Formed in a basement owned by the redditch chapter of the hells angels no less.

The sad truth is britans past has a lot to answer for in the rise of opiate abuse in the far east. We pretty much invented the 'get em off their head and then take over' strategy. Seems to be coming back on us now.

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No no and no

A legend that will last a lunchtime...

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'95 Custom Warmoth Soloist Solid Flame Koa Body/Neck, Duncan Classic Livewire SSH, Sperzel locking tuners, Wilkinson VS100 bridge, all black chrome.
2008 MIM Lonestar Strat Black/White Pearl
2008 Taylor 114 CE

Hi lomitus. I agree with you 100%. Marijuana does indeed have many beneficial effects, and the pharmaceutical industry does indeed have many incentives to keep it illegal.

What's particularly ironic to me is that the criminalization of marijuana as a mild-altering substance was an afterthought when the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was written. The original intention of the law was to inhibit the planting of hemp for its industrial uses. Because hemp fiber is a cheaper and more sustainable source material than wood, the wood-pulp paper lobby worked very hard to put industrial hemp out of business. Today, it is the corn-based ethanol industry that fights the hardest against the return of industrial hemp. Unlike corn, the entire hemp plant can be used to create ethanol.

When this country was founded, farmers in some states were actually required to grow hemp because it was such a valuable and necessary crop. In fact, it was one of the keys to successful crop rotation because it puts vitamins into the soil. Without hemp farming, most soil in America is vitamin-deficient.

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

But on that, aren't there non-mind altering forms of hemp to grow?

In fact, I know that there are. A farmer near where my grandparents lived when I was a kid grew fields of it for textiles (I think) and was both amused and frustrated that people were often attacking his crop to smoke it - not realising that it wasn't going to do anything entertaining to their heads.

So as a point of information for an outsider, please, in this Marihuana Tax Act on what grounds was it stopped?

Cheers - C

Hi Ceri. Yes, there are certainly forms of hemp/cannabis that are not mind-altering. That's what is usually referred to as "industrial" hemp. As I understand it, the original intent of the 1937 law was to tax industrial hemp out of existence at the behest of the wood-pulp paper lobby. However, the authors of the bill couldn't get enough support. So a disinformation campaign was launched (think the 1936 film Reefer Madness) to portray marijuana as a grave hazard to the health and morality of American youth. This worked very well, and it provided the ammunition needed to shut down all forms of hemp and cannabis.

Russ Kick's You Are Being Lied To: The Disinformation Guide to Media Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths has a great chapter on this subject.

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

Hi Russianracehorse: thanks for that.

Yes indeed, Reefer Madness - I remember!

But how people were not able to point out that "industrial hemp" didn't have the same wicked effects... Well, I guess I have to read that interesting sounding book to find out!

Cheers - C

The big difference between the two is: tobacco is addictive and pot is not. (Just try enforcing a cigarette ban!) There is still damage, I guess, but smoking 20 or more cigs in a day has got to be harder on the body than 1 joint. The new, stronger strains of pot just means less is required.

It seems crazy to have pot in the same category as crystal meth, coke and heroin. Now THOSE drugs scare the bejeezus out of me!!

Peace, Gridlok

Thjought 1: it all comes down to money

Thought 2: Many years ago, as an advanced organic chemistry student, we had a prof who taught us how to make LSD and the chemistry of "recreational drugs" in general.

THAT KNOWLEGE SCARED THE __IT out of this student. Which it was easy to do, if you understood the material. No thanks to any recreational chemicals, ever. Period. Too much conflict between cmemicals and your body-mind with that stuff.

Query yourself; what do you want your body and life to be like...?

Luckily for me, I'm very happy with both my body, (although I sometimes wish it could be younger), and my life!!

I have always been curious though - why has the human race always been into intoxicants? I mean, it's been forever! The only people I know who are true abstainers do it because they have had a problem with drugs/alcohol.

Why does nature give us these things?

Why do cats like catnip?

Peace, Gridlok

That's interesting.

I'm a very light drinker because about 20 years ago I was at a point where I was on the verge of developing a real problem with alcohol. There was a serious choice to be made - and I made it.

But opposite to that, the reason I don't use drugs is because I've tried a few and they didn't do anything nice for me. Nothing very bad either, but they didn't seem worth the trouble to pursue.

So there's two contrary reasons why one individual doesn't indulge in intoxicants...

Cheers - C

I don't drink or do drugs, never have. I don't even take aspirin. There are plenty other people that don't either. I simply don't need an artificial way to socialize with others or feel "good" about myself and frankly I like to stay in control of myself.

Simply not true marijuana is equally as addictive as coke. Perhaps more so when you consider its as much a part of life as food around the lower echelons of society. Its widespread acceptance is largely due to its soft drug classification. You even say yourself that its been strengthened over the years. Strains like white angel are hallucinogenic and therefore require stronger classification. If ever you need proof that marijuana is addictive find someone who smokes half ounce a day and take their draw off em and see what happens. I certainly wasnt a happy chappy. The only truly non-addictive recreational safe drug out there is LSD. Lets face we all know thats only safe as long as your in a good state of mind to begin with. Heroin is a completely different level as its physicaly addictive. It hooks you on a physical level by making your endorphine glands redundant to the point that they all but die off. Thats why addicts cold turkeying suffer very real pain. Their bodies capacity to produce natural painkillers is seriously diminished. Even this the most evil of all drugs has its medicinal uses derivatives. Which is where i suspect that most recreational drug usage derives from. Medical practices abused beyond the point of recognition.

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No no and no

Not entirely on point, but I always say that you can prove cigarettes are more addictive than alcohol: You never see three guys huddled together in the rain drinking a beer!

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

I have not even read the whole thread so sorry if I am just saying something somebody has already said.
The fact of the matter is.
Weed should be legalized. It does know harm. Its a plant, just like every other plant and animal that god put here.
I think it should be legalized with some terms and conditions though.

For me its amazing. I blaze for fun and sometimes when I actually feel I need to. Whether that be stress/depression or some sort of ache/pain.
Also, where it not for mary-jane I may never have gotten into Pink Floyd.

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Turn the drums up in the umm, ear goggles

Here is something from the Le Dain commission report.



Not even close to coke, (or cigs, for that matter). Hallucinogenic "White Angel" sounds like something way more dangerous than simple pot, ( if there actually is something like that.) Sounds like something from Reefer Madness.

Gridlok