Cannabis for Weight Loss!!!
According to a new British study, marijuana leaves contain two compounds that boost the metabolism of mice, leading to lower levels of fat and cholesterol in the body — the latest addition to a growing body of evidence that marijuana may be useful in countering ailments related to obesity. One study found that a brain chemical similar in structure to an active compound in cannabis could help people shed weight, while another study last September concluded that pot smokers were less likely to be obese than non-potheads, though for reasons that remain unclear.
This is pretty interesting, because pot has traditionally…so I’ve been told!…given smokers the munchies, where hunting up old dishes of leftover squash sounds yummy after one indulges the stuff.
But, as researchers have discovered, these obesity fighting compounds are not in the psychoactive THC contained in the plant’s buds, but in the leaves.
Marijuana is one of the oldest medicinal plants in the world. Documents thousands of years old have been found detailing its use by healers all over the planet.
Hemp, that non-psychoactive relative of cannabis also has a long history of use by mankind.
Back in the 1930’s, before US Industrial Robber Barons got their knickers in a knit over this useful plant, Popular Science Magazine had published a feature article listing thousands of uses for industrial hemp.
Hemp provides fiber, plastics, fuel from the seed and much more. The fibers make a fabric much more durable than cotton, the plant itself is resistant to pests and disease.
The seeds provide one of nature’s most perfect foods, full of good omega oils and protein. Plus, they taste great….a sweet nutty flavor that complements many dishes.
So why, you may ask, was this incredibly useful plant made illegal?
Because it was so darned useful, of course! Easy to grow, good for the land…according to a 1938 Popular Science article over 25,000 products could be made from its oils and fibers….hemp clearly had to go to pave the way for the Robber Barons to expand their already vast fortunes with petroleum products, toxic synthetic chemicals and pulp wood manufacture.
But how to you get the public to outlaw hemp, which is clearly a very useful plant and that thousands of farmers are making a living by growing?
You go after and demonize its cousin, the cannabis plant.
When marijuana was made illegal back in the 1930’s, the true target of this campaign was hemp.
At this point, hardly anyone had even heard of reefer. The only people who smoked it regularly were jazz musicians and Mexican migrant workers, and the US government certainly didn’t give a hoot about their health.
The main movers and shakers behind the plot to demonize marijuana were William Randolph Hearst, the publishing king pin who owned vast tracts of pulp forest, and the DuPont Chemical Manufacturing Company.
With a stable of bought off politicians on board, they began their campaign.
Hearst is the original practitioner of so-called yellow journalism… his papers would lie through their teeth to make up stories to sell papers.
It was child’s play for him to go on the warpath against marijuana. This plant was now held to be responsible for the downfall of youth. The stories played to that great white man’s fear that their wives and daughters would begin to crave affairs with black men. During this virulently racist era thousands of black men were lynched just for looking at white women.
And then there were the sensationalist movies such as “Marihuana…Assassin of Youth.”
(you can watch this classic schlock on youtube, by the way, if you’ve got a yen to check out this old propaganda!)
But the real target of this campaign was always the hemp plant.
And so, after the public had been whipped up into a proper frenzy against marijuana, the powers that be announced that hemp better go too.
This crime against humanity is still ongoing. Farmers have lost a valuable crop, our planet has been polluted with petroleum wastes and chemical manufacturing, and millions of people have had their lives ruined over a bit of weed.
Not to mention the terror created by the illegal drug industry…it’s Prohibition all over again and we all know what a joke that turned out to be.
Hemp is of course now legal to grow in Canada, but too few farmers are planting it.
There is a terrific Hemp co-operative out west called “Manitoba Hemp” that sells many hemp seed food products, some of which are available in local stores. This co-operative venture is an inspiration for us all.
Hemp production would be a step into a just and sustainable future for New Brunswick!
