Cannabis
Digest 
Fifth Edition, Winter 2005
RALLY FEB 3 AT DAVID ANDERSON'S OFFICE, by Ted Smith
On Jan. 7.
2005.1 was convicted of trafficking cannabis resin for selling cannabis
cookies, massage oil, salve and vegetable oil capsules at the Cannabis
Buyers’ Club of Canada on March 21. 2002. At the same time, charges of
trafficking cannabis were dropped against me because the Medical Marijuana
Access Regulations only provide protection for cannabis (marijuana) and do
not include cannabis resin or THC - the most active chemical in the herb.
This means that even people who possess personal licenses to grow cannabis
become criminals if they cook the plant into food. That is considered
manufacturing a drug according to the current laws. These laws must
change. On Feb. 3. 2005. An appeal will be filed to challenge this court
decision and the federal government' regulations.
A
protest at David Anderson's office will only signal die beginning of our
fight to change the laws to include cannabis food and skin products in the
MMAR. If you cannot attend the rally, please call or write to various
media sources to inform them of our activities and your opinion. A letter
will be handed to David Anderson's staff explaining why Health Canada
should amend the MMAR to include cannabis resin, cannabis (THC) and the
other cannibinoids mentioned in the CDSA. ( See page 3.) This letter will
also be sent to politicians, bureaucrats and media listed on page 7. We
need as much help as possible educating these people about cannabis resin,
the medical benefits of eating cannabis and how the administration of
justice is put into disrepute when unjust, irrational and insulting laws
are enforced. Please be polite in all phone calls, letters and e-mails you
send, and for some lips check out an article on writing posted at the club
and on
www.hempology.ca.
Our leaders and the community should realize that the
only people who benefit from this interpretation of the law are
pharmaceutical companies. Millions of dollars have been accepted by Health
Canada from drug companies to patent and market cannabis pills, inhalers
and skin products. It will be years before any of these products are
readily available on the market. This means license holders are expected
to smoke, go without cannabis food or become criminal by cooking the herb,
even if they could legally grow it. Many sick people neither have the
kitchen utensils, knowledge or physical ability to make their own cannabis
food. The experience gained over the years by the club has helped us
develop healthy, consistent, cannabis food and skin products. Providing
fresh baked, quality cannabis food is an essential component of
'compassion' clubs because edible products need to be consistent and
readily available.
Pressure
will also be applied to Victoria City council to force Health Canada to
come here and make a presentation about die medical cannabis programs.
Almost three years ago, after die March 21, 2002 raid, we petitioned City
Hall to help us. At a joint meeting with the police board, the city
formally made a request of Health Canada to come here and explain die MMAR
and how they impact the community. That meeting has never happened,
despite the occasion signal from Ottawa that they were prepared to come.
This meeting must happen or our club will continue to sit in limbo while
everyone is wondering exactly what Health Canada is doing with its
regulations and programs
Sharing is Trafficking by Ted Smith
On
Jan. 20, Justice Kay decided that the law allowing police to charge
someone with trafficking for sharing cannabis is not grossly
disproportionate to the fundamental principles of justice.
This decision stems from an undercover operation on
Nov. 8, 2000 when police pretended to be students at the weekly 4:20
meeting of the University of Victoria Hempology 101 Club where they
collected a roach from a joint I passed out and arrested me later in the
parking lot. I was charged with trafficking and possession for the purpose
of trafficking (PPT).
A constitutional
question notice was filed soon after 1 was charged which claimed the state
had violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by arresting me in this
manner. Lawyer Robert Moore-Stewart argued with me that Sections 2. 7, 9,
11, and 15 of the Charter were breached by police and that their sweeping
powers granted to them with this law are arbitrary and engender disrespect
for the law. While our arguments failed at the Provincial Court level, the
fight now moves to higher levels of justice. An appeal will be filed
against this decision, as I am prepared to fight this law all die way to
the Supreme Court of Canada. One of the arguments 1 presented in court was
that cannabis has far more benefits than potential harm for the average
person. Dr. James Geiwitz provided expert testimony which supported my
claims that cannabis is generally healthy and benign, while also
challenging misconceptions about the potential harms cannabis may cause to
certain vulnerable groups.
In a decision
laid down Dec. 23. 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that the main
goal of the cannabis law is to protect youth, addicts, mental health
patients, pregnant women, and people suffering from heart and lung
problems from the harmful effects of cannabis. The main argument that
Caine/ Clay/ Malmo-Levine used was referred to as the 'Harm Principle."
based upon John Stewart Mill's assertions that the government should not
harm people who are not harming anyone else except potentially
themselves.
Since alcohol and tobacco are legally available,
it was argued that the government has been arbitrary and inconsistent with
the creation and implementation of the cannabis laws. The Supreme Court
denied that the government can make any drug illegal which has potential
harms, even if legal drugs are more dangerous. On March 14 I am facing
another trial for being arrested before an annual cannabis cookie
give-away on Nov 15. 2000. The year before police watched as I gave away
101 cookies at the library to celebrate International Medical Marijuana
Day on Nov 15. 1999. The next year there was no chance for me to give away
a cookie before police grabbed me and arrested me with possession for the
purpose of trafficking. This trial has also been delayed for
constitutional arguments to be heard at the Supreme Court level before
beginning. We will argue that I was giving away health food, which had
many medical benefits with few potential harmful side effects, which
should not be a crime as I was enhancing public health and
safety.
Updates, Suggestions, Warnings and Announcements, Gayle Quin
The
second annual art auction to celebrate International Medical Marijuana Day
was well attended and a lot of fun. The artwork was thoroughly enjoyed by
all at the club, those who attended the show, and a lot of folks passing
by. Our greatest thanks go out to the contributing artists. Ted hosted a
slide presentation that was full of history and very entertaining. The art
produced $1,200 for our lawyer Robert Moore-Stewart. A gracious thanks for
all who helped, and apologies to the library for the cookie crumbs. Scott
and Ryan's court case for the Feb. 19, 2002 raid at the club was postponed
again until March 21 and 24, 2005.
We need as
many members as possible to write letters of support for them and the
club, along with completed research projects. We also need letters from
doctors which confirm the information in the research project and state
the doctor's opinion about the herb and Health Canada's regulations.
Please help support both of them and your club by attending court if at
all possible.
Don't forget that we may not be
open today if it had not been for their help through the first three
raids. If you can't attend court you can be of great help by writing
letters of support for them Wed. Feb. 2 is Ted's sentencing after being
found guilty of trafficking for sharing joints at the UVic Hempology
circle on Nov 8. 2000. The meetings have continued die four years since
Ted's arrest at UVic. I have always felt die responsible tiring for adults
to do for our young is to inform them with clear, accurate and current
information about sensitive issues like drugs, sex and politics, allowing
them to make their own educated decisions. How else are we supposed to
learn to use things responsibly?
Please join
us Wednesdays afternoons at Camosun Collage or UVic to help educate future
leaders. Thurs. Feb. 3 we are holding a rally - 12pm - MP David Anderson's
office - 970 Blanshard St- in response to the Jan. 7. 2005 decision when
Ted was convicted of trafficking cannabis resin. He received a nine-month
conditional discharge from Judge L. J. Harvey, as a result of the March
21, 2002 raid. A charge of trafficking cannabis marijuana was dropped as a
result of Judge Chaperon's decision on Sept. 7. 2004. I sat and listened
to Justice Harvey and could not believe my ears when she refused to see a
difference between an infusion and an extraction of cannabis resin.
Because of this decision license holders are not even legally allowed to
do the very thing Health Canada has always wanted the most, a way of
ingesting the active ingredients in cannabis without smoking. It is of
interest to know: however, that many cultures smoke many of their
medicines and apply them topically. Justice Harvey told Ted he had to
challenge and change the MMAR laws to include cannabis resin, so this is
what we are about to do.
The 6th Annual Cannabis Convention
hosted by the International Hempology 101 Society is on Sun.. March 20.
2005. It is held at the Camosun College Landsdown Campus, starting in the
Young Building at 12 noon and ending at 4:20p.m. We hope to have about
seven exciting guest speakers, including Gordon Harper, a representative
from the Regional Addictions Advocacy Society, a representative from LEAP
(Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). and updates on club products by
Gayle Quin. The most exciting news to myself is that Joanna McKee.
cofounder and director of the Green Cross from Seattle is feeling well
enough to travel and attend as a speaker. The kind folks at Advance
Nutrients are going to help us with the advertising. Remember spring is
here and we have lots of free fertilizers for members with green thumbs
thanks to Advanced Nutrients.
Letter From Ted Smith To David Anderson, MP
While the fight for human dignity often occurs
in court, politicians also have an obligation to stand up and defend
citizens against unjust laws.
Since Jan. '96 the Cannabis Buyers Club of
Canada has provided cannabis-based products to people with permanent,
physical disabilities and diseases. After starting in a van, 1 moved to an
apartment until the police told us to get a storefront in March
2001.
On Jan. 3, 2002, police entered the store and
began an investigation, which resulted in charges being laid. That trial
occurred last summer, and on Sept. 7, 2004 Justice Chaperon granted us an
acquittal because we are a legitimate medical cannabis provider and Health
Canada had no supply for license holders at the time of the arrest.
Another police raid occurred at the club on March
21, 2002 and I was charged with both trafficking cannabis (marijuana) and
trafficking cannabis resin. When that trial started on Jan.5, the Crown
first dropped the charge of trafficking cannabis (marijuana), but
proceeded to prosecute me with trafficking cannabis resin for selling
cannabis cookies, massage oil, salve, and vegetable oil capsules called
Ryanol. Justice Harvey ruled that since the Medical Marijuana Access
Regulations only mention cannabis (marijuana) and do not specifically
mention cannabis resin, there was no legal protection available to me and
found me guilty.
It is ironic that the government states that
smoking cannabis is the least healthy method of ingestion, while writing
regulations so strict that anyone who makes edible or skin products is
considered a criminal for manufacturing an illegal drug. The judge and
Health Canada have not recognized cannabis resin as the crystal that forms
on the surface of the plant and which contains the highest concentration
of tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), which is the main healing ingredient in
cannabis. Hash, which is considered cannabis resin, is made by separating
the crystals from the plant, which means the smoker does not inhale as
much tar or plant material to achieve pain relief. Also, when a pipe is
used the cannabis resin left behind is technically illegal, even if the
herb smoked was legally grown. To make a plant legal, but the crystals
that form on it's leaves illegal, defies logic.
This illogical and counter-productive stance of
Health Canada and the federal government must change. Cannabis resin, and
all of the various active ingredients of cannabis included in the CDSA,
must be included in the MMAR to allow licensed holders to legally make
edible and skin products.
On March 21, the last police raid at the CBC of Feb. 19, 2003 comes
to trial, with two people facing charges of trafficking cannabis
(marijuana), cannabis resin and cannabis (THC). While we hope that these
charges will be dropped, we anticipate another fight in court. This time
we will be much more prepared.
However, we would certainly prefer to have the
charges dropped by the Crown, as you and your fellow parliamentarians
amend the MMAR to include all forms and chemicals of cannabis. This
simple, logical amendment is consistent with the government's position
that smoking cannabis potentially causes problems and that eating is a
healthier form of ingestion.
Making this amendment affords dignity to those
possessing licenses to grow cannabis, but who do not want to be considered
a criminal for making a cookie from it.
Making this amendment also encourages healthier
methods of ingesting cannabis. It appears hypocritical that the government
is preparing to work with GW Pharmaceuticals from England with a
cannabis-based spray called Sativex, while prosecuting grassroots clubs
for making cookies and skin creams similar to ancient recipes.
Making this amendment would earn the respects of
citizens, not just medical cannabis users. No one in their right mind
would think that a plant could be made legal because of certain medical
benefits, but that the plant's resin and active healing chemicals would be
kept illegal.
Please, Mr. Anderson, help us to get Health Canada to amend the MMAR
to include cannabis resin, cannabis (THC) and all other cannabis-based
drugs contained in the CDSA.
Thank you for your time,
Leon 'Ted'
Smith
President, International Hempology 101 Society
Growing Beyond Prohibition: 6th Convention March
20
Speakers include
Joanna McKee, Seattle Green Cross
Mathew McCally, Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition
Gordon Harper, Regional Addictions Advocacy Society
Gayle Quin, Cannabis Buyers Clubs
Ted Smith, Hempology
101
'Tech'
Mike," Advanced Nutrients
Camosun College.
l-5pm:
Gibson's Auditorium
FREE Sunday, March 20
FREE
sponsored by Advanced Nutrients & Camosun College
Hempology 101 Club
Hey, what are they smoking?
You can say this for
Smith and friends: They're not hiding from the law. not trying to profit
from breaking it.
by Jack Knox. Times Colonist, Saturday. January 22. 2005
Ted Smith's marijuana conviction hasn't slowed the flow at the
Cannabis Buyers' Club.
The Johnson Street storefront is still open to
the 1,400 or so people who say they need marijuana for medical purposes. A
sign on the wall advertises a potluck (pun probably not intended) to mark
this month's ninth anniversary of the club, die oldest such organization
in Canada. At the reception desk sits a stack of flyers urging attendance
at a rally to "protest Health Canada's rules which make cannabis legal for
medical purposes but consider food and skin products to be illegal."
That's a reference to club founder Smith's Jan. 7 conviction for selling
ointments containing cannabis resin. He got a nine-month suspended
sentence.
Smith was convicted again this week, this time for
passing out joints at a pro-marijuana meeting at UVic on November 2000.
Those gatherings have grown since then, with maybe 70 people joining in a
circle at 4:20 p.m. every Wednesday to smoke dope and expound on its
benefits. You can say this for Smith and friends: They're not hiding from
the law, not trying to profit from breaking it.
That's unlike die commercial growers who have turned
B.C. Bud into a multibillion-dollar industry. Those guys try to stay
high-tech but low- key.
Not that they have much
to fear from the law. The Vancouver Sun reported last week that just one
in seven convicted B.C. growers gets any jail time at all. Most don't even
get fined. And remember, that's just those who get convicted, let alone
charged, let alone arrested. No wonder the wholesale price of pot has
plunged; without fear of retribution, every man and his dog has a grow lab
in the basement (including one at a municipally owned properly in Saanich
last weekend).
That must drive the police
nuts. They bust their butts busting growers, only to see judges mete out
sentences of two hugs a day and a week without television. The cops and
courts seem to be at cross-purposes. Your tax dollars at work.
Politicians don't provide much clarification. Ottawa
made a big deal about doubling the maximum sentence for growers, but
stayed silent on a minimum. The B.C. government huffs and puffs about
getting tough with organized crime, but cut this year's adult prison
budget by $14 million.
All of which reflects the public's ambivalence toward
marijuana, in which a certain indifferent benevolence toward the likes of
Smith who, on the Threat-O-Metre. ranks well behind Osama bin Laden
or, apparently. Luminara - muddily merges with the fear and loathing
evoked by the organized criminals who have woven pot production into their
cocaine-smuggling, meth-brewing. glue-running, tax-dodging,
money-laundering, murderous ways. If our feelings are all over die map,
it's because we've tossed casual tokers, the Hells Angels. 13-year-old
stoners, cancer patients, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and
otherwise-upstanding dope-farmers into the same stew. Meanwhile, die
federal government's decriminalization bill, which would provide for
traffic-ticket-type fines but no criminal record for possession of small
amounts, inches through Parliament. Liberal MP Keith Martin favours going
even further, legalizing and regulating recreational use in the same way
we regulate alcohol or tobacco. "That would be the worst news for
organized crime." he said Friday. Take the profit out of prohibition. As
it is. we haven't been nearly tough enough with organized crime, he says.
You can agree with Martin's solution or not. but few will deny something
has to change. Either apply the law or alter it. but don't pretend the
current approach is having much effect. "The status quo." says Martin, "is
not working for anybody."
The History of the Cannabis Buyers Club & Hempology 101, by Ted
Smith
(re-print from Jan issue of Cannabis Health Magazine)
Hempology 101 started weekly
meetings in Vancouver in November 1994, and 1 attended my first meeting in
January7 1995. By Sept I had decided to host the Wednesday night meetings
in downtown Victoria and volunteered to write a Hempology 101 textbook.
With my involvement in the movement, 1 met a
woman who made cannabis-infused salve and cookies and in January 1996, we
decided to start the Cannabis Buyers Club. The CBC was die first public
medical cannabis club in Canada complete with a pamphlet and a pager
number. I found a downtown apartment a couple of months later in Victoria,
but more thieves appeared than donors in those first few years and the
services of the club stayed quite limited.
The CBC believes it is unfair to require a doctor's
recommendation, in order to access cannabis, from someone who suffers from
a permanent, physical disability or disease. Doctors are reluctant to
endorse cannabis, primarily because they have been warned by the College
of Physicians and Surgeons not to promote the herb. Conservative doctors
don't want a smoked plant to be considered a medicine; and especially not
if people enjoy the process. A lack of quality research has limited die
medical community's ability to understand cannabis and patients lacking a
reliable supply of cannabis products cannot prove to their doctors that
die herb helps them feel better. Without watching people improve their
lives by using cannabis, physicians have little information. Theo and
Mordici 'die Muffin Man,' started a service in Vancouver in the summer of
1996 called die Vancouver Medical Marijuana Coalition; however the
original team did not last long. When Hillary Black returned from Europe
she joined Theo to form the Vancouver Medical Marijuana Buyer's Club.
Doctor's recommendations were requested for some conditions and the name
was changed to the Cannabis Compassion Club. The group incorporated as the
B.C. Compassion Club Society in 1997.
Hempology 101 and the CBC made slow, steady progress
in the early years. Many questioned my actions as 1 chose to fight for
legalization with Hempology 101. I've attended public rallies where I have
been known to smoke joints and pass out cookies. I believe that the
responsible use of quality cannabis gives more benefits than harm to the
average healthy person. However, under the circumstances I believe that
the most vulnerable and ill of our citizens should not have to wait for
the laws to change, or their doctor to become supportive, before they gain
access to a club. By limiting membership in the club to people with
incurable medical problems we hope to take the first step towards full
legalization. Since the early days some people believed the CBC went too
far and groups like Hempology 101 should be kept distant from medical
suppliers. On November 8. 2000.1 was arrested and charged with trafficking
for sharing a few joints after a weekly 101 Club 4:20 Hempology meeting at
the University of Victoria. One week later, on International Medical
Marijuana Day, I was arrested and charged again for trafficking, this time
for giving pot cookies away.
In March 2001.
while issuing a warrant in another apartment in my building. Victoria
police advised me to move CBC to a storefront. We very quickly set the
club up behind a downtown bookstore and began developing the world's best
edible and skin products.
On Jan 1. 2002. 1
cut-off a member caught re-selling beside the store. When he came back two
days later, it resulted in an awkward police search and seizure, which put
the club in debt but did not shut the doors. Warrants were issued in March
and June of 2002, which again put the club in more debt and worried the
membership.
We petitioned city hall
relentlessly. Council passed a resolution stating support of medical
cannabis and requested Health Canada to send a representative to Victoria
to explain die M.M.A.R. After die June raid, 1 ran for mayor of Victoria
in an attempt to prove I was not a criminal. Another raid in Feb 2003 made
us feel like we had a gun pointed to our heads even though they had never
pulled a gun during a raid. We kept working through it all. My
constitutional challenge had been delayed pending a Supreme Court decision
in Clay/Caine/Malnio-Levine and in the summer of 2003 a technical argument
was successful in getting charges dropped from die June 2002 raid. On Dec
23, 2003, the Supreme Court 6-3 decision in favour of the cannabis laws
signaled die beginning of my trials. The Jan 2002 trial was set first.
Arguments began in May, with police admitting I was cooperative and the
club "was run like a pharmacy." I testified that we spent years publicly
advocating, we opened the store after police told us to, and I argued that
requiring a doctor's recommendations to use cannabis was an unreasonable
barrier to place upon someone already diagnosed with an incurable medical
problem.
Dr. James Geiwitz testified as an expert witness and
educated die judge about die effects of cannabis. On Sept 7, 2004, Justice
Chaperon granted a judicial acquittal to Colby Budda and me, since die
person who brought the police to our door was cut-off for re-selling. She
recognized our motives were not for profit but for helping sick people
only. No cannabis from Health Canada was available until the summer of
2003, which means before then, clubs like ours were die only option for
anyone with a legitimate medical need. Charges from die March 2002 and Feb
2003 raids should get dropped in 2005. The day after our acquittal, B.C.
Solicitor General, Rich Coleman was asked if pot stores would be allowed
to continue, considering Chaperon's decision. His response was that sick
people could get their pot from Health Canada and anyone openly selling
pot would be shut down. The next day the Da Kine in Vancouver was raided,
and though it reopened, it eventually closed because of police and media
pressure.
Unfortunately, the Da Kine
attempted to use die medical issue to shield commercial activities. By
requiring members to sign forms stating they suffer from problems such as
road rage and referring to die cafe as a compassion club, the Da Kine
operators did not portray medical cannabis clubs as legitimate. It is
ironic as I find myself criticizing Da Kine after years of being told by
V.I.C.S. that "...simply requiring a diagnosis of condition leaves too
much room for abuse in an already contentious treatment." Having convinced
a judge that requiring a doctor's recommendation from people suffering
from incurable medical problems is unfair, we cannot help but wonder what
the situation would be if our mandate were used across die country.
According to some estimates, 1 million Canadians may need access to
cannabis as medicine. Currently, the CBC assists about 1.700 people in
Victoria and about 7,000 people are members of legitimate clubs across
Canada. Statistically about 70,000 people in the Lower Mainland should
have constitutional protection to use cannabis. Establishing medical clubs
is an important step in the legalization of cannabis. Hempology 101 and
CBC will continue to work towards this end.
Cannoil, massage oil, and lecithin , by Gayle Quin
I would like to start today with this thought
for you. Mental altitude has everything to do with physical reflection,
and state of being (wellness-illness). If cannabis is capable of creating
a state of self- worth, care and love, our bodies are free to heal
themselves providing we supply it with all the nutrients it needs.
Thoughts should be looked at as nutrients that feed our life force, and
without which no amount of nutrition provided will make much difference.
So cannabis seems essential to our mental, physical and spiritual well
being to me. That having been said, it seems apparent that the only way to
defend our selves is through education. So it is my great pleasure to
teach you today how to make Cannoil, or cannabis infused oil you can use
to do your own baking, make into massage oils and lip balms. This is
distinctly different from making hashish or honey-oil, which is a
concentration of the resins. We infuse the cannabinoids directly into die
oil we are using, which is olive oil because of its benefits.
Massage oils are half the strength of cookies, first
aide salve and lips balms have bees wax added to solidify them. We still
prefer the more traditional method of a double boiler. First you get out
your double boiler, or make one of a saucepan and a tight fitting ceramic
bowl or another saucepan. Put 2-3 inches of water in the bottom pot and
place on the stove. In the top pot put 1 once of good leaf (1/2 oz for
massage oils mid lip balms), or % oz buds for extra strength cookies and
Cannoil and 1 cup of olive oil. Boil for 4-5 hours - remember to check the
level of the water every couple of hours and add more if necessary to keep
from boiling dry. You don't need high heat, just enough to keep the water
boiling. This keeps your cannabis /oil mixture from getting hot enough to
destroy valuable chemicals. Instead it gets cooked at a temperature that
changes inactive cannabinoids lo active cannabinols. thereby increasing
it's potency. To high a temperature and you start to destroy the active
chemicals. Take the top pot off and set aside to cool. Strain the
cannabis/oil mix through 1 or 2 layers of cheesecloth into a clean
measuring cup mid squeeze as much oil out as possible. Don't worry about
getting it all out because now you are ready to make a Cannaplast!
Put an ounce of your strainings onto a piece of
cheesecloth or sterile gauze twice the size of what hurts. Wrap it up like
an envelope so one side has only one layer of cloth; (this is the side
that gets put next to your skin). Tape it shut with masking tape and put
it where it hurts (or in plastic bag in the freezer for later use). Look
for uses of your Cannaplast in the nest issue. Now I usually divide the
oil into 2 containers, ready for use. 1 make 50 cookies, or 100 lozenges
from 1/3 cup of cannabis infused oil. You can also bottle it at this point
to add to whatever food you like in the quantity you need at the time. The
next tiling you need to remember is that low heat applies to baking as
well. Cookies are baked at 250F. for 30-40 minutes (depending on the
recipe you use). Cakes usually need to bake at the least 300F. so brownies
and things like that are usually preferred.
It's time to reveal the Secret Ingredient! This
ingredient is so beneficial I was starling to wonder why it isn't illegal.
The secret, special ingredient is.... LECITHIN! That's right. Lecithin. It
comes from soybeans, eggs, com wheat and nuts. You can get it in liquid or
powder for baking (also great for greasing your muffin tins with), or in
capsules as a supplement. Lecithin is found in all living cells of the
human body. It aids the body's use of fats and oil- soluble vitamins by
emulsifying them to a form we may use. We have never seen another cannabis
recipe in a book or another club that mentions lecithin as an important
ingredient, except that many patents exist where pharmaceutical companies
have included it in combination with cannabis and other chemicals. We
cannot keep this secret lo ourselves in good conscience.
Lecithin is essential to a
healthy nervous system as it is found in higher concentrations in die
Myelin sheath, (the fatty protective coating of the nerves) so you can see
how it will help things like Multiple Sclerosis and White Finger. A type
of Super Lecithin (lecithin combined with other nutrients) has been found
to arrest Alzheimer's disease. It can also restore memory banks weekend by
coffee consumption, prevent gallstones from forming and lower your blood
pressure. A lack of lecithin can cause forgetfulness, nausea, and
intolerance to fats, high blood pressure, joint and muscle problems such
as bursitis, cramps and soreness. Which leads me to think of things like
Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. Years ago I wondered why folks would get so
baked on my baking. Now I find out it was the lecithin my Naturopathic
doctor told me to put in ALL of my baking to help combat the effects of
Environmental Illness, (my joints like to dislocate if exposed to too much
pollution). Although not well advertised, I agree that lecithin can be a
vital part of your good health. So please, try to incorporate some
lecithin into your diet and always use it when working with
cannabis.
Thanks to all our contributors: Ted Smith, Steve Kindred,
Gayle Quin, James Luker, Anthony D'Agati, Jack Knox (reprinted article)
