HEMP FOR HEALTH
Information based on the book
"One of marihuana's greatest advantages
as a medicine is its remarkable safety. It has little effect
on major physiological functions. There is no known case of
a lethal overdose; Marihuana is also far less addictive and
far less subject to abuse than many drugs now used as muscle
relaxants, hypnotics, and analgesics. The ostensible
indifference of physicians should no longer be used as a
justification for keeping this medicine in the shadows."
&endash; Journal of the American Medical Association,
June 21, 1995. Commentary. p. 1874-1875.
When the Journal of the American Medical
Association ran its 1995 commentary in calling on
physicians to support the medical use of marijuana, many
people wondered what took so long. For over 3,500 years,
strains of the herb cannabis sativa, or true hemp, have been
among the most widely used of medicinal plants. This
includes civilizations in China, India, Europe, the Middle
East, and Africa. In America from 1850 to 1937, hemp was
used to treat over 100 separate diseases or conditions.
Herbal cannabis and its
derivatives are eaten, smoked or used as topical salves and
herbal packs, depending on the condition being treated.
Furthermore, hemp seeds are nutritious and work as a
laxative. A hardy, easy to grow herb, cannabis hemp is
affordable health care. Hemp has many safe & natural
therapeutic uses. Hemp medicines offer better health and
could add both to the longevity and quality of life. Modern
medical uses of true hemp include it in therapeutic
treatments for cancer, glaucoma (blindness), AIDS, pain,
asthma, epilepsy, MS, nausea, cramps, muscle spasms,
insomnia, neuralgia, earache, herpes, arthritis, rheumatism,
migraine, stress, depression and anorexia. It is an
antibiotic, a pain reliever and an expectorant, used in
topical ointments and taken internally. Symptoms of asthma,
migraine, glaucoma, and others can be contained, bringing
effective relief to people who suffer from these life-long
conditions. Many other uses are likely. A variety of
preparations are possible, from collecting the female
cannabis flower's resins into smokable hashish, or edible
gel capsules and wafers; and from isomerizing hash oils to
synthesizing THC.
Over the years, cancer will strike in
approximately three out of four families. At present rates,
about a hundred million Americans now living will develop
cancer; about one in three people. Cannabis reduces pain and
helps cancer patients sleep and rest. It reduces the
gut-wrenching nausea caused by chemotherapy while it
stimulates their appetites to help them eat and combat
excessive weight loss (wasting syndrome). It also usually
raises the patients' spirits, improving their overall
chances of recovery.
These same healing characteristics are utilized by
thousands of AIDS patients. Since the AIDS epidemic
exploded in 1981, more than a quarter million Americans and
55,000 Californians have died from AIDS or HIV-related
illnesses &endash; almost 18% of the total AIDS / HIV
related deaths in the United States.
Most sufferers of glaucoma, one of the nation's
leading causes of blindness, could benefit from cannabis. In
the United States alone, 3 to 4 million people have this
disease and are at risk of serious loss of sight, including
6 percent of those over age 65. Regular doses of cannabis
halt this painful and progressive loss of vision by reducing
the pressure which builds up within the eye.
Pain control through cannabis is often achieved
not by consuming the flowers, but the leaves. This is
because the cannabidiols (CBDs) seem to play a major
analgesic role. The leaves are also used to treat migraine
headaches, which afflict some 11,023,000 people
nationally.
There are about 32,642,000 arthritis cases
nationally. Consumption through eating or smoking cannabis
also helps control pain and inflammation. A traditional
treatment for rheumatism and arthritis is to soak cannabis
leaves in alcohol and wrap them around the joints to reduce
swelling and pain, and to ease movement. By straining the
plant matter from the alcohol or further distilling it into
a tincture, a topical antibiotic is produced.
Stress is the number one killer, in that it is a
major contributor to heart disease. The relaxational healing
power of herbal hemp reduces mental agitation and lends a
sense of humor. Hemp is well known for its ability to reduce
stress and promote relaxation, and has long been regarded as
an aphrodisiac and for enhancing sensory experiences such as
enjoyment of music and art.
Safety. While there is little information
available on the incidence of other diseases, mortality data
are available for all causes of death. In California, heart
disease was the leading cause of deaths in 1993, accounting
for 31.1%. Cancer was second, accounting for 23.0%. The
distant third was stroke, 6.9%, followed by
pneumonia/influenza and lung disease, each of which
accounted for 4.8%, and accidents at 4.3%. Rounding out the
top 10 causes of death were AIDS at 2.9%; homicide at 1.9%;
diabetes at 1.7%; and suicide at 1.7%. Not one single death
by cannabis overdose has ever been reported. While smoking
hemp flowers is demonstrably safer than smoking tobacco
leaves, concerns about the health effects of smoke in
general cause many people to consume cannabis medicinal
compounds in foods. Most famous are perhaps, the brownie
variety, in which cannabis or its resin, hashish, are baked
into a chocolate confection. Modern cannabis cookery
includes health-conscious recipes and main courses such as
pasta sauce, etc.
To the reader: Not all patients respond exactly the
same to the same medication, and not all varieties of
cannabis work equally well in treating specific problems.
For example, a variety that stimulates the appetite may not
be as effective in controlling aches and pains. Only certain
kinds of cannabis plants produce medicinal compounds in
sufficient levels to be useful. Most hemp has no medical use
at all, except for making bandages and emollients. Cannabis
is a complex combination of related compounds that modulates
many conditions simultaneously in both homeopathic and
allopathic levels. As a result, its effectiveness is
directly linked to dosage. Personal research under the
supervision of a health care professional is the safest way
to determine utility. That will enable the patient to
identify the ideal seed line.
The hempseed has no drug content.
It does contain protein in an excellent nutritional
combination. Essential fatty acids in the hemp seed help
build the immunological response system and appear to reduce
cholesterol levels. There are many ways to prepare the seed
into tasty foods, and commercial products already on the
market. A gourmet banquet held in Maui set the pace for
creative culinary hemp seed connoisseurs.
Holistic health: the ecology of
hemp. Creating a cleaner environment will improve the
overall health of the planet and all people. This can be
enhanced through sustainable industries and reduced
industrial and agricultural emissions. Industrial hemp can
be farmed using no pesticides, fungicides or herbicides and
less synthetic fertilizers than many other crops, reducing
agricultural pollution and costs. Using hemp instead of
fossil fuels, trees and other limited resources will further
preserve the environment. Processing technology is available
to have less impact on the ecology and help maintain a
sustainable balance to the planet. That is the basis for a
healthy future for all.
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