The Bulldog, Amsterdam

The Dutch government on Friday said it would start banning tourists from buying cannabis from “coffee shops” and impose restrictions on Dutch customers by the end of the year.

The Netherlands is well known for having one of Europe’s most liberal soft drug policies that has made its cannabis shops a popular tourist attraction, particularly in Amsterdam.

Backed by the far-right party of anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders, the coalition government that came into power last year announced plans to curb drug tourism as part of a nationwide program to promote health and fight crime.

“In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end,” the Dutch health and justice ministers wrote in a letter to the country’s parliament on Friday.

Under the new rules, only Dutch residents will be able to sign up as members of cannabis shops.

Dutch customers will have to sign up for at least a year’s membership and each shop would be expected to have only up to 1,500 members, a justice ministry spokesman said.

The policy will roll out in the southern provinces of Limburg, Noord Brabant and Zeeland by the end of the year and the rest of the country next year, the spokesman said.

Amsterdam, home to about 220 coffee shops, is already in the process of closing some in its red light district. Some officials have resisted the measures, saying they will push the soft drug trade underground.

Some Dutch border towns including Maastricht and Terneuzen have already restricted the sale of marijuana to foreigners.

More than half of British Columbians support the legalization of marijuana, but the prairie provinces are even more pot-friendly, according to a new poll.

In the latest Angus Reid Public Opinion poll on drugs, 50 per cent of Canadians said they want to see marijuana legalized, while 44 per cent oppose decriminalization.

People in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were most likely to want legal pot, with 61 per cent of those polled expressing their support. Fifty-four per cent of British Columbians surveyed said they want to see marijuana legalized.

Albertans were the least likely to support legalizing pot, with only 45 per cent in support.

Only 33 per cent of Canadians said they want to toss the decriminalization legislation introduced by the previous Liberal government. But the majority said they support the federal government’s proposal for a national anti-drug strategy and mandatory minimum jail sentences for grow operators and drug dealers.

Despite the strong support countrywide for legal marijuana, about 90 per cent of Canadians opposed legalizing harder drugs like ecstasy, heroin and cocaine.

Still, about half of respondents said they disagreed with the Conservative government’s efforts to end harm reduction programs like supervised injection sites and needle-exchange programs.

People in B.C. were much more likely than most Canadians to say that the country has a serious drug abuse problem affecting the entire country, with 46 per cent agreeing compared to a national average of 37 per cent.

The results of the latest poll are consistent with similar surveys conducted in April of this year and in May 2008.

The latest survey was conducted online and polled 1,000 randomly selected people. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

What do you think? Should marijuana be legal?

Source

The state of CO is planning a launch of Legalize2012.com, a drive to legalize marijuana for adult use in Colorado — and noted that organizers planned to move forward even if Proposition 19, a similar measure in California, failed at the ballot box — which it did. But advocates Mason Tvert and Brian Vicente, while downcast about the Prop. 19 results, see the opportunity to now cast Colorado in the history-making role.

Shortly after the die was cast last night, Tvert, of Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, aka SAFER, and Vicente, who heads Sensible Colorado, jointly released statements expressing confidence that the Prop. 19 vote won’t doom legalization efforts in Colorado. To the contrary, they suggest that the “no” vote in Cali will energize their push over the next two years.

Here’s their release:

Prop. 19 Loss in California Means Colorado Could Be First State to Legalize Marijuana
State’s largest marijuana reform organizations — SAFER and Sensible Colorado — planning 2012 statewide initiative to make marijuana legal and regulate it like alcohol

Colorado groups not deterred by California results — point to polls that show Coloradans are ready for legalization

DENVER — The state’s two largest marijuana policy reform organizations are not deterred by the results of Proposition 19 in California and will move forward with a similar 2012 statewide ballot initiative in Colorado. Prop. 19 was trailing 56-44 at the time of this release.

Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) and Sensible Colorado are working to place a measure on the 2012 ballot that would remove penalties for adult marijuana use and establish a system of regulation for marijuana similar to that of alcohol.

According to a 9 News/Denver Post poll released last week, 46 percent of likely 2010 voters would support such a measure, while just 43 percent would oppose it. The poll echoes previous and recent internal polls showing support for regulating marijuana around 50 percent among 2010 likely voters.The 2012 electorate should be even more favorably inclined toward supporting such a measure.

“California started the race toward legalization but Colorado is going to finish it,” said Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER, which coordinated the successful citywide marijuana initiatives in Denver in 2005 and 2007, and the statewide marijuana initiative in 2006. “Coloradans are ready to move forward and bring about a safer, more sensible approach to marijuana.

“For too long our government and the Arrest and Prosecution Industry have been playing a game to keep marijuana illegal for adults,” Tvert said. “That game will soon be over — we’re playing to win in 2012.”

SAFER and its close ally, Sensible Colorado, have been working on plans for a 2012 initiative while closely following the fight over Prop. 19 in California this year.

“Over the past five years we have built a large coalition of organizations, elected officials, and citizens across the state,” said Sensible Colorado Executive Director Brian Vicente. “Now that the 2010 election is over we are moving full-steam ahead with a plan to organize, mobilize, and energize our coalition and potential voters throughout Colorado.

“The campaign for legalization in Colorado begins today and will not end until we become the first — or one of the first — in the nation to establish a legal marijuana market for all adults.”

Source

IT certifications - Are you worried about 642-642 prep and 646-205? Check out our latest resources for testking and comptia certification questions for practice with definite guarantee of 000-115.

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This photo was sent to us by reader Ben from Bangor, Maine. This super skunk looks so amazing.

Please feel free to share anything of interest to feedback@iloveweed.net or by using our ‘Contact‘ page. We may post it up!

From Alternet.org

If the upcoming pot legalization ballot in California were decided by hemp farmers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, it would be no contest. For purely economic reasons, if you told the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that the nation they were founding would someday make hemp illegal, they would have laughed you out of the room.

If California legalizes pot, it will save the state millions in avoided legal and imprisonment costs, while raising it millions in taxes.

But with legal marijuana will come legal hemp. That will open up the Golden State to a multi-billion-dollar crop that has been a staple of human agriculture for thousands of years, and that could save the farms of thousands of American families.

Hemp is currently legal in Canada, Germany, Holland, Rumania, Japan and China, among many other countries. It is illegal here largely because of marijuana prohibition. Ask any sane person why HEMP is illegal and you will get a blank stare.

For paper, clothing, textiles, rope, sails, fuel and food, hemp has been a core crop since the founding of ancient China, India and Arabia. Easy to plant, grow and harvest, farmers—including Washington and Jefferson—have sung its praises throughout history. It was the number one or two cash crop on virtually all American family farms from the colonial era on.

If the American Farm Bureaus and Farmers Unions were truly serving their constituents, they would be pushing hard for legal pot so that its far more profitable (but essentially unsmokable) cousin could again bring prosperity to American farmers.

Hemp may be the real reason marijuana is illegal. In the 1930s, the Hearst family set out to protect their vast timber holdings, much of which were being used to make paper.

But hemp produces five times as much paper per acre as do trees. Hemp paper is stronger and easier to make. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper, and one of Benjamin Franklin’s primary paper mills ran on it.

But the Hearsts used their newspapers to incite enough reefer madness to get marijuana banned in 1937. With that ban came complex laws that killed off the growing of hemp. The ecological devastation that’s followed with continued use of trees for paper has been epic.

As canvass, hemp has long been essential for shoes, clothing, rope, sails, textiles, building materials and much more. It’s far more durable than cotton and ecologically benign compared to virtually any other industrial crop. Hemp needs no pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers, and can grow well without much water.

Hemp’s use for rope was so critical to the US war effort that in the 1940s, the US military the bans and blanketed virtually the entire state of Kansas with it.The War Department’s “Hemp for Victory” is the core film on how to grow it.

Henry Ford produced an entire automobile made from hemp fiber stiffened with resin. Like the original diesel engine, it was designed to run on hemp fuel.

Powder from hemp seeds is extremely high in protein and in omega-3 oils, now mostly gotten from fish.

Hemp could be key to the future of bio-fuels. Growing food crops like corn and soy to make ethanol and diesel is extremely inefficient and expensive. They force hungry people to compete with cars for fuel.

Fast-growing hemp stalks and leaves are well-suited for cheap fermentation into ethanol, and for compression into fuel pellets. The seeds produce a bio-diesel that’s far superior to what comes from soy.

Alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical and law enforcement/prison-industrial industries — not to mention entrenched narco-terrorists — are leading the fight against legal pot.

But the industrial production of hemp would also transform the industries for paper, cotton, textiles, plastics, fuel, fish oil and more. The economic, ecological and employment benefits would be incalculable.

When Californians go to the polls November 2, they may end a marijuana prohibition that’s had devastating impacts on state’s public health and civil liberties, while costing it billions.

They’ll also decide whether California — and, ultimately, the US — will resume production of history’s most powerful, versatile and profitable industrial crop, one ultimately certain to be worth far more than marijuana.

One that was essential to this nation’s founding — and that could be central to its economic, ecological and agricultural revival.

Source.

Now that’s a weed leaf.

Created by eternalrabbit

Calgary company with help from local firms develops electric vehicle with body parts made from hemp

Don’t call it the cannabis car, but a Calgary transportation company and its partners including some Toronto firms have developed an electric vehicle with hemp body parts.

Calgary-based Motive Industries says it will unveil the design of the Kestrel compact car and its hemp composite components at an electric vehicle show in Vancouver next month.

The design and engineering of the four-seat car is part of Project Eve, a major Canadian initiative that is promoting the production of electric vehicles and parts.

A consortium of more than a dozen companies, including Toronto Electric and Archronix Corp.  of Markham, and some technical schools plan to use impact-resistant, bio-composite material made from industrial hemp, other fibres and resins for outside body panels and some interior components.

Hemp does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ), the active ingredient in marijuana and hashish.

“We have had a lot of public interest in what’s we’re doing but there have been some sensational headlines,” Motive president Nathan Armstrong said Friday about the mistaken link to cannabis and marijuana.

The project is one of many consortiums that have surfaced to pursue the emerging world of electrical and hybrid vehicles that would gradually replace the century-old internal combustion engine.

Project officials say the combination of hemp, other fibres and resins can be stronger, lighter, less expensive and easier to manufacture than fiberglass, a major material in autos.

Armstrong also noted that energy costs are much lower for manufacturing hemp and it produces no toxins that undermine the health of workers.

Some farmers in Alberta and Ontario already grow hemp for industrial uses that could be used for the car.  A government-funded study is determining whether more hemp production is commercially viable in view of its potential uses.

“The farmers are going to be helping us and we are going to be flying,” said Project Eve leader Steve Dallas about prospects for hemp in cars.

Dallas, president of Toronto Electric, said the consortium will unveil five electric prototypes for production within the next few years.  Member companies have already selected a Winnipeg manufacturer to build a few dozen vehicles for large corporate fleets, he added

In addition to releasing a design of the Kestrel at the EV 2010 VE Conference and Trade Show in Vancouver, the consortium will unveil Dallas’ A2B two-seat electrical car which he has developed in recent years and drives around Toronto.  It can reach speeds of up to 115 km per hour, he said.

The consortium will complete and roll out the first Kestrel hemp prototype by the end of the year, according to Armstrong.  While project officials are using hemp extensively, the main frame will be made of a aluminum.

The idea of using hemp as a material in vehicles dates back to 1941 when auto pioneer Henry Ford produced a car using hemp, wheat straw and resins to make body parts such as trunk lids that could withstand eight times the force of steel before denting.  However, the company never used hemp extensively.

Hemp also has numerous industrial uses ranging from the production of chemicals, to paints, the backing on carpets and even as an alternative fuel for cars.

Project officials also say Canada has an advantage in exploiting the use of hemp because of productions restrictions south of the border.

The U.S.  Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 which effectively ended hemp production.  Washington’s Drug Enforcement Administration opposes any changes for domestic cultivation, hemp supporters say.

Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2010 The Toronto Star
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.ca
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Author: Tony Van Alphen

reddit.com/r/trees

Quirky social-news site Reddit always seemed an unusual acquisition for Manhattan media giant Conde Nast, and it’s never been more evident: asked by Conde Nast overlords to stop running advertisements on behalf of advocates of California’s Proposition 19, which supports the legalization of marijuana, Reddit decided they’d do it anyway.

Because Conde Nast said its main concern was obtaining revenue from those controversial advocacy groups, Reddit’s solution was that they would simply run the ads for free.

“This was a decision made at the highest levels of Conde Nast,” an announcement from Reddit read. “Reddit itself strongly disagrees with it and, frankly, thinks it’s ridiculous that we’re turning away advertising money…We’re trying to convince Corporate that they’re making the wrong decision here, and we encourage the community to create a petition, so that your anger is organized in a way that will produce results.”

Conde Nast’s official response: “As a corporation, Conde Nast does not want to benefit financially from this particular issue.”

Reddit’s users, many of whom are outspoken marijuana legalization advocates themselves (Reddit operates a sub-site called “Trees,” devoted to weed-related news), had been up in arms over the decision. Dozens of users said that they would be instituting ad-blocking software in protest. Recently, pro-legalization ads have been making headlines because of the revelation that while Google’s policies are relatively liberal, Facebook will ban ads that contain images of “drug paraphernalia, or tobacco.” The iconic green cannabis leaf doesn’t make the cut.

This is the second time in fewer than two months that Reddit has vocally expressed dissatisfaction with its Conde Nast parentage. Last month, the site put out a call for user donations to help make changes, claiming that Conde Nast’s budget allotments to Reddit wouldn’t cover them.

Article via CNET

Thank you, Cannabis

Amanda Van West, a 24 year old college student from California sent this gem to me. It’s basically a mini-documentary about the marijuana culture in California. It’s very interesting to say the least. Take a look and let her know what you think of it.

From her video page:

In November 2010, Californians will be voting on whether or not to legalize marijuana for recreational use. If passed, California will become the first US state to end marijuana prohibition.

This is an exploration of California’s cannabis culture. It’s the story of the people fighting for it, the people fighting against it, the people selling it, the people making it less taboo, and the people who were around when the whole scene started.

I made this documentary for my final MA International Broadcast Journalism dissertation project at the University of Westminster.

Everything was filmed around northern California from May-June 2010.

Be sure to visit her blog here.

Marijuana is… everything. Isn’t it time to legalize?

(Sorry about the bad quality image)

Click to enlarge

Click on the image above for the sad truth about marijuana in the USA.

I’m guessing most of us started in our teens, but it would be interesting to know the average age our viewers started smoking weed.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Now this is a very interesting video. Not the best quality but thats okay. You can watch the plant from day 1 until it’s time for harvest.

Frederico Moreno, 35, of Lyons, has been charged with manufacturing and delivery of cannabis, a Class X felony. (Cook County sheriff's office)

Describing it as one of the largest marijuana busts in its history, the Cook County sheriff’s police has seized 5,525 pounds of the drug with an estimated street value of more than $20 million.

Charged with manufacturing and delivering cannabis, a Class X felony, is 35-year-old Frederico Moreno, whom authorities described as a “high-level importer” and part of a drug-trafficking organization.

The sheriff’s police, acting on a tip, conducted surveillance on Moreno at a house in the 7800 block of West 47th Street in west suburban Lyons, the agency said. Officers saw Moreno meet with various people, at one point exchanging a package “indicative of drug dealing,” the sheriff’s office said.

Police followed Moreno back to the home on 47th Street, then saw him leaving in his car with a Tupperware container, the office said. Investigators stopped Moreno and arrested him, allegedly finding marijuana in his car.

Officers returned to the house, where they saw another person flee out the back, the office stated, leaving the door ajar.

The officers saw 224 taped bales of marijuana stacked inside the home, the office stated. Moreno allegedly loaded the marijuana at the 47th Street house at night through a printing company warehouse attached to the back of the home.

An associate of Moreno had access to the warehouse after hours and rented the house from the printing company. Neither that associate nor anyone from the printing company is charged in this case.

The marijuana came from Mexico, the office said. The packages were to be sold wholesale to mid-level distributors before being broken down for street-level sales.

If convicted of the Class X felony, Moreno faces between 6 to 30 years in prison. He will appear for a bond hearing Saturday in Cook County Criminal Court in Bridgeview.

Source

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Speak the truth! Found via HailMaryJane

I. Why Should I Vape? :

Combustion aka burning your material is the most common known method to consume tobacco and herbs. During the combustion process the substance is burned releasing the active ingredients. Vaporizing has a similar effect as smoking but the substance is not burned it is vaporized.

Burning of the plant material causes the release of unwanted by-products like carbon monoxide, tar, ash, and other substances which are harmful to the human body and can later cause bigger issues. The unwanted substances have been found to cause cancer in most cases. Smoking is like breathing hot air which is unhealthy to our lungs and throat. You may be inhaling medicine but the method using high temperature may be causing more damage. Second hand smoking is also another factor to look at since the harmful smoke has a chance of causing cancer to other people that could be in the room.

According to many studies, twenty five to fifty percent of the substance is destroyed during the combustion process. It also decreases the effectivness of the active ingredients the plants may have. It is evident that smoking is an unhealthy method which may further cause damage to the body. Smoking also wastes resources by burning the plant material and in the process loses vital active ingredients.

Vaporizing on the other hand gently heats the plant material up to a certain degree where combustion doesn’t occur. This is achieved with digital accuracy and the effect is the release of a warm vapor with all the active ingredients. Many studies support that none of the active ingredients are lost during vaporization since fire or flame is not used to obtain the active ingredients. The process results to more of the beneficial natural substance and not just smoke.

The carcinogenic materials are also eliminated in the process since the vapor contains a very insignificant amount of tar. The vapor is also a lot cooler than smoke. This proves to be healthier than smoke which subjects the throat and lungs to irritation.

The vapor produced is slightly visible when exhaled and the vapor is almost odorless compared to smoke. The natural taste of the substance, for example of tobacco, is therefore noticeably retained.

Vaporizing produces more stimulation compared to smoking. Moreover, the unhealthy by products of smoking are eliminated with vaporizing. A number of studies have shown that delivery of the active ingredient is more efficient in vaporizing. Aside from the elimination of the undesired compounds, vaporizing delivers the active ingredient to the blood stream faster. The alleviating effect of the substance is fast and control of the dosage is very precise given the technology used in today’s vaporizers. You get more with vaporizing for using less, and people now consider vaporizing as the way to go, you should too.

Click read more for the full guide.

II. Time to Choose a Vaporizer:

There are many different types of Vaporizers. A few factors that determine the right kind for you include: price, reliability (how long are you planning on using it), and size.

Whip-based vapes
Balloon based vapes
Direct draw based vapes
Combination vapes (bags and whips)
Portable vapes
Lightbulb vapes

-Digital Vaporizers (Whatever form of draw they may be)

-Whip Based

- Non-Digital (Method of draw may vary)

-Volcano Vaporizers (A brand name, but so popular people put them in a category of their own). It is a balloon (bag) based vaporizer.

-Lightbulb Vaporizer (For the creative one)

III. How to Operate Your Vaporizer

Right Consistency of Herbs

This most important step is often overlooked by many. Before using, herbs need to be ground to a proper consistency. You can use a herb grinder for a perfect job. In the absence of a herb grinder, a coffee grinder is a good alternative. Ensure that you just give the herbs a couple of quick spins so that they do not become a fine powder that strains through the screen. You don’t have to worry if you have no grinder. Just use a scissors or even your fingers will do. The final result should be herbs with good consistency and without clumps.

Get the Vaporizer Going

Once you have the ground herbs, turn the vaporizer on and turn the temperature to the highest. Different vaporizer units have different methods of turn-on mechanism. The temperature control is either a knob that needs to be turned or simply a switch that turns off and on. You may refer to the operating instructions of the respective vaporizer.

Loading the Handpiece/Whip

The handpiece then needs to be loaded with the herbs. This process depends on the type of vaporizer used. If you are using a handpiece with a screen attached, the herbs should be placed on the screen. Just a small amount of herbs should do as they will provide a more even vaporization. The measurements of 1/8 is enough for once.

A great way is to load the vapor whip is with vacuum power. On your vapor whip, the small glass at the tip is the mouthpiece and the larger end is the loading chamber. Put the loading chamber over a small quantity of ground herbs and suck it into the loading chamber by breathing in the mouthpiece to create the suction. This is the best way of loading the herbs.

The Process of Vaporizing

Once the herbs are loaded, you are all set for vaporization.

1.) Temperature – The first thing to check for is to see that your vaporizer is ready to be used and warmed to the required temperature as per instructions. If your vaporizer has metal heating element, the element will become hot and red. Whatever the type of vaporizer you use, it should be hot enough to be used for 5 – 10 minutes.

2.) Proper Placement – Then you need to hold the handpiece to the end of the heating element and place the plastic tube-end of the mouthpiece in the mouth.

In most vaporizers, the heating element is at a 45 degree angle,
and because of this herbs spill into the heating element when
the end is attached. If this is what your vaporizer does, you can
just give a slight suction on the vapor whip to avoid spillage. This
is quite simple to do once you get used to it.

Getting the draw – Now the next step is to get the draw. Different vaporizers operate differently. Vapor is created by drawing hot air over the herbs and through the tube into the lungs.

Each person has their own preferred method of getting the perfect draw. Some vaporizer companies advise turning the vaporizer up as high as possible and to take fast and long inhalations to get the maximum benefit. Some say that the best way is to turn the unit down a little after heating it up and then taking the draw. I prefer the first method. I slow down my draw as the element cools down.

The variations of temperature and draw speed are the crucial elements of vaporizing. You will understand this better once you gain a little experience in drawing, and you will be able to figure out what is best for you.

Final – Once you are done taking the draw, take the handpiece away from the unit to keep heat away from the herbs.

A Few Rules of the Thumb to Vaporize the Correct Way

Hot Element: It is important to draw quickly so as to not burn the herbs. As the element cools down, you may decrease the speed of your draw.

Slow Element: To create the vapor, you need to draw slow, ensuring that it is not too slow, which will burn the herbs, creating smoke.

Even armed with all this knowledge, vaporizing needs a little experimentation, and very soon you will know the style that suits you perfectly. It is all a matter of preference really.

What is the indication that all herbs have been used?

This is one of the most often asked clarifications about vaporizing and there is no perfect answer. It is really hard to say as it depends on the herbs used.

However, I can give you some pointers:

Color: When the color of the herbs changes from green to brown, it could be an indication that the herbs are spent. If they turn black, you have far exceeded the time.

Flavor: It is common to see herbs changing flavor once their essence has been devoured. Many herbs smell like burnt popcorn at this stage. In order to avoid going to such extremes, you need to learn to detect the changing flavor.

Vapor: Another great indication is, herbs fail to produce vapor at normal temperature, once they are spent. Once this happens, you must make sure you do not force the vapor out of the herbs by resorting to slow drawing on a heated element. This only results in burning the herbs and producing smoke, which is exactly what you are trying to avoid.

Whatever the vaporizer you use, you will get a hang of things after a few uses.

Written by: GlitterPaws via Grasscity

Be sure to check out Grasscity for a great selection of Vaporizers.

Is Cannabis treated unfairly in the United States? Lets check the stats, shall we?

Marijuana needs to be legalized soon; Canada’s prohibition is causing too many problems to be the right choice in our country.  We need to regulate and control the production and sales of marijuana. It will create a safer community and get rid of the black market. There are so many medicinal benefits of the drug and it would be insane to keep it illegal for any time longer. It’s time for a change.

A regulated market for the production and consumption of marijuana would reduce crime tremendously and give people a safer way to buy what they already do. All the drug dealers would be put out of business, and the jails would empty out. Millions of people smoke marijuana in Canada and the number is rising. Prohibition has failed for over seventy-five years, and it’s not a method we should be using. Marijuana is the largest cash crop in North America, and it’s being grown and used all over the world. Not only would it be safer to buy marijuana from a store or something similar, but it would also reduce the amount of money going to gangs, and anyone else involved in the illegal drug trade. Also, we would know exactly what is in our marijuana, whereas the black market there can be many harmful things added to it, such as glass particles, harmful chemicals, and other drugs. We have to try our very hardest to tax and regulate marijuana, for the many benefits it will bring to our country.

Prisons all over the US and Canada are filled with offenders who have been charged with something to do with marijuana; be it trafficking, possession, or cultivation. The sad part is that marijuana smokers are some of the nicest people around. Sure, many of these people are probably gang members and criminals as well, but the majority of these offenders haven’t even harmed a bug. The result of all these arrests is very expensive to our countries. The tax payers would have to pay a lot less, because the money we can make on taxing marijuana could double the amount the government makes. Not only will the jails be emptier, but we wouldn’t need to pay taxes to jail all the marijuana offenders. It’s a victimless crime, and we shouldn’t be putting people away for it.

Marijuana is a totally harmless drug, and there are so many medicinal benefits to it. Compared to alcohol and tobacco, marijuana isn’t even on the chart. Alcohol and tobacco have millions of deaths around the world each year, and the number of deaths resulting from marijuana is zero. Seems pretty strange such a harmless drug is illegal when two legal drugs are killing people all over the world. Now keep in mind, smoking anything is bad for your health, but there are a few alternatives to avoid smoking. You could ether vaporize, or cook the marijuana in to your food. Now people like to smoke marijuana to relax or for fun, but many people are consuming marijuana for their health. The THC can cure many health issues including, but not limited to; cancer, nausea, vomiting, stimulation of hunger in chemotherapy patients, and pain in many sorts of diseases. The pure THC oil created from a weed plant is almost a super cure for anything, but there are a few reasons you don’t see or hear about it. First of all it’s still illegal to produce, unless you have a medicinal license to grow marijuana and make it yourself. And one of the craziest things is that medical companies won’t produce it. The reason for that is the fact you can’t patent a plant. So technically you can’t make any money off it, so they chose to use dangerous harmful drugs instead. Marijuana needs to be legalized, not just for the recreational uses many people like, but for the many medicinal attributes it has.

Marijuana laws are in dire need of a revision. Canadians need to do speak out, protest, and get the country thinking. The money that the regulation of marijuana could bring in, could supply more police, better health care, new safer medicinal drugs, and free up our prisons. Marijuana needs to be legalized soon, because this prohibition is harmful for our country and the people in it.