Ganja Vibes Blog

Bob Dylan turns The Beatles on to cannabis

11.00pm, Friday 28 August 1964 (47 years ago) On 28 August 1964 Bob Dylan introduced The Beatles to cannabis. The two parties were introduced by a mutual friend, the writer Al Aronowitz, at New York's Delmonico Hotel. Upon arriving at The Beatles' suite Dylan asked for cheap wine; Mal Evans was sent to get some, and during the wait Dylan suggested they have a smoke. Brian and the Beatles looked at each other apprehensively. "We've never smoked marijuana before," Brian finally admitted. Dylan looked disbelievingly from face to face. "But what about your song?" he asked. The one about getting high?" The Beatles were stupefied. "Which song?" John managed to ask. Dylan said, "You know..." and then he sang, "and when I touch you I get high, I get high..." John flushed with embarrassment. "Those aren't the words," he admitted. "The words are, 'I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide...'" The Love You Make Peter Brown Some of The Beatles had actually been introduced to cannabis in 1960, but the drug had made little impression. We first got marijuana from an older drummer with another group in Liverpool. We didn't actually try it until after we'd been to Hamburg. I remember we smoked it in the band room in a gig in Southport and we all learnt to do the Twist that night, which was popular at the time. We were all seeing if we could do it. Everybody was saying, 'This stuff isn't doing anything.' It was like that old joke where a party is going on and two hippies are up floating on the ceiling, and one is saying to the other, 'This stuff doesn't work, man.' George Harrison Anthology After the hotel room was secured, Dylan rolled the first joint and passed it to Lennon. He immediately gave it to Starr, whom he called "my royal taster". Not realising the etiquette was to pass it on, Ringo finished the joint and Dylan and Aronowitz rolled more for each of them. I don't remember much what we talked about. We were smoking dope, drinking wine and generally being rock'n'rollers and having a laugh, you know, and surrealism. It was party time. John Lennon Anthology The Beatles spent the next few hours in hilarity, looked upon with amusement by Dylan. Brian Epstein kept saying, "I'm so high I'm on the ceiling. I'm up on the ceiling." Paul McCartney, meanwhile, was struck by the profundity of the occasion, telling anyone who would listen that he was "thinking for the first time, really thinking." He instructed Mal Evans to follow him around the hotel suite with a notebook, writing down everything he said. I remember asking Mal, our road manager, for what seemed like years and years, 'Have you got a pencil?' But of course everyone was so stoned they couldn't produce a pencil, let alone a combination of pencil and paper. I'd been going through this thing of levels, during the evening. And at each level I'd meet all these people again. 'Hahaha! It's you!' And then I'd metamorphose on to another level. Anyway, Mal gave me this little slip of paper in the morning, and written on it was, 'There are seven levels!' Actually it wasn't bad. Not bad for an amateur. And we pissed ourselves laughing. I mean, 'What the fuck's that? What the fuck are the seven levels?' But looking back, it's actually a pretty succinct comment; it ties in with a lot of major religions but I didn't know that then. Paul McCartney Evans kept the notebooks until his death in 1976, when they were confiscated and later lost by Los Angeles police.

'Everybody must get stoned' ~ Bob Dylan

http://www.physorg.com/ U.S. and Brazilian scientists have just proven that one of Bob Dylan's most famous lines—"everybody must get stoned"— is correct. That's because they've discovered that the brain manufactures proteins that act like marijuana at specific receptors in the brain itself. This discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal, may lead to new marijuana-like drugs for managing pain, stimulating appetite, and preventing marijuana abuse. Studies show that the release of the body's own marijuana-like compounds is crucial to stress-induced analgesia the body's way of initially shielding pain after a serious injury. Cannabinoid compounds have been shown to inhibit the growth of tumour cells in culture and animal models by modulating key cell-signalling pathways. Scientists from Hungary, Germany and the U.K. have discovered that our own body not only makes chemical compounds similar to the active ingredient in marijuana (THC), but these play an important part in maintaining healthy skin. This finding on "endocannabinoids" just published online in, and scheduled for the October 2008 print issue of, The FASEB Journal could lead to new drugs that treat skin conditions ranging from acne to dry skin, and even skin-related tumors. "Our preclinical data encourage one to explore whether endocannabinoid system-acting agents can be exploited in the management of common skin disorders," said Tamás Biró, MD, PhD, a senior scientist involved in the research. "It is also suggested that these agents can be efficiently applied locally to the skin in the form of a cream." Biró and colleagues came to this conclusion by treating cell cultures from human sebaceous glands (the glands that make the oil on our skin) with various concentrations of endocannabinoids (substances produced by the body that are similar to the active ingredient in marijuana). Then they measured the production of lipids (fat cells, such as those in skin oil), cell survival and death, and changes in gene expression and compared these outcomes to those in an untreated control group. "This research shows that we may have something in common with the marijuana plant," said Gerald Weissmann, MD. "Just as THC is believed to protect the marijuana plants from pathogens, our own cannabinoids may be necessary for us to maintain healthy skin and to protect us from pathogens ." http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_pharmacology2.shtml Cannabinoid receptors The CB1 receptor The CB2 receptor The possibility of CBn receptors Endocannabinoids Anandamide 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol Palmitoyl-ethanolamide Docosatetraenylethanolamide and Homo-g-linoenylethanolamide Oleamide Some Proposed roles of the endogenous cannabinoid system Learning and synaptic plasticity Pain Vision Neuroprotection Allergy and regulation of inflammation Reproduction Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Truth in disclosure

Steve Guttenberg receives Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Steve Guttenberg, star of “Diner,” “Three Men and a Baby” and the “Police Academy” movies, is getting a star today on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Appropriately, it will be placed in front of the Police Activities League on Hollywood Blvd. (CBS Los Angeles) The Gutte does have his vices. “I indulge in wine, and I love vodka, I do,” he said. “And I love scotch, you know. And I love weed. And I love women. “If I feel lousy, I’ll do what the next president of the United States did: smoke a joint,” he said. “It’s documented in his book. I’ll go into a bar and down two beers. I’ll go out with women, because it’ll make me feel better. Read more at ONTD: http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/26312912.html#ixzz1gLI1Td2D

Afghan Soldiers Smoking Weed with British Troops

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLGsVcLIb8s&w=560&h=315]

Gallup Poll

Polling Matters by Frank Newport: Occupy Wall Street, Obama, Marijuana, and Facebook Thursday, October 20, 2011 What percent of those aged 65 years and older say marijuana should be legalized? The answer to that question is 31%. That contrasts, of course to the overall average of 50% for all adults, and 62% among those aged 18-29 years who support legalizing pot. Perhaps some of those aged 65 and older are aging hippies who fondly remember the Flower Power days of the 1960s.

Gallup.Com - Polling Matters by Frank Newport: Occupy Wall Street, Obama, Marijuana, and Facebook.<

Tetrahydrocannabinol

Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, Δ9-THC, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), Δ¹-tetrahydrocannabinol (using an older numbering scheme), or dronabinol, is the main psychoactive substance found in a variety of plants; most abundantly so in the Cannabis plant. It was isolated by Raphael Mechoulam and Yechiel Gaoni from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel in 1964. In pure form it is a glassy solid when cold and becomes viscous and sticky if warmed. THC has a very low solubility in water, but a good solubility in most organic solvents such as ethanol or hexane. As in the case of nicotine and caffeine, THC's most likely function in Cannabis is to protect the plant from herbivores or pathogens [1]. THC also possesses high UV-B (280-315 nm) absorption properties, protecting the plant from harmful radiation. Pharmacology Its pharmacological actions are the result of its binding to the cannabinoid receptor CB1, located in the brain. The presence of these specialized receptors in the brain implied to researchers that endogenous cannabinoids were manufactured by the body, so the search began for a substance normally manufactured in the brain that binds to these receptors, the so-called natural ligand or agonist, leading to the eventual discovery of anandamide, 2 arachidonyl glyceride (2-AG) and other related compounds. This story resembles the discovery of the endogenous opiates (endorphins, enkephalins, and dynorphin), after the realization that morphine and other opiates bound to specific receptors in the brain. THC has analgesic effects that, even at low doses, causes a "high", and medical cannabis can be used to treat pain. Other effects include: relaxation; euphoria; altered space-time perception; alteration of visual, auditory, and olfactory senses; disorientation; fatigue; and appetite stimulation. It also has anti-emetic properties, and also may reduce aggression in certain subjects. Toxicity According to the Merck Index, 12th edition, THC has a LD50 value of 1270 mg/kg (male rats) and 730 mg/kg (female rats) administered orally dissolved in sesame oil. If this were scaled up to an adult human, the LD50 would be between approximately 50 and 86 g for a 68 kg (150 lb) female or male person respectively. This would be equivalent to 1-1.8 kg of cannabis with a 5% THC content (roughly average) taken orally. The LD50 value for rats by inhalation of THC is 42 mg/kg of body weight. It is important to note, however, that toxicity studies in animal models do not necessarily correlate to human toxicity. THC receptor distribution in the rat CNS is different from that of humans, meaning that there is the significant possibility that toxicity in humans varies from the published animal LD50 studies. There has never been a documented fatality from marijuana or THC overdose. Absorption is limited by serum lipids which can become saturated with THC, thus the inherent solubility may mitigate toxicity. Studies of the distribution of the cannabinoid receptors in the brain explain why THC's toxicity is so low (i.e., the LD50 of the compound is so large): parts of the brain that control vital functions such as respiration do not have many receptors, so they are relatively unaffected even by doses larger than could ever be ingested under any normal conditions. Research A number of studies indicate that THC may provide medical benefits for cancer and AIDS patients by increasing appetite and decreasing nausea. It has been shown to assist some glaucoma patients by reducing pressure within the eye, and is used in the form of cannabis by a number of multiple sclerosis patients to relieve the spasms associated with their condition. Studies also indicate a variety of negative effects associated with constant, long-term use, including short-term memory loss. However, other studies have refuted this, claiming the MRIs of long term users show little or no difference to MRIs of the non-using control group. Although using positron emission tomography (PET), at least one study indicates altered memory-related brain function in marijuana users . The long-term effects of THC on humans have been disputed because its status as an illegal drug makes research difficult. Preliminary research on synthetic THC has been conducted on patients with Tourette syndrome, with results suggesting that it may help in reducing nervous tics and urges by a significant degree. Animal studies suggested that Marinol and nicotine could be used as an effective adjunct to neuroleptic drugs in treating TS. Research on twelve patients showed that Marinol reduced tics with no significant adverse effects. A six-week controlled study on 24 patients showed the patients taking Marinol had a significant reduction in tic severity without serious adverse effects. Seven patients dropped out or had to be excluded from the study, one due to adverse side-effects. More significant reduction in tic severity was reported with longer treatment. No detrimental effects on cognitive functioning and a trend towards improvement in cognitive functioning were reported during and after treatment. Marinol's usefulness as a treatment for TS cannot be determined until/unless longer controlled studies on larger samples are undertaken. Recent research has shown that many adverse side effects, generally known as the "stoner" stereotype, fail to hold up to the scientific method. Recent studies with synthetic cannabinoids show that activation of CB1 receptors can facilitate neurogeneration, as well as neuroprotection, and can even help prevent natural neural degradation from neurodegenerative diseases such as MS, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's. This, along with research into the CB2 receptor (throughout the immune system), has given the case for medical marijuana more support. In in-vitro experiments THC at extremely high concentrations, which could not be reached with commonly consumed doses, caused inhibition of plaque formation, the cause of Alzheimer's disease, better than currently approved drugs.[8] THC may also be an effective anti-cancer treatment, with studies showing tumor reduction in mice, conducted in 1975.[9] Chemical name (−)-(6aR,10aR)-6,6,9-trimethyl- 3-pentyl-6a,7,8,10a-tetrahydro- 6H-benzo[c]chromen-1-ol Chemical formula C21H30O2 Molecular mass 314.46 g/mol Glass transition 9.3 °C Boiling point 155-157 °C (vacuum, 0.07 mbar) Solubility (water) 2.8 mg/L (23 °C) Solubility (saline) 0.77 mg/L (NaCl, 0.15 M) pKa 10.6 log P 3.78 (water @ pH 7 / octanol) CAS number 1972-08-3