed, the drug you think of as "cannabis" can hardly be called marijuana at all. The kinds of cannabis products that are sold online and at dispensaries contain no actual plant matter. They're made by putting pulverized marijuana into a tube and running butane, propane, ethanol, or carbon dioxide through it, which separates the THC from the rest of the plant. The end product is a wax that can be 70% to 80% THC. That wax can then be put in a vacuum oven and further concentrated into oils that are as much as 95% or even 99% THC. Known as "dabs," this is what people put in their vape pens, and in states like California and Colorado it's totally legal and easily available to children. "There are no caps on potency," said Stack.
If you're over 30 years old and you used to smoke weed when you were a teenager, the strongest you were smoking was probably 20% THC. Today, teenagers are "dabbing" a product that's three, four, or five times stronger, and are often doing so multiple times a day. At that level of potency, the impact of the drug on a user's brain belongs to an entirely different category of risk than smoking a joint or taking a bong rip of even an intensively bred marijuana flower. It's highly addictive, and over time, there's a significant chance it can drive you insane.
If you've ever smoked a bowl and become irrationally anxious that everyone is staring at you and knows you're high, what you experienced was a mild symptom of cannabis-induced psychosis. According to one study, about 40% of people react this way. If you experience that paranoia and keep smoking on a regular basis nonetheless — especially with today's high-potency THC products, and especially if you're young — there's a good chance you'll eventually suffer a full psychotic break; 35% of young people who experience psychotic symptoms, according to another study, eventually have such an episode. If you keep using after that, you run a decent risk of ending up permanently schizophrenic or bipolar. Cannabis has by far the highest conversion rate to schizophrenia of any substance — higher than meth, higher than opioids, higher than LSD. Two Danish studies, as well as a massive study from Finland, put your chances at close to 50%.
"One out of every 20 daily users can expect to develop schizophrenia if they don't quit," Dr. Christine Miller, an expert on psychotic disorders, told me.
But quitting THC products of that potency is "almost impossible," Stuyt said, comparing its addictive power to tobacco. The days of marijuana addiction being merely "psychological" are over. "There is a definite withdrawal syndrome that includes irritability, anger, anxiety, massive cravings, can't sleep, can't eat," said Stuyt.
And it's even harder because so many users believe it's good for them.
For 30 years, Dr. Libby Stuyt, a recently retired addiction psychiatrist in Pueblo, Colorado, treated patients with severe drug dependency. Typically, that meant alcohol, heroin, and methamphetamines. But about five years ago, she began to see something new.
"I started seeing people with the worst psychosis symptoms that I have ever seen," she told me. "And the worst delusions I have ever seen."
These cases were even more acute than what she'd seen from psychotic patients on meth. Some of the delusions were accompanied by "severe violence." But these patients were coming up positive only for cannabis.
Stuyt wasn't alone: Health care professionals throughout Colorado and all over the country were seeing similar episodes.
Ben Cort, who runs an addiction recovery center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, watched a young man jump up on the table in the emergency department and strip naked, claiming he was the God of thunder and threatening to kill everyone in the room, including two police officers. A collegiate athlete Cort worked with also had a psychotic episode and was shot five times by the police with a beanbag gun before he was subdued. In Los Angeles County, Blue Stohr, a psychiatric social worker, had a patient who climbed a 700-foot crane and considered jumping off of it, not because he was suicidal but because he thought he was in a computer simulation, like The Matrix.
Those patients, too, were high only on cannabis.
In 2012, Colorado legalized marijuana. In the decade since, 18 other states have followed suit. As billions of dollars have flowed into the new above-ground industry of smokable, edible, and drinkable cannabis-based products, the drug has been transformed into something unrecognizable to anyone who grew up around marijuana pre-legalization. Addiction medicine doctors and relatives of addicts say it has become a hardcore drug, like cocaine or methamphetamines. Chronic use leads to the same outcomes commonly associated with those harder substances: overdose, psychosis, suicidality. And yet it's been marketed as a kind of elixir and sold like candy for grown-ups.
"I got into addiction medicine because of the opioid crisis," said Dr. Roneet Lev, an addiction medicine doctor in San Diego who hosts a podcast about drug abuse. Years ago, she advocated against the overprescription of opioid painkillers like OxyContin. Now, she believes she's seeing the same thing all over again: the specious claims of medical benefits, the denial of adverse effects. "From Big Tobacco to Big Pharma to Big Marijuana — it's the same people, and the same pattern."
Prior to legalization, marijuana plants were bred to produce higher and higher concentrations of THC, a naturally occurring chemical compound in the plant that induces euphoria and alters users' perceptions of reality. In the 1960s, the stuff the hippies were smoking was less than 2% THC. By the '90s, it was closer to 5%. By 2015, it was over 20%. "It's a freak plant that resembles nothing of what has existed in nature," said Laura Stack, a public speaker who has advocated against the industry since her son, Johnny, killed himself three years ago at 19 years old after years of cannabis abuse drove him into psychosis.
In the era of legalized weed, the drug you think of as "cannabis" can hardly be called marijuana at all. The kinds of cannabis products that are sold online and at dispensaries contain no actual plant matter. They're made by putting pulverized marijuana into a tube and running butane, propane, ethanol, or carbon dioxide through it, which separates the THC from the rest of the plant. The end product is a wax that can be 70% to 80% THC. That wax can then be put in a vacuum oven and further concentrated into oils that are as much as 95% or even 99% THC. Known as "dabs," this is what people put in their vape pens, and in states like California and Colorado it's totally legal and easily available to children. "There are no caps on potency," said Stack.
If you're over 30 years old and you used to smoke weed when you were a teenager, the strongest you were smoking was probably 20% THC. Today, teenagers are "dabbing" a product that's three, four, or five times stronger, and are often doing so multiple times a day. At that level of potency, the impact of the drug on a user's brain belongs to an entirely different category of risk than smoking a joint or taking a bong rip of even an intensively bred marijuana flower. It's highly addictive, and over time, there's a significant chance it can drive you insane.
If you've ever smoked a bowl and become irrationally anxious that everyone is staring at you and knows you're high, what you experienced was a mild symptom of cannabis-induced psychosis. According to one study, about 40% of people react this way. If you experience that paranoia and keep smoking on a regular basis nonetheless — especially with today's high-potency THC products, and especially if you're young — there's a good chance you'll eventually suffer a full psychotic break; 35% of young people who experience psychotic symptoms, according to another study, eventually have such an episode. If you keep using after that, you run a decent risk of ending up permanently schizophrenic or bipolar. Cannabis has by far the highest conversion rate to schizophrenia of any substance — higher than meth, higher than opioids, higher than LSD. Two Danish studies, as well as a massive study from Finland, put your chances at close to 50%.
"One out of every 20 daily users can expect to develop schizophrenia if they don't quit," Dr. Christine Miller, an expert on psychotic disorders, told me.
But quitting THC products of that potency is "almost impossible," Stuyt said, comparing its addictive power to tobacco. The days of marijuana addiction being merely "psychological" are over. "There is a definite withdrawal syndrome that includes irritability, anger, anxiety, massive cravings, can't sleep, can't eat," said Stuyt.
And it's even harder because so many users believe it's good for them.
Full Article: How weed became the new OxyContin
02/12/2021
Cannabis products may help treat symptoms of depression, improve sleep, and increase quality of life, study suggests
A longitudinal study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry investigated the effects of medicinal cannabis among clinically depressed and/or anxious patients. Those who were using medicinal cannabis at baseline had lower depression scores than non-users, and non-users who began taking cannabis during the follow-up period experienced a reduction in both anxiety and depression symptoms.
Anxiety and depression are of the most common mental health conditions around the world. While there are existing therapeutic and pharmacological treatments, evidence suggests that many sufferers fail to seek help and are wary of the side effects of taking medication.
Study authors Erin L. Martin and her colleagues note that many people with anxiety and depression are turning to medicinal cannabis as a way to manage their symptoms. These products can be made predominantly of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), or equal amounts of both. Studies investigating the therapeutic effects of these products have shown promise but have yielded mixed results, and the ideal dosage remains unclear.
Anxiety and depression are of the most common mental health conditions around the world. While there are existing therapeutic and pharmacological treatments, evidence suggests that many sufferers fail to seek help and are wary of the side effects of taking medication.
Study authors Erin L. Martin and her colleagues note that many people with anxiety and depression are turning to medicinal cannabis as a way to manage their symptoms. These products can be made predominantly of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), or equal amounts of both. Studies investigating the therapeutic effects of these products have shown promise but have yielded mixed results, and the ideal dosage remains unclear.
22/10/2020
CBD appears to reduce the "cytokine storm"
CBD helps reduce lung damage from COVID
One way CBD appears to reduce the "cytokine storm" that damages the lungs and kills many patients with COVID-19 is by enabling an increase in levels of a natural peptide called apelin, which is known to reduce inflammation and whose levels are dramatically reduced in the face of this storm.
They reported this summer in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research that treatment with CBD reduced excessive lung inflammation, enabling improvements in lung function, heathier oxygen levels, and repair of some of the structural damage to the lungs that are classic with ARDS. The investigators said then more work was needed, including finding how CBD produced the significant changes as well as human trials, before it should be included as part of a treatment regimen for COVID-19.
Now they have correlated those improvements with regulation of apelin. While they don't attribute all CBD's benefits to apelin, they say the peptide clearly has an important role in this scenario. They also don't yet know whether the novel coronavirus, or CBD for that matter, have a direct effect on apelin, or if these are downstream consequences, but they are already pursuing answers to those unknowns.
https://www.sott.net/article/443114-CBD-helps-reduce-lung-damage-from-COVID
They reported this summer in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research that treatment with CBD reduced excessive lung inflammation, enabling improvements in lung function, heathier oxygen levels, and repair of some of the structural damage to the lungs that are classic with ARDS. The investigators said then more work was needed, including finding how CBD produced the significant changes as well as human trials, before it should be included as part of a treatment regimen for COVID-19.
Now they have correlated those improvements with regulation of apelin. While they don't attribute all CBD's benefits to apelin, they say the peptide clearly has an important role in this scenario. They also don't yet know whether the novel coronavirus, or CBD for that matter, have a direct effect on apelin, or if these are downstream consequences, but they are already pursuing answers to those unknowns.
https://www.sott.net/article/443114-CBD-helps-reduce-lung-damage-from-COVID
15/08/2020
CBD increases blood flow in regions of the brain linked to memory
A new study, led by researchers from University College London, is offering some of the first robust evidence showing how cannabidiol (CBD), a key compound in cannabis, increases cerebral blood flow in memory processing regions of the brain such as the hippocampus.
CBD is just one of more than 100 different cannabinoids found in cannabis. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the compound most often associated with the plant’s psychoactive euphoric effects. CBD on the other hand is increasingly being found to confer a number of positive health outcomes. It recently became the first cannabis-derived compound ever approved by the FDA, used to reduce seizures in severe forms of epilepsy.
“There is evidence that CBD may help reduce symptoms of psychosis and anxiety,” says lead author on the new study, Michael Bloomfield. “There is some evidence to suggest that CBD may improve memory function. Additionally, CBD changes how the brain processes emotional memories, which could help to explain its reputed therapeutic effects in PTSD and other psychiatric disorders. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the effects of CBD on memory are unclear.”
CBD is just one of more than 100 different cannabinoids found in cannabis. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the compound most often associated with the plant’s psychoactive euphoric effects. CBD on the other hand is increasingly being found to confer a number of positive health outcomes. It recently became the first cannabis-derived compound ever approved by the FDA, used to reduce seizures in severe forms of epilepsy.
“There is evidence that CBD may help reduce symptoms of psychosis and anxiety,” says lead author on the new study, Michael Bloomfield. “There is some evidence to suggest that CBD may improve memory function. Additionally, CBD changes how the brain processes emotional memories, which could help to explain its reputed therapeutic effects in PTSD and other psychiatric disorders. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the effects of CBD on memory are unclear.”
14/07/2020
New research finds CBD reduces severe lung inflammation associated with Covid-19
New research finds CBD reduces severe lung inflammation associated with Covid-19
Researchers at the University of Nebraska and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute have recently published a peer-reviewed article suggesting that CBD could be included in the treatment regimen for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Researchers say that both THC and CBD appear to reduce the severe lung inflammation associated with the virus.
"Unlike THC, CBD has a high margin of safety and is well tolerated pharmacologically even after treatments of up to 1500 mg/day for two weeks in both animals and humans, which suggests its feasibility to reduce SARS-CoV2 induced lung inflammation/pathology and disease severity," the article said.
The article also suggested that CBD could also help with the psychological stress that comes after a fight with something like the coronavirus.
Researchers at the University of Nebraska and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute have recently published a peer-reviewed article suggesting that CBD could be included in the treatment regimen for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Researchers say that both THC and CBD appear to reduce the severe lung inflammation associated with the virus.
The article also suggested that CBD could also help with the psychological stress that comes after a fight with something like the coronavirus.
30/11/2019
New therapeutic opportunities from an ancient herb: the benefits of CBD oil
New therapeutic opportunities from an ancient herb: A detailed list of the benefits of CBD oil
The non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant is actually one of the most beneficial health supplements to become available to the masses in recent history. We're talking about CBD oil, or cannabidiol oil, which is an extract from the hemp plant containing a cannabinoid that research has found to have an wide array of health benefits. In fact, it has been proven to be so effective with certain health issues that some have been touting it as a miracle in oil form. This oil can be safely consumed by both children and adults as part of a daily diet.
Based on the scientific research done on CBD, we have put together a very comprehensive and detailed list of the amazing benefits of using CBD oil as a daily supplement.
What Exactly is CBD Oil?
There are over 500 compounds in the cannabis plant, around 100 are cannabinoids and over 125 are terpenes (fragrant oils that give cannabis its aromatic diversity). Many of these chemicals have been discovered to have some sort of therapeutic value. One of those 100+ cannabinoids is cannabidiol. Interestingly, our bodies have cannabinoid receptors all over. Until recently, the only cannabinoid most people had heard about was tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound found in the flowers of the cannabis plant. Although THC can be found in very high concentrations in this very well-known plant, so is CBD, which is non-psychoactive (it doesn't get you high). In the plant, CBD is a precursor and CBN a metabolite of THC. As cannabis gets older, THC gradually breaks down to CBN.
33 Reasons Why CBD Oil is Amazing for Your Health
The non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant is actually one of the most beneficial health supplements to become available to the masses in recent history. We're talking about CBD oil, or cannabidiol oil, which is an extract from the hemp plant containing a cannabinoid that research has found to have an wide array of health benefits. In fact, it has been proven to be so effective with certain health issues that some have been touting it as a miracle in oil form. This oil can be safely consumed by both children and adults as part of a daily diet.
Based on the scientific research done on CBD, we have put together a very comprehensive and detailed list of the amazing benefits of using CBD oil as a daily supplement.
What Exactly is CBD Oil?
There are over 500 compounds in the cannabis plant, around 100 are cannabinoids and over 125 are terpenes (fragrant oils that give cannabis its aromatic diversity). Many of these chemicals have been discovered to have some sort of therapeutic value. One of those 100+ cannabinoids is cannabidiol. Interestingly, our bodies have cannabinoid receptors all over. Until recently, the only cannabinoid most people had heard about was tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound found in the flowers of the cannabis plant. Although THC can be found in very high concentrations in this very well-known plant, so is CBD, which is non-psychoactive (it doesn't get you high). In the plant, CBD is a precursor and CBN a metabolite of THC. As cannabis gets older, THC gradually breaks down to CBN.
31/07/2019
How The Cannabis Plant Produces Its Super-Strength, Pain-Killing Compounds
For the first time, scientists have discovered how the cannabis plant produces molecules that are highly effective at tackling pain. The team behind the research hope their findings might one day help us create new painkillers that come without the troublesome side effect of potential addiction.
The team, based at the University of Guelph, used a combination of genomics and biochemistry to work out how the cannabis plant makes cannflavin A and cannflavin B, two molecules that are 30 times better at quelling inflammation than aspirin.
The team, based at the University of Guelph, used a combination of genomics and biochemistry to work out how the cannabis plant makes cannflavin A and cannflavin B, two molecules that are 30 times better at quelling inflammation than aspirin.
02/04/2019
More than just THC: Pharmacologist looks at the untapped healing compounds of Marijuana
More than just THC: Pharmacologist looks at the untapped healing compounds of Marijuana
What are cannabinoids?
New research is revealing that marijuana is more than just a source of cannabinoids, chemicals that may bind to cannabinoid receptors in our brains, which are used to get high. The most well-known is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Marijuana is a particularly rich source of medicinal compounds that we have only begun to explore. In order to harness the full potential of the compounds in this plant, society needs to overcome misconceptions about marijuana and look at what research clearly says about the medical value.
What are cannabinoids?
New research is revealing that marijuana is more than just a source of cannabinoids, chemicals that may bind to cannabinoid receptors in our brains, which are used to get high. The most well-known is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Marijuana is a particularly rich source of medicinal compounds that we have only begun to explore. In order to harness the full potential of the compounds in this plant, society needs to overcome misconceptions about marijuana and look at what research clearly says about the medical value.
07/02/2019
Everything you need to know about CBD
Everything you need to know about CBD:
As more people seek natural remedies for health problems - and as more states legalize medical marijuana - interest in cannabidiol (commonly known as "CBD") is growing.
It's about time, because CBD is a fascinating compound that has tremendous therapeutic value.
The list of health concerns and conditions CBD has been shown to benefit include:
As more people seek natural remedies for health problems - and as more states legalize medical marijuana - interest in cannabidiol (commonly known as "CBD") is growing.
It's about time, because CBD is a fascinating compound that has tremendous therapeutic value.
The list of health concerns and conditions CBD has been shown to benefit include:
Chronic pain and inflammation
Arthritis (including rheumatoid and psoriatic)
Epileptic seizures
Neuropathic pain (as seen in conditions like multiple sclerosis)
Anxiety
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Cancer (see here, here, here, and here)
Serious neurological conditions including Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's
Diabetes (see here and here)
Cardiovascular protection
Unfortunately, decades of disinformation and outright lies about the cannabis plant have led many to believe that marijuana and hemp are dangerous and have no medicinal value.
Arthritis (including rheumatoid and psoriatic)
Epileptic seizures
Neuropathic pain (as seen in conditions like multiple sclerosis)
Anxiety
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Cancer (see here, here, here, and here)
Serious neurological conditions including Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's
Diabetes (see here and here)
Cardiovascular protection
Unfortunately, decades of disinformation and outright lies about the cannabis plant have led many to believe that marijuana and hemp are dangerous and have no medicinal value.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.
Thankfully, a growing body of research is revealing the abundant benefits of the cannabis plant.
Let's explore those benefits, but first - let's talk about what CBD is and what it does in the body.
What is CBD?
Thankfully, a growing body of research is revealing the abundant benefits of the cannabis plant.
Let's explore those benefits, but first - let's talk about what CBD is and what it does in the body.
What is CBD?
02/02/2019
20/08/2018
Foods with healing cannabinoids
You can still benefit from the same cannabinoids that give the cannabis plant its medicinal properties, without consuming cannabis. There are several foods rich in cannabinoids that benefit the body's endocannabinoid system. This system is responsible for helping the body maintain internal balance, also called homeostasis.
Foods that support the function of the endocannabinoid system are pivotal to overall health and well-being. Here are five foods that contain healing cannabinoids and offer therapeutic benefits similar to cannabis.
Foods with healing cannabinoids
Through direct and indirect actions, endocannabinoids are known to influence a wide range of physiological systems, including appetite, pain sensation, inflammation, temperature regulation, intra-ocular pressure, muscle control, energy balance, metabolism, sleep health, stress responses, motivation, mood, and memory. Together, this biological system of lipid mediators, proteins and receptors can be referred to as the 'endocannabidiome.'
Foods that support the function of the endocannabinoid system are pivotal to overall health and well-being. Here are five foods that contain healing cannabinoids and offer therapeutic benefits similar to cannabis.
Foods with healing cannabinoids
Through direct and indirect actions, endocannabinoids are known to influence a wide range of physiological systems, including appetite, pain sensation, inflammation, temperature regulation, intra-ocular pressure, muscle control, energy balance, metabolism, sleep health, stress responses, motivation, mood, and memory. Together, this biological system of lipid mediators, proteins and receptors can be referred to as the 'endocannabidiome.'
27/04/2018
Evidence shows ancient Mesopotamians may have used opium and cannabis as medicine and in their rituals
For as long as there has been civilization, there have been mind-altering drugs. Alcohol was fermented at least 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, about the same time that agriculture took hold there. Elsewhere, for example in Mesoamerica, other psychoactive drugs were an important part of culture. But the ancient Near East had seemed curiously drug-free-until recently.
Now, new techniques for analyzing residues in excavated jars and identifying tiny amounts of plant material suggest that ancient Near Easterners indulged in a range of psychoactive substances. Recent advances in identifying traces of organic fats, waxes, and resins invisible to the eye have allowed scientists to pinpoint the presence of various substances with a degree of accuracy unthinkable a decade or two ago.
For example, "hard scientific evidence" shows that ancient people extracted opium from poppies, says David Collard, senior archaeologist at Jacobs, an engineering firm in Melbourne, Australia, who found signs of ritual opium use on Cyprus dating back more than 3000 years. By then, drugs like cannabis had arrived in Mesopotamia, while people from Turkey to Egypt experimented with local substances such as blue water lily.
Evidence shows ancient Mesopotamians may have used opium and cannabis as medicine and in their rituals -- Secret History
Now, new techniques for analyzing residues in excavated jars and identifying tiny amounts of plant material suggest that ancient Near Easterners indulged in a range of psychoactive substances. Recent advances in identifying traces of organic fats, waxes, and resins invisible to the eye have allowed scientists to pinpoint the presence of various substances with a degree of accuracy unthinkable a decade or two ago.
For example, "hard scientific evidence" shows that ancient people extracted opium from poppies, says David Collard, senior archaeologist at Jacobs, an engineering firm in Melbourne, Australia, who found signs of ritual opium use on Cyprus dating back more than 3000 years. By then, drugs like cannabis had arrived in Mesopotamia, while people from Turkey to Egypt experimented with local substances such as blue water lily.
Evidence shows ancient Mesopotamians may have used opium and cannabis as medicine and in their rituals -- Secret History
28/02/2018
Altered States of Entrapment: The Plant Medicine Manipulation - The Dark Side of Aya
Medicine plants are not a magic pill that miraculously heal all wounding and trauma, even though they can be of assistance in revealing what needs to be healed and processed (and can also be beneficial when dealing with intense addiction issues).
The deception – or rather, the misperception – my friend and I (and many others) have realized in respect to ‘plant therapy’ is similar to that which arises when one “intellectually” knows (or even “feels”) their issues, but has failed to work through them on an embodied level.
My friend had an interesting insight about this point: looking back, she felt that, during her ayahuasca ceremonies, the wounds opened up and “projected” all of her “stuff” and shadow aspects into her awareness. That experience – combined with the euphoria/bliss/ecstasy of getting “high” (based on the medicine/drug induced DMT rush) – can transmit the idea that a deep healing has occurred…a perception that can last for weeks or even months. Hence, many people keep going back to work with medicine plants when they feel “stuff” resurfacing, in order to have that “peak” experience again and again.
The deception – or rather, the misperception – my friend and I (and many others) have realized in respect to ‘plant therapy’ is similar to that which arises when one “intellectually” knows (or even “feels”) their issues, but has failed to work through them on an embodied level.
My friend had an interesting insight about this point: looking back, she felt that, during her ayahuasca ceremonies, the wounds opened up and “projected” all of her “stuff” and shadow aspects into her awareness. That experience – combined with the euphoria/bliss/ecstasy of getting “high” (based on the medicine/drug induced DMT rush) – can transmit the idea that a deep healing has occurred…a perception that can last for weeks or even months. Hence, many people keep going back to work with medicine plants when they feel “stuff” resurfacing, in order to have that “peak” experience again and again.
24/02/2018
17/01/2018
The long-term consequences of cannabis use on the brain - study
The long-term consequences of cannabis use on the brain
Study reveals how long-term marijuana use affects the brain's structure and function.
Regular marijuana users have increased connectivity in their brains, despite having some gray matter loss in areas related to addiction, a study finds.
Study reveals how long-term marijuana use affects the brain's structure and function.
Regular marijuana users have increased connectivity in their brains, despite having some gray matter loss in areas related to addiction, a study finds.
05/05/2015
Depriving the emotional centre of its proper energy?
THC, in my experience, moves fine energies to the intellectual and instinctive centres and away from the emotional and moving centres. effect on the creative impulse was neutral.
upsides - perceptions were more vivid. thinking used more of available knowledge base and was more discerning. downsides - emotions and movement were most likely to be experienced intellectually and instinctively. true emotional drive was dampened, i tended to recede into my mind, interaction with outer world was reduced.
for me, the substance was useful for putting together the pieces, so to speak, and for conceiving of what would be appropriate to do, but was ultimately unproductive in that it lead to no real doing, and in certain ways, prevented it.
there is a tendency among those who wish to see differently to dabble, and i cannot recommend one way or the other as it is a personal choice. although i know the positive effects are attainable without chemical assistance. whats more, in light of the Mouravieff material, depriving the emotional centre of its proper energy would seem to have serious negative consequences in terms of esoteric development.
this is my experience, for your perusal. and, as always, its subject and open to change.
upsides - perceptions were more vivid. thinking used more of available knowledge base and was more discerning. downsides - emotions and movement were most likely to be experienced intellectually and instinctively. true emotional drive was dampened, i tended to recede into my mind, interaction with outer world was reduced.
for me, the substance was useful for putting together the pieces, so to speak, and for conceiving of what would be appropriate to do, but was ultimately unproductive in that it lead to no real doing, and in certain ways, prevented it.
there is a tendency among those who wish to see differently to dabble, and i cannot recommend one way or the other as it is a personal choice. although i know the positive effects are attainable without chemical assistance. whats more, in light of the Mouravieff material, depriving the emotional centre of its proper energy would seem to have serious negative consequences in terms of esoteric development.
this is my experience, for your perusal. and, as always, its subject and open to change.
Birdman on cassiopaea.org/forum smoking is good?
03/09/2009
extra-sensory
I am more aware of projection now, the projecting of personal traits onto others and yet at the same time I am also more clear-cut with perceptions. It would often be the case that I would perceive something but linger too long and absorb some of the emotions, I would also translate and internalize other people’s problems and lifestyles believing them to somehow be my own.
Really I made them my own but detached later.
Now I have perceptions and insights but I can separate easier, less absorption, less confusion, less comparisons. Marijuana can have something to do with the heightened perception but also with the intake of vibrations. The fact is that subtle matter can linger in the aura and weaken it or provide a boost and strengthen the aura, allowing expansion.
Be aware, know when enough is enough.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)