Marijuana

Genetically Altering Unborn Babies Personalities A Moral Obligation says Oxford Professor

September 18, 2012 by Aaron Jackson 6 Comments

Genetically screening our offspring to make them better people is just “responsible parenting”, claims an eminent Oxford academic, The Telegraph reports.

Professor Julian Savulescu, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics said that creating so-called designer babies could be considered a “moral obligation” as it makes them grow up into “ethically better children”, this based on a few genetic links to ‘personality disorders’.

He said that we should actively give parents the choice to screen out personality flaws in their children as it meant they were then less likely to “harm themselves and others”.

Studies show that the child’s upbringing, including parenthood and
schooling methods are the root causes of many ‘personality flaws’. Other studies give strong evidence that nutrition, meditation and exercise greatly influence behavioural patterns and emotional well-being. This entire theory is also blind to the side effects of many medicines, vaccines, food additives and (some) GMO foods that have been proven to affect psychological behaviour, and this isn’t even touching on the possible beneficial use of marijuana and other substances for those with undesired personality traits.

“Surely trying to ensure that your children have the best, or a good enough, opportunity for a great life is responsible parenting?” wrote Prof Savulescu, the Uehiro Professor in practical ethics. Clearly without thinking of the potentially worse side effects of this theoretical treatment.

Professor Savulescu goes on to say that science is increasingly discovering that genes have a significant influence on personality — with certain genetic markers in embryo suggesting future characteristics.

In the end, he said, “rational design” would help lead to a better, more intelligent and less violent society in the future. Definitely something westernised nations will be pushing for – obedience.

Indeed, when it comes to screening out personality flaws, such as potential alcoholism, psychopathy and disposition to violence, you could argue that people have a moral obligation to select ethically better children. They are, after all, less likely to harm themselves and others.

He said that “we already routinely screen embryos and foetuses for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and Down’s syndrome and couples can test embryos for inherited bowel and breast cancer genes. Rational design is just a natural extension of this”. ”Natural extension” he said.

He said that unlike the eugenics movements, which fell out of favour when it was adopted by the Nazis, the system would be voluntary and allow parents to choose the characteristics of their children.

Many human genes have also been patented which raises huge ethical questions, as explained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

A 2005 study found that 4,382 of the 23,688 human genes in the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s gene database are explicitly claimed as intellectual property. This means that nearly 20% of human genes are patented.

Prof Savulescu:

Whether we like it or not, the future of humanity is in our hands now. Rather than fearing genetics, we should embrace it. We can do better than chance.

This type of genetic modification, called cytoplasmic transfer already results in a slightly higher chance of death and some have already been diagnosed with autism.

It seems that while we do not have freedom to smoke a plant or to gain access to effective cancer treating drugs such as DCA due to insufficient testing, the modification of the human species is taken lightly. Who knows what purposeful and accidental modifications will come from this.

Sources:

Genetically engineering ‘ethical’ babies is a moral obligation, says Oxford professor – http://www.kurzweilai.net/genetically-engineering-ethical-babies-is-a-moral-obligation-says-oxford-professor

Genetically engineering ‘ethical’ babies is a moral obligation, says Oxford professor – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9480372/Genetically-engineering-ethical-babies-is-a-moral-obligation-says-Oxford-professor.html

DNA From Three Parents Okay, Genetically Modified Babies Are Ethical Says British Council – http://www.pakalertpress.com/2012/07/07/dna-from-three-parents-okay-genetically-modified-babies-are-ethical-says-british-council

Mitochondrial DNA disorders Introduction – http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/mitochondrial-dna-disorders/mitochondrial-dna-disorders-introduction

Julian Savulescu – http://www.neuroethics.ox.ac.uk/our_members/julian_savulescu

Preventing mitochondrial disease – an explanation – Newcastle University – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za6pTxcFdvg

Fertility breakthrough for inherited mitochondrial disease (HD) | A film by the Wellcome Trust – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wFn9Oj4u2E

9 Ways Exercise Can Make You Feel Better – http://www.fitwatch.com/weight-loss/9-ways-exercise-can-make-you-feel-better-605.html

Exercise and Stress Relief – http://exercise.about.com/od/healthinjuries/a/stressrelief.htm

Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity – http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676

Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms – http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043

Personality Development – http://www.indiaparenting.net/person-develop.asp

Effects of parent personality, upbringing, and marijuana use on the parent-child attachment relationship. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10673836

Nutritional Influences on Aggressive Behavior – http://orthomolecular.org/library/articles/webach.shtml

Dr Russell Blaylock Nutrition and Behavior Aspartame MSG – http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2963728494205235281

Dr. Russell Blaylock: Fluoride’s Deadly Secret – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie6gJHqkSgc

The Links Between Diet and Behaviour – http://www.foodforthebrain.org/content.asp?id_Content=1767

The Links Between Diet and Behaviour. (PDF) – http://www.foodforthebrain.org/download.asp?id_Doc=96

Vaccines Will Soon Be Used to Control Behavior - http://www.gaia-health.com/articles451/000478-vaccines-behavior.shtml

Leaked Pentagon Video – Flu Vaccine Use to Modify Human Behavior - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MuXgpl2Sxg

Vaccination and Social Violence - http://www.whale.to/vaccines/coulter5.html

Vaccination and Violent Crime - http://www.whale.to/vaccines/coulter6.html

THE BRAINS OF THE INOCULATED - http://www.whale.to/vaccines/loat1.html

BEHAVIOURAL FACTORS IN IMMUNIZATION (PDF) - http://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/28.pdf

GM Foods are Harming our Kids - http://healthandwealthcentre.com/gm-foods-are-harming-our-kids.html

Removing junk food (and GMOs) improved children’s behavior - http://www.naturalhealth365.com/food/junk-food-and-gmo.html

World’s first genetically modified babies born - http://weirdworldnews.org/2012/07/13/worlds-first-genetically-modified-babies-born/

Dozens of Genetically Modified Babies Already Born – How Will They Alter Human Species? - http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/17/first-genetically-modified-babies-born.aspx

Meditation improves emotional behaviour - http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-13/fitness/31254064_1_meditation-practices-behaviour

DCA – Cancer Cure Discovered – But YOU can’t have it…. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXH-TJYS5w

Filed Under: Biotechnology, Featured, Fluoride, Food, Genetics, Marijuana, Mental Health, Neuroscience, Psychology, Vaccines and Medicine

Yale Study: Alcohol’s Gateway Effect Much Larger Than Marijuana’s

August 28, 2012 by Ian Crossland Leave a Comment

Originally posted by Stephen C. Webster on RawStory.c om, August 22, 2012

A Yale study published Tuesday in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that people who used alcohol or tobacco in their youth are almost twice as likely to abuse prescription opiate drugs than those who only used marijuana.

Researchers were careful to specify that any youth substance abuse, including just marijuana use, makes people more than twice as likely to abuse prescription opiate drugs in young adulthood. However, the study’s authors noted that clinical data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that of the 12 percent of young adults who said they’d abused prescription opiates, “prevalence of previous substance use was 57% for alcohol, 56% for cigarettes, and 34% for marijuana.”

Tobacco – courtesy of PipesMagazine.com

The Centers for Disease Control said in January that prescription opiate overdoses kill more Americans every year than cocaine and heroin overdoses combined.

Interestingly, the Yale study also found a bit of a gender skew that may indicate boys are naturally more inclined than girls to engage in risk-taking behaviors. “We found that among young boys, all previous substance use (alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana), but only previous marijuana use in young girls, was associated with an increased likelihood of subsequent abuse of prescription opioids during young adulthood,” researchers wrote.

Marijuana – courtesy of WeedSmokersGuide.com

The findings seem to confirm a study published last month in The Journal of School Health, which fleshed out several misconceptions about the so-called “gateway drug” theory and pinpointed alcohol, instead of marijuana, as the most commonly abused substance for first-time drug users.

Researchers used the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey to prove that marijuana use is not the primary indicator of whether an individual will abuse other more dangerous substances. In doing so, the School Health study proved that there is data which correlates to a so-called “gateway effect,” showing that the largest gateway is actually alcohol.

“If you take [our findings] and apply them to a school health setting, we believe that you are going to get the best bang for your buck by focusing on alcohol,” study co-author Adam E. Barry told Raw Story. Public health officials have been making similar efforts with tobacco, saying they’re encouraged by the success of educational ad campaigns that show the true health effects experienced by many life-long smokers.

Yale researchers reached a similar conclusion, saying: “Prevention efforts targeting early substance abuse may help to curb the abuse of prescription opioids.”

A study published in 2010 in the medical journal Lancet ranked alcohol as the most harmful drug known to man, with more than double the potential harms of heroin use.

Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/22/yale-study-alcohols-gateway-effect-much-larger-than-marijuanas/

Filed Under: Alchohol, Drugs, Health, Marijuana, Mental Health, Tobacco

Hemp Growing Was Once the Law in the US

July 15, 2012 by Aaron Jackson 4 Comments

Before you start growing your own hemp plants it is worthwhile to read up on the history of hemp growing in the US. At one time it was legal. Not only was it legal, the law required the growing of it.

According to the book Healthy Oils, hemp is another word for the plantCannabis sativa L. Marijuana comes from this same plant genus – as does cauliflower and broccoli. However, the strains used in consumer and industrial

HEMP IS RIGHT ON THE MONEY, highlighted a 1914 series $10 bill of a hemp harvest, and it is discussed in the video attached. The bill is printed on 100% hemp paper. The first Federal Reserve Bank notes were issued in 1914. This $10 bill bears the signature of Andrew Mellon, the Secretary of the Treasury under multiple presidential administrations. Mellon was also the head of several oil companies and banks. Mellon was the uncle of Harry Anslinger, the first leader of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 1931-1961. Anslinger was the main cheerleader of the Reefer Madness misinformation campaign and the primary person responsible for marijuana prohibition.

products contain only a negligible amount of the intoxicating substance delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Thus industrial grade hemp is not marijuana. Yet, since the 1950’s the growing of hemp has been effectively prohibited.

But this has not always been the case. Going back to 1619 America’s first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, VA. All farmers were ordered to grow Indian hemp seed. Mandatory cultivation laws were enacted in MA in 1631, in CT in 1632, and in the Chesapeake colonies in the 1700’s.

Cannabis hemp was even used as legal tender in most of the Americas from 1631 until the early 1800’s. The reason for making it legal tender was to encourage farmers to grow more. You could then pay your taxes with cannabis hemp throughout America for over 200 years. If you did not grow hemp during periods of shortages, you could be jailed.

In fact George Washington and Thomas Jefferson used enslaved African labor to grow this crop on their plantations.

Hemp has been grown for over 12,000 years for textiles, fiber, and food. There are established hemp growers in China, Romania, Hungary, and France. It is also now grown in Australia, Canada, Britain and Germany where for decades there had been none. The US has an experimental crop being grown in Hawaii under a government license.

Hemp is beginning to make a comeback in the US. Fashion designers and mass producers use it. It is also added to personal care products such as soap, shampoo and skin care products. Hemp seed oil naturally replenishes skin moisture and helps with the skin‘s elasticity. The omega-6 fatty acids are said to be helpful for sufferers of eczema, and psoriasis and other dry skin conditions.

Hemp seed oil is also used for cooking and is extremely high in polyunsaturated content (at least 80%). Because it is a very good source of omega fatty acids, adding it to your diet helps to substantially improve the skin’s natural elasticity and appearance.

In England, I found it easy to find all sorts of hemp seed products on the supermarket shelves.

Now cars made in France are being made from flax, hemp and other natural fibers.

Sources:

http://bkcreative.hubpages.com/hub/Hemp-Growing-Was-Once-Required-By-Law

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLMtihhYXyE

Filed Under: Marijuana, Money, USA

States That Legalized Medical Marijuana Saw Fewer Traffic Deaths, Study Says

December 31, 2011 by Aaron Jackson Leave a Comment

By Simon McCormack on December 30, 2011

A new study has revealed a link between states with legalized medical marijuana and a reduction in traffic-related fatalities. The study was conducted by D. Mark Anderson, a Montana State University economics professor, and Daniel Rees, a professor at the University of Colorado Denver.

In looking at state-level data from sources such as the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Anderson and Rees discovered that states that had legalized medical marijuana saw an average of a 9 percent decrease in traffic deaths.

“We were pretty surprised that they went down,” Rees told the Denver Post.

In an attempt to explain the results, Rees said that the passage of medical-marijuana laws likely resulted in young people consuming less alcohol in favor of using marijuana.

“The result that comes through again and again and again is [that] young adults … drink less when marijuana is legalized and traffic fatalities go down,” Rees told the Post.

Anderson, Rees’ fellow researcher, told the Missoulian that while the research doesn’t prove that smoking marijuana impairs drivers less than alcohol, this is still a possibility.

“It could be that,” Anderson told the paper. “We’re saying our results would be consistent with that.”

But Discover magazine is skeptical of any strong causal relationship between legalized medical pot and traffic deaths.

From Discover:

There isn’t crystal-clear evidence that medical marijuana laws actually do get people to smoke more pot—the three states they discuss, Montana, Rhode Island, and Vermont, have widely varying numbers of people signed up for medical marijuana, and although there was an increase in reported marijuana use in two of the states for some age groups, it wasn’t huge.

The study also does not look at states that have not legalized medical marijuana.

The research was posted on the Institute for the Study of Labor’s website and is under peer review by the Journal of Law and Economics.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/30/legalized-marijuana-lower-traffic-deaths_n_1176856.html

Filed Under: Marijuana

Peter Reynolds – Cannabis Law Reform – TruthJuice Bristol

October 31, 2011 by Aaron Jackson Leave a Comment

A presentation by Peter Reynolds, leader of Cannabis Law Reform (CLEAR), an officially registered UK political party, working for a change in the law, particularly for those who need cannabis as medicine. Recorded on the 12th October 2011 at TruthJuice Bristol

To subscribe to the Truth Juice Bristol youtube channel follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TruthJuiceBristol

For more information on weekly TruthJuice Bristol talks see these links:

http://bristol.truthjuice.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/groups/173598132725670

http://www.facebook.com/TruthJuiceBristol

http://twitter.com/#!/BristolTruth

For information on TruthJuice talks follow this link:

http://www.truthjuice.co.uk/

For more information on CLEAR - Cannabis Law Reform, see these links:

http://clear-uk.org/

http://www.facebook.com/ClearUK

Extra links:

http://clear-uk.org/cannabis-information/

http://peterreynolds.wordpress.com/

Filed Under: Decriminalisation, Marijuana

Plans To Shut Down California Medical Marijuana Shops In Progress

October 8, 2011 by Aaron Jackson 3 Comments

The US Justice Department has announced plans to crackdown on the medical marijuana industry in California, despite a 1996 voter-approved initiative to legalize it. Federal officials said they are cracking down on the state’s medical-marijuana dispensaries, threatening to confiscate marijuana – an medical industry that, by state estimates, generates more than $1 billion in annual sales and employs thousands.

Advocates in California, the first state to pass a law legalizing marijuana use for patients with doctors’ recommendations, have scheduled a joint news conference to “outline actions targeting the sale, distribution and cultivation of marijuana.”

Their offices refused to provide details in advance of what moves the officials are taking or how many of the state’s hundreds of store-front marijuana shops would be affected.

Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act, which allows the use of medical marijuana, passed with 56% of the votes in 1996.

Initial stories indicated that all medical-marijuana dispensaries in California had been ordered to shut down, but the actual target remains unclear.

At least 16 marijuana shops or their landlords received letters this week warning they would face criminal charges and confiscation of their property if the dispensaries do not shut down in 45 days.

The letters state that federal law “takes precedence over state law and applies regardless of the particular uses for which a dispensary is selling and distributing marijuana.”

Dale Gieringer, the director of California NORML, which backs legalizing marijuana, said “the crackdown apparently will be tailored to fit the regional differences in the state.” He adds “They want to do a clean sweep in San Diego, whereas in Northern California they can’t possibly do a clean sweep.”

Federal prosecutors announced an aggressive crackdown against California marijuana dispensaries Friday, vowing to shut down dozens of operations and saying that the worst offenders are using the cover of medical marijuana to act as store-front drug dealers.

Many of the drug trafficking ventures are using California’s 15-year-old medical marijuana law to operate in plain sight, said U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, the top federal law enforcement officer for the San Francisco Bay area. “I understand there are people in California who believe marijuana stores should be allowed to exist, but I think we can all agree we don’t need marijuana stores across the street from schools and Little League fields,” she said.

Not all of the thousands of store-front marijuana dispensaries thought to be operating in the state are being targeted in the crackdown, which also involves new indictments and arrests of marijuana growers throughout the state over the past two weeks, said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wager, who represents the state’s Central Valley.

Instead, federal officials are initially going after marijuana shops located close to schools, parks, sports fields and other places where there are a lot of children and what Wagner termed “significant commercial operations.” He said that includes farmland where marijuana is being grown. “California’s marijuana industry supplies the nation,” he said. “And huge amounts of money are flowing back in the other direction.”

The strategies they are using vary somewhat, with warning letters issued by the U.S. attorney in San Diego giving recipients 45 days to comply and 38 property owners in Los Angeles and the Central Coast given just two weeks to evict marijuana dispensaries or growers.

The letters come just days after the IRS ruled that the largest dispensary on the West Coast, Harborside Health Center, owes millions in back taxes. The IRS said it won’t allow dispensaries to deduct normal business expenses such as payroll and rent, a potentially devastating financial blow to the industry.

U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said the move is not designed to clamp down on patients who grow their own marijuana for medical use. But dispensaries that were not part of the initial wave of warning letters “shouldn’t take any comfort,” she said. “They are illegal under federal law.”

The move comes a little more than two months after the Obama administration toughened its stand on medical marijuana. Two years before that, federal officials had indicated they would not move aggressively against dispensaries in compliance with laws in the 16 states where marijuana is legal for people with doctors’ recommendations.

The stepped-up enforcement escalates the Obama administration’s efforts to rein in the spread of marijuana stores, which accelerated after the attorney general announced in 2009 that federal prosecutors would not target people using medical marijuana in states that allow it.

Bill Panzer, a criminal defense lawyer who represents dispensaries said “It looks like there is a concerted effort for an offensive against the dispensaries in California,” and added “The Obama administration, for all the talk that he gave during the campaign, the reality is his policies haven’t been that different from Bush’s.”

“They’re cherry-picking,” Panzer said. “They want to look good in the press, so better to go after one that’s near a school.”

According to Panzer, the Justice Department four dispensaries because they are within 1,000 feet of schools or parks where children play. There is no state law against having a dispensary within 1,000 feet of a school, but under federal law, selling drugs near a school can carry a higher sentence.

The Department of Justice issued a policy memo to federal prosecutors in late June stating that marijuana dispensaries and licensed growers in states with medical marijuana laws could face prosecution for violating federal drug and money-laundering laws. The effort to shut California dispensaries appeared to be the most far-reaching effort so far to put that guidance into action.

Sources:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/10/feds-order-all-calif-medical-marijuana-outlets-to-close/1

http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2011/10/us-attorneys-marijuana-dispensaries-in-california-arent-legal.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/10/federal-officials-begin-major-crackdown-marijuana-operations.html

http://www.baycitizen.org/marijuana/story/feds-eviction-4-marijuana-dispensaries/

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-07/feds-target-1-billion-california-medical-marijuana-industry.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_215_(1996)

http://www.baycitizen.org/marijuana/story/irs-oaklands-largest-pot-dispensary-owes/

Filed Under: Featured, Health, Human Rights, Marijuana, Politics