PHOTO BY EARL HORLYKL

Hy-Vee registered nutritionist Sarah Nelson holds various hemp-filled food selections.

Is it bad when scientists suddenly jones for boxes of Screaming Yellow Zonkers, while being stoked about listening to Blue Oyster Cult on the “King Biscuit Flower Hour,” and quoting favorite lines from the movie, “Half Baked,” at will?
Well, walking down the aisle of Hy-Vee’s Health Market, Weekender Weird Science Club members couldn’t help but admit we wanted to get the down low about hemp.
Nope, we’re not talking about marijuana. Instead, we’re talking about a different component of the plant with the Latin name of cannabis sativa.
Hemp has long been used as a source of nutrition and Hy-Vee currently has a bumper crop of products boasting this wonder weed.
OK, let’s begin by addressing the elephant in the room. Is there really any difference between hemp and good ol’ “Mary Jane?”
Actually, a lotta people confuse the two but, unlike pot, hemp isn’t not known for its psychoactive attributes. While it’s true that the psychoactive element of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC), may, in some cases, exist in hemp, the amount is truly miniscule.
In other words, you’ll need to eat a boatload of hemp waffles to get in touch with your inner Snoop Dogg.
And according to Hy-Vee registered nutritionist Sarah Nelson, that’s where you’ll most likely find hemp: in frozen waffles or in milks and in ice creams.
“Hemp seeds can also be found as a supplement to all-natural peanut butters, toppings in salads and even giving an extra zing to things like home-made power bars,” she explained.
What makes hemp so healthy is the inside of its seed, aka the hempnut, which happens to be one of the richest sources of essential fatty acids.
In fact, Nelson said the oil from hemp helps to balance the health benefits scale of the Omega 3 family of fatty acids (stuff that lowers high blood pressure and strengthen weak immune systems) and the Omega 6 family of polyunsaturates (stuff needed to treat circular problems and hypertension).
“Hemp is also great for the brain,” Nelson said. “It keeps our blood circulating and preserves brain functions even as we age.”
Read complete article here:
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/weekender/food/article_b835f536-1990-523a-9c9d-b3437b3a155a.html

Below is an interesting two-part video featuring Dr. Michael Geci, who explains our body’s endocannabinoid system, why cannabis seems to work for so many different ailments, and why cannabis can’t kill us, no matter how much we ingest.
This is the type of educational information that is severely lacking, not only in our school system, but in the minds of many of our politicians and officials. Share it far and wide.
See article and video here:
http://the420times.com/2011/07/the-endocannabinoid-system-explained/

The federal agency insists it has no legitimate use. So are all the cancer, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis patients lying?

Can I interest you in a cross-country trip? Its theme is Anti-Empiricism in America. The tour bus leaves from The Bay Area, where a lot of people still think rent control works. It proceeds through Salt Lake City, where the Evergreen Institute claims to cure same sex attraction, passes through Petersburg, Ky., home of the Creationist Museum, and terminates in Springfield, Va., where the DEA, a liberty impinging branch of the federal government, insists against overwhelming evidence that a plant called marijuana “has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision.”
That dubious determination is what keeps marijuana classified as a Schedule 1 drug, the only kind that cannot be prescribed by physicians. It is more tightly controlled than raw opium, methadone, and anabolic steroids, among many other drugs far more harmful to the human body, and more prone to abuse than cannabis.
Is that something the DEA can defend in court?
Americans For Safe Access (ASA) intends to find out. The advocacy group has spent years petitioning to change marijuana’s designation so that doctors can prescribe it to patients. Last month, the DEA officially denied their request. In response, the group intends to sue. “The federal government is making no bones about its aggressive policy to undermine medical marijuana,” said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. “And we’re prepared to take the Obama administration to court over it.”
Read complete article here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/challenging-the-deas-war-on-medical-marijuana/241853/

When the drug-drenched nation legalized all drugs within its borders, most critics predicted disaster. Instead drug use has plunged dramatically.

Hemp Seeds: High in essential fatty acids, the fats we need to get from our foods, hemp seeds can play a crucial role in our skin integrity. Healthy omega-3 fatty acids as contained within hemp seeds ensure a subtle glow as well as potent anti-inflammatory properties.
Read complete article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/meghan-telpner/sun-protection-organic_b_892077.html?ref=fb&src=sp

While humans are living longer, the prevalence of dementia is also on the rise. And many researchers believe factors such as stress, accumulation of toxic waste products as well as inflammation accelerate aging in the brain.
However, scientists are also learning that certain mechanisms can protect the brain from deterioration and even repair defective structures.
For example, in a study of mice, European researchers have recently discovered a  previously unknown function of the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1). A receptor is a protein that can bind to other substances, triggering a chain of signals.
Cannabinoids such as THC — the active agent in marijuana — and endocannabinoids formed by the body bind to the CB1 receptors.
The existence of this receptor is also the reason for the intoxicating effect of hashish and marijuana and perhaps the upbeat feeling of a runner’s high after intense exercise.
Not only does the CB1 receptor have an addictive potential, but it also plays a role in the degeneration of the brain.
“If we switch off the receptor using gene technology, mouse brains age much faster,” said Önder Albayram, a doctoral student at the Institute of Molecular Psychiatry at the University of Bonn in Germany and principal author of the study. “This means that the CB1 signal system has a protective effect for nerve cells.”
Read complete article here:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/07/13/researchers-study-methods-to-reduce-age-changes-in-brain/27697.html

Baker’s twine is all the rage, but conventional cotton leaves a lot to be desired, from an eco perspective. Hemp twine to the rescue!

 
Read complete article here:
http://craftingagreenworld.com/2011/07/12/hemp-twine-an-eco-alternative-to-bakers-twine/

When Barack Obama became president, there was a tremendous push in the political realm to embrace green technologies and renewable energy research as an alternative to fossil fuels. Four years later, not much has changed. and the economy is a wreck.
This summer, we are facing ridiculous gas prices, pundits will blame everyone else but their own party and President Obama will give a big, fat speech. Meanwhile, corporate and political interests serving Big Oil—one our biggest fossil fuel suppliers—will continue to make a sizeable profit.
One way to wean our nation off fossil fuels is to find an alternative to gasoline for our cars. One alternative to gasoline is methanol, a type of fuel usually derived from corn oil. However, the process is difficult and doesn’t produce a lot of fuel.
Hemp can also produce methanol, and is a better choice because it grows a lot faster than corn and produces far more fuel. Corn yields an average of 1,550 liters of methanol per acre grown. Hemp yields up to 10,000 liters.
Hemp fuel is also biodegradable, burns without creating sulfur dioxide and won’t damage the environment. Hemp cellulose can be processed to create clothing, paper, plastic and feed for animals. So, where can we find a processing plant to turn hemp into oil?
Read complete article here:
http://www.theweedblog.com/can-your-car-run-on-hemp-fuel/

Just days after the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) insisted that there is no medical value to marijuana, the White House appeared to contradict the position, saying in a report that there may actually be “some” medical value to “individual components of the cannabis plant” after all.

Read complete article here:

http://www.presstv.com/usdetail/188810.html