The Narcotics Control Board of Thailand is pushing forward with a rewritten draft of the country’s drug laws in order to legalize medical marijuana. 

The proposed revision, which is currently going through the parliamentary process, will allow medicinal cannabis to be sold over-the-counter for patients with a valid prescription from their doctor.

The move is expected to pass without opposition. Once adopted, the country will be one of the first in Asia to do so.

Thailand’s public health department and the country’s law enforcement agencies have stated no opposition to the move, which is in stark contrast to previous policy in the Asian nation.

In 2016, previous Justice Minister of Thailand Paiboon Koomchaya declared the war on drugs to be a failure, which opened the door to a conversation about what to do next.

> Thailand is Poised to Legalize Medical Cannabis | Marijuana.com

Thailand Expects to Legalize Medical Marijuana After Failed Drug War

Robert Anton Wilson speaks about the riddle of consciousness and how the human nervous system locks the entire body together, including the mind.

He describes the brain and how it reacts to our cultural programming, our reality tunnel, how our nervous system reprograms itself, and how we can crack our minds open through directed thought.

Lecture Topics Covered:

The Government And Drugs
Yoga And Other Techniques
Timothy Leary’s Eight-Circuit Model Of Psychological Types
Elements Of The First Four Circuits
Techniques For Changing Imprinting
The Top Four Circuits
Programming Your Own Experience
The Church Committee And Space Migration

We live in our fantasies and endure our realities. – Robert Anton Wilson

Techniques of Consciousness Change – Robert Anton Wilson (Lecture)

Video Editor Max Shishkin combined the soundtrack of Intersellar, the voice of Anthony Hopkins reading “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas, and footage from 35 space films to make this amazing mashup.

Films featured in the tribute:

Our Bond With the Universe, A Movie Mashup Tribute (Video)

A team of researchers from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine believe they have developed a method to scientifically study the “mystical experiences” produced by shrooms.

Publishing their findings in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the team defines “mystical experience” using four central characteristics:

1. A sense of “mysticism,” meaning a sensation of sacredness or unity with all things

2. Positive mood

3. Transcendence of time and space

4. Ineffability, a feeling that the experience is beyond words.

The team of psychiatrists and neuroscientists created a 30-item Mystical Experience Questionnaire, called the MEQ30, which addresses all four of these “mystical experience” elements and can be used to obtain an overall score to describe the intensity of the mystical experience.

This was achieved by analyzing data collected from five laboratory-based experiments, in which a total of 184 participants were given moderate to high doses of psilocybin mushrooms and asked to describe their experience.

The results led to a number of theories. Psilocybin is thought to cause a decrease in brain activity in the parts of the brain typically associated with the “sense of self,” or “ego.” At the same time, an increase in communication between certain other parts of the brain was observed, producing a pattern of activity that resembled “dream sleep.”

> Scientists Can Now Measure The “Mystical” Effects Of Magic Mushrooms | IFL Science

Researchers Measure Psychedelic Trips with a Mystical Experience Questionnaire (Study)

Hannibal Buress takes a trip to Native Roots, a marijuana dispensary located in Denver. The bud tender introduces Hannibal to new interesting cannabis infused products like female lubricant Foria and skin patches.

Is this a sour patch kid or a sour patch full of weed? You don’t know TSA lady. I’ll eat it right in front of you! – A Stoned Hannibal Buress

Hannibal Buress Visits a Cannabis Dispensary in Colorado (Video)

From plot debriefs to key motifs, Thug Notes’ A Clockwork Orange Summary & Analysis has you covered with themes, symbols, important quotes, and more.

A Clockwork Orange Explained by Thug Notes (Video)

At Colorado State University, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is conducting two clinical trials with Cannabis CBD – one involving treatment of arthritis, and the other epilepsy in dogs.

For now, CBD advocates for dogs are spreading the word at ground level. Cannabis at human strengths can be toxic for dogs, so firms are making dog chews, oils and topical creams using cannabis extract.

Alison is the CEO of TreatWell Health, a Californian firm making medical marijuana products for people and their dogs. TreatWell’s cannabis tincture can be dropped straight into an animal’s mouth or on to food

Similar companies include Treatibles, which sells a hemp oil “for animals of all kinds”, and Pet Releaf, whose hemp dog treats look like fancy vegan snack-food.

The compound Cannabidiol (CBD) was discovered by studies to reduce inflammation and combat seizures. Veterinary groups are cautious but a mounting number of dog owners say the Cannabis is easing their animals’ anxiety and chronic pain.

Cinnamon, a portly Beagle cross from Kansas City, Missouri, takes PetReleaf’s hemp oil daily for her bad hips. Her owner Joyce Lattimer claims that after one dose:

She hopped right down from her chair when I called her to go outside. usually I have to call several times and start pushing her off.

She came over just to say hi and lick me on the leg. I almost cried, it’s been so long since she’s done that.

> Pot for pets: Could medical marijuana help your dog? | BBC News

Cannabis CBD For Pets, A Possible Solution to Treat Anxiety and Inflammation

Ayahuasca has gotten the attention of researchers by demonstrating its critical healing potential for individuals living with psychological issues.

In a study published by the Scientific Reports Journal, specialists at University of Exeter and University College London confirmed results showing that the 527 ayahuasca consumers out of 96,000 surveyed individuals reported higher general well-being, along with less problematic alcohol and drug use, over the previous 12 months than other respondents in the survey.

These findings lend some support to the notion that ayahuasca could be an important and powerful tool in treating depression and alcohol use disorders – Will Lawn, Ph.D., of University College London, Lead Researcher

> Biggest Scientific Ayahausca Study Ever Shows Psychological Benefits | Ayahausca Today

Largest Ayahuasca Research Study Confirms Mental Healing Benefits

How much water you need depends entirely on an individual’s lifestyle, activity levels, eating habits, and even surrounding climate. The best way to figure out what you need is to pay attention to your body’s many signals.

Dehydration actually sets in before you start feeling thirsty, and is often indicated by, oddly enough, feeling slightly hungry. If you find yourself feeling like a snack, try having a glass of water first, and see what happens.

For people who struggle in the mornings, having a couple of glasses of water right when you wake up will help boost your blood pressure to normal levels. It will also help clean out your system and get your metabolism started early.

Not staying hydrated can lead to negative health effects described in this helpful infographic:

Negative Health Effects of Dehydration (Infographic)

The increasing reform of cannabis policies is taking away power from Mexican cartels and reducing violent crime.

In a new research study, Is Legal Pot Crippling Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations? The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on US Crime, when a state on the Mexican border legalized medical use of the drug, violent crime fell by 13% on average.

These laws allow local farmers to grow marijuana that can then be sold to dispensaries where it is sold legally.

These growers are in direct competition with Mexican drug cartels that are smuggling the marijuana into the US. As a result, the cartels get much less business.

Whenever there is a medical marijuana law we observe that crime at the border decreases because suddenly there is a lot less smuggling and a lot less violence associated with that.

-Evelina Gavrilova, Author of the economic journal study

Taking Cannabis Away from Dirty Hands

While the Mexican cartels smuggle other drugs such as cocaine, heroine and meth across the border, the market for cannbis is the largest drug market in the US and the one from which the cartels can make the fattest profit. It costs around $75 to produce a pound of marijuana in Mexico, which can then be sold on for $6,000 depending on the quality.

Gavrilova, along with fellow researchers Takuma Kamada and Floris Zoutman, studied data from the FBI’s uniform crime reports and supplementary homicide records covering 1994 to 2012 to report these findings:

Among the border states the effect of the change in law was largest in California, where there was a reduction of 15% in violent crime, and weakest in Arizona, where there was a fall of 7%.

The crimes most strongly affected were robbery, which fell by 19%, and murder, which dropped by 10%. Homicides specifically related to the drug trade fell by an astonishing 41%.

Mislabeled Drug to Legal Medicine

The authors claim their study provides new insights into methods to reduce violent crime related to drug trafficking. But its publication comes as the US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is rescinding the Obama-era policy that ushered in the medical marijuana laws.

When the effect on crime is so significant, it’s obviously better to regulate marijuana and allow people to pay taxes on it rather than make it illegal.

For me it’s a no brainer that it should be legal and should be regulated, and the proceeds go to the Treasury.

-Evelina Gavrilova, Author of the economic journal study

As of January 2018, more than 20 states have implemented medical marijuana laws. In those cannabis friendly states, there is now one marijuana dispensary for every six regular pharmacies. The increasing amount of positive medical marijuana stories have convinced many people to use it for their health. Compassionate dispensaries even offer discount programs for low income patients who qualify.

The study suggests that the full recreational legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington will have an even stronger impact on the drug trade as their large-scale cannabis production facilities will push cartels out of the industry.

DISCLAIMER: All Information Displayed In This Post Is For Educational Purposes Only, And Is Not To Be Construed As Medical Advice Or Treatment For Any Specific Person Or Condition. Cannabis Has Not Been Analyzed Or Approved By The FDA. Individual Results May Vary.

> Legal marijuana cuts violence says US study, as medical-use laws see crime fall | The Guardian

Does Cannabis Legalization Decrease Violent Crime? (Study)