Monday, July 27, 2009

Will Marijuana Save California?

Legalise it - grow it - tax it... Will California's green gold save the state from it's financial woes? The people of Oakland California sure think so. California faces a massive budget crisis and politicians see the marijuana tax as a way to raise revenue. The voters obviously agree with them.

Residents of Oakland California made the first step in approving State taxation for Marijuana. Supporting the move over 80 percent of voters backed proposals for a tax on medical Marijuana. Los Angeles City Council proposed a medical marijuana tax earlier this month, and the cities of Berkeley and San Francisco may consider similar legislation.

Proponents of legalizing Marijuana have argued that alcohol is a "legal drug" whose unrestricted use and abuse cause premature deaths, disease and injuries. Today, 1 in 25 deaths can be attributed to alcohol. Similarly, deaths from smoking tobacco are also a cause for argument with chronic disease and 1 in 5 deaths now related to smoking cigarettes.

Can Marijuana heal the world?
The difference between Hemp/Marijuana, tobacco and alcohol is that "The Leaf" is a medicine, not a drug. This may be why drug companies are afraid of it. The healing compounds in the leaf are for free, you cannot register a patent on those compounds. Most of the healing power in Marijuana has not been researched, due to the plants "demonic status" worldwide.

However, evidence is growing that Medical Cannabis can and does heal a wide variety of ailments, relieving pain or even reducing tumour growth in lung cancer. Where most "social drugs" such as alcohol, heroin, cocaine and nicotine suppress the growth of new brain cells, a Canadian study shows Marijuana promotes neuron growth.

Cannabis, also known as marijuana and ganja (from Sanskrit: गांजा gañjā, hemp), refers to any number of preparations of psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. [Wiki].

Archaeologists agree that cannabis was among the first crops purposely cultivated by human beings at least over 6,000 years ago, and perhaps more than 12,000 years ago. Canvas is derived from "cannabis", the Latin word for "marijuana." Benjamin Franklin started one of America's first paper mills with cannabis, allowing a colonial press free from English control. In 1942 The U.S. Government distributed 400,000 pounds of cannabis seeds to American farmers in 1942 to aid the war effort. The History of Marijuana

It seems that each time mankind is in trouble Marijuana comes to the rescue...