“So grand a result, so tiny a sin”

                     May’s Marijuana Madness, Appeal Court , Amsterdam , 15^th May

When a Court always accepts the evidence of the prosecuting officer as opposed to the defendant, no matter how ridiculous the evidence of the arresting officer, than the arresting officers is corrupt if he is overzealous in his intentions and allows his personal opinion to influence his evidence. The motorcycle policeman in question is known at his police stations as the station jester, and the joke is not only on me.  

Research paid for by the DEA and carried out by the police in Maastricht, over 10 years ago, came to  conclusion that regular users of Cannabis modified their behaviour and drove slower  compared to those who drank alcohol or took nothing.  

In the Jan 9^th  2008 edition of the highly respected US medical magazine ”Neuropsychopharmacology” as to the tolerance of the THC effect

“American scientists investigated difference between thc effect in 30 regular users of cannabis and 22 non users. Relative to non users, frequent users showed tolerance to the psychotomimetic, perceptual altering, cognitive impairing and axiogenetic effects of the thc but not its euphoric effects” In other words, regular users enjoy without it affecting ability.  

Cannabis produces neither physical dependence, withdrawal symptoms, a strong psychological dependence nor a need to increase the dose as the user grows used to the drug. Nearly every study undertaken has shown it to be the most benign intoxicant in common use.  

No one has never, ever died from smoking too much Pot unlike the 160,000 that die from alcohol and its effects or up to 100,000 smokers in the UK who die directly or indirectly from tobacco every year. What is the dangerous one? Who is kidding who?  

We now have scientific evidence for what so many world cultures have known all along; that only a handful of plants are welcomed as naturally by the human mind as is hemp. The concentration of cannabinoid receptors in the area of the brain devoted to the higher mental processes- memory, cognition, and creativity-is striking. Hemp is custom designed to sustain our soul as well as our body. Whether by design or coincidence, the bond between hemp and mankind is an ancient one. Only the arrogance of the modern mentality, worshipping at the altar of corporate profit would reject and deny the history and virtues of hemp.  

The discovery of receptors in the human brain specifically designed for Cannabinoids  should end the debate on the appropriateness for human beings. The receptor site, a protein on the cell surface, activates G-proteins inside the cell and lead to a cascade of biochemical reactions that generate euphoria.  

In 1984 Mils Herkenham and his colleagues at the Institute for mental Health mapped Cannabis receptors in the brain. They found that most receptors were in the hippocampus where memory consolidation occurs and where we translate the external world into a cognitive and spatial map and in the cerebral cortex, where higher cognition is performed.  

In 1992, William Devane identified a cannabinoid like neurotransmitter produced by the human brain having biological and behavioural effects similar to THC . He named it anandamide after the Sanskrit meaning bliss.

The importance of these discoveries cannot be overstated.  

The major decline in use of Cannabis by the early 20^th Century pharmaceutical Industry was because they were unable to standardise or stabilise any form of preparation of Cannabis extract, so there was no profit in it.  

The Marijuana tax act of 1937 in America crushed the hemp industry with a dollar per ounce tax for industrial and medical purposes and 100 dollars per ounce for other purposes. The bill was used by the federal bureau of narcotics to crush the hemp Industry. Its widespread availability today has kept any new firm from showing interest. Yet despite the war by the DEA and American Governments in particular, people continue to benefit and discover the medical effects of smoking Cannabis, and hundreds of articles published reporting its health benefits.  

In that same tradition today, the Christian right continues to  demonise Cannabis financed by Bush and his corporate Government encouraging alcohol and its unruly and debilitating consequences while outlawing hemp and peaceful debate, all in the name of the twin Gods Rightousnes and Corporate Profit. The war has been waged actively by the American religious right for over 50 years and they are getting closer to their goal. Their domination through their financing of the World Health Organisation for over 50 years has meant that the overwhelming benefits of Hemp have been suppressed; they have been able to with-hold the evidence that puts Pot in a positive light. They have been able to appoint African leaders as heads of the WHO who follow rigorously the American financed line. Similarly, the INCB, whose job it to ensure that countries follow International drug laws has been hijacked by the American right even appointing in some sort of sick, cosmic joke an excellent Dutchman to enforce the rules. Which means that the authority that grants you your driving license, not the Police, refuse to give a driving license under the rule of International law which the Americans dominate. So I could win my case and still lose my license because your Prime Minister is part of the

Bush/Blair/Brown, Neverlands/Germany/Italy Christian right. continuing their moral crusade. With God on their side, no need to think, not even to blush as the corpses stink. And the governed continue to sleep.  

What are we to make of claims that pot use among the young leads to an increase in Psychosis? Opponents claim that in the UK 8oo youths per year are affected, up from 1% to 1.4% of that section of the population. However, if they stop taking pot, these effects fade away, surely a better response than to ban all those millions who benefit and enjoy its effects.  

What are we to make of claims that Cannabis causes animals and Jamaican labourers to work harder but causes western adolescents to lose energy and ambition. They are not mutually exclusive. The key lies in the 20^th centuries interpretation of “amotivational”, and in Cannabis famous psychoactive ability to suspend time. Contentment in the current moment, the here and now helps ease the tedium of a Jamaicans physical labour, but that same here and now mentality is dangerous to the modern Church of progress, which preaches survival of the fittest and motivates with material wealth. Hemps enhancement of the current moment, and of empathy and independent thinking, throws this whole ideology into question. Why devote endless hours to accumulate wealth to buy happiness and satisfaction that already thrives in each and every moment creating doubts about the wisdom of 20^th Century motivations.  

In this sense, hemp is a very real threat to the Corporate World and its Government allies.  

In the same way that the car and petro chemical industries of California were able to assist to wipe out competition from the urban railway systems of California in general and LosAngeles in particular, so the petro chemical and alcohol industries have also campaigned to eliminate Hemp, Cannabis Sativa, their superior competitor in so many ways. Its called competition, the American way., and it helps when the law and God are on your side.  

The previous use of a now illegal product by some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world is no more suprising than Cocaine in Coca Cola early last century. It emphasises the arbitrary nature of “controlled substances”. These gifts of nature are subject to the whims of Government, in the medicine cabinet today, sinister corruptors of children tomorrow.  

Medical Research as well as anecdotal evidence supporting the therapeutic application of the major cannabinoids- tetrahydrocannabinol(thc), cannabinol( CBN ) and cannabdiol( CBD ) is overwhelming for glaucoma,, as an anti-emetic, for breathing difficulties,, as an anticonvulsant, to inhibit tumours, as an anti-arthritic, to control inflammation and as an anti-depressant, as an anti-histamine, as an analgesic, to treat alcohol and opiate addiction, relief from herpes, from migraine and in the treatment of ulcers. These are not fanciful claims, they are backed by medical research. 15oo Aids and HIV sufferers in Central London currently attest to its benefits.  

Hemp has been known as a valuable healing plant in every region that it will grow. It has been used to treat digestive disorders, neuralgia, insomnia, depression, migraines and inflammation. Women have used it to facilitate childbirth, stimulate lactation and relieve menstrual cramp.  

The first documented use of hemp as medicine appears about 2300BC when the legendary Chinese emperor Shen Nung prescribed  chu-ma (female hemp) for constipation, gout, beri-beri, malaria, rheumatism and menstrual problems. Shen Nung classified chu-ma as one of the superior elixirs of Immortality.

Both the ancient Ayurvedic system of Indian medicine and the Arabic Unnani Tibbi system make extensive use of hemp for healing.. Usually, it is mixed with other vegetable, animal or mineral substance that reduce the narcotic affect and enhance the therapeutic powers.  

We know that hemp was a popular remedy in Medieval Europe, and it received honourable mention as a healing plant in herbal remedies such as by William Turner, Mattioli and others. Nicholas Culpepper(1616-1654) “an emulsion or concoction of the seed……eades the colic and always the troublesome humours in the bowels and stays bleeding at the mouth, nose and other places. Hemp was an official member of the pharmaceutical repertoire in Europe and America . It was useful, with varying degrees of success, for all the maladies the Chinese and Indian had long been treated with Hemp. And 1500 Aids and HIV sufferers in Central London currently attest to the benefits they continue to receive from Cannabis. One of its most remarkable qualities is its safety as a medicine.. With a lethal to effective-dose ratio of 40,000 to 1, cannabis is far safer than legal medicines like asprin that have a lethal dose only 10 times greater than their effective one.  

                            a real gift of nature

                            a plant divine                                                                           

                            of benefit to mankind

                            since ancient times  

Hemp, Cannabis sativa. The only plant used all over the world, since pre history, that gives us food, clothing, building materials, fuel, medicine, and has the power to affect our consciousness, our imagination, and the way we see the world.  

Even after being outlawed, during WW2 when supplies of raw fiber were cut off by the Japanese, hemp was reintroduced to the US . The wartime Government produced the film “Hemp for Victory.”  

How extra ordinary that hemp should once again appear in the role of environmentalist and healer. Hemp offers a very real and immediate solution to deforestation, the abuses of the petrochemical and alcohol industries, and the destruction of the top soils as well as help in health. But the war against hemp continues unabated. Jamaica wants to reintroduce hemp but is told by the US Gov't that it will not receive its 1.5 billion economic aid budget, if it does so.  

A renewable resource. Sustainable agriculture largely ended with the modernisation of farms and industry. Our once in a billion year spending spree on natural resources increases and our capital dwindles daily. Sustainable ecological agriculture requires a revival of traditional multi crop cultivation using modern equipment and methods of harvesting. Hemp grown for fiber is arguably the best choice for this  

*   easily biodegradable, its disposal presents no problem

*   requires relatively little fertiliser in comparison to other fibres

*   Few natural predators, needs little or no treatment with pesticides

*   Low maintenance, grown in most climates

*   It does not deplete the soil of nutrients

*   Its deep root system helps prevent erosion

*   It produces 4 times more fibre per acre than trees do

*   It absorbs heavy metal contaminants from soil, gradually purifying the earth  

For clothing. Hemp has been a utilitarian fabric for centuries. It’s a classic. Hemp fibre bundles are up to 15 feet long, while cotton fibers threequarters of an inch, which reportedly give hemp 8 times the tensile strength and four times the durability of cotton. Hemp is machine washable and dryable. It breathes like natural linen and has a natural luster and taked dyes beautifully due to its superioir absorbancy. In the New York Times June 1995, Calvin Klein stated “I believe hemp is going to be the fibre of choice in both home furnishings and fashion”.  

Hemp as nutrition. Health experts speak about the need for unsaturated fats in our diet, namely the fatty acids called omega 6 and omega 3. Hemp seeds are treasure troves of these nutrients, containing 30% oil in the optimum 3 to 1 ratio.  

Hemp for sustainable energy.  

Hemp Paper. Half of all trees are cut down to make paper yet it is only in the last 150 years that trees have been used. Hemp grows 4 times faster than trees and now must be the time to look at alternatives.  

The Cannabis Hemp stalk is a prolific and sustainable source of excellent building materials and manufactured goods. It is possible to build, for example, a car body or a house entirely out of hemp, and then use hemp seed oil products to paint and seal the finished product and power the car. The technology existed in 1940’s wartime America , for Henry Ford to produce a car 70% from hemp that was 4 times stronger than an all steel one.  

At a time before Western Civisation came along when eastern religions was in the ascendancy, when Mother Nature was celebrated and the female deified, mankind lived more harmoniously with nature, and hemp was used to help celebrate spirituality, as well as for fuel, food, building and medicine. The ancient Greeks and Romans generally preferred to intoxicate themselves with alcohol but they traded with cannabis eaters and knew of its psychotropic affects. Western religion replaced the herb with alcohol and water turned to wine.  

In1484, Pope Innocent 8 decared hemp to be an unholy sacrament of the satanic masses.  As William Emboden notes in his book “Ritual use of Cannabis Sativa L.,” Western Religious traditions tend to emphasise sin, repentance and mortification of the flesh. In older non western religious cults where we find an unbroken custom of cannabis use “which allowed a joyous path to the Ultimate; hence “heavenly guide”.  

In the old World, remnants of the ancient spiritually based hemp tradition survive alongside more contemporary forms of consumption. A striking number of cultures have made a connection between Cannabis and reverence for the dead., undoubtedly because of Cannabis seeming to transcend spatial and temporal boundaries.

Hemp use has touched every spiritual tradition on Earth.  

The HINDU scripture among all spiritual literatures contain the oldest and most profuse references to Cannabis as a divine intoxicant. The Vedas identify bhang as the means by which one both communes with the God Shiva and frees ones self from sin.  

BUDDHISM, Cannabis is currently used by Tibetan monks of the Himalayas to deepen their meditation and raise awareness.  

ISLAM In his appendix to the Indian Hemps drugs commission report of 1893/4 J.M. Cambell made it clear that, to a large extent, what goes for Hindus and Hemp is also true of Moslems “to forbid or even seriously restrict the use of so gracious a herb as hemp would cause widespread suffering and annoyance and to large bands of worshipped ascetics, deep seated anger. It would rob the people of a solace in discomfort, of a cure in sickness, of a guardian whose gracious protection saves them from the attack of evil influences, and whose mighty power makes the devotee of the victorious, overcoming the demons of hunger and thirst, of panic, fear, of the glamour of Maya or matter, and of madness, able in rest to brood on the Eternal, until the Eternal, possessing him body and soul, frees him from the haunting of self and receives him into the ocean of being. These beliefs of Musalman (Muslim) devotee shares to the full. Like his Hindu brother, the Musalman fakir revers Bhang as the lengthener of life, the freer from the bonds of self. Bhang brings union with the divine spirit. “We drank bhang and the mystery I am he grew plain. So grand a result, so tiny a sin” “The use of ganga is essential, it appears to be observed at all times.  

ZOROASTRIANISM, which influenced Christianity, Islam and later Judaism, had Haoma(hemp) as central to their myths.  

JUDAISM Etymologists at the Hebrew University concluded in 1980 that the old testament word kineboisin meant cannabis.  

AFRICA mankinds original birthplace, Cannabis use bounds throughout, the water pipe, used to cool and refine cannabis smoke was developed in North Africa .  

Chinese Taoism and Japanese traditions, used Cannabis widely for spiritual purposes.

Grows and is used throughout South America.  

Pre-Christians recognised the image of the Mother in the Earth that brought forth light and sustenance. The earth also berthed a special class of plants that nourished the spirit as well as the body and opened the gates to the great mysteries of creation.

As time goes on, are we discovering that Terence Mckenna vision is proving correct “our present global crisis is more profound than any previous historical crisis, hence our solution must be equally drastic. I propose that we should adopt the plant as the organisational model of the 21^st Century, just as the computer seems to be the dominant mental/social model of the late 20^th century, and the steam engine the guiding image of the 19^th century. This means going back in time to models that where successful 15,000-20,000 years ago. When this is done it becomes possible to see plants  as food, shelter, clothing and sources of education and religion.

Such reinvolvement is, of course, to be guided by the teacher-gurus of the plant kingdom, the psychotropics.  

My kids laugh at me when I tell them it also helps to keep the devil away, depends on your definition of the devil.  

I have plagiarised outrageously but not exclusively “The Great book of Hemp” by Rowan Robinson for references and sources for information are available there having written to the publisher asking for permission, it will be alright.  

All the best,  

Richard Jakubowski

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