The Beatles and Cannabis, A High History

It is well known that Bob Dylan fully turned The Beatles on to cannabis.

In 1964 they were introduced by a mutual friend, the writer Al Aronowitz, at a New York Hotel. Upon arriving at The Beatles’ suite that evening, Dylan asked for cheap wine, and during the wait Dylan suggested they have a smoke.

The Beatles looked at each other apprehensively. “We’ve never smoked marijuana before,” the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein 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…” – Peter Brown, The Love You Make

After the room was secured, Dylan rolled the first joint and passed it to Lennon. He immediately gave it to Ringo Starr, whom he called “my royal taster”. Not realizing the etiquette was to pass it on, Starr finished the joint and Dylan and Aronowitz rolled more for each of them.

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.”

How Cannabis Influenced The Beatles’ Music

By the time they came to make Help! in 1965, The Beatles’ cannabis use had reached a peak. It affected their songwriting, which became mellower and more introspective. During the filming of Help! they were often stoned on set, which caused them to forget their lines.

The Beatles had gone beyond comprehension. We were smoking marijuana for breakfast.

We were well into marijuana and nobody could communicate with us, because we were just glazed eyes, giggling all the time. – John Lennon

Cannabis had a significant effect on The Beatles’ music. It found its way into a number of songs:

The Beatles – Got to Get You Into My Life

Described by Paul McCartney as “an ode to pot”

The Beatles – With a Little Help From My Friends

This track was condemned in some quarters due to its reference to getting high.

The Beatles Push for Weed Freedom

On 24 July 1967 The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein added their names to an advertisement which appeared in the Times newspaper calling for the legalization of cannabis.

Sponsored by a group called Soma, the advertisement also demanded the release of all people imprisoned due to cannabis possession, and further research into the drug’s medical uses.

> The Beatles and Drugs | The Beatles Bible

Jan 22, 2014Jun 17, 2016

How Cannabis Can Benefit Athletic Performance and Recovery

Many world-class athletes have been penalized for smoking cannabis, but science suggests it could be the smarter choice.

At the start of 2014, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that he might be open to allowing injured players to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

A number of top athletes in the NFL, along with various other sports leagues, have been known to enjoy cannabis. And there are many good reasons why athletes should be allowed to use the substance without fear of consequences.

It’s a Safer Way of Managing Pain

Marijuana’s potential to relieve pain has been noted by many players in the NFL, and was also acknowledged by their commissioner.

As former Denver Broncos player Nate Jackson explained to The Denver Post,

NFL players live in a great deal of pain on a daily basis, and marijuana helps with that.

Teams pass out opioid painkillers, which are highly addictive. And that can affect a player long after they are done playing.

Marijuana doesn’t have those types of effects.

It Doesn’t Harm Lung Function

One might wonder why athletes would be okay with smoking cannabis, considering the importance of lung health in professional sports.

But the largest study ever to investigate this effect, published in 2012, helps to explain why.

The 20-year-long study, which involved over 5,000 adults, concluded that regular marijuana smoking (a joint a day for 7 years or a joint a week for 20 years) had no negative impact on lung function.

It May Even Improve Lung Function

On the contrary, the study found evidence of slight improvements in lung capacity for those who smoked cannabis.

The researchers suggest that the traditional method of smoking cannabis, which involves deep inhales, could actually contribute to better lung function over time.

Unlike Alcohol, It Doesn’t Cause Hangovers or Bodily Harm

Banning athletes from using cannabis forces many to turn to alcohol instead, which poses a number of disadvantages.

As former Seattle Seahawks player John Moffitt recently explained:

If you’re an athlete and you’re drinking (alcohol), you’re deteriorating your body far more than if you’re an athlete and you’re using marijuana.

It Aids Recovery and Performance

There are many other reasons why cannabis is so popular among athletes. In fact, some researchers argue that it should remain banned as a performance enhancing drug, due to its long list of benefits.

Writing in Frontiers in Psychiatry, a pair of neuroscientists from Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo provided this summary:

Cannabis smoking can be helpful for some activities such as extreme sports, as it improves muscle relaxation, reduces anxiety, and extincts fear memories (e.g., negative experiences) leading to enhanced performance.

It is also worthwhile to note that cannabis smoking improves sleep time and recovery, which may favor performance when an athlete is facing multiple competitions in a short period of time.

The debate on cannabis as a banned substance has led to recent changes in Olympic drug testing rules as well.

> Top 5 Reasons Why Athletes Prefer Marijuana | Leaf Science

Jan 20, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Cannabis Makes CNN Reporter Giggle During Coverage of Colorado’s Weed Legalization (Video)

In a must-see-to-believe segment in CNN’s “Gone to Pot” series covering the historic legalization of recreational cannabis in Colorado, CNN reporter Randi Kaye interviewed pot entrepreneur “Grandma Barbara” and took a tour of cannabis dispensaries with a few weed enthusiasts.

Her report found her in the back of a limo while several people smoked cannabis, and Kaye can be seen getting increasingly silly as she reported.

Kaye and the tour group visited several dispensaries, picking up cannabis on one stop after another. And while the participants got stoned, Kaye asked them about the benefits of cannabis and captured their delight in being able to legally indulge.

Cooper asked her how extensive her research in the back of the limo was, and Kaye, grinning ear to ear, said, “My brain was a little fuzzy by the time I got out of there.”

Anderson interjected to ask, “Really?”

“Oh yeah, I wasn’t thinking right, Kaye responded. “I couldn’t remember even some of the questions that I wanted to ask in the interview, which has never happened to me when I’m reporting in the field.”

“And I found things to be really funny, much funnier than I normally do, so I think we got a little bit of a contact high there,” she added.

Jan 15, 2014Jan 25, 2018

Jon Stewart Slams Media For Lying About Cannabis While Glorifying Alcohol (Video)

Jon Stewart devoted two segments on The Daily Show to Colorado legalizing cannabis, and to the cable news (mostly Fox) freakout over said legalization.

Stewart took on the new rules and regulations surrounding the marijuana laws, and in particular set his sights on Bill O’Reilly and his “old timey Americana restoration hour.”

Stupid Stoners, You Should Get Drunk!

Jon Stewart made the point that pot is far less harmful than alcohol, yet far from condemning it like they do pot, cable news personalities celebrate alcohol and openly talk about getting drunk!

Cannabis is as Dangerous as Guns?

Jon Stewart took on Bill O’Reilly’s assertion that pot-smoking is “literally Russian roulette,” which is true, except for the fact that guns “must never be criminalized and restricted in any way ever.”

Stewart also took on O’Reilly’s bizarre connection between pot-smoking and texting and why both are just so horrible for young people.

Please Drink Responsibly – A Message from South Park

Jan 12, 2014Jan 25, 2018

The Science Behind Acupuncture… And It’s Related to Marijuana (Study)

Acupuncture and medical marijuana have been around for thousands of years. However, they didn’t have a shared connection until a group of outside-the-box thinkers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China discovered one.

Their findings, published online by the National Institutes of Health, show how electro-acupuncture – an electrified version of traditional acupuncture used to treat pain – works by increasing activity of natural painkillers in the body called cannabinoids.

The researchers say they weren’t the first to discover that acupuncture causes an increase in the body’s cannabinoids:

According to the latest reports in the American journal of Nature Neuroscience, acupuncture has been found to cause the human body to release some natural painkillers.

They were, however, the first to explain why. Using rat models of arthritis pain, the researchers found that repeated treatment with electro-acupuncture resulted in an increase in cannabinoid receptors in a part of the brain called the striatum.

That’s where it gets complicated, because the striatum is also full of dopamine cells. Previous studies show that marijuana can increase dopamine as well, and the current study seemed to confirm this. The researchers found that electro-acupuncture also led to an increase in dopamine receptors, but whether dopamine played a part in pain relief was not clear.

Overall, the rats appeared to be in less pain after receiving acupuncture – a treatment that the authors say is endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for over 40 disorders.

And if cannabinoids are the reason acupuncture works for pain, then perhaps it’s time the WHO endorsed marijuana as well.

Study Notes

The study was conducted by researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and funded by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China , Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project, Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation, and Shanghai Famous TCM academic research project.

The Science of Acupuncture Documentary

Video Description

This is an amazing BBC documentary about acupuncture, an ancient Chinese therapy.

Acupuncture is a collection of procedures which involves the stimulation of points on the body using a variety of techniques, such as penetrating the skin with needles that are then manipulated manually or by electrical stimulation. It is one of the key components of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is among the oldest healing practices in the world.

As part of the documentary, you will see a young women having open heart surgery without any anesthetics, just acupuncture. You will also see how it helps to treat migraines and many other conditions. Millions of people have started to believe that acupuncture works better than conventional medicine . This documentary explains the astonishing healing power of acupuncture and its booming market in the western world.

> Scientists Finally Explain How Acupuncture Works | Truth on Pot

Jan 7, 2014Jun 17, 2016

The Science of Marijuana – What Weed Does To Your Body Chemistry

Next time you burn one up, thank the sea squirt for your ability to enjoy it. This very distant, gelatinous relative was the first organism to develop the ability to respond to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

When humans joined the evolutionary lineage, we quickly realized the recreational benefits of cannabis. Archeologists have even found secret stashes from 2,700 years ago. Despite our rich marijuana history, we’ve only just begun to understand the complexity of how the drug affects the body.

THC has a wide range of effects, from psychotropic, i.e. getting high, to pain relief. It’s also able to act as a stimulant and a depressant at the same time. How does one molecule do so many things?

Magic Plant Provides Fun and Medicine

The first thing you need to know is that THC’s effects depend on where exactly the chemical interacts with your body. There are two types of recognition proteins, also known as receptors, for THC.

The first is CB1, which is concentrated in the brain. These receptors account for the high feeling you get when smoking pot.

The second variety of THC receptors is CB2, which are found throughout your entire body on cells of the immune system.

THC interacts with both receptor types, which is why the drug has medicinal and recreational uses.

The Munchies

There’s a purely scientific reason why you can suddenly ingest 5,000 calories and still wonder if that Thai place will deliver late. It’s the CB1 receptors in your hypothalamus, the region of the brain that regulates appetite.

Usually, your body makes its own cannabinoids, which bind to your CB1 receptors to tell your brain that you need food. When you supply your body with THC, you artificially boost the “I’m hungry” signal and consequently end up thinking the entire local diner menu sounds AMAZING. This side effect is good not only for the bottom line of late night food spots, but also for cancer patients who have lost all desire to eat.

Dazed Introspection

There are also CB1 receptors in your hippocampus, the area of the brain that processes short-term memory and spatial navigation. Because you’re over-stimulating this portion of the brain when you smoke pot, your neurons can’t function well and actually resemble brain damage.

So when you forget what you’re talking about in the middle of a sentence, it’s not because you forgot, but because you never stored what you were saying in your short-term memory. But this side affect isn’t all bad: The hippocampus is also associated with anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

That fact may explain why marijuana has proven to be an effective treatment for some individuals with mental issues.

Herbal Ecstasy

Cannabis also acts a stimulant, completely warping your sense of time. Having THC in your body leads to elevated levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a molecule that is released in response to food, sex, and things that generally make you happy. In fact, dopamine causes that happy feeling, which is why it’s nicknamed the body’s “reward system.”

Dopamine also proportionally regulates your internal sense of time. More dopamine means you feel like time is going faster. So when you’ve smoked, you’re experiencing time more quickly, but you’re also not making memories of it — which is a trippy, Memento-esque concept.

Your Brain on Cannabis

This is what you look like, on the inside, when smoking cannabis. The effects of Marijuana on your brain, and how it defines your experience.

> The Science of Smoking Weed: How Marijuana Affects Your Molecules | Policy Mic (Written by Brooke Horton)

Jan 2, 2014Jan 25, 2018

Marijuana May Relieve the Symptoms of Autism (Study)

Recent studies indicate that compounds found in marijuana may be used to successfully treat autism.

Researchers at Stanford University say that the debilitating effects of autism are primarily caused by a gene mutation that blocks the body’s natural production of cannabinoids, called endocannabinoids, and hinders the way those molecules communicate with the brain.

In the study, researchers found that the mutation of the neurologin-3 gene, which is responsible for creating and sustaining normal communication between brain cells, appears to have a direct correlation to autism – introducing derivatives of cannabis to the brain could ease symptoms associated with the disease.

Although the exact science revolving around how a disturbance in endocannabinoid signaling contributes to autism symptoms, researchers say there is significant evidence that suggest medical marijuana may be a viable treatment option for this condition.

Researchers from the University of Irvine in California believe the folks at Stanford may be on to something: because they, too, have discovered a link between endocannabinoids and autism.

In a study of mice with fragile X syndrome, it “showed dramatic behavioral improvements in maze tests measuring anxiety and open-space acceptance.” And because THC, the active compound in marijuana, stimulates the same receptors as the endocannabinoids, researchers concluded, “increasing natural marijuana-like chemicals in the brain can help correct behavioral issues related to fragile X syndrome, the most common known genetic cause of autism.”

A recent article published in the Autism Daily Newscast indicates that many families are already experimenting with marijuana as a treatment for their children’s autism – as an alternative to other drugs with major side effects and questionable results.

Researchers add that while they do not advocate giving medical marijuana to children with autism, they believe their findings will lead to the development of important treatments for this devastating disease.

Pot Brownies Save Autistic Boy’s Life

A mother discusses how marijuana saved her autistic son’s life.

> Marijuana Uses | High Times

Dec 23, 2013Jan 25, 2018

Best Psychedelic Videos to Watch While Tripping (Video)

The psychedelic experience can be a magical one with the right environment. However, an unsettling environment can be equally detrimental. Make sure that when you take your psychedelic trip that you are surrounded by loving energy.

The videos below may increase your experience since they are highly artistic visual creations accompanied by appropriate musical scores. That said, if you get a bad feeling from any of them, just stop watching and watch something you do enjoy. Environment is key, and I don’t want anyone to have a bad trip.

If you aren’t tripping, don’t worry! These videos are pretty awesome regardless. Just remember to watch in High definition.

You can find more psychedelic videos here, here, and here.

Let us know in the comments which other videos you like to watch when you’re tripping.

Best Psychedelic Videos to Watch While Tripping

‘Aves del Valle,’ by Armadillo: Animated Music Video from Colombia

Click for more on Armadillo

Armadillo is a band that sprouted out of a creative coincidence in Valledupar, Colombia (the land of Vallenato). Mauricio Álvarez (Cero39) and Diego Maldonado (DeJuepuchas & La MiniTK del Miedo), met up with a bunch of local musicians in that town and started a jam session. The result, an album with 9 tracks, a musical journey through the sounds and timbres of vallenato, mixed with electronic and IDM beats and sequences.

The video centers around symbols and elements inherent to the culture and imaginarium of the Valle de Upar (later called Valledupar). Animals, colors and textures appear throughout the video undergoing change and evolve, as life does. ‘It’s a metaphor about culture in life’ says RAMA, it’s creator. More about Armadillo here. – Boing Boing

Slugabed – Quantum Leap

Birdy Nam Nam The Parachute Ending

Ayahuasca DMT: Drug Trip Sequence

A clip from the movie Renegade (aka Blueberry) in which the main character drinks Ayahuasca which contains dimethyltryptamine, and has a mind blowing trip.

Blockhead – The Music Scene

From Blockhead’s album ‘The Music Scene’ – released 18 January 2010 on Ninja Tune.

HIGH MIX – This is some trippy shit

Deep Mandelbrot Set Zoom Animation

Gong – How To Stay Alive

Click for more on Gong

From the new Gong album 2032 – You can buy the CD (with lyrics booklet) from http://www.planetgong.co.uk A wonderful manga animation of Daevid Allen’s drawings by ace Japanese team Mood Magic, who also made System 7’s Hinotori.

Mellow – Shinda Shima (1999)

From 1999 and the album “Another Mellow Winter.”

the bird and the bee – Polite Dance Song

Dec 10, 2013Jun 17, 2016

Children of Cannabis – Getting Stoned and Fighting Sickness (Video)

Medical cannabis is legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia, but there are still use cases that are very controversial, like medical marijuana for children.

Some claim it’s a wonder drug for epilepsy, severe autism, and even to quell the harsh side effects of chemotherapy, while others decry pumping cannabis into still-growing bodies.

We went to the small town of Pendleton, Oregon, where medical marijuana is legal, to visit Mykayla Comstock, an eight-year-old leukemia patient who takes massive amounts of weed to treat her illness.

Her family, and many people we met along the way, believe not only in the palliative aspects of the drug, but also in cannabis’ curative effect—that cannabis can literally shrink tumors. – Vice Weediquette

Dec 3, 2013Jan 25, 2018

Bill Hicks – Marijuana Should Be Mandatory (Video)

Bill Hicks calls for mandatory marijuana, setting everyone straight on which drugs are better.

Click for the Full Transcript

So I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs…anymore.

I used to take drugs and I quit, but I’ll tell you something. I have nothing against drugs whatsoever, that’s kinda weird, huh? Never heard that one, used to take drugs, quit, and have nothing against them. Wow, never heard that, let’s hear more. Okay.

I’ll tell you something else, and I know this is not a very popular idea, you don’t hear very often anymore, but it’s the truth. I have taken drugs before, and uh, I had a real good time.

Sorry.

Didn’t murder anybody, didn’t rob anybody, didn’t rape anybody, didn’t beat anybody, didn’t lose hmmm, one fucking job. Laughed my ass off and went about my day.

Sorry.

Now, where’s my commercial?

Shit I’ll be the guy holding that skillet in that commercial, man. That ain’t a brain, that’s breakfast. Let’s eat. What have been up – five days now? I’m fucking starving.

I find that commercial a tad insulting to my intelligence, you know the one, here’s your brain. I’ve seen a lot of things on drugs, but I have never, ever, ever looked at an egg, and thought it was a fucking brain. Not once.

I have seen UFO’s split the sky like a sheet, but I have never looked at an egg and thought it was a fucking brain, not once. I have had 7 balls of light come off of a UFO lead me on to their ship, explain to me, telepathically that we are all one and that there is no such thing as death, but I have never looked at an egg and thought it was a fucking brain.

Now, maybe I wasn’t getting good shit.

That’s what I hate about the war on drugs, I’ll be honest with you. It’s what I can’t stand, is all day long we see those commercials: here’s your brain, here’s your brain on drugs, why do you think they call it dope. And then the next commercial is: This bud’s for you, come on everybody, let’s be hypocritical bastards. It’s okay to drink your drug, we meant those other drugs, those untaxed drugs. Those are the ones that are bad for you.

Nicotine, alcohol, coincidently taxed drugs, ooo, how does this fucking work? Thank god they’re taxing alcohol man, it means we got those good roads we can get fucked up and drive on. Thank god they’re taxing this shit man, we’d be doing donuts in a wheat field right now, thank god we’re on a highway, woo, this is a good drug.

Cause I’ll tell you something, Ill be honest man, if I was going to legalize a drug it sure wouldn’t have been alcohol. Sorry. There are better drugs and better drugs for you, that’s a fact, you may stop your internal dialogue.

But, Bill, alcohol is an acceptab- shut the fuck up, you’re wrong..kay? kay.

Shit, not only do I think marijuana should be legalized. I think it should be mandatory. I’m a hard liner.

Think about it man, you get in traffic behind somebody. *Honks*

Shut up and smoke that, it’s the law.

Oh, sorry. I was taking life seriously. Oh man, who’s hungry?

That’d be a nice world wouldn’t it? Quiet, mellow, hungry, high people everywhere. Just Domino’s pizza trucks passing everybody. Every single highway, parades of Domino’s.

Let them get stuck in traffic, all our pizzas will be free.

I’m a fucking dreamer man…But I’m not the only one.

Dreamers, man.

Pot is a better drug than alcohol, fact, FACT. Stop your internal dialogue. But, Bill, alcohol is an accepta- shut up. You’re wrong get over it. Kay? Kay.

I’ll prove it to you man, you’re at a ball game or a concert and someone’s really violent and aggressive and obnoxious, are they drunk or smoking pot?

They’re drunk.

I have never seen people on pot get in a fight, because it is fucking impossible.

Hey buddy.

Hey, what?

Hey.

End of argument.

Tag: Cannabis Endorsement