So everybody that uses cannabis has pretty much heard of the achronym THC. THC plays the biggest role in cannabis potency however it is not even close to being the sole player. There in fact is several known Cannabinoids responsible for the effects that marijuana has. THC, CBD, CBN, THCV, CBC, CBL etc… You can read this article for most of the info but I am just going to go over the first three since they are the ones being documented by most of the seed companies out there.

THC: Tetrahydrocannabinol. Produces the cerebral floating fealing found in good Sativas. May induce a psychoactive response if injested in large enough quantaties. THC has been synthiticly derived and is dubbed ‘Marinol’. Marinol has little medical applications and is largley discredited due to it’s leagthly response time (2-3 hours after ingestion). THC will not create any sleepiness in the user.

CBD: Cannabidiol. CBD is really just an enhancer to THC. Without THC, CBD has little to no effect. In a marijuana strain that is high in CBD the user will feel sleepy, hungry and genrally ‘out of it’ . CBD is responsible for the numbing body sensation that can occur when laying down. Primarly found in Indica’s, CBD is most noted for it’s ability to leangthen the effects of THC. A strain high in CBD may keep the user medicated for sometimes twice as long! Chocolate has also been claimed to increase the duration of cannabis effects. CBD has also been toted as being a very promising cancer killer.

CBN: Cannabinol. CBN is the little brother of all the cannabinoids. It doesn’t carry potent mind bending effects like THC and CBD but it has it’s place. Just like steel oxidizes to create rust, THC oxidizes to create CBN. CBN does increase the leangth of a users experience but not nearly as much as CBD. CBN is noted for it’s ability to make a user feel confused and dizzy. A strain high in CBN will induce a sleepy hangover that is usually unwanted. For the most part, CBN should be kept to a minimum of 0-.5% since it’s usually a result of exposure to air.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Justices reject appeals from San Diego and San Bernardino counties seeking to throw out the state marijuana law. Patients likely will be able to seek ID cards showing they’re eligible to use the drug.

The Supreme Court rejected appeals today from two hold-out counties in Southern California that object to the state’s 13-year-old medical marijuana law and claimed it should be struck down as violating the federal drug-control act.

Without comment, the court turned down the pair of appeals.

The action likely will clear the way for patients in San Diego and San Bernardino counties to seek county-issued identification cards that show they are eligible to possess and use marijuana.

These identification cards have been required under state law since 2004, but the two counties have refused to issue them. Their lawyers had asserted the state’s authorization for using medical marijuana conflicted with the zero-tolerance policy set by federal law.

“Our theory is that a state law which authorizes people to violate federal law is preempted” and, therefore, unconstitutional, Thomas Bunton, a deputy county counsel in San Diego, said last week.

Federal officials have continued to insist that all use of marijuana is illegal, even in states such as California. However, Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said recently that the federal government will not devote great effort to prosecuting low-level marijuana cases.

Lawyers for San Diego and San Bernardino counties had gone to court seeking a clear ruling on whether the state law violated the federal drug law. San Diego NORML, a marijuana advocacy group, had threatened to sue the county in 2005 for not complying with the state law by refusing to issue identification cards.

Last year, a state appeals court upheld the California medical marijuana law and said it was not rendered void by the federal drug law. The California Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the two counties.

However, both counties appealed to the Supreme Court, but their appeals were dismissed today.

Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU’s Drug Reform Law Project, said today’s order “marks a significant victory for medical marijuana patients and their advocates nationwide.” It dispels any remaining doubts that the state laws are valid, he said, and it “leaves ample room for states to move forward . . . with independent medical marijuana policies.”

Since California’s voters adopted the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, 12 other states have approved measures permitting medical use of marijuana. The others are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The New Hampshire Legislature passed a similar measure recently that awaits action by the governor.

The federal government, however, has continued to insist that the sale or use of marijuana is illegal under the Controlled Substances Act. This 1970 law designates marijuana as a Schedule I drug that has “no currently accepted medical use” in the United States.

Federal authorities also have asserted they can arrest and prosecute all those who use or sell marijuana in California and other states that have authorized medical use of the drug.

Four years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress and the federal government had the constitutional authority to regulate the sale and use of marijuana under its power over interstate commerce. The 6-3 decision, in the case of Gonzales versus Raich, rejected the claim that personal use of homegrown marijuana was off limits to federal authority. But the court did not rule then on whether the state’s law allowing medical use of marijuana was void because it conflicted with the federal drug-control law.

In its appeal, San Diego county’s lawyers had questioned whether the California law authorizing medical use of marijuana “is preempted under the Supremacy Clause” of the Constitution by the federal law forbidding all use of marijuana.

(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)

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EXACT QUOTE FROM NORML’S WEBSITE

(im sure they wont mind me spreading this fantastic information)

U.S. Attorney General Says Justice Department Will No Longer Interfere With States’ Medical Pot Policies

February 26th, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
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Score one for the good guys!

Earlier this month, new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised a clean break from the policies of the Bush administration. Yesterday, during a live interview on C-Span, he affirmed that this change includes ending the DEA raids of state-authorized medical marijuana providers!

Responding to a reporter’s question regarding the DEA’s recent actions against several California medical cannabis providers, Holder stated: “What the President said during the campaign . . . will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement. . . What [President Obama] said during the campaign . . . is now American policy.”

You can watch the video of Attorney General Holder’s remarks here.

Holder’s statement marks a dramatic shift in U.S. drug policy, and is a major victory for the 72 million Americans who reside in states where the use of medical cannabis is legal! It also lends support to the ongoing efforts in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — each of which are debating legislative proposals to make the production and distribution of medical cannabis legal under state law.

At this time, NORML would like to personally thank those of you who responded to our request to contact the Attorney General’s office and urge Eric Holder to call off the DEA raids. Your phone calls and e-mails have helped to change U.S. marijuana policy!

So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back. And while you’re at it, click here to thank the new Attorney General for supporting the will of the people and the health and welfare of seriously ill patients.

“Change we can believe in?” Yes it is, and it’s about time.

(11 votes, average: 4.55 out of 5)

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Posted in: News.
Tagged: california · drugs · legalization · marijuana · News · Politics · pot · recession ·reefer · war on drugs

(7 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)

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Landrace seeds are seeds that have been grown locally in an area for…well…a long time. They are seeds that have been grown in a isolated area for several hundred generations. The longer the plant spends in that area the more acclimated it becomes to that environment. As plants breed they evolve to grow better in their environment, gaining and losing attributes giving it its own uniqueness.

All the wonderful cannabis grown today is basically a cross of maybe 10 different base genetics (South Indian, Brazilian, Laos, Cambodian, Mexican, Afghanistan, China, Russia etc). Each area providing its own unique characteristics to produce the quality we get today. These genetics all came from landrace seeds that breeders identified for certain qualities. For instance, pure Citral is a strain that came from the Pakistani town of Chitral and easily identified by its strong lemon citrus smell/flavor. Any strain with a distinct lemony citrus flavor (Super Lemon Haze anyone) has probably been derived from the original landrace seed from Chitral Pakistan. Hindu Kush is almost pure landrace and was pulled from the Hindu Kush mountain range. Its famous for its potent indica high and copious resin production.

Breeders are constantly searching new areas for landrace genetics that offer something new to our ever-expanding strains. Once a landrace seed has been selected, it has to be stabilized. This is the process of crossing desired phenotypes (of the same plant) to achieve a plant that produces uniform and consistent babys. An un-stabilized cannabis plant can have several phenotypes that can be for the better or the worse. AK-47 has a very cherry phenotype that is absolutely amazing. You may get one of these phenos after buying several packs of non-feminized seeds.

The big hit on the market today is auto-flowering strains. These strains are landrace seeds from taken from the northern hemisphere where days may have 24 hours of light. Well obviously a plant is never going to flower on 24 hours of light (since Indicas and Sativas rely on the shorter days of the years end to flower near the equator). These northern hemisphere plants basically got thrown into the ‘other’ Cannabis category named Cannabis Ruderalis. Ruderalis simply flowers after two or so weeks of growing since it has no idea what time of the year it is. Outdoor growers are reading this going…”wait…I don’t have to build a light deprivation green house to yield more than once a year”. This is indeed a fact. The problem is that Ruderalis in its native environment produces NO THC.

Breeders identified this two week flowering trait and thought “This would be awesome for outdoor growers if it got you medicated.” I don’t know exactly who (probably Dutch Passion) made the first but somebody stabilized a cross of Cannabis Ruderalis and Cannabis Indica/Sativa that produces a good amount of THC. Two months from seed to harvest pushing 5+% THC. The plants are small but with a complete grow time of two months what can you expect. Now that the genes are stabilized watch for some unique auto-flowering strains.

(7 votes, average: 4.86 out of 5)

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Here is the latest case on medical marijuana concentrates in California. According to the ruling, all chemical extracted THC from Marijuana is Illegal. Which means, any THC extracted using Butaine,  alcohol, or any other type of chemical is not prohibited. Here is the full case hearing:

Niall Patrick Bergen appeals from the judgment entered following his plea of Read more

(2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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Strain Review: California has now passed its new law that any Chemical extracted form of cannabis is ILLEGAL. Oils, Earwax, anything that was extracted using a chemical such as butane or alcohol is now ILLEGAL. Be advised patients!

Co-op’s such as ‘Green Angel of Malibu’ are selling this stuff called ‘Delta-9′ and I’ve asked them what it is and how it is made and the responses I’ve gotten are - “It’s crystallized kief.” & “It’s made with alcohol somehow.” - What? I didn’t understand these answers. So I did some research and found out how this ‘Delta-9′ concentrate is really made - because this is the best concentrate I have ever tried, it is very, very potent. The way it is made is with dry ice and screens, like when making kief. You use methods similar to sieving the kief and making bubble hash. Instead of ice, people use dry ice because the freezing strength is much strong then regular ice, and dry ice will not melt, it will just turn into a gas and evaporate. This type of concentrate is not made with butane or any solvents, although that doesn’t mean the person who made it didn’t use some solvent, but in general, this type of concentrate can be made without any solvents, just dry ice. It melts straight to a thick liquid once heated, like some oils do. So… with this being said, dry ice is a much better way to make a concentrated cannabis, it will freeze more trichs to be broken off, it will not turn into water and in my opinion - easier to work with in general. And the outcome between the two is an extreme difference - the dry ice will make a much more potent concentrate as more of the THC trichs will go be broken off and less contamination, I call the plant material ‘contamination’ because it serves no purpose besides to hold the THC, because less mixing will be involved. I have never actually made this style of concentrate - I have sieved kief and made bubble hash and other forms of ice water extraction but not dry ice. I honestly have had this idea long before I have ever heard of ‘Delta-9′ or dry ice hash, this idea came to me when I first made bubble hash with regular ice and thought that dry ice would be much more effecient in freezing the trichs. I don’t have much experience with concentrate making - so if there are any mistakes I have said or corrections that need to be made please let me know. Like I said I have never actually made dry ice hash just had the idea and then did some research only to find out people already do this and it works, supposedly works, very well.

[This was for information purposes only and all the information is just an opinion and I have not fully experimented with this to say it will be a 100% success, but in my opinion it is worth the try, and yes I will be trying this when I get sufficent trimmings and will be posting updates with the methods I have used and the outcome - but who knows when this will happen.]

(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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This has got to be one of the best advice given so far.

CNBC: The Whole Country Needs A Bong Break from AlleyInsider on Vimeo.

(13 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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A post from a Medical marijuana patient:

“I say smoke in the face of unjust laws.  I say prohibition helps drug dealers and law enforcers to keep jobs, at tax payers expense.  I say it’s time to end our weak begging for bits and bites of natural human rights that are ours unconditionally.  I say spark up, stand up and hold your ground - the might of being right is unwaivering.”

(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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