Marijuana
Taken from the book, The Benefits of Marijuana, by Joan Bello.
PHYSICAL BENEFITS
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 have been completely unrealized by Western Medicine. The following passages are excerpted from The Benefits of Marijuana: Physical, Psychological, & Spiritual:
The simultaneous opposing action of marijuana is akin to balancing our entire system. Such balance in the ANS can be understood as a charged equilibrium, which is defined as “well-being” experienced as physiological expansion and psychological contentment and responsible for health. (p. 29)
The net effect is a highly functioning, yet relaxed, system with better fuel. This is why, with marijuana, the feeling is both relaxed and alert, which explains, in part, the experience of being “stoned.” Normally the body vacillates between the two opposing modes of being. The effects of the complicated marijuana molecule somehow actually integrate these two modes, simultaneously, as absolutely nothing else does. (p. 30)
Although specific effects of marijuana in the body are well known, each has been taken in isolation without noting that both sides of the Autonomic Nervous System are conjoined. Instead of a perspective that sees the whole person and the simple holistic effect of marijuana, a myopic and reductionistic method of measurement has been employed, and marijuana’s profound meaning for health has been lost. (p. 31)
Marijuana, by its effect on the ANS, enhances both sides of the brain. Through increased Sympathetic action, left brain perception is heightened, while, at the same time, right brain reception is enhanced. This is a physiological fact. More blood, and cleaner blood, is sent to the brain, as in the “fight or flight” reaction. And because of Parasympathetic dilation of capillaries, which signifies relaxation, the blood supply to the entire brain is increased. More blood means more oxygen and consequently clearer and broader thinking. Since marijuana works on both sides of the brain, the most noticeable effect, in our fast-paced mind set, is one of slowing down, which blends the thrusting competitive attitude with the contrasting viewpoint of nurturance to arrive at a more cooperative balance. This experience is, however, not innate to marijuana, but to the mental set of the subject. When we are mellow, tired, and relaxed, marijuana is energizing and affords alertness, determination, and even strength. This variation in the physiological effects has caused great confusion from an either/or framework. And the balancing nature of marijuana (both/and) has not been understood. It both stimulates and relaxes, simultaneously, which equates to an unpredictable variation in effect that is solely dependent on the state of its subject. When the system is sluggish, as with natives in warm climates (Africa, India, South America), marijuana has been used extensively and for centuries to energize it:
A common practice among laborers... have a puff of a ganja (marijuana) pipe to produce well-being, relieve fatigue, stimulate appetite. (Chopra and Chopra, 1939, p.3)
When the system is hyper-aroused, as in today’s lifestyle, marijuana calms. The significance of this fact cannot be ignored. It explains the increased creativity reported as a part of the marijuana experience, because when both sides of brain processes are heightened, both types of brain activity are greater. The left brain notices more, while the right brain receives more. This is the unification of logic and intuition. The term “expansion of consciousness” is explained physiologically as a “shifting of brain emphasis from one-sidedness to balance” (Sugarmena and Tarter, 1978), which fits
Answers:
Application of Marijuana:
In a Costa Rican study, it was found that chronic marijuana smokers who also smoked cigarettes were less likely to develop cancer than cigarette smokers who didn’t use marijuana. Since marijuana (smoking, as well as ingestion by other methods) dilates the alveoli, toxins are more easily eliminated with cannabis use regardless of its method of application. Nicotine, on the other hand, constricts the alveoli, so it is likely that the use of cannabis neutralizes, or even overwhelms the constriction, by its own tendency to dilation ...As an aid for all psychosomatic disease, marijuana can benefit the participant, generally because of its health-restoring effects... The fear of marijuana... stems from its limitless potential for treating illness, in that both the pharmaceutical industry and the medical monopoly would lose billions of dollars if marijuana became the non-drug of choice. (p. 61)
Answers:
PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS
When we balance the Autonomic Nervous System, there is an effect on the mind that is both energizing and relaxing SIMULTANEOUSLY. In other words, we can think more clearly and more efficiently.
The following are excerpts from The Benefits of Marijuana:
Natural feelings of expansion that correspond to favorable perceptions, such as a sense of accomplishment, are experiences common to us all, What makes marijuana unique and beneficial is its ability to summon these states of well-being at will (p. 44) We might suggest that those hundreds of millions of people around the world who face marijuana to experience higher levels of life, do so specifically because of the great import they ascribe to being “ high,” i.e., feeling better, happier, more expansive, and therefore more tolerant and compassionate. (p. 4545)
Whereas marijuana results in an “altered state of consciousness,” the depressant drugs have been described as producing “altered states of unconsciousness” (Sugerman and Tarter), allowing for relaxation without awareness. (p.45)
Marijuana exposes things. When used over a period of time, it allows us to witness our many subtle motives which, under normal consciousness, are usually not noticeable. (p 46)
It was just this catalytic effect of marijuana to expose the unconscious and increase the patient’s vulnerability, while maintaining awareness and understanding that prompted psychologists (in the 1960s and 1970s) to utilize marijuana extensively in the therapeutic studies before the government ban (P. 47)
With the expansiveness that occurs with marijuana, the subject may begin to notice infinite possibilities to raise the quality of his/her life that would otherwise have remained hidden from normal, defensive consciousness. And feelings of health and happiness naturally lead to hope, which of itself can be curative. (p. 49)
Marijuana can act as the loosening agent, so that whatever has been banned from consciousness may come cascading forth. To uncover our deceptions without our usual rationalizations can be unpleasant, an experience that has turned many psychologically fragile individuals away from marijuana despite its therapeutic catharsis. (p. 50)
Regardless of the model used, marijuana resolves conflict by de-emphasizing extreme aggressiveness and stroking the receptive sides of human nature. This unification or balance, however, may be responsible for changes in goals and values. It Is the healthy balancing nature of marijuana that is most beneficial to the individual and most threatening to modern society. (p. 51)
When it first became popular in the West, marijuana was imported mainly from tropical zones, where the sativa strain of cannabis is indigenous. This type of marijuana is known for its “cerebral high,” having little noticeable body participation. No studies concerning the different effects of sativa vs. indica have been done, but from the lack of physical sensation, it is reasonable to assume more Sympathetic or stimulant qualities in sativa than indica (a cooler climate type). This is compatible with the notion that in hotter climates, less calming is desirable from a recreational substance, since hot climates in themselves cause lethargy. Many connoisseurs of marijuana prefer the sativa high, although in the last decade it has become very scarce due to domestic cultivation of strains that thrive in temperate zones (and indoors). “Cerebral highs” are experienced as lightness of thought beyond usual concern with self esteem. In relationships, a cerebral high attunes the participants to a less separate sense of themselves. Conversation is animated and a general feeling of camaraderie is in the air.
The indi
Answers:
I have to say that I smoked a lot of this stuff when I was younger, and it certainly has made a difference to my state of mind, even now - I am a lot more paranoid than I used to be, thinking people who are laughing in a group might be laughing at me etc.
I really used to think that it was great, but now i'm older and have stopped I can actually see the effects of it still in me, and I honestly don't think they will ever decrease -
Answers:
Sorry, can't see the connection with aromatherapy!
Lesley
Answers:
I was thinking the same thing myself, lesley!
However, in the middle of louis' plug for dope, I spotted the following:
As I was diagnosed about five years ago with a lung disease called 'fibrosing alveolitis' (aka pulmonary fibrosis), the result of which is scarring and shrinking of the alveoli, it occurs that marijuana would be a logical thing for me to take. I've always felt that it should be available on the NHS for people with MS, for example, now I think it should be available for me! (I still wouldn't smoke it though - my lungs feel too damaged for that!)
Love
Sunanda xxx
PS Louis - I'm intrigued as to why you are on this campaign?
Answers:
Hi guys,
Thanks for you responses. I actually am not on any campaign. Its just that I happened to read about it and thought of sharing it here and getting views from all. Nothing personal :)
Answers:
An interesting piece but nothing to do with AT as such.
The problem is, people think it is!
Answers:
sniff valerain - smells very similar to me but very legal:D:D
Answers:
lolz... frankly speaking I've never smelled it.. anyone had it it ? how does it feel?
Answers:
Binah Hi,
Well, I purchased some Hemp Oil from Essentially Oils as hemp is being produced minus its psychotropic properties (i.e. you can no longer get high on it) and I am curious to see what it can or can't do. Will experiment further with this one.
I would be quite interested to hear if any other aromatherapists have used the essential oil of hemp.
Luv Binah
x
Answers:
nishira but if this were to be true - that doesn't make any sense to me. If this was really true, wouldn't the pharmaceutical companies simply do testing to find a way to harvest whatever potentially good affects could be garnered without the negative side affects and stigmatisms generally associated with marajuana smoking? If the above was true, and there really was some "hidden greedy conglomerate" trying to keep this "wholesome" substance out of the hands of those that really need it - I would think that the real money would be in manufacturing the product, not keeping it from mass consumption.
I'm sorry, I just don't see it.
Answers:
hemelgirl if people were chronic marajuana smokers they would probably not be around long enough to develop cancer - funny how this peice of "research" bucks the current info relating to this
Answers:
DarrenFollowsThePath What is this about the link between Marijuana and psychosis?
Answers:
louis Every researcher has his own way to look at his research. some see a glass half full the other see it half empty..Well this i guess is one view of some researcher..
PHYSICAL BENEFITS
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 have been completely unrealized by Western Medicine. The following passages are excerpted from The Benefits of Marijuana: Physical, Psychological, & Spiritual:
The simultaneous opposing action of marijuana is akin to balancing our entire system. Such balance in the ANS can be understood as a charged equilibrium, which is defined as “well-being” experienced as physiological expansion and psychological contentment and responsible for health. (p. 29)
The net effect is a highly functioning, yet relaxed, system with better fuel. This is why, with marijuana, the feeling is both relaxed and alert, which explains, in part, the experience of being “stoned.” Normally the body vacillates between the two opposing modes of being. The effects of the complicated marijuana molecule somehow actually integrate these two modes, simultaneously, as absolutely nothing else does. (p. 30)
Although specific effects of marijuana in the body are well known, each has been taken in isolation without noting that both sides of the Autonomic Nervous System are conjoined. Instead of a perspective that sees the whole person and the simple holistic effect of marijuana, a myopic and reductionistic method of measurement has been employed, and marijuana’s profound meaning for health has been lost. (p. 31)
Marijuana, by its effect on the ANS, enhances both sides of the brain. Through increased Sympathetic action, left brain perception is heightened, while, at the same time, right brain reception is enhanced. This is a physiological fact. More blood, and cleaner blood, is sent to the brain, as in the “fight or flight” reaction. And because of Parasympathetic dilation of capillaries, which signifies relaxation, the blood supply to the entire brain is increased. More blood means more oxygen and consequently clearer and broader thinking. Since marijuana works on both sides of the brain, the most noticeable effect, in our fast-paced mind set, is one of slowing down, which blends the thrusting competitive attitude with the contrasting viewpoint of nurturance to arrive at a more cooperative balance. This experience is, however, not innate to marijuana, but to the mental set of the subject. When we are mellow, tired, and relaxed, marijuana is energizing and affords alertness, determination, and even strength. This variation in the physiological effects has caused great confusion from an either/or framework. And the balancing nature of marijuana (both/and) has not been understood. It both stimulates and relaxes, simultaneously, which equates to an unpredictable variation in effect that is solely dependent on the state of its subject. When the system is sluggish, as with natives in warm climates (Africa, India, South America), marijuana has been used extensively and for centuries to energize it:
A common practice among laborers... have a puff of a ganja (marijuana) pipe to produce well-being, relieve fatigue, stimulate appetite. (Chopra and Chopra, 1939, p.3)
When the system is hyper-aroused, as in today’s lifestyle, marijuana calms. The significance of this fact cannot be ignored. It explains the increased creativity reported as a part of the marijuana experience, because when both sides of brain processes are heightened, both types of brain activity are greater. The left brain notices more, while the right brain receives more. This is the unification of logic and intuition. The term “expansion of consciousness” is explained physiologically as a “shifting of brain emphasis from one-sidedness to balance” (Sugarmena and Tarter, 1978), which fits
Answers:
Application of Marijuana:
In a Costa Rican study, it was found that chronic marijuana smokers who also smoked cigarettes were less likely to develop cancer than cigarette smokers who didn’t use marijuana. Since marijuana (smoking, as well as ingestion by other methods) dilates the alveoli, toxins are more easily eliminated with cannabis use regardless of its method of application. Nicotine, on the other hand, constricts the alveoli, so it is likely that the use of cannabis neutralizes, or even overwhelms the constriction, by its own tendency to dilation ...As an aid for all psychosomatic disease, marijuana can benefit the participant, generally because of its health-restoring effects... The fear of marijuana... stems from its limitless potential for treating illness, in that both the pharmaceutical industry and the medical monopoly would lose billions of dollars if marijuana became the non-drug of choice. (p. 61)
Answers:
PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS
When we balance the Autonomic Nervous System, there is an effect on the mind that is both energizing and relaxing SIMULTANEOUSLY. In other words, we can think more clearly and more efficiently.
The following are excerpts from The Benefits of Marijuana:
Natural feelings of expansion that correspond to favorable perceptions, such as a sense of accomplishment, are experiences common to us all, What makes marijuana unique and beneficial is its ability to summon these states of well-being at will (p. 44) We might suggest that those hundreds of millions of people around the world who face marijuana to experience higher levels of life, do so specifically because of the great import they ascribe to being “ high,” i.e., feeling better, happier, more expansive, and therefore more tolerant and compassionate. (p. 4545)
Whereas marijuana results in an “altered state of consciousness,” the depressant drugs have been described as producing “altered states of unconsciousness” (Sugerman and Tarter), allowing for relaxation without awareness. (p.45)
Marijuana exposes things. When used over a period of time, it allows us to witness our many subtle motives which, under normal consciousness, are usually not noticeable. (p 46)
It was just this catalytic effect of marijuana to expose the unconscious and increase the patient’s vulnerability, while maintaining awareness and understanding that prompted psychologists (in the 1960s and 1970s) to utilize marijuana extensively in the therapeutic studies before the government ban (P. 47)
With the expansiveness that occurs with marijuana, the subject may begin to notice infinite possibilities to raise the quality of his/her life that would otherwise have remained hidden from normal, defensive consciousness. And feelings of health and happiness naturally lead to hope, which of itself can be curative. (p. 49)
Marijuana can act as the loosening agent, so that whatever has been banned from consciousness may come cascading forth. To uncover our deceptions without our usual rationalizations can be unpleasant, an experience that has turned many psychologically fragile individuals away from marijuana despite its therapeutic catharsis. (p. 50)
Regardless of the model used, marijuana resolves conflict by de-emphasizing extreme aggressiveness and stroking the receptive sides of human nature. This unification or balance, however, may be responsible for changes in goals and values. It Is the healthy balancing nature of marijuana that is most beneficial to the individual and most threatening to modern society. (p. 51)
When it first became popular in the West, marijuana was imported mainly from tropical zones, where the sativa strain of cannabis is indigenous. This type of marijuana is known for its “cerebral high,” having little noticeable body participation. No studies concerning the different effects of sativa vs. indica have been done, but from the lack of physical sensation, it is reasonable to assume more Sympathetic or stimulant qualities in sativa than indica (a cooler climate type). This is compatible with the notion that in hotter climates, less calming is desirable from a recreational substance, since hot climates in themselves cause lethargy. Many connoisseurs of marijuana prefer the sativa high, although in the last decade it has become very scarce due to domestic cultivation of strains that thrive in temperate zones (and indoors). “Cerebral highs” are experienced as lightness of thought beyond usual concern with self esteem. In relationships, a cerebral high attunes the participants to a less separate sense of themselves. Conversation is animated and a general feeling of camaraderie is in the air.
The indi
Answers:
I have to say that I smoked a lot of this stuff when I was younger, and it certainly has made a difference to my state of mind, even now - I am a lot more paranoid than I used to be, thinking people who are laughing in a group might be laughing at me etc.
I really used to think that it was great, but now i'm older and have stopped I can actually see the effects of it still in me, and I honestly don't think they will ever decrease -
Answers:
Sorry, can't see the connection with aromatherapy!
Lesley
Answers:
I was thinking the same thing myself, lesley!
However, in the middle of louis' plug for dope, I spotted the following:
As I was diagnosed about five years ago with a lung disease called 'fibrosing alveolitis' (aka pulmonary fibrosis), the result of which is scarring and shrinking of the alveoli, it occurs that marijuana would be a logical thing for me to take. I've always felt that it should be available on the NHS for people with MS, for example, now I think it should be available for me! (I still wouldn't smoke it though - my lungs feel too damaged for that!)
Love
Sunanda xxx
PS Louis - I'm intrigued as to why you are on this campaign?
Answers:
Hi guys,
Thanks for you responses. I actually am not on any campaign. Its just that I happened to read about it and thought of sharing it here and getting views from all. Nothing personal :)
Answers:
An interesting piece but nothing to do with AT as such.
The problem is, people think it is!
Answers:
sniff valerain - smells very similar to me but very legal:D:D
Answers:
lolz... frankly speaking I've never smelled it.. anyone had it it ? how does it feel?
Answers:
Binah Hi,
Well, I purchased some Hemp Oil from Essentially Oils as hemp is being produced minus its psychotropic properties (i.e. you can no longer get high on it) and I am curious to see what it can or can't do. Will experiment further with this one.
I would be quite interested to hear if any other aromatherapists have used the essential oil of hemp.
Luv Binah
x
Answers:
nishira but if this were to be true - that doesn't make any sense to me. If this was really true, wouldn't the pharmaceutical companies simply do testing to find a way to harvest whatever potentially good affects could be garnered without the negative side affects and stigmatisms generally associated with marajuana smoking? If the above was true, and there really was some "hidden greedy conglomerate" trying to keep this "wholesome" substance out of the hands of those that really need it - I would think that the real money would be in manufacturing the product, not keeping it from mass consumption.
I'm sorry, I just don't see it.
Answers:
hemelgirl if people were chronic marajuana smokers they would probably not be around long enough to develop cancer - funny how this peice of "research" bucks the current info relating to this
Answers:
DarrenFollowsThePath What is this about the link between Marijuana and psychosis?
Answers:
louis Every researcher has his own way to look at his research. some see a glass half full the other see it half empty..Well this i guess is one view of some researcher..