NELSPRUIT – A 39-year-old man who was arrested on January 30 after being found in possession of 0,25g dagga, has pleaded guilty to the charges.
He also expressed his will to quit smoking to prevent this from happening again, when he appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court.
“I am sorry and I promise that it will never happen again,” said Mr Jimmy Mhlongo, who is a street vendor in town. –
The state prosecutor told the magistrate that drug users often commit other offences, such as robbery, murder and rape after using the substances. He pleaded with the court to sentence Mhlongo accordingly so all would-be offenders are warned.-
“Dagga still remains a serious offence, it’s illegal,” said the prosecutor.-
The magistrate urged Mhlongo to quit smoking so that he will not break the law again and sentenced him to 30 days in prison or a fine option of R300, which he paid.
So I assume the good state prosecutor would rather have the man drinking booze instead.
Total waste of time, total waste of state resources. Stop wasting my goddamn tax money on dagga busts.
Dagga is NOT a serious offence as THERE IS NO VICTIM.
Forcing someone to smoke weed against their will, that would constitute a crime. Smoking weed or stabbing yourself in the face… there is no crime committed.
The SAPS (Murderers of Marikana, aka PIGS) are ignorant thugs and the NPA are rotten to the core.
We the public know that dagga is a harmless stimulant with many health benefits. While other countries are legalising Dagga, our oppressive, racist Justice System continues to brand ordinary citizens as criminals for life – A criminal record is for life!
The Prosecutor ought to be whipped for being pure evil in the face of the truth – Dagga is wonderful.
I urge all South Africans to disregard the false dagga laws, enjoy your dagga! grow it and trade it as you please!
Viva dagga Viva!!!
and ALL prosecutors, and lawyers go to heaven..
Just About Every Drug And Household Cleaner Is More Dangerous Than Marijuana
How long will politicians live in fear of marijuana and throw billions of dollars at eradicating it and jailing thousands of people for possessing it? The overwhelming majority of its users do not develop addictions. It is practically impossible to overdose on. It even has health benefits, like slowing tumor growth and easing glaucoma. And it’s safer than the 25 legal drugs, substances, and even household products we’ve laid out here. By the end, you’ll be ready to say with us: legalize it!
Over-the-counter
With a few restrictions, these products can be obtained without a prescription from everywhere from drug stores to the nearest vending machine.
Alcohol:
The phrase “drugs and alcohol” is redundant. People who drink alcohol can impair their faculties, develop a tolerance for it, and become addicted. That’s a drug, and a very dangerous one at that. Brain damage, cancer, and death (37,000 of them in the U.S. each year) are just some of those dangers to alcohol consumers, not to mention the nearly one-third of violent crimes perpetrated in the U.S. each year that are alcohol-related.
Tobacco:
Yes, through some fluke in the legal system, cigarettes remain legal while weed is banned. As cigarette smoking claims more than 5 million lives around the world annually, one might rightly wonder why that is the case. Even in a direct comparison, marijuana is demonstrably safer. A 20-year study found smoking as often as a joint a day for seven years does not harm the lungs.
Acetaminophen:
The active ingredient in Tylenol and the most commonly used painkiller in America, acetaminophen has caused many cases of liver failure, mainly by overdose but also through users taking the recommended dosage. In fact, about 10% of deaths due to its ingestion are at levels at or below the daily maximum recommended dosage.
Caffeine:
The American worker’s favorite substance is dangerous in high enough doses. Since 2005, reports of caffeine overdoses have risen from 1,128 to 16,055 in 2008 and 13,114 in 2009. The dangers short of death include weaker bones, higher blood pressure, and flat-out addiction. But then again, many of us already knew that, didn’t we?
Synthetic drugs:
These are the gas station drugs, the ones with names like “Bliss” that are still legal in many states by posing as supplements or vitamins. President Obama has gone so far as to issue a warning about these drugs. The recent case of the Miami zombie was high on bath salts, a synthetic drug.
K2:
K2 or “Spice” is also a synthetic drug, but it bears special mention on its own because it’s synthetic weed. It’s perfectly legal, and it also happens to be more dangerous than natural pot. Intense hallucinations, seizures, and rapid heartbeat are the negative effects one can expect when smoking the man-made cannabis.
Bitter orange:
Used as a diet pill, bitter orange contains a chemical called synephrine. Synephrine is very similar to ephedra, which is banned in the U.S. because it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Bitter orange has been linked to a number of deaths and is not recommended by the Mayo Clinic.
Stamina Rx:
Health and fitness website Livestrong.com says the common side effects of this over-the-counter male enhancement supplement “border on dangerous.” They include blurred vision and dizziness (which could also come with smoking marijuana), but also arm, back, and/or jaw pain and chest tightness.
Cough medicine:
Teens have no trouble getting their hands on dextromethorphan, or DMX, the chemical found in cough medicine tablets, gels, and syrups. Though drinking too much syrup causes life-preserving vomiting, DMX is extracted out and sold, creating a healthy market for a very dangerous drug that can cause everything from seizures to brain damage and even death.
Salvia:
Legal in more than half the states in the U.S., salvia is an herb with leaves users smoke to reach a “high.” Um, that sounds familiar. Many health professionals have drawn comparisons between salvia’s addictive qualities with PCP and cocaine, and some users with histories of mental illness have reported relapses while smoking salvia. In other words, it’s a more addicting and more paranoia-causing form of weed.
Helium:
This friendly party gas for filling up balloons is a dangerous drug when used as an inhalant, and it’s totally legal and easy to come by. There are few official statistics on helium huffing deaths, but there have been noted cases of death from air embolism upon inhaling helium.
Paint:
The upsides of huffing paint are apparently euphoria and some pretty cool hallucinations. But it’s not worth the downside: vomiting, skyrocketing heart rate, pneumonia, liver damage, cardiac arrest … we could go on. A particularly conscientious store might card for its purchase, but other than that, paint is about as easy to come by as paper towels.
Glue:
How many other school supplies can be compared in regards to danger with to cocaine? Glue sniffing kills people, especially young people, all over the world. Its use remains popular as a cheap high in poor areas because it’s easy to get, but it is far more dangerous than smoking marijuana.
Prescription
With varying levels of difficulty, drug users can get prescriptions for these drugs that are dangerous enough when taken correctly and can be downright lethal when abused.
Amphetamine:
A 2007 study that appeared in medical journal The Lancet rated this wake-up drug more harmful than cannabis in both physical harm and level of possible dependence and as having the same risk of social harm. It’s the main chemical in medications like Adderall, the popular ADHD drug.
Methadone:
Also marketed under the name Dolophine, methadone is a prescription drug used for pain relief and helping heroin addicts detox. Unfortunately, methadone also caused 4,462 deaths in 2005. A year later it was dubbed the leading drug killer in several states. In 2009 it caused 15,597 deaths. The drug is known to cause often fatal cases of respiratory depression and fatal overdose in kids who take it accidentally.
Valium:
The high-profile deaths of people like Heath Ledger and the painter Thomas Kinkade due to overdose involving Valium are shocking reminders of the dangers of this Class IV drug. On its own it is very prone to causing dependency and is often taken as a “secondary” drug to maximize the effect of illegal drugs.
Ketamine:
The legal use of ketamine is as an anesthetic in medical operations. However, drug abusers use it to experience that same feeling of floating, and it is easily obtained online. Paralysis, psychological dependency, hallucinations, and overdose are all risks of ketamine.
OxyContin:
This painkiller has been found so dangerous in recent years it has now been pulled from the market in Canada, where addiction is rampant. It had been causing 300 deaths a year in just Ontario. With a nearly identical chemical makeup as heroine, many wonder why one is illegal and the other legal.
Xanax:
Xanax is prescribed to combat anxiety, but one might think jaundice (liver damage) and seizures would increase worry rather than decrease it. Other dangerous side effects include hallucination and suicidal thoughts. It is highly addictive and was recently named one of the most dangerous drugs being abused in the state of Florida.
Hydrocodone:
This drug that is the key ingredient in Vicodin is the second-most abused drug in America. From 2000 to 2009, while the FDA muddled over putting harsher restrictions on hydrocodone, the number of ER visits due to its use skyrocketed from 19,221 to 86,258.
Sleeping pills:
Researchers from San Diego recently found that in 2010, “excess deaths” related to the use of sleeping pills like Ambien and Restoril totaled up to 500,000 in the U.S. They also found even light users who take less than two pills a month have a risk of death three times higher than non-users.
Barbiturates:
A just-released U.K. study found these anxiety and insomnia drugs killed roughly five times as many British people as marijuana in 2011. These “downers” hook people faster than tranquilizers and can damage the liver and cause blood problems with regular use.
Viagra:
Viagra is a hugely popular drug, but it’s also killed hundreds of people, making it far more dangerous than weed. One study in 2000 found 522 Viagra-related deaths, most of them in people under 65. Because it lowers blood pressure, it can also be very dangerous for people already on medication to lower blood pressure (e.g. old people who need Viagra).
Nitrous oxide:
This one could go in either category. The stuff known as “laughing gas” is only legally available to doctors, but small canisters of nitrous oxide called Whip-Its (of which Demi Moore is clearly aware) are sold to anyone off the street. When inhaled, “hippie crack” can be addictive, cause nerve damage, and even kill.
Chantix:
If you have to die to quit smoking, it’s not really worth it. In its five years on the market, this Pfizer product has been responsible for hundreds of suicides in both the U.S. and Britain. More than 2,400 people have sought legal representation for possible action against the drug megacorp, and many are calling for a ban.
Source: MedicalBillingAndCoding.Org
A Personal Report of Therapeutic Marijuana use in Holland
by Arthur P. Leccese
My name is Arthur P. Leccese, I am 42 years old, and I have the good fortune to have moved two years ago to the Netherlands, where it is possible to obtain cheap and nearly legal marijuana. I define “medical marijuana” as pharmaceutical grade marijuana provided by pharmacists to insured patients given prescriptions by their physicians. The Dutch government has an ambivalent attitude towards such medical marijuana. There are some individuals, suffering from terminal diseases, who have for the last two years been quietly receiving medical marijuana. I suffer, not from a terminal illness, but from the painful muscle spasms and nerve irritation arising from a trauma-induced herniated lumbar disc. I have been able to obtain a prescription for medical marijuana from a physician, but have not been able to convince any Dutch pharmacist to fill this prescription.
Despite this bizarre situation, I have obtained substantial benefits from being able to discuss my marijuana use with a compassionate physician. In addition, Dutch tolerance of recreational marijuana users has made it possible for me to achieve better results with my “therapeutic marijuana” than I was able to obtain with the viciously prohibited marijuana of the Midwestern U.S. In the earlier 1980s, while I was a student, I was involved in a car accident that signaled the onset of my symptoms. Since that time, I have attempted all legal therapeutic interventions: these ranged from injection of epidural steroids, to the chronic consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), to the use of opioid drugs like codeine. These treatments were either unsuccessful or had so many intolerable side effects that I was forced to stop. Epidural steroids are painful, require three outpatient surgical visits, and can only be given so frequently and so many times in total. Finally, they affect mainly nerve irritation, not muscle pain or spasm. NSAIDs were totally ineffective and they induced stomach distress and socially embarrassing bouts of burping.
The opioids were, of course, incredibly effective in relieving my pain. Sadly, constipation and the mental fog of narcotic intoxication made these drugs highly unsatisfactory for chronic use. Finally, since I was self-medicating with illegally obtained marijuana, I have tried since 1986 to obtain Marinol from my regular US physicians and many specialists. They were always unwilling to prescribe it. One physician even blocked my repeated attempts to have this request and refusal noted in my medical records! Since I couldn’t legally obtain THC to treat my symptoms, I broke the law daily in the United States by possessing and using illicitly obtained marijuana. My academic position led to many travels, which fortunately enabled me to come into contact with many kind and talented U.S. individuals who were able to provide semi-regular and sometimes high-quality marijuana. Despite this availability, I began to be annoyed with the sharp contrast between the way I could treat myself in the US with prescribed opiate drugs and the way I was forced to treat myself with illicit, and hence unprescribed, marijuana.
Naturally, the illegal nature of marijuana put my suppliers at great risk, and more than once my supply was interrupted by the arrest and incarceration of a provider. In contrast, I could obtain legally prescribed opioids from any U.S. pharmacy, and the availability was only restricted by the opening hours of the store. My medical marijuana also cost much more than prescribed opioids, because suppliers of medicines always pass along the economic costs of their risks to their paying customers. Since I was obtaining the marijuana from outside my usual medical circle of insurer-physician-pharmacist, I was forced to pay the extra crime tariff foisted upon marijuana growers. During my last two years in the United States, I was paying, on top of my regularly insured medical costs, an additional $500 a month in order to obtain effective and tolerable treatment for my pain by consuming illicitly obtained marijuana.
The cost was even greater because of the difficulties involved in obtaining marijuana with sufficient levels of THC and the other active ingredients. My prescribed opioids were, naturally, always clearly labeled as to purity and potency. On the other hand, those who grow marijuana in the U.S. select their plants for a variety of characteristics. Many of the choices made by marijuana growers are determined by the unique situation arising from the prohibition of the plant, rather than the need to provide a consistent high-quality medical product.
For example, plants may be favored by growers because they allow an early harvest, or because they are particularly amenable to growth outdoors. On the other hand, plants may be favored because consumers report that they enjoy the appearance, flavor or specific nature of the intoxication arising from a particular plant. That is, a plant may become popular with growers simply because of a “fad” among consumers. Regardless of the reason, it is a simple fact that one must search long and hard when one is looking in the Midwestern U.S. for an illicit grower who can consistently provide marijuana of therapeutic value. As mentioned above, even this long search may be fruitless, should the grower be arrested. In addition, should the grower live far away, one must pay extra transportation costs.
For the last two years of my time in the U.S., I was forced to take a seven-hour solo automobile ride once a month in order to gain consistently safe access to marijuana that would be of consistent therapeutic value. It was bad enough that this ride added significantly to the indirect cost of my marijuana, but the ride was physically unpleasant for someone with my back condition, and psychologically distressing for someone who constantly feared arrest. Again, a contrast with my personal experience with prescribed opioids is instructive. I could obtain my prescribed opioids from any one of a number of conveniently nearby pharmacies. These pharmacies, are of course, regulated by the government, staffed by helpful professionals, and protected by the police.
My Dutch physician became convinced of the legitimacy of my problem only after I arranged for the transfer of my extensive U.S. medical records. I was given a prescription for 50 grams per month of medical marijuana. Obtaining this prescription provided me with the first opportunity in my life to discuss, with a physician, the specifics of how to best integrate my family and personal medical history with the use of marijuana for pain relief. For example, I was able to discuss my concerns about the possible cardiopulmonary consequences of chronic marijuana smoking, given my family history of severe heart and lung disease. Whenever I had discussed this issue with U.S. physicians, I was invariably and aggressively told that the potential negative cardiopulmonary consequences of chronic marijuana smoking rendered the drug inappropriate for my use. In contrast, with my Dutch physician, I was able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of marijuana consumption. Since I had a chronic pain condition with occasional bouts of severe pain and disability, my doctor recommended that I regularly consume low doses of medical marijuana in tea and/or edible treats. It was hoped that this would enable relatively constant and low levels of THC in my system, allowing a balance between therapeutic effect and intoxication. Any severe flare-ups that might “break through” the chronic levels of THC could be immediately eliminated by a few puffs of medical marijuana. I have employed this technique of chronic low-dose oral consumption supplemented with occasional inhalations for nearly 18 months now. I find it highly effective in dealing with most of my chronic pain.
Even though edible treats are treated as “hard drugs” here in Holland, I am able to obtain cheap and effective edible treats from a number of nearby coffee shops. These products are intended for a recreational market, and are quite inferior to the tinctures and candies that could be manufactured by pharmacists or drug companies. Nonetheless, since these are commercial products intended for repeat recreational customers, the amount of marijuana in a particular edible good obtained from a particular coffee shop is remarkably consistent.
Thus, I am able to easily titrate my intake of edible marijuana to insure maximal therapeutic effect with minimal intoxication. Of course, when I have the time, I make my own edible concoctions with very specific doses of marijuana, thus enabling an even better titration. While it would be cheaper if I could obtain medical marijuana from my pharmacist, Dutch tolerance of recreational marijuana users means that I can obtain, direct from friendly growers, cheap and effective marijuana that I can afford to use. As I live in Amsterdam, it is no problem for me, while out and about, to find a nice coffee shop (or even a quiet bench in a park) where I can smoke a marijuana cigarette without fear of harassment.
Since there is a lack of prohibition against the use of recreational marijuana in Holland, and since more and more Dutch people are becoming aware that some marijuana use is medicinal, it has even been possible for me to smoke a marijuana cigarette in situations where even the recreational smoking of tobacco would be discouraged. Indeed, a co- worker once questioned whether it was appropriate for me to smoke a joint over my lunch time, and then to return to work. This person’s objections were silenced when I pointed out that I needed the marijuana as medicine for pain relief, and they agreed completely with my assertion that it was certainly better for me to work after smoking marijuana than it would be for me to work after consuming a prescription opioid pain reliever.
In conclusion, even though it is inappropriate today to refer to any country of the world as allowing medical marijuana, it is appropriate to say that the therapeutic use of marijuana is more advanced in Holland than anywhere else. That is, the toleration of recreational marijuana has made it easier for people such as myself to bring this therapeutic compound within the confines of their usual medical care, allowing total health without the physical and psychological consequences of a vicious and unscientific prohibition. This raises an interesting challenge to those in the U.S. and other countries, who hope to enhance the probability of the legalization of recreational marijuana through first promoting the myth-destroying use of medical marijuana. It may well be that this approach is incorrect, and that drug war mythology must be exploded by long-term tolerance of recreational marijuana before a conservative community of medical practitioners will accept an illicit drug as a medicinal compound.
So, pretty much everyone has heard something about how cannabis contains more ‘tar’ than tobacco…
which it does…
WHAT:confused:???
YES, on average, Cannabis Sativa subset Sativa/Indica as a whole plant contains more ‘tar’ than the tobacco plant…
But who the hell smokes a cannabis plant??
Most people smoke ‘weed’ or the buds of a flowering plant, not the whole plant.
The actual buds, that are smoked, only contain 33% as much ‘tar’ as finished tobacco product.
‘Tar’ simply refers to any insoluble (doesnt dissolve in water) biproducts in either tobacco or marijuana smoke. An entire cannabis plant containing more ‘tar’ than a tobacco plant is irrelevant to it’s cancerous properties and promotes the misconception that smoking weed is worse than smoking cigarettes.
However, the reason tobacco ‘tar’ is considered a cancer-causing agent is because of the radioactive polonium 210 and lead 210 that it contains as a byproduct of growing tobacco with phosphorous that is rich in radium 226. Radium 226 breaks down into these two radioactive biproducts which are associated with 90% of all tobacco-related lung cancer.
—-Polonium 210 has a half life of 138.38 days, produces 4215 times as much alpha radiation as Radium 226 -1- and, I gotta quote this part, “By mass, polonium is around 250 billion times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide (the oral LD50 for 210Po is about 50 nanograms compared to about 250 milligrams for hydrogen cyanide[25]).” -2-. Meaning that Polonium is lethal to 50% of a tested population at levels over 8 million times smaller than a tylenol pill.
This is Dusty Frank’s story on how he beat his prostate cancer with cannabis oil.
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October, 2013. I was advised by my urologist that my only options were to have a radical prostatectomy, go through weeks of external beam radiation sessions, or have brachytherapy (radioactive “seeds” implanted into prostate). The side effects from any of these treatments are incontinence and erectile dysfunction, to name a few.
I’m no stranger to physical trauma. I’ve had a total of 11 spine surgeries over the past 16 years resulting from injuries sustained in several accidents. Ultimately, I had cancer develop in my spine in 2007 and went through chemo, radiation, and surgery. I healed well and other than being left with chronic spine pain, I had no other lasting side effects.
Quality of life is important to me. I’ve lived with intractable chronic pain for years and the thought of adding incontinence and erectile dysfunction to my list of physical discomforts just made me think that there had to be other options. But my doctors said there weren’t.
I scoured the Internet and discovered that there were other options. Some I read about offered success testimonials. The most profound testimonials came from those who claimed their cancer was cured by ingesting cannabis oil. Some of those testimonials I found right here at cureyourowncancer.org. One of the things that helped me while going through all this was reading the testimonials and the success stories of those who used the oil and were cured.