Hemp, Cannabis, Marijuana

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by noosphere, Apr 18, 2007.

  1. noosphere

    noosphere Guest

    Hi People,

    What are your views on Cannabis for all its possible uses? And what about the current laws and social perceptions of it?

    I have read from a few sources that it used to be grown and used for clothes, oil, food products, medicinal and mind expansion purposes... and even Henry FordĀ“s T-Model was made from Hemp and ran on hemp oil. https://www.thehempire.com/index.php/can ... _gasoline/

    Currently there is a lot of discussion, research and re-evaluation of drug laws and a greater re-education in public, scientific and political arenas.

    Again, what are your thoughts? How can this plant which has a long history, become integrated within Permaculture systems? 8)
     
  2. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    Gday noosphere :)

    Welcome to the PRI Forum.

    I believe Cannabis spp. are 'wonder' plants: so many uses, so little effort, so very water wise, etc, etc, etc. Their cultivation and use fit very well with many of Holmgren's 12 permaculture principles (see: list and link below); if not all.

    Some time back I was involved in a study by Professor Grinspoon (see: link below). You may be interested to read of his findings, particularly where they relate to the medicinal uses of Cannabis.


    The 12 Permaculture Principles:

    1. Observe & Interact
    2. Catch & Store Energy
    3. Obtain a Yield
    4. Apply Self-regulation & Accept Feedback
    5. Use & Value Renewable Resources and Services
    6. Produce No Waste
    7. Design From Patterns to Details
    8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate
    9. Use Small and Slow Solutions
    10. Use and Value Diversity
    11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal
    12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change


    source: https://www.holmgren.com.au/


    Lester Grinspoon is Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School: https://www.rxmarijuana.com/


    Cheerio, Mark.
     
  3. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    noosphere,


    Just from experience marijuana already is incorporated in many permaculture systems :shock: .... albeit sometimes this occurs outside the law in some countries.... :D :D :D

    Personally, I dont smoke dope as I already have enough bad habits but I have certainly grown it for research purposes and curiosity. I also had a lot of visitors to my garden and most asked for ''cuttings''.

    On the gardening side it is a wonderful stock food - both the leaves and seeds. It also goes well in the compost heap, compost tea and the trunks and sticks burn well.

    Marijuana plants seem to attract big grasshoppers and seems to act as a green bait trap by keeping them off most other plants.

    floot
     
  4. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Go floot you old rascal who would of guessed

    Yes i bet you didnt inhale either :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

    I just bet you had a lot of requests for "cuttings" But ill save any "cutting remarks"

    They also have been known to have very few natural pests or desieses..

    Yes its true about its amazing abilities and potential to save ALL the worlds forests,

    Tagasasties and Hemp plants in my mind would both have the potential to be planet savers......

    Funny isnt it... both are frowned upon by governments......

    Tezza
     
  5. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Opportune time to raise this issue.

    It would seem the 'medical marijuana' debate is on the table in Australia.

    Now all we need to do is convince authorities we are just taking the stuff for halitosis or dysmenorrhea.... :D

    floot
     
  6. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Its an Anti depressant

    Tezza
     
  7. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    Hi Tezza - Marijuana is not an antidepressant. Short term it makes you feel good for sure but it actually brings on clinical depression in many people with long term use. Apparently it alters brain chemestry quite markedly. I was strong supporter and user for many years and suffer/ed from clinical depression in later life. Although it may have happened anyway, such depression is symptomatic of long term, heavy cannibis use. I personally know 6 long term, heavy users who now suffer from clinical depression or some other psych disorder. It doesn't happen to all users but statistically dope users have a higher risk of depression. Sorry, your comment was too close to the bone not to comment. Hemp has a multitude of great uses and is fun when used recreationally on occasions.... but it certainly is not an antidepressant and should not be used for self medication (many long term users are self medicating but don't realise it).
     
  8. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    I'm going to chime in on this. I don't smoke the stuff, but, honestly, pharmacologically, marijuana is not toxic. There are negatives to using the stuff, memory loss, depression, the effects of smoke inhalation, etc, but the same can be said (and more) about tobacco and alcohol. It is a hypocritical double standard that these substances are legal, and marijuana is not.

    Medical marijuana is both a real thing, with many benefits for a large variety of ills, and an avenue for people with other agendas to get access to legal marijuana ("...like, I have, um, you know, trouble sleeping at night, man, so, like, um, I need medical marijuana to keep me healthy. So, can you get me a prescription, man?...") Having said that, it is obscene that medical marijuana is not legal around the globe, and that alcohol and tobacco are legal every where.

    However, hemp is not the wonder plant many think it is. It is a very heavy feeder, and long term cultivation of it will damage soils, just like any other annual crop. While it has many uses, if it is produced in a monoculture, it is just as damagng (or worse) than cotton, soy beans, corn or any other annual crop.

    As part of a diversified model of production, hemp has many uses, but the same fuzzy thinking (read "stoned") that makes hemp the supposed cure-all for the worlds global ills is the hipster analogue to mono culture in other crops. Hemp is not going to fuel all the worlds cars, nor feed the poor, make all the clothes, provide all the feed for animals, regenerate the soil (that last one is the most absurd claim of hemps benefits). If grown in large acreages, it has the potential to be as damaging as any other crop.

    Most of the people I know who say that hemp is "the answer" to a host of envitronmental problems smoke entirely to much of it to have a neutral opinion.
     
  9. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Ok bill Ill accept that Dope isnt really an Antidepresent....

    Well not in the long term maybe.....But Only a Smoker can tell what it does or doesnt do to ones mind or body,I dont care how many experts or paid stoolies say other wise.....
    In the END who gives a toss..I beleive its up to the individule not some little sniffly arsed 4 eyed @#!*^& in Canbera thats 3000 miles away... :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol:

    Hi chris... Ok so you dont like mono cultures...What do u suggest instead?
    Who said anything about mono cultures,Of course we cant fill the earth with hemp,and make cars for everyone,trees for everyone and all those other magical(if not drug induced ideas)..

    What do we do GIVE UP?

    Besides, the first question asked about our views on hemp and its possible uses..........Then the legal aspect, then social perceptions

    Well the legal aspect of it has been imposed on us by a dominering errant super power. ie US of A..As you are aware chris, Mankinds social perceptions of anything including going to war on bullshit advice and false intellagence, are at the mercy of the Media(mostly oversees owned) and our two faced pollititions trying to get em selves reelected.....
    Even if the human race was smart enough to see the whole story,theres too many distractions. ....Need i go on further..

    Not sticking up for potso much as standing up for EVERYONES right to self Determination and free choice,free will.etc etc..

    Tezza
     
  10. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    No argument from me Tezza.
     
  11. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Whilst it is not for me [smoking dope etc] I still find it hard to see why governments have outlawed one of God/Gaia's little creations.

    MJ can be used to assist regeneration of derelict and abused land but so to can any plant with a decent tap root. MJ puts down about a 6' tap root which in plant circles, even for perennials it is nothing special.

    Watermelon, pumpkin and lucerne all do far better in the tap root scale of things.

    Chris was right to point out that most of the adamant yay-sayers spend more time smoking it than growing anything. MJ is not a panacea but it is a very handy multipurpose plant.

    floot
     
  12. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    I am not in favour of prohibition, either. Let peple do what they want in the privacy of their own homes.

    Thank you, Mike. That's my point. I am not against ganja, I just get tired of the hemp-will-solve-all-the-worlds-problems-man (hey, pass that to me, dude) simplifications. Hemp definitely has it's place, but only as a single component in a wholistic approach to the ills of the world. Single species solutions are just other problems in escrow.
     
  13. jeff

    jeff Junior Member

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    After 30 years i've passed it on without inhaling.
    What was I saying? Oh yeah, stood up for it always, but I don't want my kids to follow my example. My pro arguments don't seem to stack up so much any more.
    I have worked hard physically all my working life but I have "thought" much more than I have done.
    Don't dream it do it! Let's see if I'm full of crap or not.
     
  14. johnw

    johnw Junior Member

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    Hi All,
    has anybody seen the doco that was on SBS about 10 years ago that was called the 'The Big Crop'?
    Now that was a real eye opener into the scam the US government and their 'Mates' pulled!
    cheers,
    John
     
  15. johnw

    johnw Junior Member

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    Sorry I made a mistake.............it was called 'The Billion Dollar Crop'.
     
  16. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    John,

    I saw that doco. In the late 80s the Northern Territory stopped growing kenaf. Kenaf is a low THC fibre and resin plant of the cannabis family.

    The NT encouraged cropping of kenaf as a soil conditioner and fibre plant. It did pretty well on both scores needing minimal inputs and care. Produced huge amounts of saleable material at a cheap price.

    The crunch came at sale time - nobody wanted it. I think most state governments in australia would exempt anyone who wished to grow this product.

    In 1996 [at $7 per hour and long distance phone charges] I got on the World Wide Web as it was called then. My first 2 searches were on barramundi [a fish with 23000 listings] and the second was on hydroponics which had a lot more listings. I was impressed.

    On reading the hydroponics sites I kept on seeing references to growing tomatoes to over 20' in height. It took some months before I realised what the 'tomatoes' were the sites were referring to - pretty naive huh? Hydroponics stores were probably the first online stores I saw.

    It also became apparent then that anyone purchasing kits off these aussie suppliers was visited in due course by local police.

    floot
     
  17. Lynette

    Lynette Guest

    Hi floot

    You sound like you've played around with different uses of hemp, what I would like to get is some info on how to process hemp small scale into different products. I have been told by fabric suppliers that it is still used and processed by people in rural areas of China to make their own fibre, apparently they leach the outer fibres off in a creek with running water, then somehow process the inner fibres to make fabric, string, rope etc., and then there's the oil extraction.

    I think it would be interesting to try out, but I can't find any info on it anywhere, has anyone heard of or tried anything themselves?
     
  18. zhimm

    zhimm Junior Member

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    I highly recommend this site for quality information on cannabis.

    https://www.jackherer.com/

    The author of this site is known world-wide for his knowledge of this plant.

    Jack Herer has probably done more to "resurrect" lost knowledge of this plant that was so important to mankind for millenia before our time than anyone living today.

    His site will bring you "up to speed" on this topic. His great work... "The Emperor wears no clothes", can be read for free on his site. You can find a link to it on the homepage. I highly recommend his e-book to all on the forum, if you haven't read it.
     
  19. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Thanks for this wonderfull Link...


    It just goes to prove that you cant beleive what the polliticions are telling us

    Tezza
     
  20. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

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    I'm not impressed by Jack Herer's homepage.

    Up first is selective quoting from some research that most people would have trouble finding the original of. He implies with the posting of this selective quoting that heavy use of cannabis while pregnant has many postive outcomes for the child.

    Now that may be right, but there is absolutely no way to know if it is other than taking Herer's word for it.

    I've heard many arguments on all sides of the debate and tend to come down somewhere in the middle (it's a useful plant for most people, harmful to some). But I think it does a disservice to the debate and to humans to misuse science reports in this way.

    Bad research, co-opted research, misinterpretation, and misuse of reports is rife within medical research. Some people on all sides of all arguments tend to selectively quote like this and it's bad use of the research. The only valid way to present information about cannabis use by pregnant women is to present all the information, give people skills for making sense of that information, and let people decide for themselves.

    The fact that Herer has his homepage with useless information on it makes me wonder about the value of the rest of the site.
     

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