Because marijuana is the second most commonly smoked substance in our society after tobacco, the answer to the question [Is it harmful?] is not only relevant, but of vital importance. Most of us are familiar with the pulmonary consequences of smoking cigarettes: COPD and lung cancer are among the most prevalent, accounting for nearly 300,000 deaths annually in the US alone. But for those who regularly smoke marijuana, are the consequences comparable? More>>Marijuana use can have physical, psychological, spiritual benefits
Joan M. Bello (benefitsofmarijuana.com)
The physical benefits of marijuana are far-reaching, widespread, and long-term. Because of the way marijuana impacts the autonomic nervous system, which expands the breath and relaxes the body, its potential for health and healing are enormous. And they have been completely unrealized by Western medicine. The following passages are excerpted from The Benefits of Marijuana: Physical, Psychological, & Spiritual...
- Police play waiting game on pot issue: New city ordinance is needed for widespread crackdown. While the District Attorney wants to charge ahead with a get-tough campaign against medical marijuana dispensaries, Los Angeles police said they are waiting for a definitive city policy regulating the businesses before stepping up their efforts against rogue operators. "All of us want to do something to make sure there are controls. I certainly never envisioned Los Angeles having more than 800 clinics. But I think the direction he is going is too far to try to eliminate all medical marijuana. It is clear they are out of hand, but the city is trying to deal with it."
SPIRITUAL BENEFITS?
That which enlivens is understood as the SPIRIT. In these times of secular values, when the life force is not recognized as being an expression of the holy, when in fact, the notion of a plane of existence beyond the material is not acknowledged, the search for meaning nevertheless perseveres.
That which enlivens is understood as the SPIRIT. In these times of secular values, when the life force is not recognized as being an expression of the holy, when in fact, the notion of a plane of existence beyond the material is not acknowledged, the search for meaning nevertheless perseveres.
Today, in these darkest of times, hundreds of millions who pursue the journey inward to the universal core values, find that marijuana facilitates the search. As a religious sacrament, intuitively recognized by all for whom the sacred beckons, marijuana has been employed for thousands of years, crossing all geographical and ethnic barriers. Marijuana not only balances the body and enhances our mental processes, it can also help (some of) us to perceive the abiding reality by raising our consciousness.
The following are excerpts from The Benefits of Marijuana. Meditation is the ultimate tool for self-knowledge. In the East, marijuana has been used to facilitate the process for millennia (pg. 47). The uncovering of inner confusion, so prominent with marijuana, is conspicuously absent with depressants. As the overall benefits of insightfulness obtained from its use lead to a greater freedom, marijuana is shunned by individuals who need a status quo in the personality or social position.
Sigmund Freud developed and expounded the understanding that we mechanically base our actions on programs devised throughout life, and many esoteric schools, ancient and modern, have taught the same. Being aware of these programs is very difficult since ordinary consciousness has within it the conspiracy to keep the mind comfortable and free of conflict This operates collectively as well as individually.
Whenever confronted, this usual state of mind automatically assumes a defensive posture by relying on distorted rationalizations, which are evident in a repressive and intolerant social order. By contrast, the open and aware consciousness often leads to spiritual realizations, irrelevant in mainstream thinking. In today’s world, this understanding is uncommon.
Higher morals and ethics, as propounded by organized religions, are agreed upon by the masses, especially during church attendance, but are otherwise too difficult to maintain when personal survival is at stake. Universal spiritual values, so often released with marijuana, can break down the conditioned defensive mentality (pg. 57). More>>
