TBH 420 Day Celebrates Recreational Use & that's GOOD
420 has become such a ubiquitous term for marijuana use that there is a special day, international in scope just to celebrate it – April 20. Urban lore informs us that the origin of 420 as a term meaning marijuana usage was coined by a group of high school students that gathered under the school bleachers at 4:20 each afternoon as way to unwind after a day of studies. Whatever the origins of the term, 420 doesn’t just celebrate the use of cannabis, it specifically celebrates the recreational use of marijuana.
Unfortunately for those of us who have the intelligence, foresight and chutzpah to use marijuana recreationally, the term has become so inflammatory that some medical marijuana patients who should know better denounce, in the most stringent of terms, those who use it and are not suffering from any of the myriad ailments for which cannabis provides safe and effective relief.
As for the opponents of medical marijuana, mainly law enforcement and those on the lunatic fringe of substance abuse treatment, they continue to issue dire warnings of the end of civilization as a result of the recreational use of marijuana. They justify their apoplectic visions by intoning that most medicinal use is actually recreational masquerading as medicinal. Since they have the guns, you can’t blame patients for wanting to distance themselves from recreational users, but still they should know better.
No matter which side of the issue you are on, it is very illuminating that all-sides have agreed to use the term “recreational” when describing the non-medicinal use of marijuana. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines recreational as “providing refreshment in body or mind, as after work, by some form of play, amusement, or relaxation.”
What an excellent and absolutely appropriate word to use to describe the non-medical use of marijuana. The term recreational is not used to describe the use of cocaine, heroin or ecstasy and even though morphine, methamphetamines and Ritalin have accepted medical usage, we don’t describe their non-medical use as recreational either. Marijuana is just about the only ingestible substance out there in which the term recreational is routinely used to describe its use.
Just what are these recreational uses that anti-harm reduction drug warriors proclaim are soooooo detrimental to the individual as well as society and the fabric of civilization.
After a hard day’s work, whether ingesting by yourself or joining with friends and passing a joint around, the relaxation and stress relief marijuana provides is one of its most beneficial aspects. Relaxation and stress relief are one of the major reasons people are encouraged to engage in recreation and that is exactly what happens when cannabis is consumed recreationally.
Another major benefit of recreation is that it facilitates socialization. Marijuana is an excellent social facilitator and it does it without any of the harmful and insidious effects of another major facilitator of socialization - alcohol. No one ever refers to the recreational use of alcohol and with good reason – alcohol may facilitate socialization, but it can also facilitate confrontation, anger and violence. A good group recreational activity facilitates socialization amongst its participants and does not cause people to become confrontational, angry or violent. That’s another reason the term recreational is apropos when applied to marijuana.
Of course, some group recreational sport activities can cause confrontation, anger and violence, but more often than not, that happens when they have been consuming alcohol. By encouraging participants to take a 420 break before the game begins, marijuana’s unique ability to reduce anger formation can help facilitate safe and enjoyable sporting events that, even without alcohol, have a habit of becoming violent.
The benefits of exercise are well known and many forms of recreation provide good exercise. In fact, a person is often told to choose some form of exercise that they enjoy doing. It only makes sense – if you don’t enjoy doing it, you probably won’t continue doing it. Marijuana can turn any form of exercise, no matter how tedious, into enjoyable recreation.
In 1989, Arnold Schwarznegger told the L.A. Times that he would frequently smoke marijuana before going to the gym. Marijuana is not a performance enhancing drug, so why would he do that? He did it because marijuana makes the many hours spent lifting weights more enjoyable – it turns the lifting of weights from tedious exercise into pure physical enjoyment.
The skeleton in the medical marijuana closet is that many patients, who use marijuana to treat their ailments, will also use it recreationally. They may not be in pain or nauseous at a particular moment, but they still use it anyway because of the benefits that accrue from its recreational use as well as its medicinal use.
420 Day celebrates the recreational use of marijuana which is part of an intelligent overall strategy for maintaining good health. That is the bottom line of the recreational use of marijuana and for some reason that scares a lot of government employees. Ultimately 420 Day celebrates freedom and the right of the individual to determine what is in the best interest of their health.
Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project
https://www.marijuananews.org/
Cannabis Prevents Cancer
Although a mountain of anecdotal evidence has been generated pointing to the ability of cannabis to cure cancer, there is no evidentiary-based peer reviewed studies validating that mountain of anecdotal evidence.
This is not true for the use of cannabis as a cancer preventative where there actually is a mountain of published studies that cannabis consumption can prevent the development of cancer.
In 1974, one of the earliest studies to document the cancer prevention properties of cannabis was conducted by the Medical College of Virginia. Funded by the National Institute of Health, the study was undertaken to find whether marijuana damages the immune system. As reported by the Washington Post, rather than finding any immune system damage, the researchers documented that the psychoactive cannabinoid THC found in cannabis “slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”
Although a rational response would have been to fund additional studies, the National Institute of Health succumbed to reefer-madness suspending the Virginia study and all further research into the cancer prevention properties of cannabis.
Stifled but not ended, research continued with or without government support. Over the last three decades multiple studies have found time and time again that the use of cannabis can prevent cancer.
In 2008, a collaborative study by five medical researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health was published in the Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The study found that cannabis halted the spread of a wide range of cancers, including brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lymphoma.
In a 2009 study on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the sixth most common cancer, seven medical researchers reported in the journal of Cancer Prevention Research, that “10 to 20 years of marijuana use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell cancer.”
Note the use of the word significantly by the authors. A reduction of 10% to 20% would be considered significant, but this study found a reduction of over 50% which would qualify cannabis as super-significant.
It should be noted the study also found that for people who use alcohol and tobacco, the most likely cause for developing HNSCC, those who used cannabis had a lower incidence of HNSCC then those who did not. This graphically demonstrates that the cannabinoids found in cannabis are such powerful anti-cancer agents that they can reduce the formation and spread of cancers in the presence of cancer causing agents such as alcohol and tobacco.
In 2015 the California Men’s Health Study funded by the National Cancer Institute, found “using tobacco only was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer whereas cannabis use only was associated with a 45% reduction in bladder cancer incidence.”
The common, and usually ignored, thread of most of these studies was that the cancer prevention properties of cannabis came from the long-term consumption of cannabis requiring a decade or more of frequent use. It is appalling that in order to appease government agencies as well as secure continued funding for their research, scientists shamefully hedged their findings by cautioning that more research needs to be conducted before people can be told that they can lessen their incidence of developing cancer by ingesting cannabis long-term.
Cancer is the number two cause of death in the United States. Since research clearly demonstrates that ingesting cannabis can prevent the development of cancer, then the appropriate ingestion of cannabis is desirable in the same way that health care professionals advise the appropriate ingestion of calcium to prevent or at least delay the onset of osteoporosis.
At the very least, those who have a family history of cancer should consider beginning the use of cannabis as a cancer preventative.
Bordering on a crime against humanity, medical providers, who are well aware of the impeccable safety record of cannabis, would rather allow millions of people to get cancer and die then challenge prohibition promoting government agencies by daring to suggest that people would benefit from the use of cannabis to prevent or delay the onset of cancer.
MAPP's 25th Anniversary Party - You Are Invited
In December 1999, IE cannabis history began with six people attending the first meeting of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project (MAPP) at the The Hemp Store in Desert Hot Springs. Fast forward to Saturday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. where you are cordially invited to join us in making history again as we celebrate MAPP’s 25th Anniversary in Palm Springs at the 420 Bank Dispensary and Lounge.
If someone told me 25 years ago, that we would have stores selling cannabis, farmers cultivating legal crops, businesses manufacturing edibles, tinctures, oils and concentrates, people convicted of cannabis violations being released from jail and having their convictions expunged from their records, medical facilities allowing patients to consume cannabis, the California State Fair awarding Blue Ribbons for the best cannabis and the wholesale price of cannabis plunging from $2,000 to $3,000/pound to $1,000/pound, I would have wondered what they had been drinking, but that is where we are today.
Yes, there are still problems a plenty and much more work has to be done to make the accessibility of cannabis as easy to obtain and as affordable as a bottle of wine, but for all of you who supported our work in the Inland Empire it is time to kick back for an evening, look back at what we have accomplished and celebrate that we have indeed FREED THE WEED.
To prove that we really have ended cannabis prohibition, we will be able to publicly (with no fear of arrest) CELEBRATE MAPP'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONSUMING CANNABIS - smoking, vaping, vaporizing, eating and, for those who dare, dabbing.
From convincing the city of Palm Springs in 2008 to be the first city in the IE to allow the legal operation of medical marijuana dispensaries to Riverside County’s extraordinary 2015 medical cannabis cultivation ordinance that allows patients at one residence to cultivate up to 24 plants indoors and OUTDOORS, MAPP has turned Riverside County from the backwaters of cannabis accessibility to a leader.
Unfortunately, San Bernardino County has been a much harder nut to crack. The County has always been a reactionary curmudgeon from their ill-fated lawsuit to have SB 420 declared unconstitutional to their fortunately also ill-fated attempt to have me imprisoned for my cannabis activism by bringing hundreds of patients to SB County Board of Supervisors meetings and haranguing them about their refusal to implement Prop. 215 and Prop. 64 even though both were approved by their voters. They are losing the battle as there are now several cities in the County that have allowed businesses to make cannabis available, but SB County has a long way to go to catch up with Riverside County.
Whether you live in Riverside County or San Bernardino County, please join us for MAPP’s 25th Anniversary celebration. It is rare chance to reconnect with many of the folks who you worked side-by-side with as we lobbied, marched, protested and picketed during the last 25 years demanding legal access to cannabis. In both counties MAPP also provided court-support for those who got caught up in the legal system for the use and/or cultivation of cannabis and some of these folks will be joining us to celebrate their freedom as well.
The 25th Anniversary Party will be held at the fabulous 420 Bank Dispensary and Lounge in downtown Palm Springs at 296 S. Palm Canyon Dr. One of the largest cannabis dispensaries and lounges in California, the 420 Bank Dispensary is a gem.We will have a private room for our celebration, but the entire premises will be open and available for your enjoyment and edification.
In keeping with the celebratory theme of the event and that we will be consuming cannabis, we will be providing a scrumptious DESERT and ICE CREAM buffet. Please note that the ice cream and deserts we will be providing will be non-medicated as the 420 Bank is a legal dispensary and under California law all cannabis products can only be provided by them. If you want to indulge in medicated edibles, the 420 Bank Dispensary has an excellent selection available at their sales counter.
Please also note they are providing us our private lounge and use of the entire facilities gratis so like you do not bring your own bottle of Jack Daniels when you go to a bar,
please do not bring your own cannabis.The 420 Bank is a licensed dispensary that has an amazing variety of all kinds of cannabis from the finest buds, intoxicating oils to the strongest of concentrates as well as delicious edibles.
Since Dec. 21 is also the Winter Solstice (the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year) which is a pagan holiday dating back 5,000 years, it will be a double celebration with MAPP’s 25th Anniversary party. Please send me an email ([email protected]) or phone me at 760-799-2055 and let me know you and how many others will be coming so we can plan properly.
Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project
https://www.marijuananews.org/
NEW RESEARCH Cannabis reduces cognitive memory loss +
If the research had been negative about cannabis use, it would be featured news in the media, but since it was positive you are not going to see it in many places. You will see it here.
Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project
DO IT - Call Gov. Newsom - sign cannabis cafe bill + R. Hill RN Speaks Up
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the United Food and Commercial Workers union to address those concerns and re-submitted the bill with hoped-for protections from second-hand smoke that will satisfy the governor. Opposition to the bill came from some health organizations and from some restaurants and bars that do not want to see any competition from cannabis lounges offering food, beverages and entertainment the same as they do.
Thanks to a resolution introduced by the Brownie Mary Democrats, cannabis cafes were officially endorsed by the California Democratic Party. Since Newsom is a Democrat, I am sure this will have some influence on getting him to sign the bill, but the most important influence comes from you so it is VERY IMPORTANT that you contact Governor Newsom now.
The absolute best and really easiest way is to call the Governor’s office at 916-445-2841. Press option 1 for English and then option 6 to speak to a representative in English or select option 2 and then option 7 to speak to a representative in Spanish. If you don’t want to wait for a person to actually answer the phone, you will be given the option to leave a message. If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes, a person will come on the phone and you can tell them directly. Whether you leave a message or speak to a person, just tell them to ask the Governor to sign AB 1775. If you want to say why he should sign it go right ahead, but just saying he should sign AB 1775 is all that is really necessary as I can assure you Governor Newsom will not be told of why he should sign it, just that lots and lots and lots of people took the time to call and tell him to sign it. Of course calling the Governor’s office is only an option if you can call when the office is open Monday - Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you cannot call the Governor’s office when it is open, you can send an email to him at www.gov.ca.gov/contact. Follow the directions on the webpage that comes up. Don’t forget to chose AB 1775 from the list of bills that will come up for you to select. Simply write the Governor asking him to sign AB 1775. If you do want to make a statement in either your phone call or your email, go right ahead and do it but most important DO IT NOW!!!!! 
Meet the LIttle Old Lady from Pasadena
Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project
https://www.marijuananews.org/
