Ganja Vibes Blog

Gaga Goo Goo Ballz

Written by Purplina Kush | | | Ingredients: (Makes 20-25) - 2 cups raw oats (organic is usually just about the same price in the bulk bins) - ¼ cup cannabutter, melted (have extra cannabutter - semi sweet chocolate baking squares (2 should be plenty) - 4 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut. (also often organic at same…donation, lol) - goodly drizzle of la lechera (condensed milk), likewise with honey, for a lil extra sticky icky In large mixing bowl…mix! Once all oats are sewn nicely into a chocolatey gooey coat, we’re good to go. Now, put the whole bowl in the freezer, 10-15 min perhaps. The goal is to get the stuff form-able. About 1tbsp per ball. As with all Ganga Ballz I’ve formed thus far, if you have little to no interest in interplanetary transpo during the hand formation of such goods, you might use thin plastic gloves to avoid more and more cannabinoids in every pore. Sadly, it is already hard enough to perfect the consistency of these bad ballz n adding the element of gloves shifts it to near impossibility. Happily, you will be so rocked off your ass before the batch is even near done. Okay, now that we’re good to go nowhere fast, and any other place sloooowwly, we should have a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, or pan, or tin, or whateves, and neat rows of hand formed space ballz. Have shredded coconut in small separate bowl. Drop n roll each goo ball lightly in the flakes and place back on the wax paper. Now look, I was already a little outer-spaced, and was bringing these to a party of patients. Know what I did? You can see it in the pic. Yup, I melted more of the beautiful green butter w/more of the condensed milk, and I even think a marshmallow or two (I don’t know I was hiiiiigh) into a frosting type drizzle on top. Can’t stop, Won’t Stop! Cover these specialty spheres and refrigerate until serving. Bring them to a party and watch that thang blast off peaceful and giggly like, a little fuzzy even. Wish I could show y’all the pics! But that’s the great part: You don’t have to have been there: GO THERE! PK xoxo source: http://www.sarahdmagazine.com/index.php/food/beyond-brownies/74-gaga-goo-goo-ballz.html

Double her pleasure

Here’s some hard science: Playing with her nipples may excite the part of her brain linked to genital pleasure. A recent Rutgers University Study found that when women stimulated their nipples, the same brain region that lit up when they masturbated was activated. “There may be a fusion between the sensations, which can explain why both feel erotic,” says study author Barry Komisaruk, Ph.D. And yes, it’s also likely to happen when you stimulate her nipples, he adds.

Meditation & Kundalini

Take time for self. http://youtu.be/3RSADucnVnI The kundalini rises from muladhara chakra up a subtle channel at the base of the spine (called Sushumna), and from there to top of the head merging with the sahasrara, or crown chakra. When kundalini Shakti is conceived as a goddess, then, when it rises to the head, it unites itself with the Supreme Being (Lord Shiva). Then the aspirant becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss. The arousing of kundalini is said by some to be the one and only way of attaining Divine Wisdom. Self-Realization is said to be equivalent to Divine Wisdom or Gnosis or what amounts to the same thing: self-knowledge. The awakening of the kundalini shows itself as “awakening of inner knowledge” and brings with itself “pure joy, pure knowledge and pure love.” Source: http://shootingthebird.tumblr.com/post/10972295225/the-kundalini-rises-from-muladhara-chakra-up-a

Drop and give me 20 Brain!

As many people hit middle age, they often start to notice that their memory and mental clarity are not what they used to be. We suddenly can't remember where we put the keys just a moment ago, or an old acquaintance's name, or the name of an old band we used to love. As the brain fades, we euphemistically refer to these occurrences as "senior moments." While seemingly innocent, this loss of mental focus can potentially have a detrimental impact on our professional, social, and personal well-being. It happens to most of us, but is it inevitable? Neuroscientists are increasingly showing that there's actually a lot that can be done. It turns that the brain needs exercise in much the same way our muscles do, and the right mental workouts can significantly improve our basic cognitive functions. Thinking is essentially a process of making neural connections in the brain. To a certain extent, our ability to excel in making the neural connections that drive intelligence is inherited. However, because these connections are made through effort and practice, scientists believe that intelligence can expand and fluctuate according to mental effort. Now, a new San Francisco Web-based company has taken it a step further and developed the first "brain training program" designed to actually help people improve and regain their mental sharpness. Called Lumosity, it was designed by some of the leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology from Stanford University. Lumosity, is far more than an online place to exercise your mental skills. That's because they have integrated these exercises into a Web-based program that allows you to systematically improve your memory and attention skills. The program keeps track of your progress and provides detailed feedback on your performance and improvement. Most importantly, it constantly modifies and enhances the games you play to build on the strengths you are developing--much like an effective exercise routine requires you to increase resistance and vary your muscle use. Does it work? Apparently it does. In randomized, controlled clinical trials Lumosity was shown to significantly improve basic cognitive functions. One study showed students improved their scores on math tests by 34 percent after using Lumosity for six weeks, significantly greater gains than those made by other students in the same class, who were not training with the Lumosity program. The company says its users have reported clearer and quicker thinking, improved memory for names, numbers, directions, increased alertness and awareness, elevated mood, and better concentration at work or while driving. While many of the games at Lumosity are free, a modest subscription fee is required to use the full program over the long term. However, Lumosity is currently offering a free trial of their program to new users so that you can see how well it works before you decide to subscribe. The trial is completely free (no credit card required) and the company believes the results will speak for themselves. Lumosity: http://www.lumosity.com/app/v4/personalization Source: http://www.howlifeworks.com/Article.aspx?Cat_URL=health_beauty&AG_URL=brain_training&AG_ID=291&cid=8088ht_news_z&aid=1049985

"Wal-Mart of weed" weGrow opens in Washington D.C.

By HeathPop Staff WeGrow franchisee Alex Wong, left, and WeGrow founder Dhar Mann, right pose inside the WeGrow store in northeast Washington on March 29, 2012. (Credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (CBS/AP) A company dubbed the "Walmart of Weed" is putting down roots in America's capital city, sprouting further debate on marijuana -- medical or otherwise. Just blocks from the White House and federal buildings, a company that candidly caters to medical marijuana growers is opening up its first outlet on the East Coast. The opening of the weGrow store on Friday in Washington coincides with the first concrete step in implementing a city law allowing residents with certain medical conditions to purchase pot. Legal pot presents questions about drugged driving How many pot patients Calif. has is anyone's guess "Wal-Mart of weed" set to open: Should medical marijuana go mainstream? Like suppliers of picks and axes during the gold rush, weGrow sees itself providing the necessary tools to pioneers of a "green rush," which some project could reach nearly $9 billion within the next five years. Admittedly smaller than a big box store, weGrow is not unlike a typical retailer in mainstream America, with towering shelves of plant food and vitamins, ventilation and lighting systems. Along with garden products, it offers how-to classes, books and magazines on growing medical marijuana. "The more that businesses start to push the envelope by showing that this is a legitimate industry, the further we're going to be able to go in changing people's minds," said weGrow founder Dhar Mann. Although federal law outlaws the cultivation, sale or use of marijuana, 16 states and the District of Columbia have legalized its medical use to treat a wide range of issues from anxiety and back pain to HIV/AIDS and cancer-related ailments. Fourteen states also have some kind of marijuana decriminalization law, removing or lowering penalties for possession. Nearly 7 percent of Americans, or 17.4 million people, said they used marijuana in 2010, up from 5.8 percent, or 14.4 million, in 2007, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. A Gallup poll last year found a record-high of 50 percent of Americans saying that marijuana should be made legal, and 70 percent support medical uses for pot. For many states, there's no way to tell how many people have medical marijuana cards. California only has 9,637 valid card holders, but registration is voluntary. In Colorado, where you have to sign up, there 82,089 valid ID cards since December 2011. If Californians signed up at the same rate as Colorado, more than 615,000 would have had cards by now. Marijuana advocates also tout revenue benefits, as well as cost and efficiency savings for not prosecuting or jailing people for pot. But a recent push from the federal government to crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries has led several states to delay or curtail their dispensary programs for fear of prosecution. It means some medical marijuana users may seek to grow their own-- paving the way for companies like California-based weGrow to open a budding number of locations across the country to help legal users and larger cultivators grow their own pot plants. WeGrow doesn't sell pot or seeds to grow it. The store, however, makes no secret that its products and services help cultivators grow their own plants for personal use or for sale at dispensaries. Selling hydroponic and other indoor growing equipment is legal, but because those products are used to cultivate a plant deemed illegal under federal law the industry has tried to keep a low profile. "For the longest time, it's been a don't ask, don't tell industry," Mann said. "Most people still want to hide behind that facade." Mann, who opened the first store in Sacramento last year, said he started his venture after he was kicked out of a mom and pop hydroponics store in Berkeley, Calif., just for mentioning marijuana. HealthPop reported the first 10,000-foot weed emporium grew out of a warehouse called iGrow. WeGrow has since opened a location in Phoenix and also will open stores in San Jose and Flagstaff, Arizona, in the near future. The company has franchisees in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and plans to expand into Oregon, Washington state and Michigan. The frankness of the business comes as public attitudes toward marijuana use and legalization in the U.S. transform. But federal pressure on customers means companies catering to the marijuana industry could take a hit -- in their wallets and with jail time. "There's a whole host of risks associated with investing and opening up shop here," said Jason Klein, a D.C. attorney who represents medical marijuana operators. "These entrepreneurs see themselves as doing yeoman's work, putting themselves in personal risk ... to get medicine to the sick people who deserve it." D.C. officials on Friday are set to announce those eligible to apply for permits to grow and sell medical marijuana to dispensaries under the district's 2010 law. Applicants must sign a statement saying they understand a license doesn't authorize them to break federal law. "They do so at their own peril because I can't imagine that the federal government is going to allow marijuana selling for any purpose right in their backyard," said Kevin Sabet, a former senior adviser to the president's drug czar and a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Substance Abuse Solutions. "Whether it's D.C. or all the way out in California, the government's been pretty clear that medical marijuana doesn't pass the giggle test." Sabet said the idea of dispensaries trying to be passed off as a medical establishment is a joke, adding that the grow store will be the first in a series events where people are going to try to "make big money off an illegal drug." The national medical marijuana market was estimated to be worth $1.7 billion in 2011 and is projected to reach $8.9 billion within five years, according to an economic analysis done for the American Cannabis Research Institute. The study also says that nearly 25 million Americans are potentially eligible to use medical marijuana based on current state laws. "There's great potential for the industry across the country," said Steve Fox, a spokesman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, a D.C.-based trade group representing marijuana-related businesses. He said support for the businesses has emerged in states like California, Colorado and Washington state. "They are showing that just like any other industry, there's a demand for a product and these businesses are sprouting up to address the need." The issue of marijuana in the nation's capital isn't new. A public referendum to legalize medical marijuana overwhelmingly passed in the late 1990s but Congress blocked it from taking effect for years. Allowing the city's latest move on medical marijuana use could also indicate an attitude shift on a federal level. "The political winds on a federal level really affect our ability to get things done on a local level," said Brendan Williams-Kief, spokesman for D.C. councilmember David A. Catania, who co-sponsored the medical marijuana legislation. "When the (legislation) was passed, it happened at a time when there was a Congress that was less-inclined to exert their will on the District. ... But they're always up there on the Hill looking down." Klein believes that, despite being next door to Congress, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department of Justice, the D.C. medical marijuana program will avoid the ire of the federal government because it was crafted to tightly control the industry. "It's the sort of thing the feds will probably just look the other way elsewhere, but given the fact that it's right under their noses, is going to really be unique conundrum," Klein said. "I'm really looking forward to getting a couple of Congresspeople in a cab and caravaning them over to a dispensary ... so that they can see that this is not the danger that they imagine it might be." For Alex Wong, the franchisee of the D.C. weGrow store, his involvement in the industry is both personal and professional. The mid-40s entrepreneur was drawn to the business after seeing the firsthand effects of his mother's colon cancer and learning that medical marijuana might have made her more comfortable during treatment. "It is a viable medicine," said the. "All I can do is use my small business expertise to lend a hand in this movement." Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, issued a statement saying science and research -- not politics -- should drive the approval process for medicine, and to date the "smoked form of marijuana has not met the modern standard" established by the Food and Drug Administration. "Chronically ill and suffering patients deserve access to modern medicine that is proven to be effective and safe," Lemaitre said. "We ardently support continued research into medical uses for the components of marijuana and will continue to do so." Mann, however, says medical marijuana cultivation and distribution is going to happen with or without federal government approval. "Regardless of how rigorously they want to enforce intervention, it's not going to stop the industry," Mann said. Find the original article: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57406554-10391704/wal-mart-of-weed-wegrow-opens-in-washington-d.c/

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