Marijuana Blog

Tennessee might join other states that have removed hemp prohibition at the state level, at least that’s what one Tennessee Senator wants to see happen. Tennessee Senator Frank Niceley, a Republican from Strawberry Fields, says he is drafting a bill that legalize hemp production in Kentucky. Hemp is a crop that farmers nationwide would love to grow, especially in Tennessee. Hemp can be used to make plastics, insulation, paper, foods, clothes, and many, many other things.

 

The biggest hurdle facing hemp legalization in Tennessee is the fact that politicians don’t realize that hemp is not the same as marijuana.

 

“Their biggest fear is that, if they support hemp, people will think they support marijuana,” Niceley said, according to The Tennessean. “That’s a cousin of hemp, but cornbread is a cousin of moonshine.”

 

Hemp prohibition provides no benefit to anyone. A person can’t get high from hemp, so any money that is spent enforcing hemp prohibition is wasted. And even if one farmer can make one dollar from hemp production, considering it doesn’t harm anyone, they should be allowed to do so. To say otherwise would be bad public policy…Que the quote from reefer madness supporter Jon Lundberg, a Tennessee Representative from Bristol:

 

“On occasion, Sen. Niceley does things for political reasons more than for good policy,” Lund­berg said, according to The Tennessean. Mr. Lundberg, can you please explain how supporting farmers who want to grow hemp is not ‘good policy?’ It’s pretty obvious who is doing things for political reasons.

 

Source: http://www.theweedblog.com

Since California has been at the head of marijuana pioneering for so long, it's easy to forget that marijuana isn't actually legal there. F or medical purposes, yes. But the laws are so lax that the plant might as well be allowed for everyone. I'm sure that I was not the only one surprised to see that Colorado and Washington, not to mention Portland, Maine, legalize before California. Either way, this sunny state i pushing for legalization in 2016.

 

According to polls, more than half of the California population backs legalization of marijuana. No surprise, since most people there are smoking anyways, whether or not they have a serious medical condition. But let's be honest, life is just nicer when you're smoking. Am I right? From serious afflictions like cancer to anxiety, everyone could use a little marijuana now and then.

 

Lawmakers and politicians are saying that the legalization is only a matter of time. Since the allowance of medical marijuana in California is 1996, the annual tax revenue has climbed upwards of $100 million. That's a crazy amount of money for the state. It's not surprising that everyone in California seems so happy. While marijuana legalization isn't expected to pass in 2014, people are convinced it will in 2016. It's not a matter of if but a matter of when. It'll happen eventually. Go California!

Many people assume that marijuana and munchies go hand in hand. Not anymore, it seems. Although marijuana makes people hungry, not only are stoners trying to be more appetite conscious but there are new (and old) studies being released showing that marijuana might be keeping stoners slim. So perhaps stoners like snacks but their cannabis usage is actually helping to keep them slim. Not only that but the plant actually lowers the risk of diabetes in stoners.

 

Marijuana can prevent people from being diagnosed with diabetes. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that cannabis users had fasting insulin levels that were 16% lower than people who were not regular smokers. The stoners also had a 17% drop in a different measure of insulin resistance. Both of these tests are used by doctors to diagnose Type II diabetes if the levels of these tests are too high. The smokers in this survey also seemed to have higher levels of lipoprotein, the "good" cholesterol, which can protect people from heart disease. Add in the fact that the results showed regulars marijuana users had an average 1.5 inches smaller than people who had quit smoking marijuana or have never smoked it.

 

There isn't a whole lot of research from solid scientific sources on this topic. The survey stated above was based on reported marijuana use from the users themselves, which can possible be unreliable. However, since marijuana is mostly still illegal, those that reported their marijuana use seemed to be somewhat truthful and may have even held back slightly, so the effects of the plant may be underrated. Whatever the case, marijuana could be a great way to prevent diabetes, if these tests can be redone and studied more carefully.

 

Marijuana is beginning to really show it's true colors for what it is; a miracle cure and preventer. To have the knowledge that this medicine exists and we're not utilizing it is so sad. More people begin to come forward and say that marijuana helps them, whether it's with cancer, epilepsy, diabetes, and everything else that's out there. Once the ball really gets rolling in Colorado and Washington, we should begin to see more scientific information being released, regarding what cannabis can help us with.