[dope-head speaks] marijuana is not safe

Fascinating article by a dope-head in a national newspaper, abridged here:

For close to 20 years I inhaled leaf, tip, buds, bush heads, hydro, chocolate buddha, sinsemilla, Mexican dirt weed, power skunk, Maui wowie, black hash, brown hash, green hash, hash oil, the putty out of downpipes, I've even ground up seeds and stems and smoked them.

I've grown it, stolen in, given it away, traded it for a wetsuit, even pretended it was parsley when selling it.

So, please don't tell me I'm anti-dope; I just reckon it's time that people, in an attempt to sound enlightened, stop telling the world that marijuana is harmless, when anyone who's been around it for long enough knows that's not true ...

I dunno whether you've ever heard voices after taking drugs but I have, several times, and it used to be what I paid good money for. The problem was, as my drug career deepened and lengthened, those pesky head noises would appear after just one cone of hydro; and there's the rub.

Hydro, or hydroponically-grown marijuana is everywhere nowadays; it's the dope of choice for younger smokers, because nothing else delivers the punch and the value for money.

If you've ever seen a hydro set-up, you'll know they get hot and humid and are a magnet for every type of bug and insect within a kilometre; which is why a lot of growers hit their plants with a cocktail of pesticides and fungicides that make Agent Orange look like Ventolin.

This means the plants, and the buds kids smoke, are also chock full of those pesticides, as well as fertilisers chosen by growers whose knowledge of chemicals and their effect on the human brain is limited to "this shit hammers you".

My generation is the first to have had a widespread and prolonged exposure to hydro and as we get older, I can tell you, the human wreckage isn't pretty.

The link between marijuana use and mental problems has been written about many times before, but there's still a persistent mindset among a lot of younger users I talk to that dope is natural, "it's a herb" and it's "better for you than tobacco", which is just not the case with hydro.

The problem with writing something like this is it's only the people who've been there and smoked it who really understand; a 14-year-old just getting into mulling isn't gonna take notice of a term as prosaic as "mental health".

Yes, choofin' can be a lot of fun, you'll get no argument from me, but if you're going to have the odd joint or cone, stick with naturally grown weed - and stop when the voices start.

It was always the case that it was what they cut it with, in the case of acid and the like and in the case of grass, it was what how they'd grown it - the chemicals they'd sprayed it with.

As for mental illness, my eccentricity might simply be down to just too much tea. You have to watch that darjeeling - it's dangerous stuff.

[hot dog] there's death in that there food

There are studies coming out left, right and centre and researchers need to justify their research grants. Still, there might be something in this one:

A US study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, examines the link between frequent consumption of cured meats and impaired lung function in terms of the increased odds of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Other studies, mostly on animals, have shown a link between nitrite consumption and reduced lung function.

Nitrites are added to cured meat such as bacon, hot dogs and cured ham as preservative, colour or as anti-bacterial agents. They are thought to generate reactive nitrogen species in the body -- molecules that cause structural damage to lung tissue, in a similar way to emphysema.

The results showed that, even after adjusting for smoking, diet, age and other factors:

-- The more cured meat they ate, the poorer the participants' lung function.

-- Those who consumed cured meat 14 times a month were 78 per cent more likely to have COPD than those who ate none or very little.

Critics of the study say that cured meat no longer contains the levels of nitrites that were present ten or twenty years ago, and therefore these results do not reflect today's situation. There are other sources of nitrites in the average diet, where only about 5 per cent comes from cured meat, they say.

Dr Jiang and colleagues did find that participants who ate the most cured meat were also more likely to smoke, be male, and of lower socio-economic status. They were also more likely to consume more calories, and eat less fresh fruit and vegetables.

According to the US National Library of Medicine, the leading cause of COPD is smoking, and 15 to 20 per cent of long term smokers develop the condition.

So actually, the other factors are the ones to watch. On the other hand, maybe it's time, after all, to give up the proscuttio and cured ham.

The British Economy

Great post here by Martin Kelly, often found residing at the Devil's Kitchen, on Britain's economy summarized:

Inflation - up.

Factory gate inflation - up.

Currency - up.

Trade deficit (or that part of it unaffected by carousel fraud and actually capable of measurement) - up.

Manufacturing - down.

Government debt and deficit - up.

Productivity - down.

Balance of payments - not where it should be.

Never mind, profitability is - up.

Yes, indeed. Britain is booming.

[apologies] eys barely open

Really sorry but a combination of sickness in this town and the 911 and 7/7 discussions last night [12 midnight to 03:20] has taken it out of me and I'll start visiting you tomorrow morning. I know many who visited today. All comments will be commented on too tomorrow morning. The Focus is up and hope you like it. Forgive me, I'm for bed.

[blogfocus tuesday] fair range early in the week

Joules Girls

Fair range this evening and posts were included for interest's sake.

1 Muttering's no Sloane Ranger and yet:

I love getting the new season’s horsy catalogues through the post. Ride Away, Robinson’s and Derby House all bring a smile to my face and a sense of anticipation as I study the sweet, new-smelling pages. The Internet’s all well and good, but there’s nothing like getting to grips with a shiny new catalogue stuffed to the gunwales with things I think I want but can’t afford.

The people who stride across these pages have lives that bear little resemblance to mine. They can wear lemon, lilac and pale blue shirts with alacrity; they can don beige jodhs and breeches on a daily basis without fear. They, it would seem, are never troubled by mud, muck, or dribble.

2 Daily Referendum cracked me up with his last line here:

Twenty-six smoking toilets, and three more on fire, put a Japanese toilet maker in the hot seat today.

Toto Ltd, known for its high-tech toilets with bidets that have blow-drying, air purification and seat-warming functions, apologised to consumers and offered free checks and repairs after some of its toilets with bidets and heated seats sent up smoke and three caught fire.

There have been times when I thought my toilet was on fire.

3 Thank you, Mr Eugenides, for this piece of gratuitous advice:

So what do you do after you neuter your pet? Why, buy a set of Neuticles, of course, to help your pet "to retain his natural look, self esteem" and aid in "the trauma associated with neutering".

Yes, there are photos. There's even a sizing guide, so your pet doesn't end up with bigger balls than before.

4 Matthew Sinclair touches on what justice really means:

Nick Leeson collapsed the Barings Bank by losing £827 million. He lost his job, went to prison for four years in Singapore and won't be managing other people's money any time soon. By contrast, Gordon Brown has lost over twice as much, £2 billion and he's going to be promoted to Prime Minister.

5 Matt thought his life was coming to an end at Purdue:

I was working on some homework last night in my room, when I heard what I could have sworn was an extremely loud explosion (like a bomb being detonated) outside my window. If I had only looked outside, I would have known how right I was. I wish I would've kept today's copy of The Exponent as they mentioned (as the link is outdated in terms of info) that three 20 oz. bottle bombs were found in Cary's courtyard and detonated by Purdue Police's bomb squad.

6 Dizzy writes of incentives and disincentives in producing desired outcomes:

Now personally I've always believed that the use of incentives (pleasure) rather than punitive taxes (pain) will always produce better results in behavioural change, so on the face of it, this sounds like a good idea. However, and there is always an however with any Government and especially this one, there is one slight problem.

If the results of the trial are successful then presumably it would be pushed harder as the route we should all want to take. At some point in the future, when that happens there will come a time when the number of people using such a system will provide the Government with the means to say "we're going to make this compulsory".

7 Deogolwulf reflects on the joy of celebrity over at Highbrow Net:

Given the calibre of modern celebrities, it is best not to mention their names without sober purpose, lest one wantonly add — even in the slightest degree — to the extension and endurance of their fame. In the ancient world, Cato the Elder took such a policy to an absurd length. One can only wonder what he would have said about the kind of celebrity that can be won nowadays simply through a proclivity to chatter like an excitable baboon. I suspect he would have said nothing at all, and just quietly eaten his toga.

8 If you haven't caught up with CityUnslicker's Sunday Business round up, then you're missing some essential reading. I particularly liked this one:

Buy-to-Let will be the first to suffer in housing crash - but when will it start?

Also, don't miss Ellee Seymour's posts on Mental Health and Blindness and Welshcakes' touching post, simply entitled Mum. There are no excerpts here - they have to be read in their entirety.

Hope to see you on Thursday evening.

[old poll down] new one up

Old Poll

Do you think the progressive removal of citizen's freedoms is:

# governmental agenda 63%

# just to counter terrorism 6%

# not happening at all 6%

# a lizard plan to invade earth 25%

# as stated below 0%

16 votes total

The 25% are most astute - how did they know that was the plan?

Comments

To be honest, I was worrying that Dave was not going to show up but he didn't let us down:

Posted by Wolfie on April 16, 2007

If you mean "those space lizards" - then yes, its them. I should know, I dated one.

---

Posted by Dave Petterson on April 16, 2007

I've thought about your comment but I'm afraid I don't see a concerted plan in all this. It's just convenient for each country to do it as it tightens the elite's grip on power. They don't really want foreigners coming in to enforce their agendas as well and interfere. These guys are too selfish and power hungry to share when they don't need too.

---

Posted by James on April 14, 2007

I believe Britain is following EU dictates which are following more global dictates. I think there's almost certainly a plan behind it, e.g. the North American Union idea.

New Poll

Brit interest - if all parliaments fully devolved within a loose sort of union, would this be:

# a good thing

# a bad thing

# no opinion

U.S. interest - would a North American Alliance and open borders:

# solve the border issue

# exacerbate existing problems

# no opinion