Agreed. Superb response. Hopefully Australia will follow suit sooner rather than later. I'll be in both Boulder, CO & Pasadena, CA latter in the year. If I manage to find a day or two up my sleeve I may well investigate further. For science. It is frustrating. Though I support Ray's decision to disable said feature, as members were not only editing grammatical errors & codes, but altering their points & arguments completely, thus rendering many threads & conversations incoherent. On the flip side, disabling said feature encourages members such as myself who do their best proofreading after they've hit send to up their game *chuckles
One of the reasons I do not smoke cannabis is because if I get stoned I may end up in my SIL's bedroom and that would be a game changer since her one and only child already calls me Daddy!
This is a very interesting thread. The same thread was posted by Carribeans and there was not controversies nor was there aggressive attacks on others opinion. I am not the owner of this forum, but when I see that a persons OPINIONS are being, let's say bashed, it causes me concern. I would not like to see this thread locked down. Differing points of view, in my opinion, are one of the things that make this forum so informative. Also, when one or more people have made a considerate contribution here, I don't see why they should be disrespected. As for me, the last time I tried weed to alleviate my symptoms, it brought on one of the most violent episodes I have ever experienced accompanied by a panic attack. I now know this is not something that I would ever try again. That may be due to the fact that was an infrequent use to weed and I have not built up a tolerance for this drug. Make no mistake about it, weed is a drug. It is illegal in my state to use it recreationally and street declares can't be trusted to provide a product that has not been tainted with other substances. For that matter, I cannot understand how medical weed can be tailored to fit individual illnesses. That in itself makes me leary. Let's keep this thread civil or I will report it. No one person should feel their opinions are under attack.
The word you are looking for is cannabis. Cannabis is a drug... Weeds are those things that ruin my lawn. Although I suppose I would be quite happy, as would the rest of the neighborhood most likely, if my lawn was made of cannabis. That would be cool.
The poor man's way of doing this is to mix 2 different strains and smoke/vap them at the same time. I've been doing this lately with a high CBD strain and some high THC stuff. The ratio of how you mix them is where it's at. Different quantities of each provide quite unique effects. Totally negates all the negative effects of doing a high thc strain all by itself. I don't get nauseated or dizzy from it anymore. Creating your own medicine isn't that complicated from what I understand. You start by taking properties of different strains you want and crossing them. The resulting new strains are then evaluated(either subjectively by smoking it or objectively by having a lab test it) based on relevant criteria for the combined properties you are looking for and the best selected to move on to the next generation. Repeat till you get the results you are looking for. It just takes time. I do something similar in software engineering sometimes. When I am working on a complex problem with many variables, you can sometimes use a genetic algorithm. You create a population of participants and randomly populate them and an evaluation function to determine how effective they are at solving the problem at hand. The best of the population are selected and bread, the rest are discarded, and the new children slightly mutated from the combined DNA of their parents to provide new or unexpected behaviors. Over many iterations of breeding, optimized and often workable solution emerge. It's how breeding of all kinds(animals and plants) has been done for a long time.
"Cannabis"... is not a street name. It is the prefix of the plant's true name, cannabis sativa or cannabis indica. That's why I mentioned it. If we're going to have an honest conversation about it based on reality, then using propaganda based names for it doesn't really help the discussion.
Properly, the Latin, scientific names are Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. First letter (of the genus name) capitalized. Lower case first letter of the specific epithet, the second name. Both in italics. --John of Ohio
Then the title of this entire thread is spelled wrong, I have been reading newspaper articles about pot and they call it weed as well. States are suing Colorado, the Governor of Colorado regrets making pot legal, Colorado made it partially illegal again by HOA's banning home growing of weed etc etc. In all these articles they referred to it as pot, weed, marijuana.
Vicki: you are correct, the title of the thread is spelled wrong. Rick corrected that by providing the actual scientific names. Rick, you left out Cannabis Ruderalis, or more commonly known as "Ditch Weed", or HEMP. There are still many places in the US where Ruderalis grows wild, mostly leftovers from when the Gov't required farmers to grow it during the world wars. Specific to this thread, I have been a Medical Cannabis patient since 2007, and have worked with hundreds of sick and terminal individuals to improve the quality of their life. I've personally grown hundreds of plants (legally), developed new strains for specific illnesses, and have taught thousands more how to raise their own medicine. I've worked to educate medical professionals on the benefits of individual strains, and what they might suggest vs. what their patients should avoid. I've also offered testimony in front of several "governing bodies" on the medicinal benefits of Cannabis. In short, I probably know more about Cannabis, it's effects, and how it should, or shouldn't be used than 99% of the members in this forum ever will. Vitolony clearly has some in-depth experience, as well. The use of the term "marihuana" comes from the Mexicans who were bringing it into the US, and also growing it here prior to the Marijuana Tax Act. Slang terms are often applied to Cannabis, and it's been that way since the beginning. Cannabis is not a "weed" in the strict sense of the word. It requires male and female plants in order to reproduce. The rest of the nicknames, such as Pot, Herb, Bud, Ganja, Hemp, Chit...ad nauseum, are generally associated with recreational use. BumbleBea: I don't believe opinions are being "bashed", but perhaps disagreed with. An "opinion" is often based on hearsay and personal feelings, and not facts. When we are discussing a medicinal substance, I always found it best to provide facts so that errant opinions can be corrected to reflect reality. Opinions are great things, provided they are based on fact and not innuendo or misplaced fear. Mike
Mike, I think part of the confusion in this thread is it doesn't seem like all posts were referring just to medical marijuana, or at least that is how it read to me.
I'm sorry you had that experience. But again, it may just have been a particular strain that didn't suit you. To equate that experience with all marijuana is like saying that I won't try codeine because aspirin didn't work. Lots of people have bad panic attacks because they are not used to the euphoric high that high THC levels can produce. That's why informed users seek out the strains that target the illness without the other side effects.
Properly, it's Cannibus ruderalis. Specific epithets, the second name in bionomial nomenclature, are not capitalized. The entire name is italicized. Accepted biological convention. --John of Ohio
There is no real difference between cannabis and medical cannabis. Same same. They are just grown for different purposes. It's not like "medical marijuana" doesn't result in being mentally altered in some way, even ways that are significant. You can also get the most typical recreational strains from medical dispensaries. At least, you can here. One of the great ironies about people who have problems with "drug" use, is that they cannot see that their own behaviors are IDENTICAL to that of the people they would condemn or discourage from such a way of life. Do you ever eat sugar? Did you know that sugar activates the brain in ways that are very similar to... heroine, I believe it was. Or maybe it was cocaine. I don't remember which. Sugar also displays characteristics remarkably similar to addiction. Problems with discontinuing use, decreasing return from use, overuse and indeed SEVERE health problems from overuse, ie. heart disease and or diabetes. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone and all that. Peace, brothers and sisters. We need not hate each other because we are different.
Maybe if I explained myself a little better, my point of view would make a bit more sense. My cannabis use is actually very young. I vaped my first bud somewhere in April I think. Ironically, that was around the same time I had my last significant vertigo attack. So cannabis has been instrumental in me regaining control of my life. It is very possible, that without it, I would not be here to speak on the subject. I was close to punching my own ticket. But that is not all the plant has done for me. In the last 3-4 months of my life, I have experienced a once in a lifetime amelioration of a host of different conditions and or situations. 1. Meneire's disease. Cannabis gave me back control of my life. I would smoke for the rest of my life just based on this alone. Yet that isn't all cannabis has done for me. Not by a long shot. 2. Environmental allergies. I have lived in Colorado since 2001. A week after I moved here, my nose started running. It hasn't stopped since. It was in fact what precipitated my first meniere's attacks. I have done almost everything medical science could do for me yet I still suffer. Since starting to use cannabis frequently, my environmental allergies are gone. Zip. Done. Other than the damage that was done to my sinuses over the last 15 years of my life, my sinuses are like they were when I was a teenager. Clear. I can breath again. 3. I have tourettes and aspergers. A very common co-morbid reality for people on the spectrum is anxiety. It is my constant companion. I frequently DO NOT understand how a normal person thinks. My brain is churning on things 100% of the time. It doesn't have an off switch. I don't really have the capacity to relax and truly allow my mind to rest. Since starting to use cannabis, I have found an inner quiet that allows me to see the beauty of everyday life. 4. I have been asking spiritual questions over the last 4-5 years of my life related to the whole of my life that were resulting in almost as much depression and anxiety as my meniere's disease was. Why depression? Because I could not find the answers I needed. My constantly busy brain was never quiet enough to hear what God had to say about my questions. In the quiet of my evenings now, I have long and in depth conversations with God and I have clarity about life... for the first time in my life. And not just because I am high, but because I understand myself and my life in ways I never had before. 5. An unfortunate consequence of my aspergers and anxiety, is that ordinary everyday life just frustrates me and makes me angry. I am difficult to be around. I love my wife and children, but I am not the best husband or father because the simple every day pleasures of living life do not give me joy. I'll tell a short story to illustrate. One night, I came home from work, about 3-4 weeks ago. I was feeling off balance and half nauseated, as I often do. I felt angry. I felt depressed. My daughters were running around the house playing, and their noise was burrowing into my brain and making the whole thing worse. I knew right then and there I had to do something about it so I went upstairs, did my thing and came back down. My mind began slowing down and I found that calm center. I walked into the kitchen, the curtains were open and the sunlight was streaming through the window. My daughter laughed again and the sound of her laughter sparked a moment of realization. This moment... was sublime. Dinner almost ready, my wife and daughters there enjoying each other's company, beautiful summer sunshine streaming through the window. These are the moments life is made of. And I miss them, ALL OF THEM, in my normal, everyday frame of mind. I am the greatest of paupers because my normal mind just does not work they way it should. I cannot see the beauty of simple things. These things are not things medical science has solutions for. I've freaking tried them all. I simply live a harsh, angry existence. The drugs they give me for depression and anxiety make my ticks from tourettes worse. And so even though I feel better, I end up feeling worse because my face freaking hurts from all the damn ticks. The drugs they give me for allergies just don't work. The drugs they give me for meniere's don't work(except the anti-virals). Cannabis has allowed me to become a member of the human race for the first time in my life. Yeah, I'm gonna smoke that shit till the day I die. And that day... the day I die, I will have peace of mind that I have lived and loved to the best of my ability. And this beautiful flower gave me that.
Admin Post I've removed some argumentative posts and issued a three day "time out" ban to those involved. Please stay on topic and remember this is not a debate forum. Thanks.