Vitamin Weed – The Health Benefits of Daily Cannabis Oil (Video)

Vitamin Weed - The Health Benefits of Daily Cannabis Oil (Video) | Third Monk

In this short clip from the Reset with Amber Lyon podcast, neuroscientist Dr. Michele Ross explains why she believes everyone can benefit from daily use of cannabis oil, or ‘vitamin weed’ as she calls it.

Dr. Ross is a former drug researcher for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, turned medical marijuana advocate.

Cannabis is the key to unlocking preventative medicine. It helps protect your DNA from damage so it can actually slow down the aging process… I think everyone should use cannabis oil, you should learn about it, you shouldn’t be afraid.

-Neuroscientist Dr. Michelle Ross.

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Getting High During Yoga Is An Ancient Practice

Getting High During Yoga Is An Ancient Practice | Third Monk image 1

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As more and more states hop aboard the legalization wagon that will inevitably become federal law, cannabis use will manifest in new demographics and cultural groups. 

One of these groups is an obvious one with room for synergy: yoga. An uplifting Sativa coupled with a smooth stretch can be a perfect combination. And it’s already happening, Stoned Yoga is a rising trend.

The mingling of weed and yoga is an ancient one, this second century text from India suggests that cannabis can be a type of sedative, like yoga.

The subtler attainments come with birth or are attained through herbs, mantra, austerities or concentration.

Cannabis use allows for a quieting of the outside world, and the ability to focus more totally on the interior process of meditation.

– Yogasutras 4.1

Similarly, Kriya Yoga master Swami Satyananda Saraswati discusses the similar effects between cannabis and yoga–and how they reach the same end point:

By infusing ganja or some hallucinogenic drug, the chemical properties of the gross body change. The heart slows down, the breathing rate changes, the brain waves alter and the mind becomes calm and still.

Is it not possible to arrive at the same point through Kriya Yoga?

Cannabis use may allow people who would otherwise be unable to participate in yoga, perhaps due to chronic pain, partake in the practice. The effects aid not only the spiritual existence, but the physical body as well.

STONER-YOGA

Yoga on Weed: How The Ancient Exercise Encourages and Embraces Cannabis Use | Marijuana.com

The Stoner Circle – That ’70s Show Gif Collection

The Stoner Circle - That '70s Show Gif Collection | Third Monk image 19

The Stoner Circle is a popular setting in That ’70s Show where the buds all get high in Eric Forman’s basement.

Usually, the cannabis is supplied by Hyde, who gets it from Leo (Tommy Chong). The most potent “stash” was given to them during the 5th Season, when Leo left town and gave them an entire film reel full of weed as a parting gift.

Enjoy our favorite GIF moments from the stoner circle in that ’70s show:

Stoner Conspiracy

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Self Realization

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Peer Pressure

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Midnight Toker

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The Beginning

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Chong Found Him

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Jackie Tokes and Puffs

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Stoner Philosophy

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Red Joins the Circle

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Baked Donna

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Sober Mask

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Fez Loves Naked Ladies and Cuddling

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The High Side

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Fez Has Needs

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Kelso Announcment

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Stoner Honesty

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That ’70s show – The Joker

DEA Blasted for Spending 4 Decades Obstructing Marijuana Science

DEA Blasted for Spending 4 Decades Obstructing Marijuana Science  | Third Monk image 6

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The Drug Enforcement Administration has been impeding and ignoring the science on marijuana and other drugs for more than four decades, according to a report released this week by the Drug Policy Alliance, a drug policy reform group, and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a marijuana research organization.

The DEA is a police and propaganda agency, it makes no sense for it to be in charge of federal decisions involving scientific research and medical practice. – Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance

The report alleges that the DEA has repeatedly failed to act in a timely fashion when faced with petitions to reschedule marijuana. The drug is currently classified as Schedule I, which the DEA reserves for the “most dangerous” drugs with “no currently accepted medical use.” Schedule I drugs, which include substances like heroin and LSD, cannot receive federal funding for research. On three separate occasions — in 1973, 1995 and again in 2002 — the DEA took years to make a final decision about a rescheduling petition, and in two of the cases the DEA was sued multiple times to force a decision.

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The report criticizes the DEA for overruling its own officials charged with determining how illicit substances should be scheduled. It also criticizes the agency for creating a “regulatory Catch-22” by arguing there is not enough scientific evidence to support rescheduling marijuana while simultaneously impeding the research that would produce such evidence.

The feds have long been accused of only funding marijuana research that focuses on the potential negative effects of the substance, but that trend appears to be changing.

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The National Institute on Drug Abuse has conducted about 30 studies to date on the potential benefits of marijuana. NIDA oversees the cultivation, production and distribution of marijuana grown for research purposes at the University of Mississippi in the only federally legal marijuana garden in the U.S. — a process through which the only federally sanctioned marijuana studies are approved.

Nobody should be afraid of the truth. There’s a lot of other drugs that have harmful side effects. Is the downside of marijuana a harmful side effect? Or is there a positive side that actually does help? That needs to be proven. – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).

The federal government’s interest in marijuana certainly appears to be growing. Since 2003, it has approved more than 500 grants for marijuana-related studies, with a marked upswing in recent years, according to McClatchy. In 2003, 22 grants totaling $6 million were approved for cannabis research. In 2012, that number had risen to 69 approved grants totaling more than $30 million.

The DEA has obstructed research into the medical use of marijuana for over 40 years and in the process has caused immeasurable suffering that would otherwise have been treated by low-cost, low-risk generic marijuana. The DEA’s obstruction of the FDA approval process for marijuana has — to the DEA’s dismay — unintentionally catalyzed state-level medical marijuana reforms. – Rick Doblin, executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

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Currently, 22 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use. Eight other states — Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin — have legalized CBD oils, made from a non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana frequently used to treat epilepsy, for limited medical use or for research purposes.

A number of recent studies have shown the medical potential of cannabis. Purified forms may attack some forms of aggressive cancer. Marijuana use also has been tied to better blood sugar control and may help slow the spread of HIV. One study found that legalization of the plant for medical purposes may even lead to lower suicide rates.

Nadelmann said the DEA has “demonstrated a regular pattern of abusing its discretionary powers.”

We believe this authority would be better handled by another government agency in the health realm, or even better still, by an organization that is truly independent, perhaps something that involves the National Academy of Sciences. We will be working to encourage greater congressional oversight and also to call for reforms of federal law. – Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance

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> New Report Blasts DEA | Huffington Post

Foria – Cannabis Sexual Lubricant For Women (Video)

Foria - Cannabis Sexual Lubricant For Women (Video) | Third Monk

The directions for Foria are unlike any other THC-infused product on the market:

Apply 4-8 sprays directly onto the clitoris, inner and outer labia and inside the vagina.

Each spray contains approximately 2 milligrams of THC. Your body and its needs are unique, so it is recommended that you experiment slowly to learn what serving size is best for you.

Allow 15-30 minutes to relax and absorb the medicine, a great time for foreplay or self-massage. Then enjoy alone or with a partner as desired.

So, what exactly is Foria?

It’s a sensual enhancement oil designed for female pleasure — a therapeutic aphrodisiac. Women have described it as relaxing, and they’ve said it’s heightened their sensations. They’ve associated it with warming and tingling, localized in the sexual region. – ” Mathew Gerson, Founder of Foria

Cannabis as a sexual aid is nothing new. But the creation of a lady-specific topical oil designed for sexual use directly on a woman’s genitals is new — or is it?

There’s a rich history of cannabis and sex. It got me looking a little differently at cannabis historically.

There are even examples of midwives using a honey-based concoction of cannabis for birthing and various other reasons where marijuana has been introduced to the body this way. – Gerson

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Ladies: Would you use this THC-infused oil for heightened orgasms? | The Cannabist

Pot Smoking Grandparents Don’t Give A Fuck (Video)

Pot Smoking Grandparents Don't Give A Fuck (Video) | Third Monk image 1

​It was inevitable, we should have seen it coming! When the Baby Boomers hit middle age, the smoke hit the fan. Americans over age 50 are using marijuana in record numbers, according to statistics from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

The NSDUH Report, from 2011, indicated that 6.3 percent of adults between the ages of 50 and 59 use cannabis; that number has risen from 2.7 percent in 2002.

Marijuana use was more common than the “non-medical” use of prescription-type drugs both for adults 50-54 (6.1 vs. 3.4 percent) and those aged 55-59 (4.1 vs. 3.2 percent).

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This shouldn’t come as a great surprise; after all, it stands to reason that folks this age, with a wealth of life experiences on which to base decisions, would make safer choices.

​Marijuana use, in fact, was more common than non-medical use of prescription drugs among all males over 50 (4.2 percent vs. 2.3 percent). Among females, the rates of marijuana use and non-medical use of prescription drugs were very similar (1.7 and 1.9 percent).

Pot smoking grandparents don’t give a fuck, and why should they? They’ve raised their families and retired, it’s their time to do what they enjoy.

Pot Smoking Grandparents

Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), said he started consuming marijuana about two years ago with his grandparents, Helen and Leo Shuller, who are 82 and 88, reports Alyson Krueger of The New York Times. They “have a little bit off the vaporizer,” Tvert said, either before of after dinner.

Those who have moved on from corporate work might now feel more comfortable revealing and sharing their marijuana use, according to Cher Neufer, 65, a retired teacher who said socializing with her friends means using cannabis.

Most of us are either retiring or retired, you don’t have to worry about your job knowing, so it’s a little easier for us. I don’t care if you use my name; I don’t care if they know! – Cher Neufer

Another factor is that most seniors are empty nesters, no longer worried about setting an example for their children.

They’ve raised their families, they’ve done their careers, and at this point I think they are saying, ‘OK, I’m not jeopardizing my family. – Diane-Marie Williams, executive director of administration at Moms For Marijuana International, a grandmother herself.

Pot Smoking Grandma

All of my friends are as educated on the subject as I am, and if they aren’t, I keep trying to make them. I can do more things. We play croquet. We do things out in the yard, and if I don’t have it I can barely walk across the floor. It’s a big pick-me-up. – Vickie Hoffman, 46, grandmother and organizer of the Missouri chapter of Moms For Marijuana International

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While the federal government refuses to acknowledge that marijuana has a legitimate role as a medicine, in particular one that can offset many of the symptoms and conditions associated with aging, it is nevertheless apparent that a growing percentage of the public — and older Americans, especially — are becoming increasingly aware of this plant’s safety and efficacy. – Paul Armentano, deputy directory of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

The numbers come from survey data compiled by the United States Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA) in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (the NSDUH Report).

Pot Smoking Grandparents Ballin'

> Baby Boomer Bong Rips | Toke Signals

Eating Mangos Increases Your Marijuana High (Study)

Eating Mangos Increases Your Marijuana High (Study) | Third Monk image 2

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The chemical compounds found within mangos have been discovered to increase, strengthen, and even lengthen the euphoric feelings felt after smoking marijuana.

Eating fresh mangos or even drinking a fresh mango smoothie one hour prior to smoking will dramatically increase the euphoric feelings felt by marijuana and help medical marijuana patients more effectively ease their pain.

A chemical compound known as myrcene terpenes, which is often used for fragrances, is found within cannabis as well as many other various plants such as lemon grass, hops, and of course mangos. This is what gives these plants their unique smells.

Mango Kush

Once ingested, the myrcene terpenes assists the THC by allowing it to pass through the Blood Brain Barrier more efficiently. By eating a mango up to one hour prior to smoking, the time it takes THC to reach the brain is cut in half. Amazingly, the length of the high may last twice as long.

Individuals who have eaten a mango, digested it, and then smoked have also noted that the euphoric feelings felt by marijuana are much more intense.

How to Cut a Mango

What are some of your favorite ways to increase your cannabis high? Have a preferred mango recipe? Share in the comments below!

> Increase Effects of Marijuana Consumption | The Weed Blog

Marijuana Use Relieves the Pain of Social Exclusion (Study)

Marijuana Use Relieves the Pain of Social Exclusion (Study) | Third Monk image 4

marijuana relieves social exclusion

Newly published research suggests that Marijuana use can relieve the intense discomfort of social exclusion.

Marijuana has been used to treat physical pain, and the current findings suggest it may also reduce emotional pain. – Research team led by University of Kentucky psychologist Timothy Deckman

Deckman and his colleagues are building on two lines of recent research: One that shows the pain of social exclusion is more intense than previously believed, and another revealing that physical pain and emotional pain travel similar pathways in the brain.

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The Studies

The first incorporated data on 5,631 Americans, who reported their level of loneliness, described their marijuana usage (if any), and assessed their mental health and feelings of self-worth. Not surprisingly, the researchers found a relationship between loneliness and feelings of self-worth, but it was significantly weaker for regular pot smokers.

Another experiment, featuring 537 people, found those who were experiencing social pain were less likely to have suffered a major depression in the past year if they smoked pot relatively frequently.

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The Results

Those who smoked marijuana relatively frequently felt less threatened than those who smoked it less frequently, or not at all.

Together, these studies show that “marijuana use consistently buffered people from the negative consequences associated with loneliness and social exclusion,” Deckman and his colleagues conclude. But buffers are of limited usefulness.

In that sense, avoiding social pain by smoking pot does not necessarily address its root cause. It does work, at least for a while, but it’s also a way to avoid dealing with the underlying issue.

If you are dealing with social exclusion, I recommend consistent meditation and an open, honest inner dialogue. This has helped me find the true cause of underlying issues I was unaware of consciously. A psychedelic trip under the right conditions and with a positive inquisitive mind-set was also very helpful.

In the end remember to do whatever feels right for you, and don’t hesitate to ask for help.

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> Pot Relieves Loneliness | PS Mag

Legalizing Cannabis Will Create Safer Drivers

Legalizing Cannabis Will Create Safer Drivers | Third Monk image 1

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Evidence suggests that legalizing marijuana could make the roads safer, reducing traffic fatalities by encouraging the substitution of marijuana for alcohol.

A major reason to doubt the premise that more pot smoking means more deadly crashes: Total traffic fatalities have fallen as cannabis consumption has risen; there were about 20 percent fewer in 2012 than in 2002. Perhaps fatalities would have fallen faster if it weren’t for all those new pot smokers. But there is reason to believe the opposite may be true, that there would have been more fatalities if marijuana consumption had remained level or declined.

While marijuana can impair driving ability, it has a less dramatic impact than alcohol does. A 1993 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for example, concluded:

The impairment [from cannabis] manifests itself mainly in the ability to maintain a lateral position on the road, but its magnitude is not exceptional in comparison with changes produced by many medicinal drugs and alcohol.

Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate when they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC’s adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small.

Cannabis, the Safer Alternative

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Given these differences, it stands to reason that if more pot smoking is accompanied by less drinking, the upshot could be fewer traffic fatalities. Consistent with that hypothesis, a study published last year in the Journal of Law and Economics found that legalization of medical marijuana is associated with an 8-to-11-percent drop in traffic fatalities, beyond what would be expected based on national trends. Montana State University economist D. Mark Anderson and his colleagues found that the reduction in alcohol-related accidents was especially clear, as you would expect if loosening restrictions on marijuana led to less drinking. They also cite evidence that alcohol consumption declined in states with medical marijuana laws.

A study published last month by the online journal PLOS One suggests that the substitution of marijuana for alcohol, assuming it happens, could affect crime rates as well as car crashes. Robert G. Morris and three other University of Texas at Dallas criminologists looked at trends in homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and auto theft in the 11 states that legalized marijuana for medical use between 1990 and 2006.

While crime fell nationwide during this period, it fell more sharply in the medical marijuana states, even after the researchers adjusted for various other differences between states. Morris and his colleagues conclude that legalization of medical marijuana “may be related to reductions in rates of homicide and assault,” possibly because of a decline in drinking, although they caution that the extra drop in crime could be due to a variable they did not consider.

More Pot, Safer Roads: Marijuana Legalization Could Bring Unexpected Benefits | Forbes

Most Potent Form of Medical Cannabis is the Whole Plant – The Entourage Effect (Video)

Most Potent Form of Medical Cannabis is the Whole Plant - The Entourage Effect (Video) | Third Monk image 1

How chemicals in cannabis interacts with the brain

Cannabis and the Entourage Effect

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Raphael Mechoulam, a heavily decorated scientist determined the structure of cannabidiol (CBD) in 1963, an important component of cannabis. A year later, he became the first person to isolate delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Over the ensuing decades, Mechoulam and his team continued to isolate numerous compounds from the cannabis plant.

In 1999, Mechoulam wrote a paper describing something known as “the entourage effect.”

Think of it like this: There are more than 480 natural components found within the cannabis plant, of which 66 have been classified as “cannabinoids.” Those are chemicals unique to the plant, including delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiols. There are, however, many more, including: 

— Cannabigerols (CBG)
— Cannabichromenes (CBC)
— other Cannabidiols (CBD)
— other Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC)
— Cannabinol (CBN) and cannabinodiol (CBDL)
— other cannabinoids (such as cannabicyclol (CBL), cannabielsoin (CBE), cannabitriol (CBT) and other miscellaneous types).

Other constituents of the cannabis plant are: nitrogenous compounds (27 known), amino acids (18), proteins (3), glycoproteins (6), enzymes (2), sugars and related compounds (34), hydrocarbons (50), simple alcohols (7), aldehydes (13), ketones (13), simple acids (21), fatty acids (22), simple esters (12), lactones (1), steroids (11), terpenes (120), non-cannabinoid phenols (25), flavonoids (21), vitamins (1), pigments (2), and other elements (9).

Mechoulam, along with many others, said he believes all these components of the cannabis plant likely exert some therapeutic effect, more than any single compound alone.

While science has not yet shown the exact role or mechanism for all these various compounds, evidence is mounting that these compounds work better together than in isolation: That is the “entourage effect.”

Isolating Compounds of Medical Cannabis

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To better understand the concept of the entourage effect, Dr. Sanjay Gupta traveled to the secret labs of GW Pharmaceuticals, outside London. In developing Sativex, a cannabis-based drug to treat multiple sclerosis, the company’s chairman, Dr. Geoffrey Guy, told Gupta that the company ran into some obstacles.

More than a decade of experiments revealed that a whole plant extract, bred to contain roughly the same amounts of THC and CBD in addition to the other components in the plant, was more effective in reducing the pain and spasms of MS than a medication made of a single compound.

It could be that multiple individual compounds play a role, or it could be due to their interaction in the body; it could also be combination of both, Guy said.

Now, maybe this all sounds obvious. After all, eating real fruits, vegetables and other plants provides better nutrition than just taking vitamin pills with one nutrient or mineral in each. Science is showing us that we can likely say the same about cannabis.

Unlike other drugs that may work well as single compounds, synthesized in a lab, cannabis may offer its most profound benefit as a whole plant, if we let the entourage effect flower, as Mechoulam suggested more than a decade ago.

> Medical marijuana and ‘the entourage effect’ | CNN

How to Make Money With Cannabis – The Colbert Report (Video)

How to Make Money With Cannabis - The Colbert Report (Video) | Third Monk

Stephen Colbert documented Colorado’s booming cannabis industry in a hilarious segment on “Ganjapreneurs,” as the news media has termed the people making cash from marijuana.

Colorado–or “potsylvania,” as Colbert put it–has made $14 million in the first month that pot became legal in the state and could make up to $600 million a year.

“The market has spoken and the market is toking,” Colbert said.  His “bears and balls” segment on pot looked at marijuana infused edibles and the growing ganja tourism industry in the state.

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He also mentioned how pot profiteers are having a tough time with finding banks to take their cash. For some reason, Colbert noted, banks are worried about violating the law if they take drug dealers’ money. On the other hand, that’s exactly what HSBC did when Mexican drug cartels used the banks to launder money–and HSBC got off with no criminal penalties.

Colbert on Colorado: The Market Has Spoken and the Market Is Toking | AlterNet