'Polls show legalization has wide support in New Jersey, and the ballot question in November is very likely to pass.
But then why didn’t Murphy get his way?
Simple—because America’s lawmakers habitually surrender to the wealthy and politically powerful. Which means that while “the people” may widely support legalization (as 66% of Americans do), politicians too often bow to the interests of their campaign donors and other monied interests.
Support for legalization puts them at odds with law enforcement, Big Pharma, and America’s private prison industry. And that’s a trio that—to quote the Wu Tang Clan—ain’t nothing to fuck with.'
But then why didn’t Murphy get his way?
Simple—because America’s lawmakers habitually surrender to the wealthy and politically powerful. Which means that while “the people” may widely support legalization (as 66% of Americans do), politicians too often bow to the interests of their campaign donors and other monied interests.
Support for legalization puts them at odds with law enforcement, Big Pharma, and America’s private prison industry. And that’s a trio that—to quote the Wu Tang Clan—ain’t nothing to fuck with.'
- Leafly
'As the new coronavirus spreads illness, death, and catastrophe
around the world, virtually no economic sector has been spared from
harm. Yet amid the mayhem from the global pandemic, one industry is not
only surviving, it is profiting handsomely.'
- The Intercept
'The 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man. The concepts and practices of applied entomology for the most part date from that Stone Age of science. It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the earth.'
- Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
What Rachel Carson spoke about with regard to insects and insecticides, is equally applicable to viruses, bacteria and modern medicine.
Pharmaceutical companies are one of the key opponents of cannabis. They have been vastly influential in pushing through the plant's prohibition world wide. The pharmaceutical industry continues to strongly oppose cannabis legalization worldwide, in fact all natural medicine, through its lobbying that constantly influences physicians, medical bodies, politicians, law enforcement, regulatory bodies, drug enforcement bodies, the media and the general public. Cannabis is perceived as a huge threat by the pharmaceutical industry because it is increasingly evident that the usage of cannabis is equal to, or more beneficial than, a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs used to address a particular illness. Not only that, the potential of cannabis as an universal and generic medicine, capable of addressing multiple illnesses in an individual at the same time, is terrifying to pharma companies that spend billions of dollars researching, patenting, and then marketing multiple expensive drugs targeted at specific illnesses. Cannabis - a single drug for multiple illnesses - is the exact opposite of the pharma strategy of many drugs for one illness. Nearly all of the pharma products that exist today, costing hundreds of billions of dollars, can be replaced by a single naturally growing plant that anyone can grow in pots in their balcony, or backyard garden, at almost zero cost, and consumed with minimal processing.
In the early days, i.e. the end of the 19th century, when cannabis prohibition was being lobbied for by pharma companies, they used other plants, including opium, to make their drugs. Medicines were predominantly made of naturally available plants, minerals and metals and basic chemical compounds. Cannabis was the most important medicine in the Indian physician's medicine cabinet, according to the Indian Hemp Drug Commission Report of 1894. The free availability of cannabis meant inexpensive, accessible health care for all. The new found interest of Europe and the Orient for opium during this time offered the pharma industry and governments a way to regulate the opium plant and sell it as high prices to realize revenues for themselves. Opium sources were taken over, the supply was regulated by governments, and sourced directly by pharmaceutical companies to make their patented medications.
In the early days, i.e. the end of the 19th century, when cannabis prohibition was being lobbied for by pharma companies, they used other plants, including opium, to make their drugs. Medicines were predominantly made of naturally available plants, minerals and metals and basic chemical compounds. Cannabis was the most important medicine in the Indian physician's medicine cabinet, according to the Indian Hemp Drug Commission Report of 1894. The free availability of cannabis meant inexpensive, accessible health care for all. The new found interest of Europe and the Orient for opium during this time offered the pharma industry and governments a way to regulate the opium plant and sell it as high prices to realize revenues for themselves. Opium sources were taken over, the supply was regulated by governments, and sourced directly by pharmaceutical companies to make their patented medications.
The problem with drugs like opium was that all pharma companies produced more or less the same medicine with little to differentiate between them. Over time, many pharma companies realized that synthetic drugs, which were more difficult to replicate offered even tighter control over the market, whereas plant based medicine could be researched and copied, or independently produced, by competing pharmaceutical companies at low costs. Gradually, the proportion of plant based medications that pharma companies produced reduced, and medications containing unique combinations of synthetic compounds discovered through billions of dollars spent in research, increased. I suspect that the opposition to natural medicine is as a part of the long term strategies of global pharmaceutical research, with the aim of control over the market through a patented medicine, rather than medicine that can be easily produced at low costs, accessible to everyone.
At the moment, opium still continues to be one of the pillars of the pharmaceutical industry, as no other medicine since the prohibition of cannabis has been able to treat pain as effectively as opium. And, obviously, there is no medicine more addictive than opium. The bulk of the world's pain management medicines are opium based. Opium and drugs based on it, including heroin, are consumed in huge quantities by the world's most powerful nations, including the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Afghanistan used to lead in the production of illegal opium, but now Myanmar does. India leads in the production of legal opium. All three supply opium, poppy straw and opium derivatives like morphine, codeine, thebaine, oxycodone, heroin, etc., to pharma manufacturers, legal and illegal, worldwide. Opioid drugs, highly addictive in nature, have resulted in an opioid crisis that has wrecked havoc in North America and Europe, and is rapidly spreading to other parts of the world that remain oblivious of its dangers.
Worldwide, pharma companies continue to wage discrete and open battles against the legalization of cannabis. They fund research papers, scholarships, medical institutions, election campaigns, media campaigns, cannabis opposition groups, etc., to sustain the image of cannabis as the most dangerous drug, leading to insanity, crime and destitution. They also work closely with governments, physicians, medical associations, medical institutions, research institutions and policymakers to strengthen the image of pharmaceutical prescription drugs as safe and beneficial. More and more humans are addicted to pharmaceutical medications, with the physician-pharmacy nexus working overtime to keep humanity hooked onto their products, thus contributing to their huge profits. Most prescription drug takers consume a cocktail of dozens of pharmaceutical drugs everyday. They are so dependent on the drugs that they are likely to have, or fear, serious life threatening health issues if they stop taking the drugs even for a day.
Worldwide, pharma companies continue to wage discrete and open battles against the legalization of cannabis. They fund research papers, scholarships, medical institutions, election campaigns, media campaigns, cannabis opposition groups, etc., to sustain the image of cannabis as the most dangerous drug, leading to insanity, crime and destitution. They also work closely with governments, physicians, medical associations, medical institutions, research institutions and policymakers to strengthen the image of pharmaceutical prescription drugs as safe and beneficial. More and more humans are addicted to pharmaceutical medications, with the physician-pharmacy nexus working overtime to keep humanity hooked onto their products, thus contributing to their huge profits. Most prescription drug takers consume a cocktail of dozens of pharmaceutical drugs everyday. They are so dependent on the drugs that they are likely to have, or fear, serious life threatening health issues if they stop taking the drugs even for a day.
As
worldwide awareness of the medical benefits of cannabis and the harms of multiple pharmaceutical drugs
grows, some in the pharma industry are now starting to change their approach from
direct opposition to trying to leverage the plant for their own benefit. We are seeing pharma companies entering into
agreements with politicians worldwide for dedicated access to the
naturally growing local varieties of cannabis, found in many countries, as was done with opium. Pharma
companies are filing patents to get complete control over certain
local varieties of the plant. In many countries, global pharma companies are gaining
control of the agriculture and production of the plant, processing the
plant and then exporting it to other countries, especially in Europe and North America, that are willing to pay huge prices,
since worldwide demand is so high. Many countries remain oblivious to
these changing dynamics and enter into agreements that are detrimental
to the country's own people and farmers, but hugely beneficial for the pharma company. The people of these countries and small farmers remain without access to the cannabis plant, be it for cultivation or consumption.
The above approach of pharma companies with regard to cannabis basically follows a set pattern that the pharmaceutical industry seems to have followed with opium, and most big businesses follow when trying to monopolize the market. This is usually the sequence: identify plants with vast medicinal and revenue making potential; take the plant out of the hands of the common man by working with politicians and regulatory bodies to make the plant a controlled substance, to be grown only by pharmaceutical companies with licenses; grow the plant on a large scale under strict control and use its ingredients to make pharmaceutical medication; ruthlessly eliminate all who try to grow the plant on their own, such as small farmers and individuals, using the support of the legal system, law enforcement bodies, regulatory bodies, financial clout, confinement, plain force and intimidation; patent the drugs created and distribute them world wide; use up vast natural resources to manufacture the drug on a large scale, pollute the environment through the entire cycle of manufacture, processing and disposal of the drug; pay huge incentives to physicians, medical associations and hospital networks to prescribe and use the pharmaceutical drug; enter into tie ups with medical insurance bodies that reimburse the patient for consuming the medication; flog the new drug horse till reports start coming in about its inevitable adverse effects or till revenues drop due to the discovery of a new drug by the pharma company's own research team or by competitors; repeat the cycle.
The above approach of pharma companies with regard to cannabis basically follows a set pattern that the pharmaceutical industry seems to have followed with opium, and most big businesses follow when trying to monopolize the market. This is usually the sequence: identify plants with vast medicinal and revenue making potential; take the plant out of the hands of the common man by working with politicians and regulatory bodies to make the plant a controlled substance, to be grown only by pharmaceutical companies with licenses; grow the plant on a large scale under strict control and use its ingredients to make pharmaceutical medication; ruthlessly eliminate all who try to grow the plant on their own, such as small farmers and individuals, using the support of the legal system, law enforcement bodies, regulatory bodies, financial clout, confinement, plain force and intimidation; patent the drugs created and distribute them world wide; use up vast natural resources to manufacture the drug on a large scale, pollute the environment through the entire cycle of manufacture, processing and disposal of the drug; pay huge incentives to physicians, medical associations and hospital networks to prescribe and use the pharmaceutical drug; enter into tie ups with medical insurance bodies that reimburse the patient for consuming the medication; flog the new drug horse till reports start coming in about its inevitable adverse effects or till revenues drop due to the discovery of a new drug by the pharma company's own research team or by competitors; repeat the cycle.
The above methodology adopted by all pharma companies, including the newly emerging cannabis based pharma companies, was taken to new levels in 2020. What triggered this massive synchronized worldwide consolidation of the pharma industry is anybody's guess. I theorize two reasons.
One, the opioid crisis, as mentioned above, that plagues North America and Europe. It resulted in upward of 80,000 deaths in the US, in 2018, and 93,000 deaths in 2019, leading the US to declare an opioid epidemic. This brought the international spotlight on opioid based medications. With the increasing aversion to opioid based medications, and pharmaceutical prescription medicines in general, the global pharma industry and the governments that benefit from it faced a crisis.
Two, cannabis is witnessing a revolution like never before. As of Januuary 2024, 24 US states have legalized cannabis for recreational use and 38 US states recognize the use of cannabis for more than 30 medical conditions. The US legalized cannabis for industrial purposes as a part of its 2018 Farm Bill. Industrial cannabis contains almost all the medicinal cannabis compounds, minus delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which can be used for medication. Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg and Thailand have legalized cannabis. Mexico, Germany, South Africa, Spain, Morocco, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the US, Ukraine and Nepal stand on the brink of cannabis legalization. Europe and Oceania are increasingly showing interest in cannabis. The UN removed cannabis from its most restrictive Schedule IV category in December 2020. According to New Frontier Data, "Across the U.S. overall, the 2018 spending shifts amounted to $4.3
billion for alcohol: (1.54% of that market), $1.3 billion for
pharmaceuticals (1.10%), and $219 million (0.22%) for tobacco.'"
The twin shifts in global perception, i.e. vis a vis opium and cannabis, appears to have set off panic in the global pharma industry and the governments that thrive on them. To counter these twin threats to their existence, these entities unleashed a game plan that would make the world wars look like child's play. China, struggling with its internal rebellions against its authoritarian government and the threat to its global position as a opioid based pharma leader, reported a newly discovered virus that it claimed was highly dangerous. In no time, the other actors got into action. The US, the UK, Russia, India and EU, all home to the world's leading synthetic pharma industries, increasingly witnessing vast damage due to the abuse of prescription medication, as well as increasing demands for cannabis legalization, started reporting deaths from the mysterious new virus. All deaths reported, strangely, had the symptoms of prescription drug overdose and toxicity.
The Covid feeding frenzy - lest we forget...
In two years - 2020 and 2021 - humans witnessed, and were a part of, biological warfare against the world's people by its rulers - the autocrats, pharmaceutical companies, medical industry, petrochemical companies - on a scale unprecedented in the known history of humans...What became first visible as China's attack on its people's attempt at democracy in Hong Kong, soon revealed itself on a global scale, as an attack by authoritarians, and the industries that support them, on the people of the entire world. The US under Donald Trump, Russia under Vladimir Putin, India under Narendra Modi, and the UK under Boris Johnson quickly ramped up their attack on their own people, as well as the people of the world, to suppress dissent and consolidate their own positions. The ingenuity of this biological warfare was that it was disguised as a cure for illness. Never before had humanity queued up voluntarily to get itself dosed by biological weapons as enthusiastically as this. No genocide in the world's history even came close to this. The short terms effects that can now be seen of this war are tremendous growth in the wealth and power of the autocrats, pharma and petrochemical companies, while the world's people experience fevers, colds, lung infections and body pain that have become chronic on a global scale. Our water, food and air are now completely contaminated by the assault while deaths due the adverse effects of this attack have been swept under the carpet. I estimate that easily 40- 50 million people died directly because of the attack. Children's education was disrupted like never before, as were the livelihoods and health care of hundreds of millions. Now the same entities, with Biden in place of Trump in the US and Sunak in place of Johnson in the UK, play out war games with their new-found wealth, looking to flog the war-machine and amass further wealth through the arms industry. ...The long term effects of this war on humans is only starting to unravel...Every day we hear of deaths that are attributed to respiratory failure, heart attacks and strokes, the root cause of which lies in this attack. Humanity, by and large, remains completely oblivious of what it experienced and witnessed...It took decades for human-induced antibiotic resistance to build in bacteria but humans achieved the fantastic feat with viruses in just a couple of years. We owe this wonderful achievement to the sustained effort of the pharmaceutical industry, medical industry, petrochemical industry, governments and media, and ourselves for managing to raise a relatively harmless virus to the status of death incarnate. In the process we dozed vast numbers of humanity with vaccines, antibiotics, antivirals, antihistamines, steroids, opioids, antifungals, anticoagulants, and numerous other dangerous drugs. We coerced our civic workers, students, elderly, hotel staff, domestic and corporate employees to vaccinate themselves. We filled our already crippled environment, including our precious fresh water supplies, with these drugs. We flooded the world with plastics and dangerous synthetics using our test kits, synthetic masks, PPE kits, disinfectants and hand sanitizers gaily to the beat of songs specially created for this purpose. Hundreds of millions lost their jobs, millions lost their lives to improper synthetic pharma drug medication, all children lost two years of precious education. Governments, health experts and the media created mass hysteria, shutting down the whole world, locking up its citizens and amassing wealth at the expense of everything...One fine day, except in China where humanity appears on life support and it took much longer, it all stopped - the number of deaths, the fresh cases of infection, the TPR, the number of vaccinations administered, everything. These statistics now find a passing mention in media. Governments have moved on to other important businesses like elections, wars and petrochemical supply control, now funded with the fake pandemic wealth and emboldened by the people's timidity. What caused the change in status of Covid from most deadly threat to humanity to history so quickly? Was it omicron, the variant that emerged immune to nearly all vaccines as a result of virus mutations from unprecedented vaccinations? Was it that the pharma companies and petrochemical companies had met their profit goals? Was it because governments had gained enough control over the people? Was it because people said enough is enough? Was it because the sales of arms, funded by the fake pandemic, had reached a level where a real war of catastrophic proportions could now take place, providing vast profits for the arms and petrochemical industries, as clearly signaled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of war in the Middle East? Whatever the reason, humanity appears to have recovered from the Covid insanity, and seem to have forgotten it like it never even happened. It is now ready to be fooled again, because it is so gullible, unable to comprehend the significance of life on a much larger scale, because every individual is only able to focus on ensuring that one's own ass is taken care of at all costs...Mass human insanity in full public display for all to see...Covid, anyone?
Diseases have existed since the origin of life. Viruses are one of the oldest lifeforms (if we can even call them that). There are probably more unknown diseases than known ones. Humans have always lived with more diseases that do not have vaccines than ones that have them. Vaccines don't exist for dengue, chikungunya, malaria for example. The only disease to have been supposedly eradicated by a vaccine is smallpox. Historically, vaccines were created over many years after diseases were discovered. Coronavirus is the only instance where both disease discovery and vaccine creation were separated by just a few months. This raises questions about its origin, nature and treatment. China's real or imaginary weapon to quell its dissenters in Hong Kong was so convincing that it went viral across the whole world. Authoritarian governments everywhere seized the opportunity to suppress dissent, have their way without any opposition and even get credit as protectors of their people for it. Mind you, vaccine business is big business. The ones who win contracts make huge amounts of money almost perpetually, even more so if vaccines need to be taken on a recurring basis. AstraZeneca rose from the ashes. The owners of Serum Institute are now among the richest in the world. The entire pharma industry (and petrochemical industry, and medical industry) prospered like never before and the gap between rich and poor has widened like never before...in just two years...
Humans have developed herd immunity through natural means, over thousands of years, to the millions of mostly undiscovered diseases that exist. The waves of disease flow through the human population taking whatever they need, leaving the majority of humans immune to the disease. Only for a handful of diseases have vaccines helped develop herd immunity, if at all that is. Out of this, only the small pox vaccine makes the alleged claim that it has helped humanity achieve complete herd immunity. The small pox vaccine took many years before it made the claim. With Covid, we had vaccines created within months of a virus discovery (under suspicious circumstances), and targets of reaching herd immunity within a year of vaccine discovery. To top it, all the ways in which natural herd immunity was achieved in the past - such as the free mixing of the population - were curtailed. People were isolated in clusters and fed vaccines, causing the disease to mutate in many ways within their bodies as separate breeding grounds, and then released so that they could then spread not just one variation of the disease, but multiple. Where we needed to develop natural herd immunity to one variant, we then also had to develop herd immunity to all the emerging variants. To top it all, the administration pushed to create further clusters and vaccinate more people, while the herd scrambled to get themselves vaccinated...
The vaccines were initially forcefully administered to government workers - healthcare professionals, soldiers, policemen, sanitation workers, etc. In return for their support in helping the government use Covid to: suppress dissent everywhere; pass all kinds of harmful laws as ordinances; collect funds through dubious schemes; secure electoral bonds and Covid violation fines to fund its election campaigns; crush the pillars of the economy - the migrant worker, farmer, labourer and small businessman; target minorities; destroy education and healthcare; boost the western medical industry with its pharmaceuticals and medical equipment at the cost of all other medical systems, the authoritarian leader decided that as a special privilege, government workers would be the first to be administered undertested, underdeveloped and experimental Covid vaccines that the government had already ordered in bulk from several favored multinational pharma companies. Government workers came out in large numbers to get themselves stabbed as a part of their national duty. Flower showers were organized using helicopters and airforce jets to felicitate the ones who helped it happen, all at the cost of taxpayers...
The calls for vaccination took on the fervor of patriotic national duty. In India, all those people exhorting others to get vaccinated saying that the vaccine is free or cheap, did not understand that the central government allotted nearly $5 billion in its previous budget to pay for vaccines i.e. to enrich the vaccine producing pharma companies. The taxpayer paid the bulk of the money upfront enabling governments to appear to be supplying them wonderful affordable medicine. This was not just taxes paid by elites but mostly by the poorest persons as well, who stood by and watched elites use smartphones and smartness to get the vaccine before them. Elites lining up to be first at receiving the vaccine were especially eligible since they had insurance or enough personal wealth for the medical and pharma industry to milk them, which was why elites were so attractive. Of course, both elites and poor did not realize that by participating in this whole vaccine drive they were only expanding the market for the pharma companies, and that they would have been better off without all this...
Having succumbed to the new drug, the pharmaceutical drug addicts got to work. The new recruit, seeking the security and safety in numbers that the herd or the mob always seeks, clueless as to even what drug had been injected, called up everyone and asked 'What? Haven't you taken it yet? I have and am still alive, ain't I? What are you waiting for?' The pride came from having obeyed the bidding of the bought over physician god and the political master. As a part of the herd now, the herd leaders would take care of everything, even if it was a slaughter that awaited ahead. With the same gusto that is evident when a member of the herd casts a vote, ticking a checkbox, announcements on the necessary platforms and the mandatory pictures were posted. With the same ignorance of the motives and actions of the party voted for, the pharma drug addict awaited the next bidding of the masters. Clang a plate? Light a lamp? Shout Go, Corona, Go? Swab test...nasal or anal? One must vote for the party and one must take the prescribed medicine, because if one is not part of the herd or the mob, then how will one be protected? The tribe is everything...its leaders are beyond reproach. So what if these herd leaders have laid the world to waste with their actions. We are the elite, the special ones with the tickets to heaven...come join us if you're lucky, what are you waiting for? The modern physician, the pharmaceutical drug, the political party, the supreme leader, the media, the herd...pieces of crap...Nature journal reported that 'More than 120 million doses have been administered, mostly of an Indian-produced version of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine called Covishield. But that’s less than 10% of India’s population, so there is still a long way to go. In particular, India needs to ramp up vaccinations in the hardest-hit regions, says Kang. Some people might have become infected while getting vaccines, says Udwadia, because crowds often share clinic waiting areas with ill people who are waiting to be seen.'
Here's how it worked. I, out of fear, anxiety, stupidity and stress, went and got myself injected with the vaccine, thinking it would make me immortal, or at least not lose my job. Now infected with the virus, feeling invincible, I moved around freely, exhorting one and all to take the vaccine. Those nearby now contracted the virus from me. The weak and vulnerable among them fell seriously ill and died, mostly fast tracked on the journey by the medical and pharmaceutical industry. Seeing the seriously sick die (and also the very aged), more and more people arrived at the conclusion that if they vaccinated themselves, they would not. As the waves rippled out, instead of addressing the problem's root cause, it became larger and larger. We had now infected large numbers of front line workers and those above 45. They now spread the virus, including its altered forms. Most of us would have by now developed natural herd immunity for the original virus. Now we were lining up the between 44 and 18 year olds with talk already increasing about infecting the young ones after that...a ponzi scheme where the people bought death, sold as a way to immortality, and the cone's apex, the pharma, medical, and petrochemical industries, and the governments that backed them, got richer. Till we stopped taking the tests and vaccines, this fire was not put out...
Persons vaccinated were deliberately injected with the virus. If a vaccinated person came in contact with an non-vaccinated person who was not infected, that non-vaccinated person was likely to get infected from the vaccinated person. If a vaccinated person came in contact with an infected person, both were likely to cross infect each other. So what was the benefit of vaccination? It reduced the severity of disease and chances of death from it apparently. Now severity of subsequent disease in a vaccinated person vis a vis severity of disease in an non-vaccinated person was relative, subjective and open to interpretation. Deaths due to Covid they said. 2% was the fatality rate for Covid. I am convinced that the deaths that made up this 2% were all deaths due to overuse of pharmaceutical medication and their side effects. All the dead were mostly chronic pharma drug takers for decades, with compromised livers, kidneys, hearts, lungs, etc. The common prescription given for a Covid infected person included antihistamines, steroids, opioids, analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics and antiviral drugs. This concoction was enough to knock down even a strong person, let alone one with a compromised immune system. So what should the strategy have been? The virus was secondary. The primary problem was the synthetic pharma drug, including the vaccine, that lowered immunity against the natural world that has always been around us...Deccan Herald reported that "A typical prescription for Covid-19 in India includes azithromycin, doxycyline, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, acetylcysteine, and inhaled budesonide, or dexamethasone. The antiviral favipiravir became the top-selling drug in India in April 2021, despite not being recommended for Covid-9 by any major guidelines," researchers from the George Institute of Medical Sciences wrote recently in a commentary in the Lancet.'
As the adult segments of the herd reached vaccine saturation, the pharma companies needed to see how they could target new customer segments. The children had so far evaded the vaccines. What better way of targeting children than to try and make sure that everyone else around them was gradually infected with the coronavirus through vaccination...the icing on the cake after the many months of being deprived of school, outdoor games and interaction with their peers. Luckily for the young ones, their immune systems were yet to be assaulted by long term use of the barrage of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs that the adults have subjected themselves to...and luckily for them pharma companies, the medical industry and governments were focusing more on profiting from the affluent adults...at least for the time being...
Humans continue to invent innovative ways of discriminating against their fellow humans. The motives for, and the methods of, discrimination are always the same. The motives are the desire of a select few to control, profit from, and become wealthy at the expense of all others. The methods are to convince the mindless majority that the select few are right. In addition to all the existing forms of discrimination against fellow humans on the basis of skin color, gender, sexual alignment, religion, etc., we invented discrimination against those who were not vaccinated for Covid. The not-vaccinated were now not allowed entry into many places. In some places they were even forced to stay captive or publicly shamed. The not-vaccinated were portrayed as public health hazards. They were threatened with dismissal from their jobs. If we look closely at this discrimination, we can see it for what it is. Did the vaccinated fear the not-vaccinated? Or was this discrimination some new found concern that humans had developed for their fellow humans, where they feared that the not-vaccinated would fall ill, and so were imposing these measures to protect them? It was neither. If the vaccines were as effective as they were touted to be, then the vaccinated had nothing to fear from the not-vaccinated. On the contrary, it was the not-vaccinated who were equally likely to get infected from those who had willingly injected themselves with the virus and turned into incubators for new strains. Regarding concern for the health of a fellow not-vaccinated human as the basis for this discrimination, it was highly unlikely. The coercive tactics were being employed to exert pressure on the not-vaccinated and to force them to join the game that had made the select few wealthier, completely disregarding the right of every human to choose for themselves the path to survival and health. For governments it was a way to intrude into the lives of people and control them like never before, get kickbacks, and to misuse public funds. All vaccines were said to be effective for not more than a year but nobody was counting. A vaccine certificate was a pass that showed that one was with these crooks, never mind its validity. The shelf life of vaccines had been extended, booster shots were being administered, children were being turned into incubators while pharma companies and the petrochemical industry got richer, governments had near complete control over the people, and the mindless herd gathered speed towards its destruction...Whatever it takes to get rich, eh?
There was a new disease afflicting the insane in this country. It was called the Oxygen Shortage Disease. Since the insane are incapable of reasoning, they failed to see that this also was a result of excess and improper administering of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs to vulnerable individuals. So move over Covid, it was time for the manufacturers of oxygen (no, not nature) to join the medical industry and pharma companies in milking the cattle...Wearing masks in the stifling Indian summer heat is something that only madmen can demand, but you did it anyway so as to not be labelled mad yourself. As you gasped for breath under the mask, a new device from the medical industry was now available, the oximeter. Check your oxygen saturation levels and impress everyone around you with your health and tech savvy. If the levels were below the standard that completely disregarded individuality and context, just like blood pressure and blood sugar standards, you went into panic. You might even have popped a paracetamol, or some of the designer opioids or remdesivir from your new drug stash. You may have become even more breathless, and the mounting panic may have sent you into a state of hysteria and near asphyxiation. You need not have worried, some alert family member around you would have ferried you to the nearby hospital, where they waited for you in PPE kits, like storm-troopers with open arms, injections, ventilators and oxygen cylinders. A hit of oxygen was comparable to all the other synthetic drugs that you had been tripping on, no? Everybody, including you, would have agreed that a few days dosing on all this was a great idea. If you did not make it, your family members would have paid the fat bill that awaited them. If you did, you bought some more masks, paracetamol and oximeters for the family. The medical insurance anyway covered most of it....err, was there a vaccination slot free anytime soon?
Respiratory depression is the most serious adverse reaction associated with opioid use. Some opioids show toxicity with single use while others display toxicity build up over a period of time with chronic use. The following are some opioids that cause respiratory depression - heroin, morphine, codeine, fentanyl, methadone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, buprenorphine. Besides this, prolonged use of all opioids and NSAIDs cause multi-organ failure.
According to Wikipedia, 'NSAIDs for inflammation such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen increase risk of a range of gastrointestinal (GI) problems, kidney disease and adverse cardiovascular events. Large doses of NSAIDs significantly suppress the production of immune cells. By inhibiting physiological COX activity, all NSAIDs increase the risk of kidney disease and through a related mechanism, heart attack. Higher doses of analgesics like paracetamol may lead to toxicity, including liver failure. Paracetamol poisoning is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the Western world, and accounts for most drug overdoses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. There is a consistent association of increased mortality as well as cardiovascular (stroke, myocardial infarction), gastrointestinal (ulcers, bleeding) and renal adverse effects with taking higher dose. Acetaminophen(paracetamol) treats pain mainly by blocking COX-2 and inhibiting endocannabinoid reuptake almost exclusively within the brain, but not much in the rest of the body. Chronic consumption of paracetamol may result in a drop in hemoglobin level indicating possible gastrointestinal bleeding and abnormal liver function tests. There is a consistent association of increased mortality as well as cardiovascular (stroke, myocardial infarction), gastrointestinal (ulcers, bleeding) and renal adverse effects with taking higher dose of paracetamol. The drug may also increase the risk of developing hypertension. The recommended maximum daily dose for an adult is three to four grams. Higher doses may lead to toxicity, including liver failure. Paracetamol poisoning is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the Western world, and accounts for most drug overdoses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Karnataka HC was asking for accountability of remdesivir supply and stocks. Remdesivir, the anti-viral drug, was conditionally recommended against use for Covid treatment by WHO. A few days later, AIIMS also came out with the statement that remdesivir was not a useful drug for the treatment of Covid. According to Wikipedia, "The most common adverse effects in people treated with remdesivir were respiratory failure and blood biomarkers of organ impairment, including low albumin, low potassium, low count of red blood cells, low count of thrombocytes, and elevated bilirubin (jaundice). Other reported adverse effects include gastrointestinal distress, elevated transaminase levels in the blood (liver enzymes), infusion site reactions, and electrocardiogram abnormalities." So give them remdesivir. If they complain of respiratory problems, put them in the ICU and give them oxygen. If they die due to of any of the above side effects, including a heart attack, say that it is a comorbidity related death and nothing to do with the drug. However, add the death to the Covid death count to boost the numbers and sell more remdesivir and further strengthen the case for vaccines. The headless chickens run around faster and faster. All that the foxes needed to do was sit with their mouths open...
Vox reports that 'For the researchers doing the actual work of figuring out what can help in the fight against Covid-19, ivermectin fandom has become a hindrance. “From a physician’s perspective, you’re not a fan of a drug,” David Boulware, a practicing physician and infectious disease researcher who has studied ivermectin and is currently running a randomized clinical trial to test its benefits, told me. “We’re actually trying to investigate it because we want an answer.” Figuring out which drugs work against Covid-19 is one of the most critical problems facing humanity. And it makes sense for people to be confused and frustrated by messaging from public health officials, which often hasn’t been very good, or to take it upon themselves to do their own research when the medical establishment has made its own missteps. But the evidence-free state of public ivermectin advocacy isn’t just hurting people, it’s also derailing the larger goal of ending this pandemic. There are drugs we can be pretty confident work better than ivermectin, and scared, sick people ought to be able to learn about those instead of being deluged with “miracle drug” claims. And researchers need to be able to conduct studies without hearing that the case for ivermectin is so obvious that no further research is needed.'
The story was the same with hydroxychloroquine, dexamethasone, and numerous other drugs that people like the president of the US and Brazil promoted irresponsibly to show their complete stupidity or fanatical allegiance to the cause. Chloroquine was promoted in Brazil by the then president Bolsonaro and his family. They even inflicted mental harassment on the researchers who flagged that chloroquine was not effective against Covid. Science Magazine reports that 'When the trial’s independent data safety monitoring team saw the number of deaths in the high-dose group rise rapidly, they alerted the researchers and asked for that arm to be stopped. Of 81 patients enrolled at the time, seven in the high-dose group had died, versus four in the low-dose group. By the times the results were published, those numbers had risen to 16 and six, respectively. Two patients from the high-dose group developed dangerous cardiac arrhythmias before death, a known side effect from chloroquine, and warning signs for future heart trouble were more common in the high-dose group. An 11 April preprint about the results was covered by international media outlets, including The New York Times. On 14 April, Michael James Coudrey, CEO of a U.S. marketing company whose website says he offers “social media and ‘digital information warfare’ services to political candidates,” tweeted accusations that the researchers had overdosed their patients and used them as “guinea pigs” in a study conducted “so irresponsibility I can’t even believe it.” Three days later, Eduardo Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president’s son, tweeted out a similar message, including an article that called the researchers “left-wing medical activists” and included their past social media posts in support of certain political candidates and sporting rainbow flag profile frames as proof. The article framed the study, which was later published in JAMA Network Open, as an attempt to “disparage the drug that the Bolsonaro government approved as effective for treating COVID-19.” Soon, death threats against the researchers and their families started to come in.' Science Magazine reported that 'Earlier the same month, and again through press releases, Recovery (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 therapy) delivered widely accepted verdicts on two other treatments. It revealed that dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, reduced deaths by one-third in patients on a ventilator and showed that hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug controversially touted for COVID-19, did not benefit hospitalized patients. A run on dexamethasone ensued as physicians in the United Kingdom and elsewhere quickly made it part of their standard of care for the sickest patients, whereas many other studies of hydroxychloroquine now looked futile and were halted.' Based on such reports, dexamethasone was widely prescribed leading to the much deadlier but vastly under-reported epidemic of mucormycosis in hospitals everywhere.
Have the mucormycosis deaths been added to the Covid death count? How many persons were likely to have been infected with mucormycosis as a part of the Covid swab tests? How many persons were likely to have been infected during vaccinations from infected needles? How many persons died as a result of mucormycosis after getting infected at hospitals when brought in for Covid treatment or oxygen shortage? How many hospitals claimed to be free of this infection? The root cause of this fungal infection was, guess what, prolonged use of pharma drugs such as diabetes, cancer and steroid drugs. Yes, the same steroids that was also being given to persons brought to potentially fungus infected hospitals for Covid treatment. BBC reported that 'Doctors believe mucormycosis, which has an overall mortality rate of 50%, may be being triggered by the use of steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients. Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs for Covid-19 and appear to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body's immune system goes into overdrive to fight off coronavirus. But they also reduce immunity and push up blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients. It's thought that this drop in immunity could be triggering these cases of mucormycosis.' Synthetic pharma drugs were killing at multiple levels and we were discovering more and more ways each day...but we could not stop the synthetic pharma drugs because it was medicine. Our doctors and scientists said so, no?
So is the data available on the number of persons who have died of Covid without a single pharmaceutical drug having been administered and who did not have a history of prescription pharmaceutical drug use? Also do we have the data on the number of persons who died post vaccination for Covid, irrespective of whatever the causes of death attributed by the authorities? Have the names of those who died due to lack of oxygen in the recent oxygen leak at a hospital been added to the Covid death count? How many of those vaccinated were super spreaders? In how many vaccinated persons did the virus mutate?
Well, what do you know, persons who inject drugs (PWID) aka vaccine takers...after all your string pulling, standing in queues, arm, ass and chest baring to be included in the elite 5% of the world that had taken the dubious Covid vaccine for the dubious Covid disease, it must surely have warmed the cockles of your hearts to hear the dubious experts say that the vaccine's effectiveness was only six months...meaning that you had now become lifetime subscription members and donors to vaccine companies...of course, if you like taking a hit of the vaccine periodically, any drug actually, along with all your other drug injections, I am sure this information would only have stimulated you further...ha ha ha...what a scam...
The Indian states with high pharmaceutical drug, opioid and other synthetic drug addictions were the same states with the strictest curbs, testing and vaccination and were also the same states showing the highest Covid infections and deaths. Why were Covid cases the most in all the places with the most tests, vaccinations, hospitals, pharmaceutical drugs, curbs and restrictions?
The TRIPS waiver drama for Covid vaccines was an interesting study for all those who adore pharma companies and swear by the governments that back them...the production and distribution of vaccines, as well as the profits made by these companies in the last four years, should already provide ample reading material, that is if you have not been following their role against the cannabis plant to date...So how was it decided what the vaccine would be, its composition and price, which pharma company was to manufacture the vaccine, what would be the projected revenues and profits from the vaccine? Was there be a profit sharing model between WHO and world leaders and the selected pharma company? Was cannabis legalized as preventive medicine for people who could not afford or access these vaccines? Did a single pharma company, health official or medical association come out to state openly and honestly that cannabis could help address most of the causes of comorbidity related to the tens of thousands of deaths worldwide? Did any of these entities state that legalizing cannabis for home growing meant the fastest dissemination and access to affordable universal medicine for the most number of people in the world rather than promoting test kits, ventilators, masks, sanitizers and pharmaceutical drugs created by industries maximizing their opportunity and profit? Big bang, flashy, synthetic, unsustainable solutions far removed from nature and the majority of the world's people was the repeated approach of businesses, health officials and governments, supremely confident of man the conqueror of nature and themselves as the elite classes of human society...As if the US President Donald Trump was Captain Kirk on a mission to save Enterprise Earth, the US government launched an initiative called Operation Warp Speed. Laughable as the name sounds, the aim was to identify which pharmaceutical company could make the most vaccines the fastest, and earn revenue for the US government the fastest. Finally the vaccine contract was won by Pfizer as it refused the $2 billion funding that the Trump administration had promised the winner of the vaccine challenge. Science Magazine reported that 'When the news broke yesterday that Operation Warp Speed had selected five experimental COVID-19 vaccines to fast-track through testing and, potentially, mass-scale production, it was news even to some top scientists involved with the White House–led program. “It’s been so chaotic, and it’s not even transparent to those of us who are trying to help out,” says a source linked to Warp Speed who asked not to be named. The New York Times reported that according to “senior officials,” the Trump administration program had chosen vaccines from Moderna, the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck for the crash development program, which aims to have enough safe and proven product to vaccinate 300 million Americans by January 2021. The government’s Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) had already singled out all four for what could amount to more than $2 billion in funding if they hit milestones. The fifth vaccine flagged by The New York Times is made by Pfizer, whose CEO, Albert Bourla, said on 28 May at a media briefing that the company doesn’t want funding from any government because “We believe we can move faster if we don’t have to involve a third party.”' The Rs 35,000 crores that the Indian government said had been allocated to bolster healthcare in its budget, specifically Covid related measures, was essentially taxpayer money flowing to pharma companies so as to make them richer and produce more so-called vaccines. These vaccines were being used to assault the Indian public, and as a gesture of Indian magnanimity, they were being shipped to vulnerable nations across the world where they were used to assault the vulnerable public there while their governments consolidated their positions harping on the great efforts undertaken to protect public health... a truly commendable show of destructive international cooperation...We started to see Covid spikes in all the countries that the vaccine producing nations had generously donated vaccines to...There were variants of the virus such as the Indian variant, South African variant, etc. We should be seeing the Nepal variant, Sri Lankan variant, Bhutanese variant, basically at least one variant of the virus for each country that a vaccine has been distributed to...Like China did with its Sinovac, and Russia did with its Sputnik, and the US did with its Pfizer vaccine, and the UK did with its Covishield, India projected its Covaxin as a national achievement, and sought to make huge amounts of wealth through its sales abroad. BBC reported that 'While India has supported waiving the patents on foreign-made vaccines, it has made no move to suspend it for Covaxin. Contrary to its international position, it has opposed suggestions from opposition leaders to invoke compulsory licensing and allow other pharma companies to manufacture the approved vaccines, saying these measures would prove "counterproductive".' And surely enough, Bloomberg reported that 'Ranked by the change in newly recorded infections in the past month over the previous month, Laos came first with a 22,000% increase, followed by Nepal and Thailand, both of which saw fresh caseload skyrocketing more than 1,000% on a month-over-month basis. Also on top of the list are Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Cambodia and Fiji, as they witnessed the epidemic erupt at a high triple-digit pace.' South Africa faced a brief moment of its own apartheid when it reported a Covid variant that was unresponsive to all the currently available vaccines.
Colds, cough and chest congestion are common in winter in Bengaluru. In the winters of 2020 and 2021, it was even more prevalent, thanks to the record vaccinations achievement of Bengaluru's herd for the greater glory of the supreme leader, Mai-Baap, so as to cling on to comforts conditional to vaccination. If you had a cold, cough or chest congestion, all you needed to do was the following - drink warm water, gargle with salt water and/or drink milk with turmeric for the cough; do steam inhalations for the chest congestion; take plenty of rest and try to eat simple food for the general cold. There was no need to run to do a RT-PCR test to find out if your cold had the name of a Greek alphabet. The only people who benefited from knowing the Greek alphabetical name of your cold were the crooks who had laid out the trap and wait with open beds, test kits and stockpiles of dangerous synthetic medicines, with their eyes on your money, hoping that the herd continued playing that game till it was milked to the last drop, and the vitality of this planet was sucked out completely...
The differences between viral fevers and colds appear sometimes to get blurred and we mix up the treatments for both. Having just come out of a bout of viral fever, which I got after many years, and for which I would like to personally thank all the enthusiastic Covid vaccine takers who raised the vulnerability to viral fevers of the global human population to new levels in addition to filling the coffers of the pharma, medical, petrochemical industries and corrupt authoritarian governments, and polluting the environment like never before, I thought I would put down the differences between viral fevers and colds and their treatments. Viral fevers start with body pain, followed by high temperatures and fever and are quite often accompanied by a loss of taste, appetite and our digestive powers. It is quite common to have stomach upsets with viral fevers. One feels terribly weak and it takes at least a couple of days after the fever subsides for one to gain back one's strength. Chest congestion, coughs and running noses are generally not a major part of viral fevers. Colds start with running noses that quickly develop into chest congestion, coughing and sneezing. High temperatures are not usually the case. One does not experience a loss of appetite, body pain and upset stomachs as in the case of viral fevers. The treatment for viral fevers is consuming easy to digest food in very limited quantities, such as rice gruel or steamed idlis and avoiding spicy, oily and generally other complex, tough to digest foods so that the body can focus on fighting the virus and regaining its digestive power. The treatment for colds is steam inhalations, turmeric milk or gargling salines for coughs. Diets in the case of colds need not be changed drastically though warm soups and teas consisting of black pepper, cumin seeds and basil are especially good. With a cold, one must generally eat well. In both cases, drinking warm water and taking as much rest as possible is absolutely essential for quick recovery. All this is knowledge which your grandmother used to treat you when you had cold and fever as a child. There is a common perception that having analgesics, such as paracetamol, cures fevers but these only subdue body pain without doing anything to directly fight the viral infection. For some people, the reduced body pain may enable them to sleep and rest better, but it is a myth created by the pharma and medical industry that analgesics are mandatory for fevers and colds. Like stated above, there is a tendency among us to mix up the treatment for viral fevers and colds with each other and this can sometimes have disastrous effects.
The second (again?) wave of Covid. As winter turns to summer, it brings with it the characteristic body aches and mild fevers that always mark the transition between seasons. The air becomes warm and light initially, then heavier each day as the humidity increases, with more frequent spells of thunder showers. A bunch of people who had earlier spent most of this seasonal transition period in the comfort of air-conditioned offices now found themselves at home, experiencing the Indian summer minus air-conditioning for the first time in a long time and that too with something new on, a mask on their faces. They wondered why their bodies were warming up, why there were aches and pains, running noses, mild fevers and breathing difficulties. Wasn't Covid that disease with cold, cough, fever and breathing difficulty? The one that we were constantly reminded about when we picked up the phone to call someone or put on the tv? The dreaded disease, the thought of which made one breathless, more so with the masks on, and magnified all symptoms a hundred fold? Quick, rush to the hospital. If you were weak from your infection, you would get some strong medicine to ensure that you could not breathe without a ventilator and oxygen backup. If you were strong enough, then you were ready to be vaccinated with, what else, the virus. What happened next? The same fever and body aches that you went in to treat yourself for in the first place. Quick, order some more oxygen cylinders and all the good stuff- dexamethasone, remdesivir, paracetamol, ivermectin, covaxin, covishield, opioids, steroids, whatever...
One way in which I saw this whole Covid drama running out of steam was when people could no longer afford to pay taxes. Then the government would no longer be able to pay the pharma companies. The rich did not donate to run the show when they saw themselves getting poorer and pharma companies richer. All those hoping to borrow money from someone to keep their boats sailing soon discovered that nobody had money left to lend, except the pharma companies who were still trying to get richer. The government was hopeful that one of its agencies, like DRDO for example, could help it prevent profits flowing to pharma companies in India and abroad. Atmanirbhartha, where DRDO got rich through its home made vaccine and where the money could be used to buy new weapons from international arms dealers would have been great, right? But then this scheme too needed taxpayer money to fund DRDO, unless it was cannabis that DRDO was growing and powdering in its facilities...What funding option would that leave the government with then for itself, the medical and pharma industry...dip into people's savings? Come on, surely you can sacrifice your savings for the pharma company and national pride? With demands for ex-gratia compensation for Covid deaths increasing, we now saw the reported cause of death as Covid rapidly dropping, and the real causes of death such as liver, kidney, heart and lung failure due to the excessive administering of synthetic pharma drugs once again rising to the real levels that were obscured behind the smokescreen of this man-made charade...It will be interesting to see how many death certificates issued with Covid as cause of death were finally honored by the government in releasing compensation...
With this unprecedented attack on humanity using an array of newly developed vaccines, we managed to create multiple variations of the virus in quick time, until we finally lost track of the number of mutations that happened. Koo...here's Mu...come on, come on...let's increase the vaccine coverage and see how many new variants of concern we can culture in the human population...there are so many pharma companies waiting in the wings to develop vaccines...we need to create the markets for them, don't we? Damage to public health, society and environment? Who cares...I believe that the delta variant spawned from Covaxin and the omicron variant spawned from Covishield. We are yet to discover, or are keeping quiet about, the other strains that widespread vaccinations from other vaccines have created, and if the rising deaths due to respiratory failures, heart attacks and strokes is as a result of these newer mutations, or as a result of the unprecedented overdosing of human beings with all kinds of dangerous synthetic pharmaceutical drugs. Most vaccines were ineffective against omicron, rendering the entire previous vaccination exercise futile for all. That was the beginning of the end of Covid...officially at least...Finally, all governments everywhere realized that they had flogged this dead horse for too long. The people started getting restless. To prevent a collective backlash that would blow away governments, pharma companies and the medical industry, all in one massive blow, all these entities responsible for the world's biggest scam came out saying that their vaccines were no longer effective against the new variant, omicron. By this time, people had already started losing interest in this whole sham, and were beginning to pick up their lives from where they had left off pre-2020. The people needed to do this, as they faced the choice between death or survival.
The corona virus had a global reported death rate of 2% of those infected. The untold truth was that almost all deaths attributed to Covid were due to pharmaceutical drugs administered for decades and the newer Covid drugs. Nothing will ever justify the harms done to the world by governments and health officials in the name of Covid. To list a few of the harms:
- Hundreds of millions, especially the poor, the laboring classes, the sick and elderly, had their lives decimated
- Almost the entire global child and youth population lost two precious years of education and the joys and freedom of childhood and youth
- Hundreds of millions needing food and urgent medical care for serious illnesses like TB, cancers and heart disease, that kill many times more people annually than Covid, were denied.
- Millions of the world's working classes were coerced to become guinea pigs for the untested vaccines. Pharma companies pocketed vast amounts of taxpayer's money for this
- Petrochemical and synthetic based non-biodegradable waste were poured onto the planet as masks, PPEs, sanitizers, disinfectants, needles and syringes, swabs, etc. Petrochemical companies pocketed vast amounts of taxpayer's money for this
- Almost every human being suffered the oppression of curbs to basic rights and freedoms while politicians and the elites flouted every single norm.
- Every government, not just the authoritarian ones, used the opportunity to tighten their grip on power and the world's people.
- The wealth of the elites grew tremendously, even as the world's majority slipped into greater poverty and despair. The world's top 5 richest people doubled their wealth. India added tens of new millionaires to its club. Pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies saw three digit growth in their profits. Nearly 5 billion of the world's population became poorer. Basically, the money that was in the hands of these 5 billion or so people flowed into the hands of the elites, as a result of this global scam of unheard of proportions.
Like compounds that become visible under certain light or with the use of certain markers, the masterminds behind the Covid assault on the world's people became clearly visible from their inevitable subsequent actions. The countries producing the vaccines were the main culprits behind this unprecedented assault on the planet and its life. Their accomplices were the countries assisting in manufacture, purchase and distribution of the vaccine, the countries reporting the highest fatalities from Covid, the countries manufacturing, selling and distributing petrochemical based masks, sanitizers, PPE kits and the countries enforcing the harshest lock downs and curbs on its people. Of course it was not solely the governments of these countries but also the main industries in these countries fueling the government action through funding and lobbying, i.e. the pharmaceutical, medical and petrochemical industries that are the national pride of these countries. Together, they battered an already ailing Earth and all life on it in a bid to negate all the actions being taken to revive and sustain the planet for at least a little longer...The permanent members of the UNSC - US, UK, Russia, China and France - are the world's biggest arms traders. India, the eternal aspirant to the elite warmongers council in an organization meant to promote global equity, liberty, peace and harmony, along with Israel and Saudi Arabia are the world's leading arms purchasers. Now, that is not all. Recognize the names and their links to global wars and instability. They are the world's leading drug traders and consumers of legal synthetic drugs (known by the much revered name pharma drugs) and illegal synthetic drugs. They are the leading traders of petrochemicals and fossil fuel based energy. They are the world's leading emitters of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases. They are the world's leading traders of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. All of them are ruled by authoritarian governments. They are the countries that staged the Covid drama, the ones that originated the story, that linked their pharma deaths to Covid and then claimed to produce vaccines that would stop the virus. They led on all Covid statistics. They are the countries instrumental in bringing about the global prohibition of cannabis. They continue to be the leading opposition to global cannabis legalization. They are the leading violators of human rights and liberties through their use of law, incarceration and execution of cannabis users and traders. They are the leading destroyers of cannabis plants and varieties beyond number....
Till the truth that Covid was a viral fever, in the same category as the common flu - no more dangerous - is acknowledged, and till the fact is acknowledged by the authorities and so-called experts that all deaths attributed to Covid were deaths due to the synthetic pharmaceutical medication, including vaccines, administered to vulnerable persons, this mass hysteria and unnecessary deaths, very similar to the historical witch hunts and deaths at the hands of the Inquisition, is going to continue. I do not foresee the acknowledgement ever coming from these authorities and so-called experts regarding this root cause of the problem. They may suggest you do yoga, clang plates or light candles, however, while they count their new wealth. The voices that were raised against this global atrocity were few and far-between. The few that raised their voices were labelled anti-national and unscientific. The Guardian reported one instance of a voice speaking truth when it published - 'Anyway, what about the vaccines? Surely they’ll save us? Isn’t India a vaccine powerhouse? In fact, the Indian government is entirely dependent on two manufacturers, the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech. Both are being allowed to roll out two of the most expensive vaccines in the world, to the poorest people in the world. This week they announced that they will sell to private hospitals at a slightly elevated price, and to state governments at a somewhat lower price. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show the vaccine companies are likely to make obscene profits.' The Intercept reported that 'As the new coronavirus spreads illness, death, and catastrophe around the world, virtually no economic sector has been spared from harm. Yet amid the mayhem from the global pandemic, one industry is not only surviving, it is profiting handsomely.' I hardly came across any other such reports because the media was fully with the perpetrators. What was more common were reports like this one published by Science Magazine 'The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, K. VijayRaghavan, released a note the next day acknowledging the problems and promising to increase access. “Our broader research community needs to be much more facilitated by our research agencies,” the letter said. But some scientists are skeptical that the situation will improve quickly; the note was low on details and previous requests for data from government agencies have often gone unanswered, they say. Why the Indian government is so reticent to share data is unclear.' In that scenario, what is it that could be done? We, the people, had to recognize this falsehood being perpetrated and do what is in our hands to prevent this madness from spreading further. What we did, which was the main reason why Covid faded away like a bad nightmare, was that, when faced with the basic question of survival, we refused to take the Covid tests, refused to take the vaccines, refused to go to hospitals for treatment of fevers and colds that only required rest and simple food, and we refused to add to the mass hysteria created through spreading Covid propaganda through our chronic addiction to tv and smartphone...We realized, to some extent at least, that fear of a myth is just as likely to kill you as a real disease or a synthetic pharma drug...
The 2% fatalities in India attributed to Covid were almost all individuals with a history of pharmaceutical drug use. Given the already weakened state of their kidneys, liver, lungs, etc. from the chronic intake of pharmaceutical drugs, when they were rushed to hospitals for Covid treatment and dosed with an array of powerful pharmaceutical drugs, it proved lethal for their already compromised bodies. Almost no poor person was able to get admitted to a hospital for Covid treatment. Even if they were, due to their inability to pay, they were mostly prescribed paracetamol. High income individuals with their medical insurance coverage were treated to the entire multi-course pharma cocktail and banquet, and hence made up the majority of the fatalities. Overall, the low exposure of the majority of the public to pharmaceutical drugs was one of the key reasons why India, and other poor countries, showed a low fatality rate compared to affluent societies. So it was despite governmental, medical and pharmaceutical industry efforts to the contrary that poor countries had a low fatality rate...but with the push towards synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, these entities are still trying hard...
Covid was the largest coordinated organized attack against the most number of people in the history of the human race. World Wars 1 and 2 pale in comparison to the wide ranging impact that this attack had across the globe. The attack was initiated by authoritarian governments across the globe in league with pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries. These key institutions of the existing system decided to undertake this assault on the human race due to the increasing threat to their survival posed by rapidly spreading global democratic thought, environmental activism against unsustainable industries and the threat posed by the cannabis plant as an aid to both democratic thought and sustainable industries. The attack initiated by national governments soon spread to state and local governments with similar authoritarian mindsets who grabbed the opportunity to repress the people with much glee. But like the loud cracking sound that is heard when the hull of a sinking ship finally breaks, this assault on humanity only confirms the last throes of death of the existing outdated systems of governance and industry.
Let me restate once again that the coronavirus was not the ultimate danger to human life that we made it out to be. There are far more serious threats to human life that we neglected with our fixation on the virus. Pharma industry induced death - through destruction of the human immune system and the resulting increased vulnerability to every other cause of death, the failures and cancers of key organs like livers, kidneys, hearts, pancreas, intestines, lungs and brains all brought about through the chronic and excessive use of pharmaceutical synthetic drugs - posed a far greater threat than the coronavirus. Petrochemical industry induced death - through climate change, pollution of air, water, land and food and the resulting damage to the human body and mind, as well as the increase in climate change related environmental disasters - posed threats of mind numbing proportions. The insects, viruses and bacteria all faced the same common enemy as us in this man made dual threat of unheard of proportions to all life on earth. This dual threat was what we should have directed all our efforts to fight against. Instead, in the name of fighting a virus that causes as much damage as any one of the other billions of viruses around us, we joined forces with the pharma and petrochemical industry, speeding up the advent of death for all. Now that is what one should have been really fearful of...These threats have grown to even larger proportions because of our actions in those two years. Many authoritarian leaders used the distraction of Covid to further their personal agendas. Science Magazine reports that 'Forest loss in the tropics increased 12% in 2020 compared with 2019, The New York Times reports. More than 12 million hectares of primary tropical forests, an area roughly the size of Switzerland, were destroyed in the period, according to a new report from the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland. Researchers estimate that the global loss, led with a large margin by Brazil, released more than 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the equivalent to the annual emissions of 570 million cars. The accelerated destruction comes despite pandemic-related disruptions to the production of commodities that promote deforestation, like palm oil and cocoa.' Yet, we remain oblivious of all that we did, or refuse to see what we have done.
The same denial that we have seen all these years regarding climate change, is now also evident when it comes to public health and the damage caused by synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, chemical pesticides and fertilizers...Four years on, the public is still fed the narrative that vaccines and the numerous lethal pharmaceutical drugs that have been injected into humans - in the name of the so-called Covid pandemic - were all beneficial, and that there have been no adverse effects from all these...The narrative is that without all these man-made poisons, the human race would have ceased to exist, while in reality, it is these very poisons that caused widespread damage to not just humans, but all life on earth...It is not surprising that the denial is the same, since the culprits in both cases - climate change and failing public health - are the same - the authoritarian governments, petrochemical and fossil fuel industry, medical industry and the synthetic pharmaceutical industry...One common thread that runs through this entire goon-gang of death merchants is the hilarious delusional belief that man is superior to nature, and anything man-made is superior to anything that nature creates...The source of this delusional belief is very likely the over-indulgence in, and addiction to, the aforesaid synthetics by the culprits themselves...
Ever wondered why, in India, the Department of Pharmaceuticals comes under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers that also administers the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, and the Department of Fertilizers? One would think that the Department of Pharmaceuticals would come under the Ministry of Health, just as the Department of Fertilizers would come under the Ministry of Agriculture. That is, of course, if the Health Ministry was looking at holistic health that involved other options, besides synthetic pharmaceuticals, such as natural medicine. Strangely, there is a separate orphan ministry called Ministry of Ayush supposedly responsible for the research and propagation of natural medicine. Similarly, if the Agriculture Ministry was looking at holistic use of fertilizers, especially natural fertilizers and organic farming, then the Department of Fertilizers would be under it. The current organization, however, works best for the synthetic petrochemical, synthetic pharmaceutical and chemical fertilizer industries...A significant chunk of India's budget - money sucked out of its people - goes into buying petrochemicals, chemical fertilizers and active pharmaceutical ingredients - the very products that wreck havoc with the planet and public health through its national and global usage. Along with China and Russia - two of the biggest opponents of cannabis - India forms a cartel that trades in these goods, while putting up a show of integrity, commitment to global peace, environmental sustainability and equality. The US and UK serve as key markets to the products that these countries produce, thus making it a win-win for all these entities. All five champions of cannabis prohibition - India, Russia, China, the US and UK - went to the extent of inflicting upon the world a bio-chemical weapon, called Covid, to boost these industries, to amass wealth for their bosses who own these industries, and to fund their individual political parties. When the path of cannabis for universal healthcare, sustainable agriculture, safe intoxicant and bio-degradable industry offers solutions on a global scale for humanity and the planet, these addicts of money and power work in the opposite direction, consolidating their own positions by inflicting increasing suffering on the world's majority - its poor and working classes. In this, they are fully supported by the world's rich upper classes...They delude the masses, projecting themselves as upholders of traditional values, nationality and prosperity for all...but what they all pursue is one religion - money, one ruling party - the rich, and one language - doublespeak...
Even if all the nations of the world legalized cannabis for all purposes - medicine, intoxicant, spiritual and industrial purposes - TODAY, a feat not impossible as all it takes is for the UN to change global drug laws and every nation to follow suit by changing their individual national drug laws with the same alacrity that all showed in embracing the fake pandemic Covid, it would still take at least a decade for cannabis to become truly pervasive enough to significantly reduce the footprint of the following industries: the synthetic pharmaceutical drug industry for medicine; the global synthetic recreational drug industry, alcohol and tobacco for intoxicant; unsustainable rice, wheat and cotton as agricultural crops on current scales; the chemical fertilizer industry through organic farming of climate resistant cannabis; the petrochemical based non-biodegradable plastics and synthetic fabrics industries as industrial sources of raw materials. Even then much of the damage may be irreparable - such as the omnipresent microplastics, and the contamination of land, water and air by synthetic pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers, fossil fuels and petrochemicals. But there is a chance that we could at least slow this down or even stall it. However, these industries - petrochemicals, synthetic pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers, alcohol and tobacco are the biggest industries in the world today. The world's rich - to whom these industries belong - and the governments that they own and fund, will do all they can to prevent this, including the use of the arms industry who fear a peaceful world of cannabis as a threat to their existence as much as the rich and the governments. This means that what could take a decade if all are fully committed will most likely take much more time. The two years lost to the fake pandemic Covid were accelerated steps in the opposite direction to that which we should have been taking. Do we have that much time to change course? Will nature and human insanity give us the time? Today, all global leaders are floundering helplessly and aimlessly, with what is being proposed as solutions to the catastrophic problem being nothing more than cosmetic makeovers, while they work to consolidate their own positions and the rich strive to get richer. At a time when all possible options must be considered, no, pursued with great urgency, even then it may not be enough, we find humanity moving with determination like zombies towards the sixth extinction...What is overwhelmingly evident is the human delusion that man is the master of nature and an insane stubbornness to pursue the natural ways that could save us...
One of the root causes underlying the vast number of human made problems we see around us today, is the fact that the human mind has - in most people - completely lost its connection with nature. It has become unhinged, over smart, over confident, incapable of reasoning, inattentive, preferring deception over truth, and material wealth and immediate gratification above all else. Even rural areas, where one once found a large number of people with simple and wise ways, have increasingly become afflicted, mainly through the seeking of short cuts to the imaginary better life built on money. Maybe the isolated indigenous tribes in a few places retain their sanity, anchored in the only thing that can save it, nature. For the rest of us, no amount of vaccines or synthetic drugs will heal our mental illnesses. The medicine of the mind, nature's cannabis, offers one way to re-establish the connection between our minds and nature. For some, the dosage required may be very, very large and even that may not work...
The over riding problem is the blind faith that we have on everything that emerges from our laboratories, and the illogical distrust of things that nature creates. So we view the cannabis, coca and opium plant as evils that must be controlled or eliminated, and cocaine, opioids and synthetic pharmaceutical drugs as medicines. We are completely sold by the marketing done by pharmaceutical companies and the medical industry, never using our own minds to differentiate between what is truth and what is made up. For example, Vox magazine reports that 'Last week, we got some terrible news: In 2020, the number of drug overdose deaths in the US reached their highest point ever recorded — more than 93,000, according to preliminary federal data. And then this week, we got some more terrible news: Life expectancy in the US fell by 1.5 years — the worst decline since World War II. Most of that was due to Covid-19. But some of it was driven by the increase in overdoses.' What this fails to do is recognize that both situations are the result of the same cause - the synthetic legal and illegal drugs that we so readily embrace and completely trust, while we do all we can to oppose the natural medicine that is more than sufficient to meet all our health and intoxication needs. When the legalization of cannabis globally can ensure that the most vulnerable people in the most remote places in the world can have access to the best plant medicine ever created by nature, we refuse to acknowledge it, looking instead to what we can create in the labs to solve our health problems. We are always looking for ways of making money, even when it comes to addressing the problems of health that the vast majority of people in the world - its poorest and most vulnerable persons - face. For example National Geographic reports that 'Emerging plant-based vaccine technology will not only help the world respond to the current and future pandemics but also offers an opportunity to expand vaccine production to developing countries, according to Hefferon. Vaccines remain a cornerstone of public health, preventing some 4 to 5 million deaths each year. And yet many places around the world lack access to vaccines for measles, meningitis, and whooping cough. That means that some 1.5 million people a year still die from preventable infectious diseases. “There is an overwhelming vaccine inequality between the rich and the poor countries, and maybe if you can increase the amount of different manufacturing platforms, then you can make more vaccines more quickly for more people,” says Tregoning.' Governments the world over continue to keep the ganja away from people and instead offer alcohol, tobacco vaccines and prescription drugs as alternatives while they pursue war games and economic power for themselves...There are people, who come in various guises and forms, who will tell you no alcohol, no ganja, no sex, no music, no meat. What they would like you to do is lie down quietly while they do different kinds of chemotherapy on you and take away all that you have to fuel their own addictions. I do not have anything against those who want to do their synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, their ponzi schemes and charades provided it does not inflict harm on those who do not want to play that game, and provided that it does not inflict harm on the planet which is home to all. To each his own. But when the lovers of synthetic drugs coerce others to be a part of their harmful games, with its masks, hand sanitizers, tests, vaccines and curbs on individual freedoms then a line has been crossed. There is a transition from enjoying one's right to freedom to infringing upon another's. By prohibiting me from using my natural herb cannabis, while enjoying the synthetic drugs that you prefer and trying to force me to become like you, is a similar infringement on my right to freedom by you...you wear your masks and inject yourself with whatever gets you off to ensure your protection...I will choose my means...if your methods are so sound then they will protect you and what I do to protect myself is none of your business...
Just as things turned around when hope was fading away in the middle of the Covid crisis, primarily through the will of a few people who refused to take things lying down, the tide is starting to turn against the synthetic pharmaceutical companies and their supporters in the medical industry and governments. Starting with the legalization of cannabis for medical use in California in the 1990s - through the sustained grassroots movements of the people in that US state - the revival of the one opponent that pharmaceutical companies fear the most began. Since then, at the time of writing this, 38 US states have legalized cannabis for medical purposes, 24 US states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, and so have the countries of Canada, Uruguay, Malta, Luxembourg and Thailand. In fact, I believe that the recognition of this fact that cannabis was on the road to revival was one of the primary triggers for synthetic pharmaceutical companies and their supporters in the medical industry and governments to create the Covid attack. The Covid attack, in one way, led to a feeding frenzy by the synthetic pharmaceutical industry, medical industry and petrochemical industry. But, in another way, it showed what cannabis is all about. Even as large numbers of people took to synthetic pharmaceutical drugs - both legal and illegal - as a result of Covid, many US states that had legalized cannabis for recreational use declared cannabis as an essential service, which meant that cannabis sales continued along with food and medicine sales throughout the lockdown. Post the Covid lockdown, some of the biggest US states legalized cannabis for recreational use, states like New York, New Jersey and Michigan. Countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Morocco have started looking at cannabis legalization seriously. Across the US, 70% of the people want cannabis legalized federally. Sage Publications reports that 'Beyond the problems of fitting within a medical world monopolized by synthetic products, the emergence of marijuana as medicine is not being driven by doctors, scientists, and pharmaceutical companies. It is a grassroots movement driven by the demands of patients already self-medicating with marijuana. The only reason marijuana re-entered our medical landscape is that self-medicating patients commenced litigation claiming that they had the constitutional right to choose this medicine despite the presence of a criminal prohibition. It turns out they were right.'
There is good reason for the synthetic pharmaceutical industry to fear cannabis like nothing else it has faced ever before. In US states and Canada where cannabis has been legalized, the biggest losers have been the synthetic pharmaceutical companies, as users substitute whole classes of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs - analgesics, anxiolytics, anti-depressants, anti-cancer medicines, anti-psychotics, anti-epileptic medicine, muscle relaxants, sedatives, anti-stress medication, anti-convulsants, glaucoma medication, diabetes medicines, nausea suppressants, aphrodisiacs, digestives, ADD/ADHD, etc. - with cannabis. Each day brings new reports regarding how the synthetic pharmaceutical industry is starting to cave in. NORML reports that 'The use of prescription stimulants is lower in states where medical cannabis is legal as compared to those jurisdictions where it remains prohibited, according to data published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. Researchers affiliated with Columbia University in New York and with Boston University assessed the association between the enactment of medical marijuana laws and prescription stimulant use by gender and by sexual identity.' NORML reports that this is not a phenomenon restricted to the US, but slowly spreading throughout Europe and other regions. It states that 'A team of international investigators from France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands assessed the relationship between adults’ access to low-THC (below 0.6 percent THC) cannabis and prescription drug sales in 106 Italian provinces over a two-year period. They reported, “[L]ocal availability of light cannabis [low-THC, CBD-based products] led to a significant decrease in the number of dispensed boxes of anxiolytics by approximately 11.5 percent, a reduction of dispensed sedatives by 10 percent and a reduction of dispensed anti-psychotics by 4.8 percent.” Researchers also identified less significant reductions in the use of anti-epileptic medications, anti-depressants, opioids, and migraine drugs.' And it is not just prescription medications that are feeling the heat, even alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs are feeling the vibrations of the waking giant. Leafly reports that 'Many participants reported more than one substitution. About 45% reported substituting cannabis for alcohol, 31% substituted it for tobacco, and 26% substituted it for illicit drugs. A whopping 69% reported substituting cannabis for prescription drugs. Unsurprisingly, opioids were the most common among pharmaceutical substitutions, at 35%. Antidepressants and anti-anxiety prescriptions came in close behind at 21%. Detailed questions revealed that chronic pain and mental health issues were the two most common reasons participants took cannabis, both at just under 30%.' MJBizDaily reports that 'A new study in the Journal of Health Economics found that the availability of “cannabis light” – flowers from high-CBD hemp plants with up to 0.6% THC – in Italy was connected to: An 11.5% decrease in dispensed boxes of anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medications); A 10% reduction of dispensed sedatives; A 4.8% reduction of dispensed antipsychotics. “The large-scale accessibility to the new product, which was advertised as a relaxant one, induced some patients to abandon traditional medicine to seek relief,” the authors concluded.' NORML reports that 'Researchers reported that 28 percent of subjects acknowledged using opioid medications at the initiation of the trial. This fell to 11 percent six months later. Participants’ mean opioid dosage fell by 78 percent over the trial period – a finding consistent with prior studies. Researchers also reported declines in subjects’ use of prescription anti-depressants, benzodiazepines, and anti-seizure medications. Prior studies have similarly reported declines in patients use of benzodiazepines and other prescription medications following the initiation of medical cannabis.' NORML reports that 'A team of investigators affiliated with the Yale University-Griffin Prevention Research Center conducted structured surveys with 115 MS patients regarding their use of cannabis. Respondents were most likely to report that cannabis was effective in reducing symptoms of pain, insomnia, muscle cramps and spasms, as well as improving mood. Consistent with studies of other patient populations, “a significant proportion of respondents” reported having either “stopped or reduced” their use of prescription medications after finding cannabis to be more effective for symptom management. In particular, patients frequently reported reducing or ceasing their use of “opioids, benzodiazepines, muscle relaxers and other pain medications” – a finding that is also consistent with other studies.' Wiley Publications reports that 'Most participants reported that using cannabis for pain management helped improve daily functioning. Some participants turned to cannabis as a supplement or periodic alternative to prescription and illicit drugs (e.g. benzodiazepines, opioids) used to manage pain and related symptoms. Nonetheless, participants' access to legal cannabis was limited and most continued to obtain cannabis from illicit sources, which provided access to cannabis that was free or deemed to be affordable.' New Frontier Data reports that 'Cannabis as an Alternative for Prescription Drugs - Leading prescription types replaced by medical cannabis include anticonvulsants (72%), glaucoma medication (71%), anti-migraine medication (65%), nausea suppressants (65%), and ADD/ADHD (62%).' NORML reports that 'Over 90 percent of respondents said that cannabis use reduced their average pain by at least half. Eighty percent of respondents reported using fewer opioids following the initiation of cannabis therapy. Sixty-nine percent of study participants reported reducing their use of sleep aids, and 50 percent reported using fewer anxiety/anti-depressants.' NORML further reports that 'Authors reported: “Forty-three percent of the patients who had been using analgesic medications prior to MC [medical cannabis] treatment initiation were no longer using them. This was true for all classes of analgesic drugs including over the counter analgesics, non-steroidal anti-nflammatory drugs, anticonvulsants and antidepressants. As for opioid use, 24 percent and 20 percent of the participants who had been using weak or strong opioids, respectively, at baseline stopped using them by the time they reached the 12-month follow-up.” They concluded, “This prospective study provides further evidence for the effects of medical cannabis on chronic pain and related symptoms, demonstrating an overall mild-to-modest long-term improvement of the tested measures and identifying possible predictors for treatment success.”' Women appear to be making the switch to cannabis as medicine more than men. NORML reports that 'Investigators with DePaul University in Chicago and John Hopkins University in Baltimore surveyed 361 patients registered with Illinois’ state-sponsored medical marijuana access program. Researchers reported that women acknowledged using cannabis to address a greater variety of medical conditions than did men, and that they were also more likely to report having either reduced or ceased their use of prescription medicines following enrollment in the program. Female respondents were also less likely than male respondents to report having their decision to use medical cannabis supported by either their primary care provider or by a physician specialist.' Many people are making the switch on their own, as physicians seem to be still reluctant to prescribe cannabis as medicine, though this is slowly changing.
Implementation of the 1961 Single Convention Treaty must focus on one entity - the synthetic pharmaceutical drug industry - legal and illegal - including small, medium and large players...All natural plants and their products in natural form must essentially be taken out of the scope of the 1961 Single Convention. This means that the drug laws of all nations must be modified accordingly as well...All regulation must focus on one entity - synthetic drugs emerging from pharmaceutical laboratories - legal and illegal. Natural plants such as cannabis are out of scope for these regulatory bodies. But these regulatory bodies cross their jurisdiction and try to regulate natural plants created by nature. In the process, they dilute their focus on the human-made products that cause the actual harm, the synthetic substances emerging from the lab. Some of this is, I firmly believe, due to the vested interests that these regulatory bodies share with the manufacturers of synthetic drugs, both legal and illegal. Regulatory bodies and their systems are designed to regulate synthetic human-made substances. Natural plants are regulated by nature, the master regulator of all creation. And it is human made substances that need regulation since they have not been tested and proven by nature and evolution. Their effects on humans, in fact on all life on earth, is unknown since they have not been exposed to nature's chiseling and pruning. But instead of focusing on these synthetic substances, regulatory bodies globally focus large amounts of their resources on cannabis, even as synthetic substances of ever increasing complexity and harm emerge from the pharmacist's laboratory. LA Weekly reports that '“The existing FDA approval system is designed for the assessment of privately produced compounds that go through conventional P1, P2, and P3 trials – so the Pfizer vaccine comports with the existing regulatory model. Cannabis does not. It is an illicit botanic product,” Armentano said. Armentano went on to explain the FDA approval process is not designed to evaluate such products. “In fact, under the existing regulatory and legal environment, there is no process for which the FDA could review or approve herbal cannabis – as acknowledged by the DEA and others who are familiar with the process,” Armentano said. “The DEA acknowledged this publicly in 2016 and has done so repeatedly since.” The FDA and DEA work together to keep cannabis in the US Controlled Substances Act Scheduled Lists, even as they grant permission to pharmaceutical companies like GW Pharmaceuticals to create synthetic versions of cannabis thatare sold as expensive, inaccessible pharmaceutical drugs in wealthy nations that all these entities profit from. MJBizDaily reports that 'The new FDA approval, granted July 31 to GW’s U.S. subsidiary, Greenwich Biosciences, means the drug can now be used in the United States to treat seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a genetic disease believed to affect one in 6,000 people. The FDA approved Epidiolex to treat TSC patients 1 year old and up and also expanded the age range for the use of Epidiolex to treat seizures caused by Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, lowering the minimum age from 2 years old to 1, GW Pharma said.' Epidiolex is a cannabis based drug. It is not just the US FDA that is lending a helping hand to GW Pharmaceuticals. Australian regulatory bodies, and other countries, are giving GW Pharmaceuticals a free hand, even as they oppose the legalization of medicine in natural plant form which would mean more widespread access to the entire population, especially the poor and the vulnerable. MJBizDaily further reports that 'GW Pharmaceuticals’ plant-derived CBD drug Epidyolex received approval from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to be used in treating seizures related to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome for patients 2 and older. The approval is the third major global regulatory approval for Epidyolex, GW said in a news release. "The TGA approval is further proof that cannabis-based medicines can successfully go through extensive randomized placebo-controlled trials and a rigorous evaluation process to reach patients who need them,” GW Chief Operating Officer Chris Tovey said in a statement.' Globe News Wire reports that '“We are honoured to receive such a prestigious award for British businesses. When Dr Brian Whittle and I founded GW 23 years ago, our mission was to improve the lives of seriously ill patients by unlocking the potential of the cannabis plant through rigorous scientific investigations and extensive clinical trials in order to obtain regulatory approval for such medicines to benefit patients,” said Dr Geoffrey W Guy, GW Founder and Chairman. “Much of what is known about the medical uses of cannabis was discovered by GW. We have led the way in understanding cannabinoid science and how, if harnessed correctly and taken through the regulatory approval pathway, it has the potential to improve the lives of patients and their families.' The medical uses of cannabis was known for thousands of years in India, the land of cannabis, and it was India's foremost medicine before it was taken away by the British so as to promote its own medicine, the medicine created by companies like GW Pharmaceuticals.
The regulatory bodies work with the pharmaceutical companies to block all natural versions of a medicine. The cannabis plant, that has been used for thousands of years across the globe, by billions of people, a plant which is tried, tested and proven across human and other animal populations is kept illegal with the justification given that it is harmful and dangerous. This stance is one of the primary reasons why synthetic drugs have become the menace that they are globally today, and why the pharmaceutical industry has become what it is today with the audacity to carry out something like the Covid caper with impunity. The crackdown on cannabis is widespread even now. The European Commission is one such body that prefers to promote cannabis-based medicine manufactured by pharmaceutical companies like GW Pharmaceuticals, while opposing the natural cannabis which would be accessible and affordable to all. This is because of the kind of financial clout that global pharmaceutical companies possess.. New Frontier Data reports that 'The EC’s intentions were unclear. Given the relatively few applicants for the Novel Food Catalogue, the EC may be hoping that producers will recognize that compliance with the novel food regulations is preferable to complete prohibition. Alternately, the EC may be responding to pressure from pharmaceutical companies who see plant-derived CBD as a threat to their markets for medications and nutraceuticals. Whatever the motivations, however, the development underscores the significant influence which the U.N.’s Single Convention continues to have regarding cannabis policy, despite surging consumer demand and growing legal commercialization globally.' New Frontier Data further reports that 'The crackdowns follow on the heels of the European Commission (EC)’s July preliminary decision to classify CBD as a narcotic. Doing so means that CBD will be treated more as a pharmaceutical compound than as a supplement. For companies such as GW Pharmaceuticals, that is welcome news: The company’s patented drug Epidiolex is the first CBD-based drug cleared to treat patients suffering from Dravet syndrome or Lennox-Gestaut syndrome, two debilitating forms of childhood epilepsy. At the cost of $32,500 USD annually, the EU represents more than $400 million USD in potential revenue to the company. Whether the legal crackdowns on CBD products will continue and spread will be greatly influenced by an upcoming United Nations vote about cannabis scheduling recommendations. Included in said vote are two CBD-specific recommendations which would respectively remove extracts and tinctures from being classified as Schedule I drugs under the 1961 U.N. Single Convention on Narcotics, and free medical CBD containing less than 0.2% THC from international control. The U.S. has opposed the measures — despite the latter’s support by the World Health Organization (WHO) — by citing “legal ambiguities and contradictions that would undermine effective drug control.” While the EU has been silent on the issue, the EC’s preliminary decision is an ominous sign for industry operators. A positive ruling could lead to a more welcoming regulatory environment for CBD, but a negative ruling could signal further and even more restrictive regulatory measures worldwide, slowing demand for CBD products in emerging markets like Latin America.' Another example of how regulatory bodies pave the way for global pharmaceutical companies when they try to market a cannabis-based drug, while opposing all efforts to legalize the plant itself is MJBizDaily's report that '“By placing Epidyolex in Schedule 5 to the 2001 Regulations, it is no longer subject to the prohibition on importation, exportation and possession under the 1971 Act,” according to the government’s circular announcing the change. “This will reduce administrative processes for companies wanting to supply Epidyolex to patients with severe epilepsy.” Epidyolex is the trade name in Europe for Epidiolex. London-based GW Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Epidyolex, said the move exempts the medicine from most controlled-drug requirements.'
The pharma industry, has thrived like never before since March 2020. While most of the rest of the world's industries sank into the red zone, pharma companies posted huge profits and continue to do so as I write. As of January 2024, the Covid vaccines have lost their power as miraculous wonder drug as people all over the world have decided to move on. The vaccine manufacturing companies now create new versions that they try and sell to populations that still retain small amounts of the Covid insanity. A few entities try to restart the Covid frenzy but it appears that the people have wised up to the whole sham, at least for now. Interestingly, some of the countries to which the vaccines have been generously donated are countries that are showing increasing promise in terms of cannabis legalization, such as South Africa, Jamaica and Ghana. It is almost as if to distract the people of these countries from their efforts to legalize cannabis by putting on a show about the protective power and importance of the synthetic pharma industry. This however is the same story when it comes to all synthetic pharmaceutical drugs. When the wealthy nations are done with the usage of a particular drug, and the people wise up to the harmful effects of that drug, the drug is then sold to other countries - usually poor African and Asian countries - that have only heard about the so-called benefits of the drugs but are still unaware of the harms of the drug.
When my mother was a child, her mother used to tell her - 'Pancha Pandavanmar kattilinde kaalupolle moonne' (English translation - Five Pandavas, like the legs of a cot, three) - and display two fingers. That I think clearly depicts the nature of the deceiver, who contorts facts, words and actions, deceiving the ones who are gullible at multiple levels ...
World news update: 22 Jan 2024.
Trump and Johnson, two of the architects of Covid-19 - the world's biggest scam ever - cashed in and settled down to enjoy their rich pickings. Three more from this abominable group still remain - Modi, Putin and Xi...Modi has managed to catapult his two petrochemical bosses into the world's top 10 richest men rankings as a result, and funds his election campaigns even better with his earnings. He now readies himself to consecrate the Ram Lalla idol at Ayodhya, flouting all religious norms, so as to be able to showcase himself as god's chosen one well ahead of the coming 2024 national elections. The people bow down with equal reverence to him and the Ram Lalla idol, unable to differentiate good from evil...Putin uses his earnings from the scam to fund his Ukraine war and give further impetus to his petrochemical and defense industry bosses.. Xi has managed to stifle almost all internal dissent having locked up all who oppose him in the name of the scam. Even as his country plunges into a spiral of debt, he consolidates his position as unopposed supreme leader...The global petrochemical and pharma industries now sit pretty on their plunder reaped from the world, while the arms industry is thriving...The new found wealth means that it can be used to fund the arms industry, stoking conflicts across the globe with the hope that a few more wars will bring in further dividends for all these crooks. The world is fighting climate change with more petrochemicals, fossil fuels, synthetic pharmaceuticals and arms...The herd, glued to its smartphone, is eager to see how its ass will be taken this time...sanitized, vaccinated, unmasked and ready...spread it baby, here we come...
Legalize cannabis now for universal access to the best plant medicine in the world...grow your own cannabis at home to protect your own health and to clip the wings of the pharma companies and the governments that support them...
Related articles
The following set of articles related to the subject are taken from various media. Words in italics are the thoughts of yours truly at the time of reading the article.
Over 90 percent of respondents said that cannabis use reduced their average pain by at least half. Eighty percent of respondents reported using fewer opioids following the initiation of cannabis therapy. Sixty-nine percent of study participants reported reducing their use of sleep aids, and 50 percent reported using fewer anxiety/anti-depressants.
“The findings from this survey indicate that patients with CMT report substantial relief of pain symptoms from the use of cannabis,” the authors concluded. “These data support the need for prospective, randomized, controlled trials using standardized dosing protocols to further delineate and optimize the potential use of cannabis to treat pain related to CMT.”
https://norml.org/news/2023/02/23/survey-cannabis-provides-relief-less-need-for-prescription-medications-in-nerve-pain-patients/
'“The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine,” said Anne Milgram, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before. In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. DEA is focusing resources on taking down the violent drug traffickers causing the greatest harm and posing the greatest threat to the safety and health of Americans. Today, we are alerting the public to this danger so that people have the information they need to protect themselves and their children.”“The findings from this survey indicate that patients with CMT report substantial relief of pain symptoms from the use of cannabis,” the authors concluded. “These data support the need for prospective, randomized, controlled trials using standardized dosing protocols to further delineate and optimize the potential use of cannabis to treat pain related to CMT.”
https://norml.org/news/2023/02/23/survey-cannabis-provides-relief-less-need-for-prescription-medications-in-nerve-pain-patients/
These counterfeit pills have been seized by DEA in every U.S. state in unprecedented quantities. More than 9.5 million counterfeit pills were seized so far this year, which is more than the last two years combined. DEA laboratory testing reveals a dramatic rise in the number of counterfeit pills containing at least two milligrams of fentanyl, which is considered a lethal dose. A deadly dose of fentanyl is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil.
Counterfeit pills are illegally manufactured by criminal drug networks and are made to look like real prescription opioid medications such as oxycodone (Oxycontin®, Percocet®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), and alprazolam (Xanax®); or stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall®). Fake prescription pills are widely accessible and often sold on social media and e-commerce platforms – making them available to anyone with a smartphone, including minors.'
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2021/09/27/dea-issues-public-safety-alert-sharp-increase-fake-prescription-pills
'For the researchers doing the actual work of figuring out what can help in the fight against Covid-19, ivermectin fandom has become a hindrance. “From a physician’s perspective, you’re not a fan of a drug,” David Boulware, a practicing physician and infectious disease researcher who has studied ivermectin and is currently running a randomized clinical trial to test its benefits, told me. “We’re actually trying to investigate it because we want an answer.”
Figuring out which drugs work against Covid-19 is one of the most critical problems facing humanity. And it makes sense for people to be confused and frustrated by messaging from public health officials, which often hasn’t been very good, or to take it upon themselves to do their own research when the medical establishment has made its own missteps.
But the evidence-free state of public ivermectin advocacy isn’t just hurting people, it’s also derailing the larger goal of ending this pandemic. There are drugs we can be pretty confident work better than ivermectin, and scared, sick people ought to be able to learn about those instead of being deluged with “miracle drug” claims. And researchers need to be able to conduct studies without hearing that the case for ivermectin is so obvious that no further research is needed.'
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22663127/ivermectin-covid-treatments-vaccines-evidence
Figuring out which drugs work against Covid-19 is one of the most critical problems facing humanity. And it makes sense for people to be confused and frustrated by messaging from public health officials, which often hasn’t been very good, or to take it upon themselves to do their own research when the medical establishment has made its own missteps.
But the evidence-free state of public ivermectin advocacy isn’t just hurting people, it’s also derailing the larger goal of ending this pandemic. There are drugs we can be pretty confident work better than ivermectin, and scared, sick people ought to be able to learn about those instead of being deluged with “miracle drug” claims. And researchers need to be able to conduct studies without hearing that the case for ivermectin is so obvious that no further research is needed.'
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22663127/ivermectin-covid-treatments-vaccines-evidence
'“The existing FDA approval system is designed for the assessment of privately produced compounds that go through conventional P1, P2, and P3 trials – so the Pfizer vaccine comports with the existing regulatory model. Cannabis does not. It is an illicit botanic product,” Armentano said.
Armentano went on to explain the FDA approval process is not designed to evaluate such products.
“In fact, under the existing regulatory and legal environment, there is no process for which the FDA could review or approve herbal cannabis – as acknowledged by the DEA and others who are familiar with the process,” Armentano said. “The DEA acknowledged this publicly in 2016 and has done so repeatedly since.”'
https://www.laweekly.com/the-difference-between-the-fda-approving-vaccines-and-weed/
Armentano went on to explain the FDA approval process is not designed to evaluate such products.
“In fact, under the existing regulatory and legal environment, there is no process for which the FDA could review or approve herbal cannabis – as acknowledged by the DEA and others who are familiar with the process,” Armentano said. “The DEA acknowledged this publicly in 2016 and has done so repeatedly since.”'
https://www.laweekly.com/the-difference-between-the-fda-approving-vaccines-and-weed/
'Authors reported: “Forty-three percent of the patients who had been using analgesic medications prior to MC [medical cannabis] treatment initiation were no longer using them. This was true for all classes of analgesic drugs including over the counter analgesics, non-steroidal anti-nflammatory drugs, anticonvulsants and antidepressants. As for opioid use, 24 percent and 20 percent of the participants who had been using weak or strong opioids, respectively, at baseline stopped using them by the time they reached the 12-month follow-up.”
They concluded, “This prospective study provides further evidence for the effects of medical cannabis on chronic pain and related symptoms, demonstrating an overall mild-to-modest long-term improvement of the tested measures and identifying possible predictors for treatment success.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/08/05/study-medical-cannabis-treatment-associated-with-sustained-relief-decreased-use-of-analgesics-in-chronic-pain-patients
They concluded, “This prospective study provides further evidence for the effects of medical cannabis on chronic pain and related symptoms, demonstrating an overall mild-to-modest long-term improvement of the tested measures and identifying possible predictors for treatment success.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/08/05/study-medical-cannabis-treatment-associated-with-sustained-relief-decreased-use-of-analgesics-in-chronic-pain-patients
'Last week, we got some terrible news: In 2020, the number of drug overdose deaths in the US reached their highest point ever recorded — more than 93,000, according to preliminary federal data.
And then this week, we got some more terrible news: Life expectancy in the US fell by 1.5 years — the worst decline since World War II. Most of that was due to Covid-19. But some of it was driven by the increase in overdoses.'
https://www.vox.com/22589160/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdose-deaths-2020-life-expectancy
And then this week, we got some more terrible news: Life expectancy in the US fell by 1.5 years — the worst decline since World War II. Most of that was due to Covid-19. But some of it was driven by the increase in overdoses.'
https://www.vox.com/22589160/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdose-deaths-2020-life-expectancy
'Emerging plant-based vaccine technology will not only help the world respond to the current and future pandemics but also offers an opportunity to expand vaccine production to developing countries, according to Hefferon. Vaccines remain a cornerstone of public health, preventing some 4 to 5 million deaths each year. And yet many places around the world lack access to vaccines for measles, meningitis, and whooping cough. That means that some 1.5 million people a year still die from preventable infectious diseases.
“There is an overwhelming vaccine inequality between the rich and the poor countries, and maybe if you can increase the amount of different manufacturing platforms, then you can make more vaccines more quickly for more people,” says Tregoning'
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/your-next-vaccine-could-be-grown-in-a-tobacco-plant
“There is an overwhelming vaccine inequality between the rich and the poor countries, and maybe if you can increase the amount of different manufacturing platforms, then you can make more vaccines more quickly for more people,” says Tregoning'
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/your-next-vaccine-could-be-grown-in-a-tobacco-plant
'The rapid spread of COVID-19 underscores the need for new treatments. Here we report that cannabidiol (CBD), a compound produced by the cannabis plant, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection. CBD and its metabolite, 7-OH-CBD, but not congeneric cannabinoids, potently block SARS-CoV-2 replication in lung epithelial cells. CBD acts after cellular infection, inhibiting viral gene expression and reversing many effects of SARS-CoV-2 on host gene transcription. CBD induces interferon expression and up-regulates its antiviral signaling pathway. A cohort of human patients previously taking CBD had significantly lower SARS-CoV-2 infection incidence of up to an order of magnitude relative to matched pairs or the general population. This study highlights CBD, and its active metabolite, 7-OH-CBD, as potential preventative agents and therapeutic treatments for SARS-CoV-2 at early stages of infection. '
https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/pt/ppbiorxiv-432967
https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/pt/ppbiorxiv-432967
'Some Key Report Findings:
- Growth of Medical Cannabis: The medical cannabis market is projected to almost double to over $16 billion by 2025.
- Medical Market Intelligence: Nearly half of medical consumers (45%) identify smokable cannabis as their preferred product form while 24% prefer edibles and beverages, key insight for retailers and operators.
- Cannabis as an Alternative for Prescription Drugs: Leading prescription types replaced by medical cannabis include anticonvulsants (72%), glaucoma medication (71%), anti-migraine medication (65%), nausea suppressants (65%), and ADD/ADHD (62%).'
https://info.newfrontierdata.com/medical-cannabis-pharmaceuticals
- Growth of Medical Cannabis: The medical cannabis market is projected to almost double to over $16 billion by 2025.
- Medical Market Intelligence: Nearly half of medical consumers (45%) identify smokable cannabis as their preferred product form while 24% prefer edibles and beverages, key insight for retailers and operators.
- Cannabis as an Alternative for Prescription Drugs: Leading prescription types replaced by medical cannabis include anticonvulsants (72%), glaucoma medication (71%), anti-migraine medication (65%), nausea suppressants (65%), and ADD/ADHD (62%).'
https://info.newfrontierdata.com/medical-cannabis-pharmaceuticals
'While India has supported waiving the patents on foreign-made vaccines, it has made no move to suspend it for Covaxin.
Contrary to its international position, it has opposed suggestions from opposition leaders to invoke compulsory licensing and allow other pharma companies to manufacture the approved vaccines, saying these measures would prove "counterproductive".'
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57007004
Contrary to its international position, it has opposed suggestions from opposition leaders to invoke compulsory licensing and allow other pharma companies to manufacture the approved vaccines, saying these measures would prove "counterproductive".'
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57007004
'Ranked by the change in newly recorded infections in the past month over the previous month, Laos came first with a 22,000% increase, followed by Nepal and Thailand, both of which saw fresh caseload skyrocketing more than 1,000% on a month-over-month basis.
Also on top of the list are Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Cambodia and Fiji, as they witnessed the epidemic erupt at a high triple-digit pace.'
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-03/it-s-not-just-india-new-virus-waves-deluge-developing-countries
Also on top of the list are Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Cambodia and Fiji, as they witnessed the epidemic erupt at a high triple-digit pace.'
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-03/it-s-not-just-india-new-virus-waves-deluge-developing-countries
'Because delta-8 THC is manufactured from hemp-derived CBD, not extracted directly from the hemp plant, it is a controlled substance under law, according to the DEA.
“From a chemist’s perspective, it is clear that the isomerization of CBD to delta-8 THC with a catalyst is a chemical process,” said Erik Paulson, lab manager at Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs, a cannabis testing laboratory with locations in California and Michigan. “Any product of a chemical reaction like this one is, by definition, a synthetic chemical.”'
https://hempindustrydaily.com/more-states-banning-delta-8-thc-as-regulators-clarify-its-legality-under-federal-law/
“From a chemist’s perspective, it is clear that the isomerization of CBD to delta-8 THC with a catalyst is a chemical process,” said Erik Paulson, lab manager at Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs, a cannabis testing laboratory with locations in California and Michigan. “Any product of a chemical reaction like this one is, by definition, a synthetic chemical.”'
https://hempindustrydaily.com/more-states-banning-delta-8-thc-as-regulators-clarify-its-legality-under-federal-law/
'“We are honoured to receive such a prestigious award for British businesses. When Dr Brian Whittle and I founded GW 23 years ago, our mission was to improve the lives of seriously ill patients by unlocking the potential of the cannabis plant through rigorous scientific investigations and extensive clinical trials in order to obtain regulatory approval for such medicines to benefit patients,” said Dr Geoffrey W Guy, GW Founder and Chairman. “Much of what is known about the medical uses of cannabis was discovered by GW. We have led the way in understanding cannabinoid science and how, if harnessed correctly and taken through the regulatory approval pathway, it has the potential to improve the lives of patients and their families.'
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/04/29/2219182/0/en/GW-Pharmaceuticals-recognised-for-leadership-in-prescription-cannabis-based-medicines-with-prestigious-Queen-s-Award-for-Enterprise-in-Innovation.html
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/04/29/2219182/0/en/GW-Pharmaceuticals-recognised-for-leadership-in-prescription-cannabis-based-medicines-with-prestigious-Queen-s-Award-for-Enterprise-in-Innovation.html
'Doctors believe mucormycosis, which has an overall mortality rate of 50%, may be being triggered by the use of steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients.
Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs for Covid-19 and appear to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body's immune system goes into overdrive to fight off coronavirus. But they also reduce immunity and push up blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients.
It's thought that this drop in immunity could be triggering these cases of mucormycosis.'
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57027829
Symptoms of pulmonary (lung) mucormycosis include: Fever, Cough, Chest pain, Shortness of breath
These fungi aren’t harmful to most people. However, for people who have weakened immune systems, breathing in mucormycete spores can cause an infection in the lungs or sinuses which can spread to other parts of the body.
Risk groups for mucormycosis include persons with uncontrolled diabetes; malignancy; hematopoietic stem cell transplant or solid organ transplant; persistent neutropenia; prolonged corticosteroid therapy; skin trauma, burns, or surgical wounds; iron overload; intravenous drug use; malnourishment; and premature infants.
Mucormycosis is frequently a life-threatening infection. A review of published mucormycosis cases found an overall all-cause mortality rate of 54%. The mortality rate varied depending on underlying patient condition, type of fungus, and body site affected (for example, the mortality rate was 46% among people with sinus infections, 76% for pulmonary infections, and 96% for disseminated mucormycosis).
https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/mucormycosis/statistics.html
These fungi aren’t harmful to most people. However, for people who have weakened immune systems, breathing in mucormycete spores can cause an infection in the lungs or sinuses which can spread to other parts of the body.
Risk groups for mucormycosis include persons with uncontrolled diabetes; malignancy; hematopoietic stem cell transplant or solid organ transplant; persistent neutropenia; prolonged corticosteroid therapy; skin trauma, burns, or surgical wounds; iron overload; intravenous drug use; malnourishment; and premature infants.
Mucormycosis is frequently a life-threatening infection. A review of published mucormycosis cases found an overall all-cause mortality rate of 54%. The mortality rate varied depending on underlying patient condition, type of fungus, and body site affected (for example, the mortality rate was 46% among people with sinus infections, 76% for pulmonary infections, and 96% for disseminated mucormycosis).
https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/mucormycosis/statistics.html
'The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, K. VijayRaghavan, released a note the next day acknowledging the problems and promising to increase access. “Our broader research community needs to be much more facilitated by our research agencies,” the letter said. But some scientists are skeptical that the situation will improve quickly; the note was low on details and previous requests for data from government agencies have often gone unanswered, they say. Why the Indian government is so reticent to share data is unclear.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/there-are-so-many-hurdles-indian-scientists-plead-government-unlock-covid-19-data
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/there-are-so-many-hurdles-indian-scientists-plead-government-unlock-covid-19-data
'They drove 20 minutes to the village of Karandi, slowing to pass caravans of migrant sugarcane cutters in ox carts. They spent more than 1 hour taking blood samples at a cluster of houses shared by three generations of one family. Later, the team would scour the blood for antibodies that indicate past run-ins with COVID-19.
Girish Dayma, who helps oversee this research program run by a satellite of King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Pune, says the team’s surveys to date show that up to 40% of these villagers have antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. “When we started this serosurveillance, it was thought that the rural area was not much affected,” Dayma says. “The data are very much important to convince the policymakers that we need interventions in rural areas.”'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/will-india-s-devastating-covid-19-surge-provide-data-clear-its-death-paradox
Girish Dayma, who helps oversee this research program run by a satellite of King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Pune, says the team’s surveys to date show that up to 40% of these villagers have antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. “When we started this serosurveillance, it was thought that the rural area was not much affected,” Dayma says. “The data are very much important to convince the policymakers that we need interventions in rural areas.”'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/will-india-s-devastating-covid-19-surge-provide-data-clear-its-death-paradox
'Forest loss in the tropics increased 12% in 2020 compared with 2019, The New York Times reports. More than 12 million hectares of primary tropical forests, an area roughly the size of Switzerland, were destroyed in the period, according to a new report from the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland. Researchers estimate that the global loss, led with a large margin by Brazil, released more than 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the equivalent to the annual emissions of 570 million cars. The accelerated destruction comes despite pandemic-related disruptions to the production of commodities that promote deforestation, like palm oil and cocoa.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/tropical-forest-destruction-increases-despite-pandemic
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/tropical-forest-destruction-increases-despite-pandemic
'Anyway, what about the vaccines? Surely they’ll save us? Isn’t India a vaccine powerhouse? In fact, the Indian government is entirely dependent on two manufacturers, the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech. Both are being allowed to roll out two of the most expensive vaccines in the world, to the poorest people in the world. This week they announced that they will sell to private hospitals at a slightly elevated price, and to state governments at a somewhat lower price. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show the vaccine companies are likely to make obscene profits.'
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/28/crime-against-humanity-arundhati-roy-india-covid-catastrophe
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/28/crime-against-humanity-arundhati-roy-india-covid-catastrophe
'Results
Most participants reported that using cannabis for pain management helped improve daily functioning. Some participants turned to cannabis as a supplement or periodic alternative to prescription and illicit drugs (e.g. benzodiazepines, opioids) used to manage pain and related symptoms. Nonetheless, participants' access to legal cannabis was limited and most continued to obtain cannabis from illicit sources, which provided access to cannabis that was free or deemed to be affordable.'
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13294
Most participants reported that using cannabis for pain management helped improve daily functioning. Some participants turned to cannabis as a supplement or periodic alternative to prescription and illicit drugs (e.g. benzodiazepines, opioids) used to manage pain and related symptoms. Nonetheless, participants' access to legal cannabis was limited and most continued to obtain cannabis from illicit sources, which provided access to cannabis that was free or deemed to be affordable.'
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13294
'More than 120 million doses have been administered, mostly of an Indian-produced version of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine called Covishield. But that’s less than 10% of India’s population, so there is still a long way to go. In particular, India needs to ramp up vaccinations in the hardest-hit regions, says Kang.
Some people might have become infected while getting vaccines, says Udwadia, because crowds often share clinic waiting areas with ill people who are waiting to be seen.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01059-y
Some people might have become infected while getting vaccines, says Udwadia, because crowds often share clinic waiting areas with ill people who are waiting to be seen.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01059-y
"Two patients from the high-dose group developed dangerous cardiac arrhythmias before death, a known side effect from chloroquine, and warning signs for future heart trouble were more common in the high-dose group.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/it-s-nightmare-how-brazilian-scientists-became-ensnared-chloroquine-politics
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/it-s-nightmare-how-brazilian-scientists-became-ensnared-chloroquine-politics
'George Otto claims he never would have entered the illegal opioid trade if it weren’t for a pharmacist named Shereen El-Azrak. By March 2015, El-Azrak was spiralling from one crisis to another. She co-owned Weston PharmaChoice on Lawrence Avenue near Jane, and the doctor in the adjoining clinic had recently vacated his office. Like many pharmacists in Ontario, El-Azrak needed a physician nearby to write the prescriptions that would make up the backbone of her business. Otto had visited her pharmacy before, and she wanted to form a partnership. It was a common arrangement between doctors and pharmacists: she’d send him patients, he’d send her scripts.'
https://torontolife.com/city/the-untold-story-of-the-doctor-who-fuelled-a-drug-crisis/
https://torontolife.com/city/the-untold-story-of-the-doctor-who-fuelled-a-drug-crisis/
'The majority of gynecologic oncology patients report that medical cannabis products are either as effective or more effective than prescription medications at mitigating symptoms of cancer and cancer-related treatments, according to data published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology Reports.
Authors concluded: “The majority of patients in our study felt that medical cannabis was equivalent or superior in efficacy to other medications (e.g., opioids, antiemetics, anxiolytics, and sleep aids) in relieving their symptoms. … Of the subset of patients using medical cannabis for pain, 63 percent reported a reduction in opioid use. … These data suggest medical cannabis may be a reasonable alternative or adjunct to medications frequently used for cancer or treatment-related symptoms.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/03/11/study-majority-of-gynecologic-oncology-patients-say-medical-cannabis-is-as-effective-or-superior-to-prescription-anti-cancer-medicines
Authors concluded: “The majority of patients in our study felt that medical cannabis was equivalent or superior in efficacy to other medications (e.g., opioids, antiemetics, anxiolytics, and sleep aids) in relieving their symptoms. … Of the subset of patients using medical cannabis for pain, 63 percent reported a reduction in opioid use. … These data suggest medical cannabis may be a reasonable alternative or adjunct to medications frequently used for cancer or treatment-related symptoms.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/03/11/study-majority-of-gynecologic-oncology-patients-say-medical-cannabis-is-as-effective-or-superior-to-prescription-anti-cancer-medicines
'A team of investigators affiliated with the Yale University-Griffin Prevention Research Center conducted structured surveys with 115 MS patients regarding their use of cannabis. Respondents were most likely to report that cannabis was effective in reducing symptoms of pain, insomnia, muscle cramps and spasms, as well as improving mood. Consistent with studies of other patient populations, “a significant proportion of respondents” reported having either “stopped or reduced” their use of prescription medications after finding cannabis to be more effective for symptom management. In particular, patients frequently reported reducing or ceasing their use of “opioids, benzodiazepines, muscle relaxers and other pain medications” – a finding that is also consistent with other studies.'
https://norml.org/news/2021/03/11/survey-cannabis-use-by-patients-with-multiple-sclerosis-associated-with-reductions-in-need-for-prescription-medicines
https://norml.org/news/2021/03/11/survey-cannabis-use-by-patients-with-multiple-sclerosis-associated-with-reductions-in-need-for-prescription-medicines
'Results:
In total, 513 patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 248 were treated with cannabis and 265 served as controls. The cannabis-first group included 116 (46.7%) patients and the oxaliplatin-first group included 132 (53.3%) patients. Demographic parameters were comparable between groups. There was a significant difference in CIPN grade 2–3 between cannabis-exposed patients and controls (15.3% and 27.9%, respectively, p < 0.001). The protective effect of cannabis was more pronounced among cannabis-first patients compared to oxaliplatin-first patients (75% and 46.2%, respectively, p < 0.001). The median oxaliplatin cumulative doses were higher in the cannabis-first versus the oxaliplatin-first versus the control groups (545 mg/m2, 340 mg/m2, and 425 mg/m2 respectively, p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The rate of neuropathy was reduced among patients treated with cannabis and oxaliplatin. This reduction was more significant in patients who received cannabis prior to treatment with oxaliplatin, suggesting a protective effect. A large prospective trial is planned.'
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1758835921990203
In total, 513 patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 248 were treated with cannabis and 265 served as controls. The cannabis-first group included 116 (46.7%) patients and the oxaliplatin-first group included 132 (53.3%) patients. Demographic parameters were comparable between groups. There was a significant difference in CIPN grade 2–3 between cannabis-exposed patients and controls (15.3% and 27.9%, respectively, p < 0.001). The protective effect of cannabis was more pronounced among cannabis-first patients compared to oxaliplatin-first patients (75% and 46.2%, respectively, p < 0.001). The median oxaliplatin cumulative doses were higher in the cannabis-first versus the oxaliplatin-first versus the control groups (545 mg/m2, 340 mg/m2, and 425 mg/m2 respectively, p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The rate of neuropathy was reduced among patients treated with cannabis and oxaliplatin. This reduction was more significant in patients who received cannabis prior to treatment with oxaliplatin, suggesting a protective effect. A large prospective trial is planned.'
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1758835921990203
'Investigators with the University of Victoria in Vancouver assessed prescription drug use patterns over a six-month period in a cohort of 1,145 authorized medical cannabis patients.
Researchers reported that 28 percent of subjects acknowledged using opioid medications at the initiation of the trial. This fell to 11 percent six months later. Participants’ mean opioid dosage fell by 78 percent over the trial period – a finding consistent with prior studies.
Researchers also reported declines in subjects’ use of prescription anti-depressants, benzodiazepines, and anti-seizure medications. Prior studies have similarly reported declines in patients use of benzodiazepines and other prescription medications following the initiation of medical cannabis.'
https://norml.org/news/2021/01/21/study-medical-marijuana-treatment-associated-with-significant-declines-in-the-use-of-opioids-at-six-months
Researchers reported that 28 percent of subjects acknowledged using opioid medications at the initiation of the trial. This fell to 11 percent six months later. Participants’ mean opioid dosage fell by 78 percent over the trial period – a finding consistent with prior studies.
Researchers also reported declines in subjects’ use of prescription anti-depressants, benzodiazepines, and anti-seizure medications. Prior studies have similarly reported declines in patients use of benzodiazepines and other prescription medications following the initiation of medical cannabis.'
https://norml.org/news/2021/01/21/study-medical-marijuana-treatment-associated-with-significant-declines-in-the-use-of-opioids-at-six-months
'“The results of the Tilray Observational Patient Study (TOPS) add to a growing body of evidence that cannabis use can lead to a reduction in the use of prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and other substances” Philippe Lucas, lead study author, said in a press release.
“In light of the devastating impacts of the opioid overdose crisis in Canada and around the world, research examining the potential influence of cannabis on opioid use may be of particular importance to public health, and these findings could inform harm reduction strategies to mitigate the significant morbidity and mortality associated with opioids,” he said.
There were also similar reductions in the four other drug categories that the study investigated: non-opioid pain medication, anti-depressants, benzodiazepines and anti-seizure drugs.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/medical-marijuana-leads-to-reduced-opioid-use-new-study-finds/
“In light of the devastating impacts of the opioid overdose crisis in Canada and around the world, research examining the potential influence of cannabis on opioid use may be of particular importance to public health, and these findings could inform harm reduction strategies to mitigate the significant morbidity and mortality associated with opioids,” he said.
There were also similar reductions in the four other drug categories that the study investigated: non-opioid pain medication, anti-depressants, benzodiazepines and anti-seizure drugs.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/medical-marijuana-leads-to-reduced-opioid-use-new-study-finds/
'The growth of the CBD market in Europe is attributed to the increasing acceptance of CBD-infused goods in industries such as pharmaceuticals, personal care, cosmetics, nutraceuticals and medical applications… The demand for CBD in Europe continues to grow rapidly as consumers embrace this cannabinoid for medical and general wellness, creating opportunities for large food and beverage brands and health and beauty brands… In Europe, CBD is seeing monumental demand. In Europe alone, according to the Brightfield Company, the business is expected to rise by 400 per cent over the next four years.'
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-cbd-industry-projected-to-accelerate-to-23-6-billion-over-the-next-five-years-301179412.html
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-cbd-industry-projected-to-accelerate-to-23-6-billion-over-the-next-five-years-301179412.html
'Investigators with DePaul University in Chicago and John Hopkins University in Baltimore surveyed 361 patients registered with Illinois’ state-sponsored medical marijuana access program. Researchers reported that women acknowledged using cannabis to address a greater variety of medical conditions than did men, and that they were also more likely to report having either reduced or ceased their use of prescription medicines following enrollment in the program. Female respondents were also less likely than male respondents to report having their decision to use medical cannabis supported by either their primary care provider or by a physician specialist.
They concluded: “The results from our cross-sectional study describe a number of gender-associated patterns within the use and outcomes of MC [medical cannabis] among patients with chronic conditions. Women appear to be more likely than men to use MC for a range of symptoms (specifically, pain, anxiety, inflammation, and nausea), to have increased use of cannabis since qualifying for MC, and to subsequently have reduced or completely discontinued their prescription medications. In addition, the women in our sample reported marginally lower levels of support from their primary care provider, and significantly less support from specialist physicians than the men in our sample, and significantly more of them received certification for their state MC card from MC practices.”'
https://norml.org/news/2020/10/29/survey-data-women-more-likely-than-men-to-report-decreasing-prescription-medications-following-initiation-of-cannabis-therapy
They concluded: “The results from our cross-sectional study describe a number of gender-associated patterns within the use and outcomes of MC [medical cannabis] among patients with chronic conditions. Women appear to be more likely than men to use MC for a range of symptoms (specifically, pain, anxiety, inflammation, and nausea), to have increased use of cannabis since qualifying for MC, and to subsequently have reduced or completely discontinued their prescription medications. In addition, the women in our sample reported marginally lower levels of support from their primary care provider, and significantly less support from specialist physicians than the men in our sample, and significantly more of them received certification for their state MC card from MC practices.”'
https://norml.org/news/2020/10/29/survey-data-women-more-likely-than-men-to-report-decreasing-prescription-medications-following-initiation-of-cannabis-therapy
'The crackdowns follow on the heels of the European Commission (EC)’s July preliminary decision to classify CBD as a narcotic. Doing so means that CBD will be treated more as a pharmaceutical compound than as a supplement. For companies such as GW Pharmaceuticals, that is welcome news: The company’s patented drug Epidiolex is the first CBD-based drug cleared to treat patients suffering from Dravet syndrome or Lennox-Gestaut syndrome, two debilitating forms of childhood epilepsy. At the cost of $32,500 USD annually, the EU represents more than $400 million USD in potential revenue to the company.
Whether the legal crackdowns on CBD products will continue and spread will be greatly influenced by an upcoming United Nations vote about cannabis scheduling recommendations. Included in said vote are two CBD-specific recommendations which would respectively remove extracts and tinctures from being classified as Schedule I drugs under the 1961 U.N. Single Convention on Narcotics, and free medical CBD containing less than 0.2% THC from international control. The U.S. has opposed the measures — despite the latter’s support by the World Health Organization (WHO) — by citing “legal ambiguities and contradictions that would undermine effective drug control.” While the EU has been silent on the issue, the EC’s preliminary decision is an ominous sign for industry operators. A positive ruling could lead to a more welcoming regulatory environment for CBD, but a negative ruling could signal further and even more restrictive regulatory measures worldwide, slowing demand for CBD products in emerging markets like Latin America.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/storm-clouds-on-the-horizon-for-european-cbd-market/
Whether the legal crackdowns on CBD products will continue and spread will be greatly influenced by an upcoming United Nations vote about cannabis scheduling recommendations. Included in said vote are two CBD-specific recommendations which would respectively remove extracts and tinctures from being classified as Schedule I drugs under the 1961 U.N. Single Convention on Narcotics, and free medical CBD containing less than 0.2% THC from international control. The U.S. has opposed the measures — despite the latter’s support by the World Health Organization (WHO) — by citing “legal ambiguities and contradictions that would undermine effective drug control.” While the EU has been silent on the issue, the EC’s preliminary decision is an ominous sign for industry operators. A positive ruling could lead to a more welcoming regulatory environment for CBD, but a negative ruling could signal further and even more restrictive regulatory measures worldwide, slowing demand for CBD products in emerging markets like Latin America.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/storm-clouds-on-the-horizon-for-european-cbd-market/
'A new study in the Journal of Health Economics found that the availability of “cannabis light” – flowers from high-CBD hemp plants with up to 0.6% THC – in Italy was connected to:
- An 11.5% decrease in dispensed boxes of anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medications).
- A 10% reduction of dispensed sedatives.
- A 4.8% reduction of dispensed antipsychotics.
“The large-scale accessibility to the new product, which was advertised as a relaxant one, induced some patients to abandon traditional medicine to seek relief,” the authors concluded.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-light-used-in-italy-in-place-of-sedatives-antidepressants/
'Polls show legalization has wide support in New Jersey, and the ballot question in November is very likely to pass.
But then why didn’t Murphy get his way?
Simple—because America’s lawmakers habitually surrender to the wealthy and politically powerful. Which means that while “the people” may widely support legalization (as 66% of Americans do), politicians too often bow to the interests of their campaign donors and other monied interests.
Support for legalization puts them at odds with law enforcement, Big Pharma, and America’s private prison industry. And that’s a trio that—to quote the Wu Tang Clan—ain’t nothing to fuck with.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/6-cannabis-elections-that-changed-the-game
'GW Pharmaceuticals’ plant-derived CBD drug Epidyolex received approval from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to be used in treating seizures related to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome for patients 2 and older.
The approval is the third major global regulatory approval for Epidyolex, GW said in a news release.
“The TGA approval is further proof that cannabis-based medicines can successfully go through extensive randomized placebo-controlled trials and a rigorous evaluation process to reach patients who need them,” GW Chief Operating Officer Chris Tovey said in a statement.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/gw-pharmaceuticals-cannabis-drug-gets-regulatory-ok-in-australia/
'Many participants reported more than one substitution. About 45% reported substituting cannabis for alcohol, 31% substituted it for tobacco, and 26% substituted it for illicit drugs. A whopping 69% reported substituting cannabis for prescription drugs.
Unsurprisingly, opioids were the most common among pharmaceutical substitutions, at 35%. Antidepressants and anti-anxiety prescriptions came in close behind at 21%.
Detailed questions revealed that chronic pain and mental health issues were the two most common reasons participants took cannabis, both at just under 30%.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/health/can-cannabis-be-prescription-drug-substitute
- An 11.5% decrease in dispensed boxes of anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medications).
- A 10% reduction of dispensed sedatives.
- A 4.8% reduction of dispensed antipsychotics.
“The large-scale accessibility to the new product, which was advertised as a relaxant one, induced some patients to abandon traditional medicine to seek relief,” the authors concluded.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-light-used-in-italy-in-place-of-sedatives-antidepressants/
'Polls show legalization has wide support in New Jersey, and the ballot question in November is very likely to pass.
But then why didn’t Murphy get his way?
Simple—because America’s lawmakers habitually surrender to the wealthy and politically powerful. Which means that while “the people” may widely support legalization (as 66% of Americans do), politicians too often bow to the interests of their campaign donors and other monied interests.
Support for legalization puts them at odds with law enforcement, Big Pharma, and America’s private prison industry. And that’s a trio that—to quote the Wu Tang Clan—ain’t nothing to fuck with.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/6-cannabis-elections-that-changed-the-game
'GW Pharmaceuticals’ plant-derived CBD drug Epidyolex received approval from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to be used in treating seizures related to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome for patients 2 and older.
The approval is the third major global regulatory approval for Epidyolex, GW said in a news release.
“The TGA approval is further proof that cannabis-based medicines can successfully go through extensive randomized placebo-controlled trials and a rigorous evaluation process to reach patients who need them,” GW Chief Operating Officer Chris Tovey said in a statement.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/gw-pharmaceuticals-cannabis-drug-gets-regulatory-ok-in-australia/
'Many participants reported more than one substitution. About 45% reported substituting cannabis for alcohol, 31% substituted it for tobacco, and 26% substituted it for illicit drugs. A whopping 69% reported substituting cannabis for prescription drugs.
Unsurprisingly, opioids were the most common among pharmaceutical substitutions, at 35%. Antidepressants and anti-anxiety prescriptions came in close behind at 21%.
Detailed questions revealed that chronic pain and mental health issues were the two most common reasons participants took cannabis, both at just under 30%.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/health/can-cannabis-be-prescription-drug-substitute
'A team of international investigators from France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands assessed the relationship between adults’ access to low-THC (below 0.6 percent THC) cannabis and prescription drug sales in 106 Italian provinces over a two-year period.
They reported, “[L]ocal availability of light cannabis [low-THC, CBD-based products] led to a significant decrease in the number of dispensed boxes of anxiolytics by approximately 11.5 percent, a reduction of dispensed sedatives by 10 percent and a reduction of dispensed anti-psychotics by 4.8 percent.”
Researchers also identified less significant reductions in the use of anti-epileptic medications, anti-depressants, opioids, and migraine drugs.'
https://norml.org/news/2020/09/17/availability-of-low-thc-cannabis-products-associated-with-reduced-use-of-prescription-anxiolytics-sedatives
They reported, “[L]ocal availability of light cannabis [low-THC, CBD-based products] led to a significant decrease in the number of dispensed boxes of anxiolytics by approximately 11.5 percent, a reduction of dispensed sedatives by 10 percent and a reduction of dispensed anti-psychotics by 4.8 percent.”
Researchers also identified less significant reductions in the use of anti-epileptic medications, anti-depressants, opioids, and migraine drugs.'
https://norml.org/news/2020/09/17/availability-of-low-thc-cannabis-products-associated-with-reduced-use-of-prescription-anxiolytics-sedatives
'The EC’s intentions were unclear. Given the relatively few applicants for the Novel Food Catalogue, the EC may be hoping that producers will recognize that compliance with the novel food regulations is preferable to complete prohibition. Alternately, the EC may be responding to pressure from pharmaceutical companies who see plant-derived CBD as a threat to their markets for medications and nutraceuticals. Whatever the motivations, however, the development underscores the significant influence which the U.N.’s Single Convention continues to have regarding cannabis policy, despite surging consumer demand and growing legal commercialization globally.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/cbd-marketing-preferences/
https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/cbd-marketing-preferences/
'The new FDA approval, granted July 31 to GW’s U.S. subsidiary, Greenwich Biosciences, means the drug can now be used in the United States to treat seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a genetic disease believed to affect one in 6,000 people.
The FDA approved Epidiolex to treat TSC patients 1 year old and up and also expanded the age range for the use of Epidiolex to treat seizures caused by Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, lowering the minimum age from 2 years old to 1, GW Pharma said.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/fda-approves-gw-pharmaceutical-cannabis-drug-epidiolex-for-new-indication/
The FDA approved Epidiolex to treat TSC patients 1 year old and up and also expanded the age range for the use of Epidiolex to treat seizures caused by Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, lowering the minimum age from 2 years old to 1, GW Pharma said.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/fda-approves-gw-pharmaceutical-cannabis-drug-epidiolex-for-new-indication/
'The use of prescription stimulants is lower in states where medical cannabis is legal as compared to those jurisdictions where it remains prohibited, according to data published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
Researchers affiliated with Columbia University in New York and with Boston University assessed the association between the enactment of medical marijuana laws and prescription stimulant use by gender and by sexual identity.'
https://norml.org/news/2020/07/30/study-medical-cannabis-access-states-associated-with-lower-rates-of-prescription-stimulant-use
Researchers affiliated with Columbia University in New York and with Boston University assessed the association between the enactment of medical marijuana laws and prescription stimulant use by gender and by sexual identity.'
https://norml.org/news/2020/07/30/study-medical-cannabis-access-states-associated-with-lower-rates-of-prescription-stimulant-use
'The major features of cellular organization, including, for instance, mitosis, must be much older than 500 million years old - more nearly 1000 million,' wrote Geroge Gaylord Simpson and his colleagues Pittendrigh and Tiffany in their broadly encompassing book entitled Life. 'In this sense the world of life, which is surely fragile and complex, is incredibly durable through time - more durable than mountains. This durability is wholly dependent on the almost incredible accuracy with which the inherited information is copied from generation to generation.'
But in all the thousand million years envisioned by these authors no threat has struck so directly and so forcefully at that 'incredible accuracy' as the mid-20th century threat of man-made radiation and man-made and man-disseminated chemicals. Sir Macfarlane Burnet, a distinguished Australian physician and a Nobel Prize winner, considers it 'one of the most significant medical features' of our time that, 'as a by-product of more and more powerful therapeutic procedures and the production of chemical substances outside of biological experiences, the normal protective barriers that kept mutagenic agents from the internal organs have been more and more frequently penetrated.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
But in all the thousand million years envisioned by these authors no threat has struck so directly and so forcefully at that 'incredible accuracy' as the mid-20th century threat of man-made radiation and man-made and man-disseminated chemicals. Sir Macfarlane Burnet, a distinguished Australian physician and a Nobel Prize winner, considers it 'one of the most significant medical features' of our time that, 'as a by-product of more and more powerful therapeutic procedures and the production of chemical substances outside of biological experiences, the normal protective barriers that kept mutagenic agents from the internal organs have been more and more frequently penetrated.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
So we contaminate our environment, food and water with dangerous man-made chemicals in the pursuit of quick money. These chemicals cause cancers in our bodies. To treat these cancers we make dangerous synthetic drugs, in the pursuit of quick money, that not only fail to treat the cancers, but also result in a collapse of most other body systems. This leads to a weakening and collapse of humans on increasingly larger scales as time goes by. But we do nothing to stop the contamination and weakening of our bodies that evolved over hundreds of millions of years and the contamination of our environment, food and water. Instead we continue searching for more powerful man made chemicals, to make more money faster, in the name of medicine for our environment, bodies and minds believing that we are masters of nature or, if not that, smarter than nature, whom we can fool like our gullible fellow men...but nature is not looking to make more money faster..she only deals in life and death...
'The overall displacement or cannibalization of tobacco by cannabis products in California alone amounted to $84.5 million overall from 2017-2018 (not including 2017 e-cigarettes, figures for which were not available). The shifts amounted to $33.8 million for cigarettes, $8.3 million for non-cigarette tobacco, and $42.6 million for e-cigarettes (in 2018 only).
Across the U.S. overall, the 2018 spending shifts amounted to $4.3 billion for alcohol: (1.54% of that market), $1.3 billion for pharmaceuticals (1.10%), and $219 million (0.22%) for tobacco.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/altria-pmi-merger-confirms-longtime-predictions-marks-industry-progression/
'Cannabidiol (CBD) is an illegal drug with no redeeming value. It is also a useful prescription medicine for epilepsy, with considerable potential for treating numerous other conditions. And it is a natural dietary supplement or ‘nutraceutical’ with countless evangelists in the health and wellness community. Although contradictory, all three statements are true from different perspectives, and clinical researchers are frustrated.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02524-5
'The technological provenance of cannabinoids might not matter as much to the pharmaceutical sector, where consumers tend to be less averse to genetic engineering. But according to Ethan Russo, director of research and development at the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute in Prague, biochemically derived cannabinoids, even when mixed and matched into therapeutic formulations, will probably never equal the botanical synergy of the hundreds of molecules that are found in cannabis.
The existence of this ‘entourage’ effect is not universally accepted. But to Russo, “The plant is nature’s design for this panoply of chemicals”.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02525-4
'With 332% growth year-on-year and $52 million in sales, cannabidiol (CBD) has taken the top spot as the best-selling herbal supplement in the natural channel, according to the 2018 HerbalGram Herb Market Report by the American Botanical Council.'
https://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Article/2019/09/23/CBD-supplement-sales-rocket-to-take-top-spot-in-the-US-natural-channel
'All croakers pack in sooner or later. One day when Roy came for his script, the doctor told him, "This is positively the last, and you guys had better keep out of sight. The inspector was around to see me yesterday. He has all the R-xes I wrote for you guys. He told me I will lose my license if I write any more, so I'm going to date this one back. Tell the druggist you were too sick yesterday to cash it.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Highlights from laboratory studies and clinical trials.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02532-5
'Researchers interested in the history of marijuana and medicine will appreciate learning about the Tod Mikuriya Papers (1933–2015), a newly-available archival collection here at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Tod Mikuriya (1933–2007) was a psychiatrist and medical marijuana activist. In addition to his work in addiction medicine and biofeedback, he is well-known for compiling Marijuana: Medical Papers, 1839–1972, a master bibliography of historical resources on marijuana, and for campaigning for California Proposition 215 (Prop 215) which legalized medical marijuana in the state in 1996. Dr. Mikuriya conducted research on marijuana use and founded the California Cannabis Research Medical Group, a non-profit educational organization.'
https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2020/02/25/tod-mikuriya-papers-now-available-for-research/
https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/nba-insider-tom-haberstroh/marijuana-and-nba-erasing-stigma-and-healing-league
'Cannabis use is increasing among those ages 65 and older, according to data published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers affiliated with the New York School of Medicine assessed trends in self-reported cannabis use among seniors. They reported that 4.2 percent of seniors acknowledged engaging in past-year cannabis consumption in 2018, up from 2.4 percent in 2015 and 0.4 percent in 2006.
The study's findings are consistent with those of prior papers similarly reporting an uptick in marijuana use among older Americans. According to a 2019 study published in the journal Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine, marijuana use among seniors is associated with self-reported improvements in pain management, day-to-day functioning, and in their overall health and quality of life'
https://norml.org/news/2020/02/27/seniors-more-frequently-turning-to-cannabis
Giving pharmaceutical industries control over the crop and seeds looks like a case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire. This is a big threat to the natural indigenous varieties that currently exist in Lebanon. How much the small farmer will benefit is anybody's guess.
'In July 2018, a draft bill was introduced to parliament which legalizes the cultivation of marijuana for medical and industrial purposes. The bill has now finally been approved by parliament on February 26th.
The long-awaited first step in the legalization of the drug has finally been taken. However, the bill is extremely strict on how it regulates the growth and cultivation of marijuana crops.
Private pharmaceutical companies would provide the seeds and seedlings to farmers in the Bekaa and, during the harvest, they would inspect the crops to make sure that nothing had been diverted.'
https://www.the961.com/news/lebanon-just-legalized-the-growth-of-marijuana
'The
top expert brought in on the case was Professor R D Teare, the
professor of forensic medicine at the University of London. He ridiculed
the theory that cannabis contributed to the collapse the actor suffered
on May 10 or to his death on July 20. He said cannabis had been taken
in various forms for centuries, and deemed it pure coincidence that
shortly before the onset of Lee's collapse in May and his death he had
taken cannabis. "It would be irresponsible and irrational to ascribe the
causes of death to cannabis sensitivity, if over the years there had
been no previous record of such a happening," the professor stated.
Professor Teare said that his opinion was that the cause of death was
acute cerebral edema (brain swelling) due to hypersensitvity to either
meprobamate or aspirin, or possibly the combination of the two,
contained in the drug Equagesic.' - The Legend of Bruce Lee by Alex Ben
Block, 1974
Pharmaceuticalizing the plant...
https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/brazil/life-brazil/anvisa-approves-first-marijuana-based-product-in-brazil/
'The purpose of this Notice is to inform potential applications to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) of special interest in grant applications to conduct rigorous research on cannabis and potentially addictive, psychoactive prescription drug use (specifically opioids and benzodiazepine) in older adults. This program will focus on two distinct older adult populations (over the age of 50): (1) individuals with earlier use onset of cannabis and the specified drug classes who are now entering older age, or (2) individuals who initiate use of cannabis and the specified drug classes after the age of 50. Insights gained from this initiative have the potential to inform the public and health care systems regarding use of cannabis and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines in older populations.'
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DA-20-014.html
'The full scope of the dangerous interaction of chemicals is as yet little known, but disturbing findings now come regularly from scientific laboratories. Among this is the discovery that that the toxicity of an organic phosphate can be increased by a second agent that is not necessarily an insecticide. For example, one of the plasticizing agents may act even more dangerously than another insecticide to make malathion more dangerous. Again, this is because it inhibits the liver enzyme that would normally 'draw the teeth' of the poisonous insecticide.
What of other chemicals in the normal human environment? What, in particular, of drugs? A bare beginning has been made on this subject, but already it is known that some organic phosphates (parathion and malathion) increase the toxicity of some drugs used as muscle relaxants, and that several others (again including malathion) markedly increase the sleeping time of barbiturates.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
What of other chemicals in the normal human environment? What, in particular, of drugs? A bare beginning has been made on this subject, but already it is known that some organic phosphates (parathion and malathion) increase the toxicity of some drugs used as muscle relaxants, and that several others (again including malathion) markedly increase the sleeping time of barbiturates.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'More than half of the studies, however, have shown that cannabis and alcohol are substitutes, meaning that the increased use of one substance reduces the use of the other. Other researchers have also suggested that cannabis, especially cannabis for medical use, may serve as a substitute for alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, including prescription drugs.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Drug overdose deaths involving selected drug categories are identified by specific multiple cause-of-death codes. Drug categories presented include: heroin (T40.1); natural opioid analgesics, including morphine and codeine, and semisynthetic opioids, including drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone (T40.2); methadone, a synthetic opioid (T40.3); synthetic opioid analgesics other than methadone, including drugs such as fentanyl and tramadol (T40.4); cocaine (T40.5); and psychostimulants with abuse potential, which includes methamphetamine (T43.6). Opioid overdose deaths are identified by the presence of any of the following MCOD codes: opium (T40.0); heroin (T40.1); natural opioid analgesics (T40.2); methadone (T40.3); synthetic opioid analgesics other than methadone (T40.4); or other and unspecified narcotics (T40.6).'
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm
'Drug overdose deaths involving selected drug categories are identified by specific multiple cause-of-death codes. Drug categories presented include: heroin (T40.1); natural opioid analgesics, including morphine and codeine, and semisynthetic opioids, including drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone (T40.2); methadone, a synthetic opioid (T40.3); synthetic opioid analgesics other than methadone, including drugs such as fentanyl and tramadol (T40.4); cocaine (T40.5); and psychostimulants with abuse potential, which includes methamphetamine (T43.6). Opioid overdose deaths are identified by the presence of any of the following MCOD codes: opium (T40.0); heroin (T40.1); natural opioid analgesics (T40.2); methadone (T40.3); synthetic opioid analgesics other than methadone (T40.4); or other and unspecified narcotics (T40.6).'
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm
'Ten minutes later Herman arrived. The brother-in-law was giving him the same treatment when Herman pulled out a silk dress he had under his coat - as I recall somebody unloaded a batch of hot dresses on us for three grains of morphine - and turning to see the doctor's wife who had come downstairs to see what all the commotion was about, he said, "I thought you might like this dress." So he got a chance to talk to the doctor who wrote him one last script. It took him three hours to fill it. Our regular drug store had been warned by the inspector, and they would not fill any more scripts.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'The main concern for the authorities in a number of countries has been the emergence of new synthetic opioid receptor agonists (NPS with opioid effects), often fentanyl analogues, in recent years. Although fewer in number than other NPS categories, they have proved to be particularly potent and harmful, leading to increasing numbers of overdose deaths, in particular in North America and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and other regions.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'An analysis of NPS reported to UNODC suggests increasing diversification in the NPS market until 2015, followed by a trend towards stabilization in the number of new substances arriving on the market in individual countries, at an overall rate of more than 500 NPS per year, with 528 synthetic NPS and 13 plant-based NPS reported in 2018. While there was a decrease in the number of new synthetic cannabinoids arriving on markets worldwide over the 2014–2018 period, the number of NPS with stimulant effects increased, and the number of newly emerging NPS with opioid effects rose sharply, from 7 substances in 2014 to 48 in 2018. That increase represents a rise from 2 per cent of all NPS in 2014 to 9 per cent in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In March 2019, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs decided to schedule four substances (all fentanyl analogues) under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol and a further five substances under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, thus raising the total number of psychoactive substances under international control to 282 as at the end of 2019. By comparison, the number of NPS identified by authorities worldwide and reported to UNODC is already more than three times that figure, having reached a total of 950 in December 2019, up from 892 in December 2018 and 166 in 2009.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Where data are available, they show a steady decline in the use of NPS in Europe, but such substances have established themselves in some marginalized groups in society, such as the homeless or people in prison, among whom the smoking of synthetic cannabinoids has been identified as a problem. In Europe, the use of NPS in prisons was reported by 22 countries, with synthetic cannabinoids identified as posing the main challenge and health risks (16 countries), whereas the use of synthetic cathinones in prisons was reported by 10 countries, NPS with opioid effects by six, and new benzodiazepines by four countries. In Latvia, the use of synthetic opioids in prisons has also been linked to an increase in overdose cases and in injecting drugs and sharing needles among prisoners who use drugs.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The main concern for the authorities in a number of countries has been the emergence of new synthetic opioid receptor agonists (NPS with opioid effects), often fentanyl analogues, in recent years. Although fewer in number than other NPS categories, they have proved to be particularly potent and harmful, leading to increasing numbers of overdose deaths, in particular in North America and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and other regions.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'An analysis of NPS reported to UNODC suggests increasing diversification in the NPS market until 2015, followed by a trend towards stabilization in the number of new substances arriving on the market in individual countries, at an overall rate of more than 500 NPS per year, with 528 synthetic NPS and 13 plant-based NPS reported in 2018. While there was a decrease in the number of new synthetic cannabinoids arriving on markets worldwide over the 2014–2018 period, the number of NPS with stimulant effects increased, and the number of newly emerging NPS with opioid effects rose sharply, from 7 substances in 2014 to 48 in 2018. That increase represents a rise from 2 per cent of all NPS in 2014 to 9 per cent in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In March 2019, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs decided to schedule four substances (all fentanyl analogues) under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol and a further five substances under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, thus raising the total number of psychoactive substances under international control to 282 as at the end of 2019. By comparison, the number of NPS identified by authorities worldwide and reported to UNODC is already more than three times that figure, having reached a total of 950 in December 2019, up from 892 in December 2018 and 166 in 2009.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Where data are available, they show a steady decline in the use of NPS in Europe, but such substances have established themselves in some marginalized groups in society, such as the homeless or people in prison, among whom the smoking of synthetic cannabinoids has been identified as a problem. In Europe, the use of NPS in prisons was reported by 22 countries, with synthetic cannabinoids identified as posing the main challenge and health risks (16 countries), whereas the use of synthetic cathinones in prisons was reported by 10 countries, NPS with opioid effects by six, and new benzodiazepines by four countries. In Latvia, the use of synthetic opioids in prisons has also been linked to an increase in overdose cases and in injecting drugs and sharing needles among prisoners who use drugs.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
At a certain point of time, when the world's super rich and the
regressive governments they fund, find their vast amounts of illusory
wealth rapidly diminishing, panic will set in among them. Then cures
will be touted and administered with amazing speed and energy. The hype
and hysteria surrounding the increasing spread of disease will change
direction and will become then the hype and hysteria of the wonderful
cure that has been created. Once the dust clears, it will be evident who
profited the most from this entire exercise. Perhaps even the source
and the causes of the entire event will become clear as well for those
who seek it. Some big industries may fall though it looks unlikely.
Other new ones may emerge. The composition of the super rich may change
as predators move in to seize the opportunity and eat up the weak among
them. But the size of the super rich and the percentage of wealth they
horde, like the size of the sun, is unlikely to change. The rest of the
living beings will continue rising and falling like the super heated
corona of the sun, collateral damage. When that point in time is
reached, whether it be in weeks or in months or years, is something to
look out for, for those keen on observing such phenomena...
Apr 1, 2020, 4:41 PM
Apr 1, 2020, 4:41 PM
'Data on the United States also indicate a marked decline in the use of NPS. In particular, the prevalence of synthetic cannabinoid use among twelfth-grade students fell from 11.4 per cent in 2011 to 3.3 per cent in 2019. Similarly, the use of ketamine fell from 1.7 to 0.7 per cent over the same period, and the use of “bath salts” (synthetic cathinones) dropped from 1.3 per cent in 2012 to 0.6 per cent in 2018, the most recent year for which data are available. This happened in the context of a deterioration in the reputation of many of those substances among young people, in parallel to several waves of controls of synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones at the national level during the 2010–2012 period and later at the global level, as well as the control of ketamine at the national level in 1999. Over the 2000–2019 period, the annual prevalence of ketamine non-medical use among twelfth-grade high-school students fell drastically, from 2.5 per cent to 0.7 per cent' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'After marked increases over the 2009-2012 period, the overall quantities of synthetic NPS seized have shown a downward trend since 2012, most notably when they fell from 44 tons in 2017 to 10 tons in 2018. This may partly reflect the fact that some of the most widely used and most harmful NPS have been put under national and international control in recent years and therefore, according to the current definition, no longer belong to the NPS category. Moreover, a number of countries in North America, Europe and Oceania, where major markets for NPS are located, have introduced various controls on NPS trade in recent years. In parallel, China, which is frequently mentioned as the main country of origin or departure for various synthetic NPS (with 27 per cent of all such mentions over the 2014–2018 period, ahead of India with 10 per cent), has introduced controls in various waves on the manufacture of and trade in such substances. This and other developments appear to have had an impact on the proliferation of NPS at the global level, reducing the quantities of those substances on key markets.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'When you're sick, music is a great help. Once, in Texas, I kicked a habit on weed, a pint of paregoric and a few Louis Armstrong records.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953 - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'The bulk of tramadol seized in the period 2014– 2018 was seized in West and Central Africa (notably in Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and the Niger), followed by North Africa (notably Egypt, Morocco and the Sudan) and the Near and Middle East (notably Jordan and the United Arab Emirates). In some instances, countries in Western and Central Europe (notably Malta and Greece) have been used as transit countries for tramadol destined for North Africa (Egypt and Libya), although some of the tramadol seized in Europe (in particular Sweden) was also intended for the local market. For the first time ever, significant seizures of tramadol were reported in South Asia (India) in 2018, accounting for 21 per cent of the global total that year, which reflects the fact tramadol was put under the control of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of India in April 2018.
As the full-scale scheduling of tramadol in India took place in 2018,218 and India had been the main source for (illegal) tramadol shipments, the decline in seizures outside India in 2018 may have been the result of a disrupted market. By contrast, and probably as a result of the control in India, seizures of tramadol in that country increased greatly in 2018, and thus in South Asia as a whole (more than 1,000-fold compared with a year earlier).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The 2019 drug use survey in India estimated that nearly 1 per cent of the population aged 10–75 had misused pharmaceutical opioids in the past year and that an estimated 0.2 per cent of the population (2.5 million people) were suffering from drug use disorders related to pharmaceutical opioids. Although the breakdown by type of pharmaceutical opioids misused in India is not available, buprenorphine, morphine, pentazocine and tramadol are the most common opioids misused in the country.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The non-medical use of tramadol among other pharmaceutical drugs is reported by several countries in South Asia: Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In 2017, 130,316 capsules containing tramadol and marketed under the trade name “Spasmo Proxyvon Plus (‘SP+’)” were seized in Bhutan. In Sri Lanka, about 0.2 per cent of the population aged 14 and older are estimated to have misused pharmaceutical drugs in the past year. Among them, the non-medical use of tramadol is the most common, although misuse of morphine, diazepam, flunitrazepam and pregabalin have also been reported in the country. The misuse of more than one pharmaceutical drug (including tramadol) is also a common pattern among heroin users who may use them to potentiate the effects of heroin or compensate for its low level of availability. Recent seizures of tramadol suggest the existence of a market for the drug: in April and September 2018, 200,000 and 1.5 million tablets of tramadol were respectively seized by customs in Sri Lanka.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The bulk of tramadol seized in the period 2014– 2018 was seized in West and Central Africa (notably in Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and the Niger), followed by North Africa (notably Egypt, Morocco and the Sudan) and the Near and Middle East (notably Jordan and the United Arab Emirates). In some instances, countries in Western and Central Europe (notably Malta and Greece) have been used as transit countries for tramadol destined for North Africa (Egypt and Libya), although some of the tramadol seized in Europe (in particular Sweden) was also intended for the local market. For the first time ever, significant seizures of tramadol were reported in South Asia (India) in 2018, accounting for 21 per cent of the global total that year, which reflects the fact tramadol was put under the control of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of India in April 2018.
As the full-scale scheduling of tramadol in India took place in 2018,218 and India had been the main source for (illegal) tramadol shipments, the decline in seizures outside India in 2018 may have been the result of a disrupted market. By contrast, and probably as a result of the control in India, seizures of tramadol in that country increased greatly in 2018, and thus in South Asia as a whole (more than 1,000-fold compared with a year earlier).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The 2019 drug use survey in India estimated that nearly 1 per cent of the population aged 10–75 had misused pharmaceutical opioids in the past year and that an estimated 0.2 per cent of the population (2.5 million people) were suffering from drug use disorders related to pharmaceutical opioids. Although the breakdown by type of pharmaceutical opioids misused in India is not available, buprenorphine, morphine, pentazocine and tramadol are the most common opioids misused in the country.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The non-medical use of tramadol among other pharmaceutical drugs is reported by several countries in South Asia: Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In 2017, 130,316 capsules containing tramadol and marketed under the trade name “Spasmo Proxyvon Plus (‘SP+’)” were seized in Bhutan. In Sri Lanka, about 0.2 per cent of the population aged 14 and older are estimated to have misused pharmaceutical drugs in the past year. Among them, the non-medical use of tramadol is the most common, although misuse of morphine, diazepam, flunitrazepam and pregabalin have also been reported in the country. The misuse of more than one pharmaceutical drug (including tramadol) is also a common pattern among heroin users who may use them to potentiate the effects of heroin or compensate for its low level of availability. Recent seizures of tramadol suggest the existence of a market for the drug: in April and September 2018, 200,000 and 1.5 million tablets of tramadol were respectively seized by customs in Sri Lanka.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The trafficking and availability of tramadol for its non-medical use is a public health concern, but limited distribution of tramadol for medical use would also pose a public health concern, in particular in Africa, where there is a chronic shortage of pain medications. There are no data on the availability and use of tramadol for medical purposes, but data on internationally controlled substances clearly highlight the gaps in the accessibility of pain medications. The general lack of access to opioid-related pain medications under international control is a specific problem for developing countries, which is even more pronounced in countries in West and Central Africa than in other parts of the world.
Against this background of a de facto non-availability of internationally controlled opioids for pain medication for large sections of the population in West and Central Africa, tramadol – even though it is under national control in some West African countries – is in fact a widely available opioid in those countries, used for both medical purposes (including outside prescription) and for non-medical purposes' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In the Sudan, while population-based estimates of the extent of substance use are not available, research suggests that the drug scene has rapidly changed, especially with the increasing non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs among young people, including tramadol, benzodiazepines, cough syrups and antihistamines, trihexyphenidyl, anticonvulsants and neuropathic pain agents such as pregabalin and gabapentin.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The non-medical use of tramadol is of particular concern among young people in many countries in that subregion. For example, a cross-sectional study among 300 young people in western Ghana found that while the majority (85 per cent) of respondents knew someone who misused tramadol, more than half of the young people interviewed had used tramadol themselves for non-medical purposes, and one third of the users reported misusing 9–10 doses of tramadol per day. Another qualitative study from Ghana reported curiosity, peer pressure and iatrogenic addiction as the three main factors for initiation and continuing non-medical use of tramadol, while perceived euphoria, attentiveness, relief from pain, physical energy and aphrodisiac effects were mentioned as some of the reasons for continuing non-medical use of tramadol.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Why does the spider mite appear to thrive on insecticides? Besides the obvious fact that it is relatively insensitive to them, there seems to be two other reasons. In nature it is kept in check by various predators such as ladybugs, a gall midge, predaceous mites and several pirate bugs, all of them extremely senstitive to insecticides. The third reason has to do with population pressure within the spider mite colonies. An undisturbed colony of mites is a densely settled community, huddled under a protective webbing for concealment from its enemies. When sprayed, the colonies disperse as the mites, irritated though not killed by the chemicals, scatter out in search of places where they will not be disturbed. In so doing they find a far greater abundance of space and food than was available in the former colonies. Their enemies are now dead so there is no need for the mites to spend their energy in secreting protective webbing. Instead, they pour all their energies into producing more mites. It is not uncommon for their egg production to be increased threefold - all through the beneficient effect of insecticides.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'Clinical
pathologist Dr. R R Lycette of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong
testified Lee's death could not have been caused by cannabis poisoning,
but was more likely due to hypersensitivity to one of the elements of
Equagesic. Dr. Lycette, who performed the autopsy on Lee, explained
hypersensitivity is an adverse reaction of a body to a foreign
substance. "The substance which Lee could have been hypersensitive to
might have been contained in Equagesic - a tablet he took - but I can't
definitely say which compound in the tablet Lee was hypersensitive to,"
said the doctor.' - The Legend of Bruce Lee by Alex Ben Block, 1974
'The current crisis of fentanyls appears to be more supply-driven than earlier waves of increases in the use of pharmaceutical opioids or heroin. Fentanyls are being used as an adulterant of heroin, are used to make falsified pharmaceutical opioids, such as falsified oxycodone and hydrocodone – and even falsified benzodiazepines – which are sold to a large and unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs; users are not seeking fentanyl as such.
It seems that some local distributors are not able to distinguish between heroin, fentanyl and fentanyl laced heroin, nor between diverted pharmaceutical opioids and falsified opioids containing fentanyl. A general problem with fentanyls is dosing by nonprofessional “pharmacists”, where small mistakes can lead to lethal results. Furthermore, as the overdose death data suggest, even people using cocaine and psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine, are also exposed – probably unintentionally – to fentanyls or other potent synthetic opioids mixed with those substances' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The current crisis of fentanyls appears to be more supply-driven than earlier waves of increases in the use of pharmaceutical opioids or heroin. Fentanyls are being used as an adulterant of heroin, are used to make falsified pharmaceutical opioids, such as falsified oxycodone and hydrocodone – and even falsified benzodiazepines – which are sold to a large and unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs; users are not seeking fentanyl as such.
It seems that some local distributors are not able to distinguish between heroin, fentanyl and fentanyl laced heroin, nor between diverted pharmaceutical opioids and falsified opioids containing fentanyl. A general problem with fentanyls is dosing by nonprofessional “pharmacists”, where small mistakes can lead to lethal results. Furthermore, as the overdose death data suggest, even people using cocaine and psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine, are also exposed – probably unintentionally – to fentanyls or other potent synthetic opioids mixed with those substances' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The dolophine suspends the sickness, but when the medication stops the sickness returns. "You don't kick your habit in the shooting gallery," an inmate told me. "You kick it over here in population." - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'All factors driving fentanyl use converged from 2013 onwards in the United States and Canada, which may explain the unprecedented spread of the fentanyls in those markets: factors such as the diffusion of simpler, more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls), assisted by the availability on the Internet of instructions for their manufacture; a shift from preparation by a limited number of skilled chemists to preparation by basic “cooks” who could simply follow the posted instructions; the discovery of ever more fentanyl analogues; a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the industry; expanding distribution networks that reduced the risk of detection through the use of postal services and the Internet; and increased licit trade including e-commerce.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'All factors driving fentanyl use converged from 2013 onwards in the United States and Canada, which may explain the unprecedented spread of the fentanyls in those markets: factors such as the diffusion of simpler, more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls), assisted by the availability on the Internet of instructions for their manufacture; a shift from preparation by a limited number of skilled chemists to preparation by basic “cooks” who could simply follow the posted instructions; the discovery of ever more fentanyl analogues; a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the industry; expanding distribution networks that reduced the risk of detection through the use of postal services and the Internet; and increased licit trade including e-commerce.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The current vogue for poisons has failed utterly to take into account these most fundamental considerations. As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life - a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways. These extraordinary capacities have been ignored by the practitioners of chemical control who have brought to their task no 'high-minded orientation', no humility before the vast forces with which they tamper.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'In 2018, approximately 10.3 million people (3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 years or older) had misused opioids in the past year in the United States. Most of them, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population aged 12 years and older), reported non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, while almost 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin (comprising just 8 per cent of the total population who reported past-year misuse of opioids).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Overall, in 2018 overdose deaths attributed to synthetic opioids, comprising mainly fentanyls, accounted for nearly half of the total overdose deaths in the United States. Among the reasons for the high number of overdose deaths attributed to fentanyls are their often small lethal doses relative to other opioids: fentanyl, for example, is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine, and carfentanil may be as much as 10,000 times more potent than morphine for an average user. A lethal dose of carfentanil for a human can be as low as 20 micrograms.
'In 2018, approximately 10.3 million people (3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 years or older) had misused opioids in the past year in the United States. Most of them, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population aged 12 years and older), reported non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, while almost 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin (comprising just 8 per cent of the total population who reported past-year misuse of opioids).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Overall, in 2018 overdose deaths attributed to synthetic opioids, comprising mainly fentanyls, accounted for nearly half of the total overdose deaths in the United States. Among the reasons for the high number of overdose deaths attributed to fentanyls are their often small lethal doses relative to other opioids: fentanyl, for example, is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine, and carfentanil may be as much as 10,000 times more potent than morphine for an average user. A lethal dose of carfentanil for a human can be as low as 20 micrograms.
The rapid expansion of fentanyl use in the United States is also visible in the data on seizures and the drug samples analysed, with a considerable increase since 2014 in the number of samples identified as fentanyl. In 2018, fentanyl accounted for 45 per cent of the pharmaceutical opioids that were identified in different samples, while oxycodone accounted for 14 per cent' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The rate of prescription of opioids in the United States fell to 51.4 prescriptions per 100 persons (a total of more than 168 million opioid prescriptions) in 2018 from a peak of 81.3 opioid prescriptions per 100 persons (or 255 million opioid prescriptions) in 2012. The opioid prescription rate in the southern United States remains high, however, with most states in the region reporting opioid prescription rates of 64 or more per 100 persons in 2018. A number of factors at work, including advertising by the pharmaceutical industry, physicians’ prescription practices, dispensing and medical culture and patient expectations have, since the new millennium, resulted in high prescription rates and dosages of opioids given for an extended duration of care, primarily for the management of acute to chronic non-cancer pain. These practices have also enabled the diversion and misuse of pharmaceutical opioids, together with a greater risk of opioid use disorders among those with a legitimate prescription.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The scientific literature has attempted to understand the reasons for the sudden rise of fentanyls in preexisting opioid markets. It seems that an interplay between a number of external factors and local market dynamics played a role in the spread of the opioid crisis in North America. Some of the factors that have led to the rise and continued presence of fentanyls include: (a) the diffusion of simpler and more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls); (b) a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the manufacture industry; (c) expanding distribution networks; (d) reduced smuggling risks because of new methods of trafficking within the expanded licit trade; and (e) pre-existing market conditions (demand for opioids and potential supply shocks)' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Although geographically disconnected, the areas that were initially affected by the opioid crisis in Canada and the United States have experienced remarkably similar market dynamics, which can be broadly described in the following sequential steps: (a) High rates of prescriptions for pharmaceutical opioids leading to diversion and an increase in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, opioid use disorders and an increase in opioid overdose deaths (b) Regulations introduced to reduce diversion and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids (e.g., tamper-proof formulations to prevent injecting) (d) Fentanyl (illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories) and its analogues emerge as adulterants in heroin and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine) and are sold as falsified pharmaceutical opioids, resulting in massive increases in deaths attributed to fentanyls (e) Fentanyls emerge as the dominant opioid in opioid overdose deaths, as well as contributing to overdose deaths attributed to other drugs (g) Fentanyl-related deaths are the main contributor to total opioid overdose deaths;' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The rate of prescription of opioids in the United States fell to 51.4 prescriptions per 100 persons (a total of more than 168 million opioid prescriptions) in 2018 from a peak of 81.3 opioid prescriptions per 100 persons (or 255 million opioid prescriptions) in 2012. The opioid prescription rate in the southern United States remains high, however, with most states in the region reporting opioid prescription rates of 64 or more per 100 persons in 2018. A number of factors at work, including advertising by the pharmaceutical industry, physicians’ prescription practices, dispensing and medical culture and patient expectations have, since the new millennium, resulted in high prescription rates and dosages of opioids given for an extended duration of care, primarily for the management of acute to chronic non-cancer pain. These practices have also enabled the diversion and misuse of pharmaceutical opioids, together with a greater risk of opioid use disorders among those with a legitimate prescription.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The scientific literature has attempted to understand the reasons for the sudden rise of fentanyls in preexisting opioid markets. It seems that an interplay between a number of external factors and local market dynamics played a role in the spread of the opioid crisis in North America. Some of the factors that have led to the rise and continued presence of fentanyls include: (a) the diffusion of simpler and more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls); (b) a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the manufacture industry; (c) expanding distribution networks; (d) reduced smuggling risks because of new methods of trafficking within the expanded licit trade; and (e) pre-existing market conditions (demand for opioids and potential supply shocks)' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Although geographically disconnected, the areas that were initially affected by the opioid crisis in Canada and the United States have experienced remarkably similar market dynamics, which can be broadly described in the following sequential steps: (a) High rates of prescriptions for pharmaceutical opioids leading to diversion and an increase in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, opioid use disorders and an increase in opioid overdose deaths (b) Regulations introduced to reduce diversion and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids (e.g., tamper-proof formulations to prevent injecting) (d) Fentanyl (illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories) and its analogues emerge as adulterants in heroin and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine) and are sold as falsified pharmaceutical opioids, resulting in massive increases in deaths attributed to fentanyls (e) Fentanyls emerge as the dominant opioid in opioid overdose deaths, as well as contributing to overdose deaths attributed to other drugs (g) Fentanyl-related deaths are the main contributor to total opioid overdose deaths;' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'From what is known, it is possible to identify common threats and different dynamics in the two opioid crises, in Africa and in North America: • The ease of manufacturing, easy accessibility and low-cost production make the illicit markets for tramadol and fentanyls substantially more profitable for traffickers than are other opioids such as heroin. • The large-scale manufacture of tramadol and fentanyls for the illicit market started in a context of an absence of international regulations on tramadol and many fentanyl analogues or their precursors. • The interchangeability (or substitution) of fentanyl and tramadol within the pharmaceutical and illicit drug markets makes it more difficult to address their misuse. Their non-medical use is also seen in the context of self-medication, and thus carries less stigma or is countered by lesser legal sanctions than is the case with other controlled drugs.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In West, Central and North Africa and the Middle East, tramadol – a pharmaceutical opioid not under international control – has emerged as a major opioid of concern. The drug, in addition to being diverted from the legal market, is mainly trafficked into those subregions in dosages higher than what is prescribed for pain management, with an increasing number of people with tramadol use disorder entering treatment.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Today we find our world filled with cancer-producing agents. An attack on cancer that is concentrated wholly or even largely on therapeutic measures (even assuming a 'cure' could be found) in Dr. Heuper's opinion will fail because it leaves untouched the great reservoirs of carcinogenic agents which would continue to claim new victims faster than the as yet 'elusive' cure could allay the disease.
Why have we been so slow to adopt this common-sense approach to the cancer problem? Probably 'the goal of curing victims of cancer is more exciting, more tangible, more glamourous and rewarding than prevention,' says Dr. Heuper. Yet to prevent cancer from ever being formed is 'definitely more humane' and can be 'much more effective than cancer cures'. Dr. Heuper has little patience with the wishful thinking that promises 'a magic pill that we shall take every morning before breakfast' as protection against cancer. Part of the public trust in such an eventual outcome results from the misconception that cancer is a single, though mysterious disease, with a single cause and, hopefully, a single cure. This of course is far from the known truth. Just as environmental cancers are induced by a wide variety of chemical and physical agents, so the malignant condition itself is manifested in many different and biologically distinct ways.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'The non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids is not a new phenomenon. It has been observed for decades as part of the polydrug use pattern among high-risk or regular opioid users. What characterizes the most recent opioid crisis is the emergence of non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids as the main phenomenon, leading to alarming rates of dependence and overdose deaths at the national level. The subregions most affected by this crisis are North America and West, Central and North Africa, where different opioids and different dynamics are driving the threat. In North America, the introduction of fentanyl and its analogues (fentanyls) in the drug market has resulted in a syndemic of use of opioids characterized by an unprecedented increase in opioid overdose deaths' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
Why have we been so slow to adopt this common-sense approach to the cancer problem? Probably 'the goal of curing victims of cancer is more exciting, more tangible, more glamourous and rewarding than prevention,' says Dr. Heuper. Yet to prevent cancer from ever being formed is 'definitely more humane' and can be 'much more effective than cancer cures'. Dr. Heuper has little patience with the wishful thinking that promises 'a magic pill that we shall take every morning before breakfast' as protection against cancer. Part of the public trust in such an eventual outcome results from the misconception that cancer is a single, though mysterious disease, with a single cause and, hopefully, a single cure. This of course is far from the known truth. Just as environmental cancers are induced by a wide variety of chemical and physical agents, so the malignant condition itself is manifested in many different and biologically distinct ways.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'The non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids is not a new phenomenon. It has been observed for decades as part of the polydrug use pattern among high-risk or regular opioid users. What characterizes the most recent opioid crisis is the emergence of non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids as the main phenomenon, leading to alarming rates of dependence and overdose deaths at the national level. The subregions most affected by this crisis are North America and West, Central and North Africa, where different opioids and different dynamics are driving the threat. In North America, the introduction of fentanyl and its analogues (fentanyls) in the drug market has resulted in a syndemic of use of opioids characterized by an unprecedented increase in opioid overdose deaths' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Withdrawal symptoms are allergic symptoms: sneezing, coughing, running at the eyes and nose, vomiting, diarrhea, hive-like conditions of the skin. Severe withdrawal symptoms are shock symptoms: lowered blood pressure, loss of body fluid and shrinking of the organism as in the death process, weakness, involuntary orgasms, death through collapse of the circulatory system. If an addict dies from junk withdrawal, he dies of allergic shock.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'By contrast, quantities of stimulants seized rose twentyfold [in the Russian Federation] over the period 2008–2018, in particular seizures of ATS, which rose to almost 33 times the initial level. Moreover, according to seizure data, a variety of substances (internationally controlled or not) are now present in the synthetic drugs market: methamphetamine and various cathinones, including mephedrone and alpha-PVP.
The emergence of “new drugs” in the Russian Federation seems to be supply-driven as it may be, at least partly, linked to the rapid spread of the darknet in the Russian Federation. Data collected among a convenience sample of Internet users suggest that the Russian Federation may have the highest proportion worldwide of Internet users who use the darknet for purchasing drugs; those who purchased drugs on the darknet represented 46 per cent of the drug users among the survey respondents in January 2018, rising to 86 per cent in January 2020.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'An analysis of the Hydra market, based on webscraping techniques, conducted in February 2019, revealed a total of 13,935 drug listings on the platform in one day, dominated by synthetic cathinones (39 per cent of all listings, notably alpha-PVP and mephedrone), cannabis, mostly marijuana (16 per cent) and hashish (14 per cent), traditional ATS, mostly amphetamine (10 per cent) and methamphetamine (1 per cent), cocaine (4 per cent), psychedelics (3 per cent), dissociatives (2 per cent) and opioids (2 per cent). The analysis also indicated that, partly due to the increasing availability of drugs through the darknet, two thirds of the Russian population were now able to buy drugs instantly. The importance of trafficking ATS through the darknet and/or through web shops is also indirectly reflected in the high proportion of ATS being shipped to end users and local retail traffickers by mail: 80 per cent in 2018 – a higher proportion than for most other drug categories in the Russian Federation' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'By contrast, quantities of stimulants seized rose twentyfold [in the Russian Federation] over the period 2008–2018, in particular seizures of ATS, which rose to almost 33 times the initial level. Moreover, according to seizure data, a variety of substances (internationally controlled or not) are now present in the synthetic drugs market: methamphetamine and various cathinones, including mephedrone and alpha-PVP.
The emergence of “new drugs” in the Russian Federation seems to be supply-driven as it may be, at least partly, linked to the rapid spread of the darknet in the Russian Federation. Data collected among a convenience sample of Internet users suggest that the Russian Federation may have the highest proportion worldwide of Internet users who use the darknet for purchasing drugs; those who purchased drugs on the darknet represented 46 per cent of the drug users among the survey respondents in January 2018, rising to 86 per cent in January 2020.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'An analysis of the Hydra market, based on webscraping techniques, conducted in February 2019, revealed a total of 13,935 drug listings on the platform in one day, dominated by synthetic cathinones (39 per cent of all listings, notably alpha-PVP and mephedrone), cannabis, mostly marijuana (16 per cent) and hashish (14 per cent), traditional ATS, mostly amphetamine (10 per cent) and methamphetamine (1 per cent), cocaine (4 per cent), psychedelics (3 per cent), dissociatives (2 per cent) and opioids (2 per cent). The analysis also indicated that, partly due to the increasing availability of drugs through the darknet, two thirds of the Russian population were now able to buy drugs instantly. The importance of trafficking ATS through the darknet and/or through web shops is also indirectly reflected in the high proportion of ATS being shipped to end users and local retail traffickers by mail: 80 per cent in 2018 – a higher proportion than for most other drug categories in the Russian Federation' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'There was a raw ache in my lungs. People vary in the way junk sickness affects them. Some suffer mostly from vomitting and diarrhea. The asthmatic type, with narrow and deep chest, is liable to violent fits of sneezing, watering at eyes and nose, in some cases spasms of the bronchial tubes that shut off the breathing. In my case, the worst thing is lowering of blood pressure with consequent loss of body fluid, and extreme weakness, as in shock. It is a feeling as if the life energy has been shut off so that all the cells in the body are suffocating. As I lay there on the bench, I felt like as if I was subsiding into a pile of bones.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'In the context of the long-term dynamics of the global drug market, there are many different changes that have affected selected geographical areas. Within the past two decades some regions have seen a gradual transformation of their drug markets: methamphetamine has become the predominant drug in South-East Asia, amphetamine (“captagon’’) in the Middle East, North America has been confronted with the opioid crisis, Africa has seen an expansion of its domestic heroin market, and countries in North and West Africa are now facing a tramadol crisis. More recently, two subregions, the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia and the Russian Federation/ Central Asia, appear to have been affected by rapid changes in their drug markets, with new drugs taking a substantial share of the drug market.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Although in Europe opioids continue to be the predominant main drug for which people seek drug treatment, cocaine has become more common in Spain and methamphetamine remains the main drug of concern in Czechia. Within the amphetamines group, different patterns have developed in different subregions. For example, amphetamine continues to be the primary ATS of concern in Europe and in the Middle East, while methamphetamine has emerged as the primary ATS of concern in East and South-East Asia and in North America.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Over the past decade these problems have cast long shadows, but we have been slow to recognize them. Most of those best fitted to develop natural controls and assist in putting them into effect have been too busy laboring in the exciting vineyards of chemical control. It was reported in 1950 that only 2 per cent of all the economic entomologists in the country were then working in the field of biological controls. A substantial number of the remaining 98 per cent were engaged in research on chemical insecticides.
Why should this be? The major chemical companies are pouring money into the universities to support research on insecticides. This creates attractive fellowships for graduate students and attractive staff positions. Biological control studies, on the other hand, are never so endowed - for the simple reason that they do not promise anyone the fortunes that are to be made in the chemical industry. These are left to state and federal agencies, where the salaries paid are far less.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
Why should this be? The major chemical companies are pouring money into the universities to support research on insecticides. This creates attractive fellowships for graduate students and attractive staff positions. Biological control studies, on the other hand, are never so endowed - for the simple reason that they do not promise anyone the fortunes that are to be made in the chemical industry. These are left to state and federal agencies, where the salaries paid are far less.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'All the symptoms of shock can be produced by an overdose of histamine. Histamine is produced by body tissue wherever injury occurs. Histamine enlarges blood vessels so that extra blood comes to the place of injury. When a blood vessel is enlarged, its walls are stretched thin and porous and so fluid escapes. Loss of blood leads to lowered blood pressure. Excess histamine leads to lowering of blood pressure and shock, as occurs in serious injury. Adrenaline is the body's defense against excess histamine, and before the specific antihistamine drugs, was the only chemical antidote for histamine poisoning.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Demand-driven dynamics of drug markets are the result of changing patterns of drug use and the desire of users to experiment with new substances, which may lead to an increasing number of users starting a new habit. The establishment of the tramadol market for recreational use in certain regions may have initially been generated by an increased demand based on the supply available for medical use. But once a demand was generated, a new supply-driven phenomenon further expanded the market with illicitly manufactured products that were not part of the medical market' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
So has it been decided what the vaccine will be, its composition and price? Which pharma company is to manufacture the vaccine? What will be the projected revenues and profits from the vaccine? Will there be a profit sharing model between WHO and world leaders and the selected pharma company? Will cannabis be legalized as preventive medicine for people who cannot afford or access these vaccines? Has a single pharma company, health official or medical association come out to state openly and honestly that cannabis can help address most of the causes of comorbidity related to the tens of thousands of deaths worldwide? Have any of these entities stated that legalizing cannabis for home growing can mean the fastest dissemination and access to affordable universal medicine for the most number of people in the world rather than promoting test kits, ventilators, masks, sanitizers and pharmaceutical drugs created by industries maximizing their opportunity and profit? Big bang, flashy, synthetic, unsustainable solutions far removed from nature and the majority of the world's people is the repeated approach of businesses, health officials and governments today, supremely confident of man the conqueror of nature and themselves as the elite classes of human society...
Apr 7, 2020, 9:25 PM
'Adalimumab, sold under the brand name Humira among others, is a medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, uveitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Use is generally only recommended in people who have not responded to other treatments. It is used by injection under the skin.
Common side effects include upper respiratory tract infections, pain at the site of injection, rash, and headache. Other side effects may include serious infections, cancer, anaphylaxis, reactivation of hepatitis B, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, liver failure, and aplastic anemia.
It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. There is strong evidence that adalimumab increases risk of serious infections, such as tuberculosis. It also increases the risk of cancers, including lymphoma and solid malignancies. The risk of cancer is higher with higher doses of adalimumab'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalimumab
'Demand-driven dynamics of drug markets are the result of changing patterns of drug use and the desire of users to experiment with new substances, which may lead to an increasing number of users starting a new habit. The establishment of the tramadol market for recreational use in certain regions may have initially been generated by an increased demand based on the supply available for medical use. But once a demand was generated, a new supply-driven phenomenon further expanded the market with illicitly manufactured products that were not part of the medical market' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
So has it been decided what the vaccine will be, its composition and price? Which pharma company is to manufacture the vaccine? What will be the projected revenues and profits from the vaccine? Will there be a profit sharing model between WHO and world leaders and the selected pharma company? Will cannabis be legalized as preventive medicine for people who cannot afford or access these vaccines? Has a single pharma company, health official or medical association come out to state openly and honestly that cannabis can help address most of the causes of comorbidity related to the tens of thousands of deaths worldwide? Have any of these entities stated that legalizing cannabis for home growing can mean the fastest dissemination and access to affordable universal medicine for the most number of people in the world rather than promoting test kits, ventilators, masks, sanitizers and pharmaceutical drugs created by industries maximizing their opportunity and profit? Big bang, flashy, synthetic, unsustainable solutions far removed from nature and the majority of the world's people is the repeated approach of businesses, health officials and governments today, supremely confident of man the conqueror of nature and themselves as the elite classes of human society...
Apr 7, 2020, 9:25 PM
'Adalimumab, sold under the brand name Humira among others, is a medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, uveitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Use is generally only recommended in people who have not responded to other treatments. It is used by injection under the skin.
Common side effects include upper respiratory tract infections, pain at the site of injection, rash, and headache. Other side effects may include serious infections, cancer, anaphylaxis, reactivation of hepatitis B, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, liver failure, and aplastic anemia.
It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. There is strong evidence that adalimumab increases risk of serious infections, such as tuberculosis. It also increases the risk of cancers, including lymphoma and solid malignancies. The risk of cancer is higher with higher doses of adalimumab'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalimumab
'The doctor asked a few questions and looked at my arms. Another doctor with a long nose and hairy arms walked up to put in his two cents.
"After all, doctor," he said to his colleague, "there is the moral question. This man should have thought of all this before he started using narcotics."
"Yes, there is the moral question, but there is also a physical question. This man is sick." He turned to a nurse and ordered half a grain of morphine.
As the wagon jolted along on the way back to the precinct, I felt the morphine spread through all my cells. My stomach moved and rumbled. A shot when you are very sick always starts the stomach moving. Normal strength came back to all my muscles. I was hungry and sleepy.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
"After all, doctor," he said to his colleague, "there is the moral question. This man should have thought of all this before he started using narcotics."
"Yes, there is the moral question, but there is also a physical question. This man is sick." He turned to a nurse and ordered half a grain of morphine.
As the wagon jolted along on the way back to the precinct, I felt the morphine spread through all my cells. My stomach moved and rumbled. A shot when you are very sick always starts the stomach moving. Normal strength came back to all my muscles. I was hungry and sleepy.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
Top selling drug of pharma industry - 'common side effects include upper respiratory tract infections, pain at the site of injection, rash, and headache. Other side effects may include serious infections, cancer, anaphylaxis, reactivation of hepatitis B, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, liver failure, and aplastic anemia. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. There is strong evidence that adalimumab increases risk of serious infections, such as tuberculosis. - source- Wikipedia'
'Those anticipating Humira (adalimumab) relinquishing its crown as the industry’s best-selling drug still have some time to wait. AbbVie’s legendary patent thicket around the drug means that any US biosimilars will not launch until 2023 at the earliest. '
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41573-020-00047-7
The list includes ketamine, morphine, ephedrine, ibuprofen, aspirin, paracetamol, codeine, fentanyl, diazepam....no, cannabis is banned because it is not safe, didn't you know?
See, am okay with keeping all these pharmaceutical medications in the lists, but please can we take out the natural plant cannabis from all the lists it is in? Can anyone see it is the odd one out among all these pharmaceutical preparations or is the whole world blind? If cannabis should be on a list, that list should be a separate one called generic, versatile plant based medicines which also includes other medicinal herbs like basil, ginger, turmeric, etc..probably a list that is out of scope for WHO?
'The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (EML), published by the World Health Organization (WHO), contains the medications considered to be most effective and safe to meet the most important needs in a health system. The list is frequently used by countries to help develop their own local lists of essential medicine. As of 2016, more than 155 countries have created national lists of essential medicines based on the World Health Organization's model list. This includes countries in both the developed and developing world.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Model_List_of_Essential_Medicines
The deaths attributed to Covid can just as easily be attributed to the pharmaceutical drugs that are being abused by those affected but then we can't blame our medicine after spending billions on it and forcing it on everybody, can we? We can blame a virus though. As we keep count of alleged deaths due to the virus, I hope we have the count of the deaths due to heightened stress from the lockdown, deaths from increased domestic violence, deaths from suicides, deaths from alcohol and tobacco withdrawal including consumption of adulterated intoxicants, deaths from hunger, deaths in custody, deaths due to lack of access to medical facilities for other illnesses, deaths from public violence as a result of the lockdown, deaths from confinement carried out by the state under the guise of public safety, deaths from increased crime, deaths from mental and physical diseases for which the lockdown was the cause, deaths from increased abuse of prescription drugs as a result of the lockdown, etc. Only then will we get to see a true picture of Covid and what was worse..the disease or the remedies...to me it appears very clear already...flattening the curve in one place can result in multiple bulges in other places...
Apr 28, 2020, 8:50 PM
Officially sponsored myth 1 -'"All drugs are more or less similar and all are habit forming." This myth lumps cocaine, marijuana and junk together. Marijuana is not at all habit forming and its action is almost the direct opposite from junk action. There is no habit to cocaine. You can develop a tremendous craving for cocaine, but you won't be sick if you can't get it. When you have a junk habit, on the other hand, you live in a state of chronic poisoning for which junk itself is the specific antidote. If you don't get the antidote at eight-hour intervals, and enough of it, you develop symptoms of allergic poisoning: yawning, sneezing, watering of the eyes and nose, cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, hot and cold flushes, loss of appetite, insomnia, restlessness and weakness, in some cases circulatory collapse and death from alergic shock....When I say "habit-forming drug" I mean a drug that alters the endocrinal balance of the body in such a way that the body requires that drug in order to function. So far as I know, junk is the only habit forming drug according to this definition.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
Today's DH had an article about doctors in New York and LA exploring the use of injecting men with oestrogen and progesterone to improve their immunity to Covid 19 since men are the majority of those affected by the mystery virus. If Trump had said this, he would have been mothered and asked to wash his mouth with disinfectant but its some brilliant doctors so its okay. The doctors think there is something in women's hormones that can boost immunity and so can be made into, what else, a potential billion dollar vaccine maybe, and everybody can get rich. Has it occurred to these geniuses that the reason why more men are affected and dying due to the alleged Covid 19 is because more men abuse the prescription pharmaceutical drugs that the medical industry is trying so hard to shield? Yes, the very same pharmaceutical drugs whose side effects cause the modes of death attributed to Covid and which are freely administered to all, including persons affected with, what was that virus again, Covid...
Apr 28, 2020, 8:57 PM
From the report, it appears that cannabis by itself offers significant benefit in treating COVID symptoms..Remdesivir [another magic bullet] can be taken by those who want to, those who can afford it and those who can access it which are very few...but surely the blocks to cannabis availability to the whole world can be lifted in one moment by legalizing its recreational use globally..at least people all over the world can try and start growing it from now and still have a better chance of using the mature plant in six months rather than waiting for Remdesivir to reach them...
'Collectively, these findings support the investigation of cannabinoids as a plausible option to be added as an adjunct to Remdesivir or any new antivirals on SARS-CoV2 induced lung inflammation.'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159120307078?via%3Dihub
'As the new coronavirus spreads illness, death, and catastrophe around the world, virtually no economic sector has been spared from harm. Yet amid the mayhem from the global pandemic, one industry is not only surviving, it is profiting handsomely.'
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/13/big-pharma-drug-pricing-coronavirus-profits/
'Over the past few weeks, investment bankers have been candid on investor calls and during health care conferences about the opportunity to raise drug prices. In some cases, bankers received sharp rebukes from health care executives; in others, executives joked about using the attention on Covid-19 to dodge public pressure on the opioid crisis.'
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/19/coronavirus-vaccine-medical-supplies-price-gouging/
'The intersection between the legal economy, regulation, and organized crime: the US opioid-related crisis. The opioid-related overdose epidemic in North America, which claimed 47,600 lives in the US in 2017 alone (67.8 percent of all drug overdose deaths) and contributed to three consecutive years of life expectancy decline in the US, has been attributed to aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies which pressured healthcare providers to prescribe opioid painkillers more widely. This crisis demonstrated the need for independent regulation and oversight that sets up equitable relationships between drugs industries, the healthcare profession, lawmakers, and consumers.'
https://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FINAL-EN_2020report_web.pdf
Are governments, doctors and pharmaceutical companies in places seeing maximum Covid fatalities like the peddling addict who flooded the market because he needed more customers to sell his stuff to and to sustain his own habit? The opioid connection in these places is unmistakable. The cause of deaths could be the good old peddler trick of cutting the junk with harmful adulterants to dilute the drug and increase profit margins...
'Results
The incremental cost per QALY gained with the use of adjunctive cannabinoid oil, from the health care system perspective, was $32,399 compared with clobazam and valproate. Stiripentol was dominated by cannabinoid oil, producing fewer QALYs at higher costs. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000, cannabinoid oil was the optimal treatment in 76% of replications. From a societal perspective, cannabinoid oil dominated stiripentol and clobazam/valproate. The interpretation of the results was insensitive to model and input assumptions.
Conclusion
Compared with clobazam/valproate, adjunctive cannabinoid oil may be a cost-effective treatment for Dravet syndrome, if a decision maker is willing to pay at least $32,399 for each QALY gained. The opportunity costs of continuing to fund stiripentol, but not cannabinoid oil, should be considered'
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40273-020-00923-5
'Dr. Briejer says:
It is more than clear that we are traveling a dangerous road....We are going to have to do some very energetic research on other control measures, measures that will have to be biological, not chemical. Our aim should be to guide natural processes as cautiously as possible in the desired direction rather than to use brute force...
We need a more high-minded orientation and a deeper insight, which I miss in many researchers. Life is a miracle beyond our comprehension, and we should reverence it even where we have to struggle against it...The resort to weapons such as insecticides to control it is a proof of insufficient knowledge and of an incapacity so to guide the processes of nature that brute force becomes unnecessary. Humbleness is in order; there is no excuse for scientific conceit here.'- Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'ICU patients frequently receive opioid and benzodiazepine medications to treat the pain, anxiety, and agitation experienced during a critical illness. Trauma ICU (TICU) patients may require high and/or prolonged doses of opioids to manage pain associated with multiple open wounds, fractures, painful procedures, and/or surgery. They may also require benzodiazepines to prevent or manage anxiety and agitation and to facilitate effective mechanical ventilation (MV).
Although the effect of different pain and sedative medication regimens on TICU patients is unclear, prior evidence suggests that administration of opioid and benzodiazepine medications in the ICU setting is associated with the development of many complications including delirium and poor patient outcomes (e.g. longer days spent on MV and longer ICU and hospital stays). Exposure to high or prolonged use of opioids and benzodiazepines may also contribute to both drug tolerance (increased dose of medication is required to maintain the same effect) and drug physical dependence (abrupt or gradual drug withdrawal causes unpleasant physical symptoms). Once drug dependence has developed, patients are then at risk for withdrawal syndrome (WS), a group of serious physical and psychologic symptoms that occur upon the abrupt discontinuation of these medications. The effect of WS on patient recovery and prolonged ICU stay is unclear.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7188437/
'Cannabis has been used to relieve the symptoms of disease for thousands of years. However, social and political biases have limited effective interrogation of the potential benefits of cannabis and polarised public opinion. Further, the medicinal and clinical utility of cannabis is limited by the psychotropic side effects of ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (?9-THC). Evidence is emerging for the therapeutic benefits of cannabis in the treatment of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, with potential efficacy as an analgesic and antiemetic for the management of cancer-related pain and treatment-related nausea and vomiting, respectively. An increasing number of preclinical studies have established that ?9-THC can inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancerous cells through the modulation of cannabinoid receptors (CB1R and CB2R), but clinical confirmation remains lacking. In parallel, the anti-cancer properties of non-THC cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD), are linked to the modulation of non-CB1R/CB2R G-protein-coupled receptors, neurotransmitter receptors, and ligand-regulated transcription factors, which together modulate oncogenic signalling and redox homeostasis. Additional evidence has also demonstrated the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids, and this may prove relevant in the context of peritumoural oedema and the tumour immune microenvironment. This review aims to document the emerging mechanisms of anti-cancer actions of non-THC cannabinoids.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7226605/
'High drug consumption and polypharmacy, especially in the elderly, is one of the 21st century phenomenon. It has different undesirable side effects, which may directly affect the environment. It is known that pharmaceutical residues are excreted via patients’ urine or feces to wastewater, which is then discharged to the environment. Therefore high drug consumption is contributing to the continual rise in pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment, and address a rising cause for concern. Alternative treatments that can relieve or improve the patient’s clinical condition, thereby reducing the consumption of pharmaceuticals, hold great potential for reducing drug residues in the environment. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the reduction in pharmaceutical consumption in a nursing home for the elderly, as a result of treatment with medical cannabis. With time, medical cannabis treatment dramatically improved patients’ symptoms and their medical indexes. As a result, the local physicians stopped prescribing drugs that were defined as unnecessary. Overall, 39 dosages of prescription drugs were canceled for the 19 elderly individuals included in this research, indicating that medical cannabis can be an effective treatment that also reduces the environmental drug load, thereby preventing water pollution'
https://www.syncsci.com/journal/index.php/AHB/article/view/386
It is more than clear that we are traveling a dangerous road....We are going to have to do some very energetic research on other control measures, measures that will have to be biological, not chemical. Our aim should be to guide natural processes as cautiously as possible in the desired direction rather than to use brute force...
We need a more high-minded orientation and a deeper insight, which I miss in many researchers. Life is a miracle beyond our comprehension, and we should reverence it even where we have to struggle against it...The resort to weapons such as insecticides to control it is a proof of insufficient knowledge and of an incapacity so to guide the processes of nature that brute force becomes unnecessary. Humbleness is in order; there is no excuse for scientific conceit here.'- Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'ICU patients frequently receive opioid and benzodiazepine medications to treat the pain, anxiety, and agitation experienced during a critical illness. Trauma ICU (TICU) patients may require high and/or prolonged doses of opioids to manage pain associated with multiple open wounds, fractures, painful procedures, and/or surgery. They may also require benzodiazepines to prevent or manage anxiety and agitation and to facilitate effective mechanical ventilation (MV).
Although the effect of different pain and sedative medication regimens on TICU patients is unclear, prior evidence suggests that administration of opioid and benzodiazepine medications in the ICU setting is associated with the development of many complications including delirium and poor patient outcomes (e.g. longer days spent on MV and longer ICU and hospital stays). Exposure to high or prolonged use of opioids and benzodiazepines may also contribute to both drug tolerance (increased dose of medication is required to maintain the same effect) and drug physical dependence (abrupt or gradual drug withdrawal causes unpleasant physical symptoms). Once drug dependence has developed, patients are then at risk for withdrawal syndrome (WS), a group of serious physical and psychologic symptoms that occur upon the abrupt discontinuation of these medications. The effect of WS on patient recovery and prolonged ICU stay is unclear.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7188437/
'Cannabis has been used to relieve the symptoms of disease for thousands of years. However, social and political biases have limited effective interrogation of the potential benefits of cannabis and polarised public opinion. Further, the medicinal and clinical utility of cannabis is limited by the psychotropic side effects of ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (?9-THC). Evidence is emerging for the therapeutic benefits of cannabis in the treatment of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, with potential efficacy as an analgesic and antiemetic for the management of cancer-related pain and treatment-related nausea and vomiting, respectively. An increasing number of preclinical studies have established that ?9-THC can inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancerous cells through the modulation of cannabinoid receptors (CB1R and CB2R), but clinical confirmation remains lacking. In parallel, the anti-cancer properties of non-THC cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD), are linked to the modulation of non-CB1R/CB2R G-protein-coupled receptors, neurotransmitter receptors, and ligand-regulated transcription factors, which together modulate oncogenic signalling and redox homeostasis. Additional evidence has also demonstrated the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids, and this may prove relevant in the context of peritumoural oedema and the tumour immune microenvironment. This review aims to document the emerging mechanisms of anti-cancer actions of non-THC cannabinoids.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7226605/
'High drug consumption and polypharmacy, especially in the elderly, is one of the 21st century phenomenon. It has different undesirable side effects, which may directly affect the environment. It is known that pharmaceutical residues are excreted via patients’ urine or feces to wastewater, which is then discharged to the environment. Therefore high drug consumption is contributing to the continual rise in pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment, and address a rising cause for concern. Alternative treatments that can relieve or improve the patient’s clinical condition, thereby reducing the consumption of pharmaceuticals, hold great potential for reducing drug residues in the environment. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the reduction in pharmaceutical consumption in a nursing home for the elderly, as a result of treatment with medical cannabis. With time, medical cannabis treatment dramatically improved patients’ symptoms and their medical indexes. As a result, the local physicians stopped prescribing drugs that were defined as unnecessary. Overall, 39 dosages of prescription drugs were canceled for the 19 elderly individuals included in this research, indicating that medical cannabis can be an effective treatment that also reduces the environmental drug load, thereby preventing water pollution'
https://www.syncsci.com/journal/index.php/AHB/article/view/386
'A few minutes later a nurse came in with a hypo. It was demerol. Demerol helps some, but it is not nearly as effective as codeine in relieving junk sickness.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
' A team of Israeli researchers assessed characteristics in 181 medical cannabis patients with fibromyalgia. Qualified patients may legally access state-regulated medical cannabis products in Israel.
After initiating cannabis therapy, 51 percent of subjects either "reduced the dose or the number of medications" that they took to treat fibromyalgia-related symptoms. Nearly half of the study's participants reported ceasing their use of prescription medications altogether'
https://norml.org/news/2020/06/04/study-fibromyalgia-patients-reduce-or-eliminate-their-prescription-drug-use-following-cannabis-therapy
' A team of Israeli researchers assessed characteristics in 181 medical cannabis patients with fibromyalgia. Qualified patients may legally access state-regulated medical cannabis products in Israel.
After initiating cannabis therapy, 51 percent of subjects either "reduced the dose or the number of medications" that they took to treat fibromyalgia-related symptoms. Nearly half of the study's participants reported ceasing their use of prescription medications altogether'
https://norml.org/news/2020/06/04/study-fibromyalgia-patients-reduce-or-eliminate-their-prescription-drug-use-following-cannabis-therapy
'There is still very limited awareness of the nature of the threat. This is an era of specialists, each of whom sees his own problem and is unaware or intolerant of the larger frame into which it fits. It is also an era dominated by industry, in which the right to make a dollar at whatever cost is seldom challenged. When the public protests, confronted with some obvious evidence of damaging results of pesticide applications, it is fed little tranquilizing pills of half truth. We urgently need an end to these false assurances, to the sugar coating of unpalatable facts. It is the public that is being asked to assume the risks that the insect controllers calculate. The public must decide whether it wishes to continue on the present road, and it can only do so when it is in full possession of the facts. In the words of Jean Rostand, 'The obligation to endure gives us the right to know.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'"Nembies": after the phrase, "to take the edge off," Burroughs first draft glossary continued; "Sometimes injected intravenously. If you miss the vein you will surely get an abcess. Barbiturates are more dangerous than junk because a user of barbiturates - eight or more capsules per day - gets the horrors when he is cut off barbiturates, and he is subject to epileptic fits with frequent head injury from flopping around on concrete floors. He is most likely to find himself cut off in a place where the floors are concrete."- Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
Get rich...at warp speed...warped indeed...
'When the news broke yesterday that Operation Warp Speed had selected five experimental COVID-19 vaccines to fast-track through testing and, potentially, mass-scale production, it was news even to some top scientists involved with the White House–led program. “It’s been so chaotic, and it’s not even transparent to those of us who are trying to help out,” says a source linked to Warp Speed who asked not to be named.
The New York Times reported that according to “senior officials,” the Trump administration program had chosen vaccines from Moderna, the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck for the crash development program, which aims to have enough safe and proven product to vaccinate 300 million Americans by January 2021. The government’s Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) had already singled out all four for what could amount to more than $2 billion in funding if they hit milestones. The fifth vaccine flagged by The New York Times is made by Pfizer, whose CEO, Albert Bourla, said on 28 May at a media briefing that the company doesn’t want funding from any government because “We believe we can move faster if we don’t have to involve a third party.”'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/top-us-scientists-left-out-white-house-selection-covid-19-vaccine-shortlist
But what about the drug stocks that pharma companies are holding and hoping to make a windfall out of after all that celebrity marketing?
' “The Recovery trial, in addition to the signals from other studies we have received so far, are enough to convince me to not offer hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized patients,” Nahid Bhadelia, a physician at Boston Medical Center, wrote in an email. Martin Landray of the University of Oxford, one of Recovery’s principal investigators, agrees: “If you, your spouse, your mother gets admitted to hospital and is offered hydroxychloroquine, don’t take it,” he says.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/three-big-studies-dim-hopes-hydroxychloroquine-can-treat-or-prevent-covid-19
'Authors further reported that cannabis therapy was associated with a reduction in subjects' use of prescription medications – a finding that is consistent with prior studies. Overall, participants discontinued taking a total of 39 prescription medicines during the study period. Patients were most likely to eliminate their use of opioids, anxiolytics, and anti-depressants after initiating cannabis therapy.
They concluded, "We found an overall improvement in the patients, including of their symptoms and medical conditions, cessation or reduction of traditional drug usage, and a general improvement in life quality. ... Overall, 39 dosages of prescription drugs were cancelled for the 19 elderly individuals included in this research, indicating that medical cannabis can be an effective treatment that also reduces environmental drug load."'
https://norml.org/news/2020/06/11/study-medical-cannabis-therapy-reduces-prescription-drug-use-among-nursing-home-patients
'Results: Cannabis Users self-reported significantly better QOL [quality of life] [t(1054)=-4.19, p<0.001], greater health satisfaction [t(1045)=-4.14, p<0.001], improved sleep [children: t(224)=2.90, p<0.01; adults: [t(758)=3.03, p<0.01], lower average pain severity [t(1150)=2.34, p<0.05], lower anxiety [t(1151)=4.38, p<0.001], and lower depression [t(1210)=5.77, p<0.001] compared with Controls. Cannabis Users reported using fewer prescription medications (rate ratio [RR]=0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77–0.96) and were less likely to have a past-month emergency department visit (RR=0.61; 95% CI: 0.44–0.84) or hospital admission (RR=0.54; 95% CI: 0.34–0.87). Controls who initiated cannabis use after baseline showed significant health improvements at follow-up, and the magnitude of improvement mirrored the between-group differences observed at baseline.
Conclusions: Cannabis use was associated with improved health and QOL. Longitudinal testing suggests that group differences may be due to the medicinal use of cannabis. Although bias related to preexisting beliefs regarding the health benefits of cannabis in this sample should be considered, these findings indicate that clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of defined cannabinoid products for specific health conditions are warranted.'
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/can.2019.0096
'It is possible to detach yourself from most pain - injury to teeth, eyes, and genitals present special difficulties - so that the pain is experienced as neutral excitation. From junk sickness there seems to be no escape. Junk sickness is the reverse side of junk kick. The kick of junk is that you have to have it. Junkies run on junk time and junk metabolism. They are subject to junk climate. They are warmed and chilled by junk. the kick of junk is living under junk conditions. You cannot escape from junk sickness any more than you can escape from junk kick after a shot.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
The most interesting statistic for me to look back at from this period will be the number of persons who died as a result of inappropriate usage of pharmaceutical drugs ...I'm not expecting to come across it though...
'When the trial’s independent data safety monitoring team saw the number of deaths in the high-dose group rise rapidly, they alerted the researchers and asked for that arm to be stopped. Of 81 patients enrolled at the time, seven in the high-dose group had died, versus four in the low-dose group. By the times the results were published, those numbers had risen to 16 and six, respectively. Two patients from the high-dose group developed dangerous cardiac arrhythmias before death, a known side effect from chloroquine, and warning signs for future heart trouble were more common in the high-dose group. An 11 April preprint about the results was covered by international media outlets, including The New York Times.
On 14 April, Michael James Coudrey, CEO of a U.S. marketing company whose website says he offers “social media and ‘digital information warfare’ services to political candidates,” tweeted accusations that the researchers had overdosed their patients and used them as “guinea pigs” in a study conducted “so irresponsibility I can’t even believe it.” Three days later, Eduardo Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president’s son, tweeted out a similar message, including an article that called the researchers “left-wing medical activists” and included their past social media posts in support of certain political candidates and sporting rainbow flag profile frames as proof. The article framed the study, which was later published in JAMA Network Open, as an attempt to “disparage the drug that the Bolsonaro government approved as effective for treating COVID-19.” Soon, death threats against the researchers and their families started to come in'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/it-s-nightmare-how-brazilian-scientists-became-ensnared-chloroquine-politics
The most interesting statistic for me to look back at from this period will be the number of persons who died as a result of inappropriate usage of pharmaceutical drugs ...I'm not expecting to come across it though...
'When the trial’s independent data safety monitoring team saw the number of deaths in the high-dose group rise rapidly, they alerted the researchers and asked for that arm to be stopped. Of 81 patients enrolled at the time, seven in the high-dose group had died, versus four in the low-dose group. By the times the results were published, those numbers had risen to 16 and six, respectively. Two patients from the high-dose group developed dangerous cardiac arrhythmias before death, a known side effect from chloroquine, and warning signs for future heart trouble were more common in the high-dose group. An 11 April preprint about the results was covered by international media outlets, including The New York Times.
On 14 April, Michael James Coudrey, CEO of a U.S. marketing company whose website says he offers “social media and ‘digital information warfare’ services to political candidates,” tweeted accusations that the researchers had overdosed their patients and used them as “guinea pigs” in a study conducted “so irresponsibility I can’t even believe it.” Three days later, Eduardo Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president’s son, tweeted out a similar message, including an article that called the researchers “left-wing medical activists” and included their past social media posts in support of certain political candidates and sporting rainbow flag profile frames as proof. The article framed the study, which was later published in JAMA Network Open, as an attempt to “disparage the drug that the Bolsonaro government approved as effective for treating COVID-19.” Soon, death threats against the researchers and their families started to come in'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/it-s-nightmare-how-brazilian-scientists-became-ensnared-chloroquine-politics
'As ground and surface waters are contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals, there is danger that not only poisonous but also cancer-producing substances are being introduced into public water supplies. Dr. W. C. Hueper of the National Cancer Institute has warned that 'the danger of cancer hazards from the consumption of contaminated drinking water will grow considerably within the foreseeable future.' And indeed a study made in Holland in the early 1950s provides support for the view that polluted waterways may carry a cancer hazard. Cities receiving their drinking water from rivers had a higher death rate from cancer than did those whose water came from sources presumably less susceptible to pollution such as wells.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'I knew that I did not want to go on taking junk. If I could have made a single decision, I would have decided no more junk ever. But when it came to the process of quitting, I did not have the drive. It gave me a terrible feeling of helplessness to watch myself break every schedule I set up as though I did not have control over my actions.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
So governments, the pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry cut off the supply of natural intoxicants like cannabis, opium, coca and palm toddy. They create refined and much more potent extracts from these natural materials. They control the supply and stock of these chemical drugs. They use the doctor-pharmacist route to administer these drugs to the public legally and the peddler-narcotics agent-rehabilitation center route to administer these drugs illegally. The individual is not allowed to grow or procure these intoxicants from nature. He must rely on the system to get his intoxicant and pay the maximum price for it. To realize more and more profits the system creates more and more potent chemical intoxicants moving further and further away from natural territory into synthetic chemically constructed territory. As the toxicity and addictive power of these drugs increase, the public gets addicted to an even greater extent and pays even more for any available intoxicant. Profits rise and fuel the growth of the system tremendously. The individual pays for the system, pays for the synthetic drug, pays for the treatment which is further synthetic drugs and eventually pays with his life for the synthetic intoxicant. Legalize all natural drugs - opium, coca, cannabis and toddy to name a few. Most importantly, legalize cannabis, the universal drug of the world...
How about legalizing the natural plant? GW Pharma has been maximizing its monopoly this far at the cost of global public health...
'“By placing Epidyolex in Schedule 5 to the 2001 Regulations, it is no longer subject to the prohibition on importation, exportation and possession under the 1971 Act,” according to the government’s circular announcing the change.
“This will reduce administrative processes for companies wanting to supply Epidyolex to patients with severe epilepsy.”
Epidyolex is the trade name in Europe for Epidiolex.
London-based GW Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Epidyolex, said the move exempts the medicine from most controlled-drug requirements.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/uk-down-schedules-epidyolex-to-lowest-level-for-controlled-drugs/
'Drug markets are becoming increasingly complex. Plant-based substances such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin have been joined by hundreds of synthetic drugs, many not under international control. There has also been a rapid rise in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs. Roughly 500 NPS are found on the national markets of Member States each year. Currently, most of those are stimulants, followed by synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists and a smaller number of opioids. However, while the overall number of NPS has stabilized, the proportions have changed. Opioid NPS accounted for just 2 per cent of the number of NPS identified in 2014 but by 2018 that figure had risen to 9 per cent. Opioid NPS, many of them fentanyl analogues, have proved both potent and harmful, fuelling overdose deaths in North America and to a lesser extent in other regions. In North America, fentanyls are either used as adulterants in heroin and other drugs (including cocaine and methamphetamine) or used to make falsified pharmaceutical opioids. Some evidence suggests NPS stimulants are also being injected in Europe: a study of residues in discarded syringes in six European cities found that many were tainted with stimulant NPS.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'I was too weak to get out of bed. I could not lie still. In junk sickness, any conceivable line of action or inaction seems intolerable. A man might simply die because he could not stand to stay in his body.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Medicines for pain relief are unequally distributed across regions. More than 90 per cent of all pharmaceutical opioids available for medical consumption were in high-income countries in 2018. Some 50 per cent were in North America, 40 per cent in Europe, and a further 2 per cent in Oceania. Those countries are home to about 12 per cent of the global population. Low- and middleincome countries, which are home to 88 per cent of the global population, are estimated to consume less than 10 per cent of pharmaceutical opioids.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Ease of manufacturing and low production costs helped to seed both crises, as did the context of an absence of international regulations on tramadol and many fentanyl analogues or their precursors. Both crises were inflamed by the availability of the substances on pharmaceutical and illicit markets – making it more difficult to detect and prevent their misuse.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Synthetic drugs can be produced in virtually every country. The COVID-19 measures could have an effect on synthetic drug production if they lead to a reduction in the availability of precursor substances that are either diverted from the legal trade or produced illicitly. Where precursor chemicals are supplied from within a region and trafficking has not been impeded (for example, in South-East Asia), the production of synthetic drugs is only marginally affected by the restrictions stemming from the measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Also, where there is domestic manufacture using domestic precursors as is the case with mephedrone and other popular synthetic drugs in the Russian Federation, no major impact on the domestic drug market has been visible.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Medicines for pain relief are unequally distributed across regions. More than 90 per cent of all pharmaceutical opioids available for medical consumption were in high-income countries in 2018. Some 50 per cent were in North America, 40 per cent in Europe, and a further 2 per cent in Oceania. Those countries are home to about 12 per cent of the global population. Low- and middleincome countries, which are home to 88 per cent of the global population, are estimated to consume less than 10 per cent of pharmaceutical opioids.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Ease of manufacturing and low production costs helped to seed both crises, as did the context of an absence of international regulations on tramadol and many fentanyl analogues or their precursors. Both crises were inflamed by the availability of the substances on pharmaceutical and illicit markets – making it more difficult to detect and prevent their misuse.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Synthetic drugs can be produced in virtually every country. The COVID-19 measures could have an effect on synthetic drug production if they lead to a reduction in the availability of precursor substances that are either diverted from the legal trade or produced illicitly. Where precursor chemicals are supplied from within a region and trafficking has not been impeded (for example, in South-East Asia), the production of synthetic drugs is only marginally affected by the restrictions stemming from the measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Also, where there is domestic manufacture using domestic precursors as is the case with mephedrone and other popular synthetic drugs in the Russian Federation, no major impact on the domestic drug market has been visible.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'If only free men would not rely on what has no power and is never free, that is, external force, but would trust in what is always powerful and free, that is, the truth and its expression!
If only men would boldly and clearly express the truth already manifest to them (of the brotherhood of all nations and the crime of exclusive devotion to one's own) that defunct, false, public opinion on which rests the power of governments and all the evil they produce, would slough off by itself like a dead skin and reveal that new, living, public opinion which now only awaits the shedding of the old husk that has confined it, in order to announce its demands clearly and powerfully and establish new forms of existence in conformity with the conscience of mankind.' - Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays
If only men would boldly and clearly express the truth already manifest to them (of the brotherhood of all nations and the crime of exclusive devotion to one's own) that defunct, false, public opinion on which rests the power of governments and all the evil they produce, would slough off by itself like a dead skin and reveal that new, living, public opinion which now only awaits the shedding of the old husk that has confined it, in order to announce its demands clearly and powerfully and establish new forms of existence in conformity with the conscience of mankind.' - Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays
'In each of these situations one turns away to ponder the question: Who has made the decision that sets in motion these chains of poisonings, this ever-widening wave of death that spreads out, like ripples when a pebble is dropped into a still pond? Who has placed in one pan of the scales the leaves that might have been eaten by the beetles and in the other the pitiful heaps of many-hued feathers, the lifeless remains of the birds that fell before the unselective bludgeon of insecticidal poisons? Who has decided - who has the right to decide - for the countless legions of people who were not consulted that the supreme value is a world without insects, even though it be also a sterile world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight? The decision is that of the authoritarian temporarily entrusted with power; he has made it during a period of inattention by millions to whom beauty and the ordered world of nature still have a meaning that is deep and imperative.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'Many countries have reported drug shortages at the retail level, with reports of heroin shortages in Europe, South-West Asia and North America in particular. Drug supply shortages can go together with an overall decrease in consumption (for example, of drugs that are mostly consumed in recreational settings such as bars and clubs) but may also, especially in the case of heroin, lead to the consumption of harmful domestically produced substances, as well as more harmful patterns of drug use by people with drug use disorders. In terms of alternatives, some countries in Europe have warned that heroin users may switch to substances such as fentanyl and its derivatives. An increase in the use of pharmaceutical products such as benzodiazepines and buprenorphine has also been reported, to the extent that their price has doubled in some areas.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Although global estimates are not available, the nonmedical use of pharmaceutical opioids is reported in many countries, in particular in countries in West and North Africa and the Near and Middle East (tramadol), and in North America (hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, tramadol and fentanyl).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'With the exception of Nigeria, where 4.6 million people were estimated to have used opioids – mainly tramadol – in 2017, population-level prevalence estimates of the use of opioids are not available for countries in West, Central and North Africa. However, many countries in those subregions report high levels of non-medical use of tramadol. For example, in Egypt, 2.5 per cent of male and 1.4 per cent of female students aged 15–17 had misused tramadol in the past year. Students in that country also reported the use, to a lesser degree, of heroin or opium/morphine in 2016. Furthermore, data on the provision of treatment suggest that the prevalence of the non-medical use of opioids is quite high in Egypt. Tramadol tablets available in some parts of Africa are reportedly intended for the illicit market and may be of a dosage higher than usually prescribed for medical purposes.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The opioid crisis continues in North America, with a new record level in the number of opioid overdose deaths attributed to the use of fentanyl and its analogues. These substances are added to heroin and other drugs as adulterants and are also sold as counterfeit prescription opioids, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, and even as counterfeit benzodiazepines, to a large unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs. In 2018, in the United States, 10.3 million people or 3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older had misused opioids in the past year. Of those people, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population) reported the non-medical use of prescription opioids while nearly 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The number of overdose deaths in the United States reached its peak in 2017 at 70,237 deaths (21.7 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 47,600 (68 per cent: 14.9 deaths per 100,000 population) were attributed to opioids. In 2018, for the first time since 1999, the number of overdose deaths declined over the previous year by 4 per cent to 67,367 deaths (20.7 deaths per 100,000 population). Opioids were responsible for most of those deaths, accounting for 46,802 in total in 2018 (14.6 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 67 per cent were attributed to fentanyls.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Many countries have reported drug shortages at the retail level, with reports of heroin shortages in Europe, South-West Asia and North America in particular. Drug supply shortages can go together with an overall decrease in consumption (for example, of drugs that are mostly consumed in recreational settings such as bars and clubs) but may also, especially in the case of heroin, lead to the consumption of harmful domestically produced substances, as well as more harmful patterns of drug use by people with drug use disorders. In terms of alternatives, some countries in Europe have warned that heroin users may switch to substances such as fentanyl and its derivatives. An increase in the use of pharmaceutical products such as benzodiazepines and buprenorphine has also been reported, to the extent that their price has doubled in some areas.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Although global estimates are not available, the nonmedical use of pharmaceutical opioids is reported in many countries, in particular in countries in West and North Africa and the Near and Middle East (tramadol), and in North America (hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, tramadol and fentanyl).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'With the exception of Nigeria, where 4.6 million people were estimated to have used opioids – mainly tramadol – in 2017, population-level prevalence estimates of the use of opioids are not available for countries in West, Central and North Africa. However, many countries in those subregions report high levels of non-medical use of tramadol. For example, in Egypt, 2.5 per cent of male and 1.4 per cent of female students aged 15–17 had misused tramadol in the past year. Students in that country also reported the use, to a lesser degree, of heroin or opium/morphine in 2016. Furthermore, data on the provision of treatment suggest that the prevalence of the non-medical use of opioids is quite high in Egypt. Tramadol tablets available in some parts of Africa are reportedly intended for the illicit market and may be of a dosage higher than usually prescribed for medical purposes.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The opioid crisis continues in North America, with a new record level in the number of opioid overdose deaths attributed to the use of fentanyl and its analogues. These substances are added to heroin and other drugs as adulterants and are also sold as counterfeit prescription opioids, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, and even as counterfeit benzodiazepines, to a large unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs. In 2018, in the United States, 10.3 million people or 3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older had misused opioids in the past year. Of those people, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population) reported the non-medical use of prescription opioids while nearly 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The number of overdose deaths in the United States reached its peak in 2017 at 70,237 deaths (21.7 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 47,600 (68 per cent: 14.9 deaths per 100,000 population) were attributed to opioids. In 2018, for the first time since 1999, the number of overdose deaths declined over the previous year by 4 per cent to 67,367 deaths (20.7 deaths per 100,000 population). Opioids were responsible for most of those deaths, accounting for 46,802 in total in 2018 (14.6 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 67 per cent were attributed to fentanyls.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'He asked the question they all ask. "Why do you feel that you need narcotics, Mr Lee?"
When you hear this question you can be sure that the man who asks it knows nothing about junk.
"I need it to get out of bed in the morning, to shave and eat breakfast."
"I mean physically."
I shrugged. Might as well give him his diagnosis so he will go. "It's a good kick."
Junk is not a "good kick." The point of junk to a user is that it forms a habit. No one knows what junk is until he is junk sick.
The doctor nodded. Psychopathic personality.'
- Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'There are also signs of increasing non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids in Western and Central Europe, as reflected in the increasing proportion of treatment admissions for the use of those substances in recent years. In 2017, users of pharmaceutical opioids, including misused methadone, buprenorphine, fentanyl, codeine, morphine, tramadol and oxycodone, accounted for 22 per cent of all clients entering drug treatment in the subregion for opioid use disorders (as their primary drug).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
When you hear this question you can be sure that the man who asks it knows nothing about junk.
"I need it to get out of bed in the morning, to shave and eat breakfast."
"I mean physically."
I shrugged. Might as well give him his diagnosis so he will go. "It's a good kick."
Junk is not a "good kick." The point of junk to a user is that it forms a habit. No one knows what junk is until he is junk sick.
The doctor nodded. Psychopathic personality.'
- Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'There are also signs of increasing non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids in Western and Central Europe, as reflected in the increasing proportion of treatment admissions for the use of those substances in recent years. In 2017, users of pharmaceutical opioids, including misused methadone, buprenorphine, fentanyl, codeine, morphine, tramadol and oxycodone, accounted for 22 per cent of all clients entering drug treatment in the subregion for opioid use disorders (as their primary drug).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The fisheries of fresh and salt water are a resource of great importance, involving the interests and the welfare of a very large number of people. That they are now seriously threatened by the chemicals entering our waters can no longer be doubted. If we could divert to constructive research even a small fraction of the money spent each year on the development of even more toxic sprays, we could find ways to use less dangerous materials and to keep poisons out of our waterways. When will the public become sufficiently aware of the facts to demand such action? - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'A major drug use survey carried out recently in India found that in 2018, 2.1 per cent of the population aged 10–75, a total of 23 million people, had used opioids in the past year. Among opioids, heroin is the most prevalent substance, with a past-year prevalence of 1.1 per cent among the population aged 10–75; this is followed by the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, with a past-year prevalence of almost 1 per cent, and by opium at almost 0.5 per cent. In general, the past-year use of opioids is much higher among men (4 per cent of the male population) than women (0.2 per cent of the female population). Moreover, 1.8 per cent of adolescents aged 10–17 are estimated to be past-year opioid users. Of the 23 million past-year opioid users, roughly one third, or 7.7 million people, suffer from opioid use disorders. Compared with earlier estimates from a survey carried out in 2004, overall opioid use in India is estimated to have increased fivefold.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Around 27 million people worldwide, corresponding to 0.5 per cent of the adult population, are estimated to have used amphetamines, including amphetamine, methamphetamine and pharmaceutical stimulants, in the past year. The past-year prevalence of the use of amphetamines is particularly high in North America (2.3 per cent of the population aged 15–64) and Australia and New Zealand (1.3 per cent). The past-year use of amphetamines in Asia, as a percentage of the population, is at a similar level (0.5 per cent) to the global average. Nearly half of the global estimate of past-year users of amphetamines (12.7 million people) reside in Asia, although the region is home to 60 per cent of the global population aged 15–64' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The type and form of amphetamines used vary considerably between regions and subregions. In North America, the non-medical use of pharmaceutical stimulants and methamphetamine is most prevalent; in East and South-East Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), it is methamphetamine; and in Western and Central Europe and the Near and Middle East, it is amphetamine. In the latter subregion, amphetamine is commonly known as “captagon”. In many countries in South and Central America, especially those that have reported recent survey data, the non-medical use of pharmaceutical stimulants is more common than the use of other amphetamines. The non-medical use of weight loss pills is reportedly more prevalent among women than among men, with pills such as sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate (sold under the brand names Aderan and Ipomex) and phentermine (sold under the brand names Duromine and Suprenza), along with methylphenidate and amphetamine, reported to be the most commonly misused pharmaceutical stimulants in those subregions' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'A major drug use survey carried out recently in India found that in 2018, 2.1 per cent of the population aged 10–75, a total of 23 million people, had used opioids in the past year. Among opioids, heroin is the most prevalent substance, with a past-year prevalence of 1.1 per cent among the population aged 10–75; this is followed by the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, with a past-year prevalence of almost 1 per cent, and by opium at almost 0.5 per cent. In general, the past-year use of opioids is much higher among men (4 per cent of the male population) than women (0.2 per cent of the female population). Moreover, 1.8 per cent of adolescents aged 10–17 are estimated to be past-year opioid users. Of the 23 million past-year opioid users, roughly one third, or 7.7 million people, suffer from opioid use disorders. Compared with earlier estimates from a survey carried out in 2004, overall opioid use in India is estimated to have increased fivefold.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Around 27 million people worldwide, corresponding to 0.5 per cent of the adult population, are estimated to have used amphetamines, including amphetamine, methamphetamine and pharmaceutical stimulants, in the past year. The past-year prevalence of the use of amphetamines is particularly high in North America (2.3 per cent of the population aged 15–64) and Australia and New Zealand (1.3 per cent). The past-year use of amphetamines in Asia, as a percentage of the population, is at a similar level (0.5 per cent) to the global average. Nearly half of the global estimate of past-year users of amphetamines (12.7 million people) reside in Asia, although the region is home to 60 per cent of the global population aged 15–64' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The type and form of amphetamines used vary considerably between regions and subregions. In North America, the non-medical use of pharmaceutical stimulants and methamphetamine is most prevalent; in East and South-East Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), it is methamphetamine; and in Western and Central Europe and the Near and Middle East, it is amphetamine. In the latter subregion, amphetamine is commonly known as “captagon”. In many countries in South and Central America, especially those that have reported recent survey data, the non-medical use of pharmaceutical stimulants is more common than the use of other amphetamines. The non-medical use of weight loss pills is reportedly more prevalent among women than among men, with pills such as sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate (sold under the brand names Aderan and Ipomex) and phentermine (sold under the brand names Duromine and Suprenza), along with methylphenidate and amphetamine, reported to be the most commonly misused pharmaceutical stimulants in those subregions' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
Ganja in the Indian sub-continent...
'The urge to transcend self-conscious selfhood is, as I have said, a principal appetite of the soul. When, for whatever reason, men and women fail to transcend themselves by means of worhip, good works and spiritual exercises, they are apt to resort to religion's chemical surrogates - alcohol and 'goof-pills' in the modern West, alcohol and opium in the East, hashish in the Mohameddan world, alcohol and marijuana in Central America, alcohol and coca in the Andes, alcohol and the barbiturates in the more up-to-date regions of South America.' - The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley, 1954.
'The urge to transcend self-conscious selfhood is, as I have said, a principal appetite of the soul. When, for whatever reason, men and women fail to transcend themselves by means of worhip, good works and spiritual exercises, they are apt to resort to religion's chemical surrogates - alcohol and 'goof-pills' in the modern West, alcohol and opium in the East, hashish in the Mohameddan world, alcohol and marijuana in Central America, alcohol and coca in the Andes, alcohol and the barbiturates in the more up-to-date regions of South America.' - The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley, 1954.
'When a junkie off junk gets drunk to a certain point, his thoughts turn to junk.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'This system, however - deliberately poisoning our food, then policing the result - is too reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's White Knight who thought of 'a plan to dye one's whiskers green, and always use so large a fan that they could not be seen.' The ultimate answer is to use less toxic chemicals so that the public hazard from their misuse is greatly reduced.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'In Africa, the increasing proportion of people treated for opioid use disorders likely reflects the increasing use of opioids, especially tramadol, in West and Central Africa. In that subregion, opioids (heroin and tramadol) were, after cannabis, the second most common drug type for which people accessed drug treatment services over the period 2014–2017.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Opioids (predominantly heroin) remain the main drug for which people undergo drug treatment in Europe (in particular Eastern and South-Eastern Europe) and Asia, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of all treatment admissions in 2018. Compared with users of other drugs, those with opioid use disorders entering treatment tend to be older, in their midthirties, and between one quarter and one third of them are first-time entrants. This corresponds to findings published in scientific literature, for instance studies from Europe, which suggest that there is an ageing cohort of opioid users in Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'In the Western world visionaries and mystics are a good deal less common than they used to be. There are two principal reasons for this state of affairs - a philosophical reason and a chemical reason. In the currently fashionable picture of the universe there is no place for valid transcendental experience. Consequently those who have had what they regard as valid transcendental experiences are looked upon with suspicion, as being either lunatics or swindlers. To be a mystic or a visionary is no longer credible.
But it is not only our mental climate that is unfavourable to the visionary and the mystic, it is also our chemical environment - an environment profoundly different from that in which our forefathers passed their lives.'- Heaven and Hell, Aldous Huxley, 1956
'The prevalence of PWID [persons who inject drugs] aged 15–64 in 2018 continues to be the highest in Eastern Europe (1.26 per cent) and Central Asia and Transcaucasia (0.63 per cent). Those percentages are, respectively, 5.5 and 2.8 times higher than the global average. More than a quarter of all PWID reside in East and South-East Asia, although the prevalence itself is relatively low (0.19 per cent). The three subregions with the largest numbers of PWID (East and South-East Asia, North America and Eastern Europe) together account for over half (58 per cent) of the global number of PWID. It is noteworthy that, as in previous years, while three countries – China, the Russian Federation and the United States – account for just 27 per cent of the global population aged 15–64, they are home to almost half (43 per cent) of all PWID.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Injecting drug use is estimated to account for approximately 10 per cent of HIV infections worldwide and 30 per cent of all HIV cases outside Africa, while in the eastern countries of the WHO European Region more than 80 per cent of all HIV infections occur among PWID [persons who inject drugs]. PWID are estimated to be 22 times more likely than people in the general population to be living with HIV.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The largest number of PWID [persons who inject drugs] living with HIV reside in Eastern Europe, East and South-East Asia and South-West Asia, which together account for 67 per cent of the global total. Although the prevalence of HIV among PWID (9.3 per cent) is below the global average, a fifth of the global number of PWID living with HIV reside in East and South-East Asia. A small number of countries continue to account for a large proportion of the total global number of PWID living with HIV. In 2018, for example, PWID living with HIV in China, Pakistan and the Russian Federation accounted for almost half of the global total (49 per cent), while PWID in those three countries comprise only a third of all PWID worldwide.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'PWID [persons who inject drugs] are a key population affected by hepatitis C. Global estimates suggest that 71 million people worldwide were chronically infected with hepatitis C in 2017 and that 23 per cent of new hepatitis C infections and one in three hepatitis C-related deaths are attributable to injecting drug use. Hepatitis C-related morbidity and mortality continue to rise, mainly as a result of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and death in cases of untreated hepatitis C' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
But it is not only our mental climate that is unfavourable to the visionary and the mystic, it is also our chemical environment - an environment profoundly different from that in which our forefathers passed their lives.'- Heaven and Hell, Aldous Huxley, 1956
'The prevalence of PWID [persons who inject drugs] aged 15–64 in 2018 continues to be the highest in Eastern Europe (1.26 per cent) and Central Asia and Transcaucasia (0.63 per cent). Those percentages are, respectively, 5.5 and 2.8 times higher than the global average. More than a quarter of all PWID reside in East and South-East Asia, although the prevalence itself is relatively low (0.19 per cent). The three subregions with the largest numbers of PWID (East and South-East Asia, North America and Eastern Europe) together account for over half (58 per cent) of the global number of PWID. It is noteworthy that, as in previous years, while three countries – China, the Russian Federation and the United States – account for just 27 per cent of the global population aged 15–64, they are home to almost half (43 per cent) of all PWID.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Injecting drug use is estimated to account for approximately 10 per cent of HIV infections worldwide and 30 per cent of all HIV cases outside Africa, while in the eastern countries of the WHO European Region more than 80 per cent of all HIV infections occur among PWID [persons who inject drugs]. PWID are estimated to be 22 times more likely than people in the general population to be living with HIV.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The largest number of PWID [persons who inject drugs] living with HIV reside in Eastern Europe, East and South-East Asia and South-West Asia, which together account for 67 per cent of the global total. Although the prevalence of HIV among PWID (9.3 per cent) is below the global average, a fifth of the global number of PWID living with HIV reside in East and South-East Asia. A small number of countries continue to account for a large proportion of the total global number of PWID living with HIV. In 2018, for example, PWID living with HIV in China, Pakistan and the Russian Federation accounted for almost half of the global total (49 per cent), while PWID in those three countries comprise only a third of all PWID worldwide.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'PWID [persons who inject drugs] are a key population affected by hepatitis C. Global estimates suggest that 71 million people worldwide were chronically infected with hepatitis C in 2017 and that 23 per cent of new hepatitis C infections and one in three hepatitis C-related deaths are attributable to injecting drug use. Hepatitis C-related morbidity and mortality continue to rise, mainly as a result of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and death in cases of untreated hepatitis C' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'At first we filled the scripts without too much trouble. But after a few weeks the scripts had piled up in the drugstores that would fill M[orphine] scripts and they began packing in. It looked like we would be back with Lupita. Once or twice we got short and had to score with Lupita. Using that good drugstore M had run up our habits, and so it took two of Lupita's fifteen-peso papers to fix us. Now, thirty pesos in one shot was a lot more than I could afford to pay. I had to quit, cut down to where I could make it on two of Lupita's papers per day, or find another source of supply.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'UNODC, WHO, UNAIDS and the World Bank jointly estimated the prevalence of hepatitis C among PWID [persons who inject drugs] worldwide in 2018 to be 48.5 per cent, or 5.5 million (range: 4 million to 7.8 million) people aged 15–64. This estimate is based on estimates in 108 countries, covering 94 per cent of the estimated global number of PWID.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'When Baldwin asked how many candidates Warp Speed ultimately would select, Disbrow said, “More than one.” He laughed and apologized. “I’m sorry, it really is procurement sensitive,” Disbrow added, stressing that the stock market is affected by these negotiations. “You will see the press releases when we award these contracts.”
Another witness, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, said a group of vaccine experts his agency convened to work with Warp Speed did a scientific review of 50 candidate COVID-19 vaccines. This review has not been made public, and NIH did not reply to a request for a copy. Members of that group have also expressed surprise at some of Warp Speed’s choices.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/operation-warp-speed-s-opaque-choices-covid-19-vaccines-draw-senate-scrutiny
'UNODC, WHO, UNAIDS and the World Bank jointly estimated the prevalence of hepatitis C among PWID [persons who inject drugs] worldwide in 2018 to be 48.5 per cent, or 5.5 million (range: 4 million to 7.8 million) people aged 15–64. This estimate is based on estimates in 108 countries, covering 94 per cent of the estimated global number of PWID.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'When Baldwin asked how many candidates Warp Speed ultimately would select, Disbrow said, “More than one.” He laughed and apologized. “I’m sorry, it really is procurement sensitive,” Disbrow added, stressing that the stock market is affected by these negotiations. “You will see the press releases when we award these contracts.”
Another witness, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, said a group of vaccine experts his agency convened to work with Warp Speed did a scientific review of 50 candidate COVID-19 vaccines. This review has not been made public, and NIH did not reply to a request for a copy. Members of that group have also expressed surprise at some of Warp Speed’s choices.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/operation-warp-speed-s-opaque-choices-covid-19-vaccines-draw-senate-scrutiny
'We know that even single exposures to these chemicals, if the amount is large enough, can precipitate acute poisoning. But this is not the major problem. The sudden illness or death of farmers, spraymen, pilots, and others exposed to appreciable quantities of pesticides are tragic and should not occur. For the population as a whole, we must be more concerned with the delayed effects of absorbing small amounts of pesticides that invisibly contaminate our world.
Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the biological effects of chemicals are cumulative over long periods of time, and that the hazard to the individual may depend on the sum of the exposures recieved throughout his lifetime. For these very reasons the danger is easily ignored. It is human nature to shrug off what may seem to us a vague threat of future disaster. 'Men are naturally most impressed by disease which have obvious manifestations.' says a wise physician, Dr. Rene Dubos, 'yet some of their worst enemies creep on them unobtrusively.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'Earlier the same month, and again through press releases, Recovery (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 therapy) delivered widely accepted verdicts on two other treatments. It revealed that dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, reduced deaths by one-third in patients on a ventilator and showed that hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug controversially touted for COVID-19, did not benefit hospitalized patients. A run on dexamethasone ensued as physicians in the United Kingdom and elsewhere quickly made it part of their standard of care for the sickest patients, whereas many other studies of hydroxychloroquine now looked futile and were halted.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/one-uk-trial-transforming-covid-19-treatment-why-haven-t-others-delivered-more-results
To market a house cleaning product as good, one of the things to ensure is that one's own house is clean. This applies to vaccines as well. You can't stake a strong claim for anti-Covid medicine sitting on top of the global Covid charts. This is not the Olympics. To strengthen your claim, you need to get off the charts. The Chinese have done it fast, in and out in a flash, setting off the global race. France, Germany, Turkey and Iran have done it. Spain, Italy and UK are doing it, replacing their positions with Peru and Chile and staking their claims to the magic vaccine. The US, Brazil, and India, sitting pretty on top, are starting to resemble sitting ducks. Their hydroxychloroquine gambit seems to have failed, a move too fast too soon, even though their leaders continue to promote it by self medicating. They need to slide off the charts, but its not so easy to start going down suddenly when you have upward momentum. Especially with China supplying the test kits, medicines and PPEs to propel the climb with promises of a quick buck. The Chinese appear to have played masterfully, winning both at home, with all dissent quelled, and abroad, selling its Covid products...the old one two, eh Xi? Everybody else is playing catch up now trying to secure vaccine rights. Which pharma promises the biggest cash prize? WHO's refereeing? All have achieved the (primary?) goal of stunning and tightening control over the restless public..for now at least...
Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the biological effects of chemicals are cumulative over long periods of time, and that the hazard to the individual may depend on the sum of the exposures recieved throughout his lifetime. For these very reasons the danger is easily ignored. It is human nature to shrug off what may seem to us a vague threat of future disaster. 'Men are naturally most impressed by disease which have obvious manifestations.' says a wise physician, Dr. Rene Dubos, 'yet some of their worst enemies creep on them unobtrusively.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'Earlier the same month, and again through press releases, Recovery (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 therapy) delivered widely accepted verdicts on two other treatments. It revealed that dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, reduced deaths by one-third in patients on a ventilator and showed that hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug controversially touted for COVID-19, did not benefit hospitalized patients. A run on dexamethasone ensued as physicians in the United Kingdom and elsewhere quickly made it part of their standard of care for the sickest patients, whereas many other studies of hydroxychloroquine now looked futile and were halted.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/one-uk-trial-transforming-covid-19-treatment-why-haven-t-others-delivered-more-results
To market a house cleaning product as good, one of the things to ensure is that one's own house is clean. This applies to vaccines as well. You can't stake a strong claim for anti-Covid medicine sitting on top of the global Covid charts. This is not the Olympics. To strengthen your claim, you need to get off the charts. The Chinese have done it fast, in and out in a flash, setting off the global race. France, Germany, Turkey and Iran have done it. Spain, Italy and UK are doing it, replacing their positions with Peru and Chile and staking their claims to the magic vaccine. The US, Brazil, and India, sitting pretty on top, are starting to resemble sitting ducks. Their hydroxychloroquine gambit seems to have failed, a move too fast too soon, even though their leaders continue to promote it by self medicating. They need to slide off the charts, but its not so easy to start going down suddenly when you have upward momentum. Especially with China supplying the test kits, medicines and PPEs to propel the climb with promises of a quick buck. The Chinese appear to have played masterfully, winning both at home, with all dissent quelled, and abroad, selling its Covid products...the old one two, eh Xi? Everybody else is playing catch up now trying to secure vaccine rights. Which pharma promises the biggest cash prize? WHO's refereeing? All have achieved the (primary?) goal of stunning and tightening control over the restless public..for now at least...
'One of the script-writing doctors suggested to Ike that he apply for a government permit. Ike explained to me that the Mexican government issued permits to hips allowing them a definite quantity of morphine per month at wholesale prices. The doctor would put in an application for Ike for one hundred pesos. I said, "Go ahead and apply." and gave him the money. I did not expect the deal to go through, but it did. Ten days later, he had a government permit to buy fifteen grams of morphine every month. The permits had to be signed by his doctor and the head doctor at the Board of Health. Then he could take it to a drugstore and have it filled.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'While the annual prevalence of methamphetamine use more than doubled from 0.3 to 0.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older in the United States over the period 2008–2018, the number of psychostimulants involved in drug poisoning deaths in the United States rose from 1,302 to 12,676 deaths over the same period, equivalent to an almost 10-fold increase. This increase may have been inflated by an increasing number of contaminations of psychostimulants with opioids (such as fentanyl and its analogues); however, psychostimulant-related deaths excluding any involvement of opioids still showed an eightfold increase, from 807 deaths in 2008 to 6,271 deaths in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'While the annual prevalence of methamphetamine use more than doubled from 0.3 to 0.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older in the United States over the period 2008–2018, the number of psychostimulants involved in drug poisoning deaths in the United States rose from 1,302 to 12,676 deaths over the same period, equivalent to an almost 10-fold increase. This increase may have been inflated by an increasing number of contaminations of psychostimulants with opioids (such as fentanyl and its analogues); however, psychostimulant-related deaths excluding any involvement of opioids still showed an eightfold increase, from 807 deaths in 2008 to 6,271 deaths in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Junk takes everything and gives nothing but insurance against junk sickness. Every now and then I took a good look at the deal I was giving myself and decided to take the cure. When you are getting plenty of junk, kicking looks easy. You say, "I'm not getting any kick from the shots any more. I might as well quit." But when you cut down into junk sickness, the picture looks different.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'A bizarre happening in the United States during the prohibition era around 1930 was an omen of things to come. It was caused not by an insecticide but by a substance belonging chemically to the same group as the organic phosphate insecticides. During the period some medicinal substances were being pressed into service as substitutes for liquor, being exempted from the prohibition law. One of these was Jamaica ginger. But the United States Pharmacopeia product was expensive, and bootleggers conceived the idea of making a substitute Jamaica ginger. They succeeded so well that their spurious product responded to the appropriate chemical tests and decieved the government chemists. To give their false ginger the necessary tang they had introduced a chemical known as triorthocresyl phosphate. This chemical, like parathion and its relatives, destroys the protective enzyme cholinesterase. As a consequence of drinking the bootleggers' product some 15,000 people developed a permanently crippling type of paralysis of the leg muscles, a condition called 'ginger paralysis'. The paralysis was accompanied by destruction of the nerve sheaths and by degeneration of the cells of the anterior horns of the spinal cord.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'An eating habit is the worst habit you can contract. It takes longer to break than a needle habit, and the withdrawal symptoms are considerably more severe. In fact, it is not uncommon for a junkie with an eating habit to die if he is cut off cold turkey in jail. A junkie with an eating habit suffers from excruciating stomach cramps when he is cut off. And the symptoms last up to three weeks as compared to eight days on a needle habit.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'In the United States, most methamphetamine is sold as methamphetamine. However, there have also been reports of tablets sold as “ecstasy” that contained methamphetamine instead (notably in Missouri). The sale of methamphetamine in the form of falsified Adderall tablets is a new phenomenon, with laboratories manufacturing such falsified medicaments found in a number of states, in particular Georgia and California. The expansion of methamphetamine trafficking has also gone hand in hand with the increasingly common practice of mixing methamphetamine with fentanyls. This practice has proved to be particularly harmful and has contributed to the rapid rise in methamphetamine-related deaths in recent years.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'In the United States, most methamphetamine is sold as methamphetamine. However, there have also been reports of tablets sold as “ecstasy” that contained methamphetamine instead (notably in Missouri). The sale of methamphetamine in the form of falsified Adderall tablets is a new phenomenon, with laboratories manufacturing such falsified medicaments found in a number of states, in particular Georgia and California. The expansion of methamphetamine trafficking has also gone hand in hand with the increasingly common practice of mixing methamphetamine with fentanyls. This practice has proved to be particularly harmful and has contributed to the rapid rise in methamphetamine-related deaths in recent years.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The question is frequently asked: Why does a man become a drug addict?
The answer is that he usually does not intend to become an addict. You don't wake up one morning and decide to become a drug addict. It takes at least three months' shooting twice a day to get any habit at all. And you don't really know wht junk sickness is until you have had several habits. It took me almost six months to get my first habit, and then the withdrawal symptoms were mild. I think it is no exaggeration to say it takes about a year and several hundred injections to make an addict' - Prologue, Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'In the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, the quantities of methamphetamine seized increased markedly in 2018. However, the marked decline in the reported quantities of amphetamine seized in recent years (-37 per cent in 2017 and -80 per cent in 2018) seems to be largely a statistical artefact. Some of this decline may have been related to changes in the categorization of stimulants seized, for example, “prescription stimulants” instead of “amphetamine”. Even more important has been the hiatus in the reporting of seizures to UNODC by some countries known to be affected by major amphetamine trafficking activities. There is plenty of evidence that trafficking in amphetamine, in particular of “captagon” tablets, has also continued in the Near and Middle East in recent years. INCB, for example, in its most recent annual report noted the following: The manufacture and trafficking of counterfeit “captagon” continued to seriously affect the countries of the Middle East, which not only are destination markets for those drugs but are also increasingly becoming a source of counterfeit “captagon”…Political instability and unresolved conflicts, poverty and the lack of economic opportunities in some parts of the subregion have contributed to increased trafficking in…“captagon”' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Instability and conflict in the Middle East contributed to the trafficking in falsified “captagon” in the subregion. A lack of control and monitoring led to an increase in the manufacture of “captagon” tablets in some countries over the period 2014–2018, which turned into an additional source of income for terrorist and insurgency groups in the Middle East. Captagon was originally the trademarked brand name of a medicinal product containing fenetylline, until the substance was placed under international control in 1986. While the diversion of fenetylline from existing stocks might have continued until the end of the 1990s, those stocks, some of which were apparently located in Bulgaria, became depleted. However, the “captagon” name and logo continued to be used even though the composition of the counterfeit tablets had changed, and increasingly, seized “captagon” tablets were found to contain amphetamine, often mixed with caffeine and other substances.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The two countries most frequently reported as countries of origin of amphetamine (mainly “captagon”) seized in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia in the period 2014–2018 were Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, which together accounted for some 40 per cent of all mentions of countries of origin reported by the authorities in the subregion. Final destinations are mostly countries in the Near and Middle East, most notably Saudi Arabia and various other Gulf countries, in particular the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, using both direct and indirect routes.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
The answer is that he usually does not intend to become an addict. You don't wake up one morning and decide to become a drug addict. It takes at least three months' shooting twice a day to get any habit at all. And you don't really know wht junk sickness is until you have had several habits. It took me almost six months to get my first habit, and then the withdrawal symptoms were mild. I think it is no exaggeration to say it takes about a year and several hundred injections to make an addict' - Prologue, Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'In the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, the quantities of methamphetamine seized increased markedly in 2018. However, the marked decline in the reported quantities of amphetamine seized in recent years (-37 per cent in 2017 and -80 per cent in 2018) seems to be largely a statistical artefact. Some of this decline may have been related to changes in the categorization of stimulants seized, for example, “prescription stimulants” instead of “amphetamine”. Even more important has been the hiatus in the reporting of seizures to UNODC by some countries known to be affected by major amphetamine trafficking activities. There is plenty of evidence that trafficking in amphetamine, in particular of “captagon” tablets, has also continued in the Near and Middle East in recent years. INCB, for example, in its most recent annual report noted the following: The manufacture and trafficking of counterfeit “captagon” continued to seriously affect the countries of the Middle East, which not only are destination markets for those drugs but are also increasingly becoming a source of counterfeit “captagon”…Political instability and unresolved conflicts, poverty and the lack of economic opportunities in some parts of the subregion have contributed to increased trafficking in…“captagon”' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Instability and conflict in the Middle East contributed to the trafficking in falsified “captagon” in the subregion. A lack of control and monitoring led to an increase in the manufacture of “captagon” tablets in some countries over the period 2014–2018, which turned into an additional source of income for terrorist and insurgency groups in the Middle East. Captagon was originally the trademarked brand name of a medicinal product containing fenetylline, until the substance was placed under international control in 1986. While the diversion of fenetylline from existing stocks might have continued until the end of the 1990s, those stocks, some of which were apparently located in Bulgaria, became depleted. However, the “captagon” name and logo continued to be used even though the composition of the counterfeit tablets had changed, and increasingly, seized “captagon” tablets were found to contain amphetamine, often mixed with caffeine and other substances.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The two countries most frequently reported as countries of origin of amphetamine (mainly “captagon”) seized in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia in the period 2014–2018 were Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, which together accounted for some 40 per cent of all mentions of countries of origin reported by the authorities in the subregion. Final destinations are mostly countries in the Near and Middle East, most notably Saudi Arabia and various other Gulf countries, in particular the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, using both direct and indirect routes.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The question, of course, could be asked: Why did you ever try narcotics? Why did you continue using it long enough to become an addict? You become a narcotics addict because you do not have strong motivations in any other direction. Junk wins by default. I tried it as a matter of curiosity. I drifted along taking shots when I could score. I ended up hooked. Most addicts I have talked to report a similar experience. They did not start using drugs for any reason they can remember. They just drifted along until they got hooked. If you have never been addicted, you can have no clear idea what it means to need junk with the addict's special need. You don't decide to be an addict. One morning you wake up sick and you're an addict.' - Prologue, Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
'If the bill is passed and assented by the President, cannabis plantation will generate income far more than oil as cannabis now has various benefits and value chain in pharmaceutical industries for drugs and cosmetic manufacturing as well as other research purposes for institutions, saying by so doing it will create employment for the teeming youths in Nigeria.'
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/the-bill-to-legalise-medical-use-of-marijuana/
'Results of the experiment indicated that the two cannabinoid-infused mouthwashes significantly inhibited the growth of bacteria—on par with the chlorhexidine. The two over-the-counter mouthwashes, meanwhile, had little to no detectable effect.
“Cannabinoids (CBD / CBG) infused mouthwashes together with other natural key ingredients shows promising bactericidal activity in vitro against total-culturable aerobic bacterial content in dental plaque,” the study says, “with efficiency equivalent to or better than that of the gold standard (0.2% chlorhexidine).”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/cbd-infused-mouthwash-works-better-than-regular-products-industry-study-shows/
'The study of herbal medicine spans the knowledge of biology, history, source, physical and chemical nature, and mechanism of action, traditional, medicinal and therapeutic use of drug. This article also provide knowledge about macroscopically and microscopically characters of Cannabis sativa with geographical sources. The wellknown cannabinoids are Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Cannabidiol (CBD) and Cannabichromene (CBC) and their pharmacological properties and importance have been extensively studied. Hence, efforts are required to establish and validate evidence regarding safety and practices of Ayurveda medicines.
Conclusion: These studies will help in expanding the current therapeutic potential of C. sativa and it also provide a strong support to its future clinical use as herbal medicines having safe in use with no side effects'
https://www.eurekaselect.com/183226/article
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
'If the bill is passed and assented by the President, cannabis plantation will generate income far more than oil as cannabis now has various benefits and value chain in pharmaceutical industries for drugs and cosmetic manufacturing as well as other research purposes for institutions, saying by so doing it will create employment for the teeming youths in Nigeria.'
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/the-bill-to-legalise-medical-use-of-marijuana/
'Results of the experiment indicated that the two cannabinoid-infused mouthwashes significantly inhibited the growth of bacteria—on par with the chlorhexidine. The two over-the-counter mouthwashes, meanwhile, had little to no detectable effect.
“Cannabinoids (CBD / CBG) infused mouthwashes together with other natural key ingredients shows promising bactericidal activity in vitro against total-culturable aerobic bacterial content in dental plaque,” the study says, “with efficiency equivalent to or better than that of the gold standard (0.2% chlorhexidine).”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/cbd-infused-mouthwash-works-better-than-regular-products-industry-study-shows/
'The study of herbal medicine spans the knowledge of biology, history, source, physical and chemical nature, and mechanism of action, traditional, medicinal and therapeutic use of drug. This article also provide knowledge about macroscopically and microscopically characters of Cannabis sativa with geographical sources. The wellknown cannabinoids are Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Cannabidiol (CBD) and Cannabichromene (CBC) and their pharmacological properties and importance have been extensively studied. Hence, efforts are required to establish and validate evidence regarding safety and practices of Ayurveda medicines.
Conclusion: These studies will help in expanding the current therapeutic potential of C. sativa and it also provide a strong support to its future clinical use as herbal medicines having safe in use with no side effects'
https://www.eurekaselect.com/183226/article
'Junk is a cellular equation that teaches the user facts of general validity. I have learned a great deal from using junk: I have seen life measured out in eyedroppers of morphine solution. I experienced the agonizing deprivation of junk sickness, and the pleasure of relief when junk-thirsty cells drank from the needle. Perhaps all pleasure is relief. I have learned the cellular stoicism that junk teaches the user. I have seen a cell full of sick junkies silent and immobile in separate misery. They knew the pointlessness of complaining or moving. They knew that basically no one can help anyone else. There is no key, no secret someone else has that he can give you.' - Prologue, Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Over the past two decades, drug markets have become increasingly complex in terms of variety and combinations of substances used and trafficked, manufacturing processes and the organizational structure of drug trafficking organizations. There has been a rapid emergence of new substances, as well as new mixes of controlled and non-controlled substances, with an increasing misuse of pharmaceuticals, which poses new challenges for both drug demand and supply control efforts at the national, regional and global levels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In the late 1990s, some 230 psychoactive substances were under international control, of which a handful dominated the global drug markets, most notably cannabis, cocaine, opium, heroin, amphetamines and “ecstasy”. Two decades later, the situation has changed, as there are now far more substances on the market. A number of synthetic NPS (i.e. psychoactive substances that mimic the properties of substances already under international control) emerged on the drug markets in the past decade, including synthetic cannabinoids, cathinones, phenethylamines, piperazines and various fentanyl analogues, resulting in a new wave of scheduling of such substances at the international level, with the total number of substances under international control rising from 234 in 2014 to 282 in 2018. At the same time, the number of NPS rose from 166 substances over the period 2005–2009 to 950 substances by the end of 2019. Worldwide, in recent years authorities have identified more than three times as many NPS as there are psychoactive substances under international control' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The situation is particularly complex for the opioids group, as both legally and illegally produced substances satisfy the non-medical demand for opioids. While illegally produced opiates, such as heroin, used to dominate the non-medical demand for opioids, the illicit opioid markets in many countries have become far more diversified over the past two decades, with a number of pharmaceutical opioids that have started to cover a substantial part of the market for opioids for non-medical purposes.
This is creating an additional challenge for drug use prevention because, unlike the traditional hard drugs such as heroin, pharmaceuticals are often not perceived as harmful. In terms of drug control, this requires a careful equilibrium between maximizing accessibility for medical use while minimizing availability for non-medical use. It should be noted that the use of pharmaceuticals for non-medical purposes is not limited to opioids. There is also a substantial market for stimulant pharmaceuticals for non-medical use, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The growing complexity of drug markets can be also seen in the manufacturing processes of synthetic drugs. In the past, a limited number of precursor chemicals was used to manufacture synthetic drugs, such as amphetamine (manufactured mostly from P-2-P), methamphetamine (manufactured mostly from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, or from P-2-P in North America) and “ecstasy” (mainly manufactured from 3,4-MDP-2-P). This has changed over the past two decades. As the key precursors mentioned above are all under international control, traffickers have been looking for alternatives. Over the years, different strategies have been adopted by traffickers to overcome controls using as alternative precursors substances that were not equally well controlled in all countries, noncontrolled pre-precursors and so-called “designer precursors”, that is, chemicals specifically designed to circumvent existing precursor control systems. Pharmaceutical preparations containing controlled precursor chemicals have also been used to supply precursors because, although controlled, they are exempt from a number of control mechanisms such as the system of pre-export notifications' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Over the past two decades, drug markets have become increasingly complex in terms of variety and combinations of substances used and trafficked, manufacturing processes and the organizational structure of drug trafficking organizations. There has been a rapid emergence of new substances, as well as new mixes of controlled and non-controlled substances, with an increasing misuse of pharmaceuticals, which poses new challenges for both drug demand and supply control efforts at the national, regional and global levels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In the late 1990s, some 230 psychoactive substances were under international control, of which a handful dominated the global drug markets, most notably cannabis, cocaine, opium, heroin, amphetamines and “ecstasy”. Two decades later, the situation has changed, as there are now far more substances on the market. A number of synthetic NPS (i.e. psychoactive substances that mimic the properties of substances already under international control) emerged on the drug markets in the past decade, including synthetic cannabinoids, cathinones, phenethylamines, piperazines and various fentanyl analogues, resulting in a new wave of scheduling of such substances at the international level, with the total number of substances under international control rising from 234 in 2014 to 282 in 2018. At the same time, the number of NPS rose from 166 substances over the period 2005–2009 to 950 substances by the end of 2019. Worldwide, in recent years authorities have identified more than three times as many NPS as there are psychoactive substances under international control' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The situation is particularly complex for the opioids group, as both legally and illegally produced substances satisfy the non-medical demand for opioids. While illegally produced opiates, such as heroin, used to dominate the non-medical demand for opioids, the illicit opioid markets in many countries have become far more diversified over the past two decades, with a number of pharmaceutical opioids that have started to cover a substantial part of the market for opioids for non-medical purposes.
This is creating an additional challenge for drug use prevention because, unlike the traditional hard drugs such as heroin, pharmaceuticals are often not perceived as harmful. In terms of drug control, this requires a careful equilibrium between maximizing accessibility for medical use while minimizing availability for non-medical use. It should be noted that the use of pharmaceuticals for non-medical purposes is not limited to opioids. There is also a substantial market for stimulant pharmaceuticals for non-medical use, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The growing complexity of drug markets can be also seen in the manufacturing processes of synthetic drugs. In the past, a limited number of precursor chemicals was used to manufacture synthetic drugs, such as amphetamine (manufactured mostly from P-2-P), methamphetamine (manufactured mostly from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, or from P-2-P in North America) and “ecstasy” (mainly manufactured from 3,4-MDP-2-P). This has changed over the past two decades. As the key precursors mentioned above are all under international control, traffickers have been looking for alternatives. Over the years, different strategies have been adopted by traffickers to overcome controls using as alternative precursors substances that were not equally well controlled in all countries, noncontrolled pre-precursors and so-called “designer precursors”, that is, chemicals specifically designed to circumvent existing precursor control systems. Pharmaceutical preparations containing controlled precursor chemicals have also been used to supply precursors because, although controlled, they are exempt from a number of control mechanisms such as the system of pre-export notifications' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'I have learned the junk equation. Junk is not, like alcohol or weed, a means to increased enjoyment of life. Junk is not a kick. It is a way of life.' - Prologue, Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Polydrug use is not a recent trend. It remains a public health concern because the use of multiple drugs potentially increases risks and exacerbates dependence. The management of polydrug use remains a complex and challenging task because treatment is often less successful for individuals who use multiple substances. Moreover, it is difficult to find evidence to address the question about whether the complexity of the drug markets has increased over the past two decades in terms of the number of substances and combinations involved in polydrug use.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'There is evidence that the number of polydrug users has increased in the United States and in the United Kingdom because in both countries the ratio of the aggregated number of users of individual drugs compared with the total number of drug users has followed an upward trend. It is still difficult, however, to assess the actual impact of this trend in terms of health consequences.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'However, polydrug trafficking is not limited to Europe and can also be found in other regions and subregions, including North America, South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. For a number of years, for example, polydrug trafficking organizations have been dismantled in the United States. A recent example was the dismantlement in July 2019 of an organization involving more than 50 people selling counterfeit oxycodone pills (containing fentanyl), methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and benzodiazepine pills, as well as various types of weapons.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Polydrug use is not a recent trend. It remains a public health concern because the use of multiple drugs potentially increases risks and exacerbates dependence. The management of polydrug use remains a complex and challenging task because treatment is often less successful for individuals who use multiple substances. Moreover, it is difficult to find evidence to address the question about whether the complexity of the drug markets has increased over the past two decades in terms of the number of substances and combinations involved in polydrug use.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'There is evidence that the number of polydrug users has increased in the United States and in the United Kingdom because in both countries the ratio of the aggregated number of users of individual drugs compared with the total number of drug users has followed an upward trend. It is still difficult, however, to assess the actual impact of this trend in terms of health consequences.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'However, polydrug trafficking is not limited to Europe and can also be found in other regions and subregions, including North America, South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. For a number of years, for example, polydrug trafficking organizations have been dismantled in the United States. A recent example was the dismantlement in July 2019 of an organization involving more than 50 people selling counterfeit oxycodone pills (containing fentanyl), methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and benzodiazepine pills, as well as various types of weapons.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
Top selling drug of pharma industry - 'common side effects include upper respiratory tract infections, pain at the site of injection, rash, and headache. Other side effects may include serious infections, cancer, anaphylaxis, reactivation of hepatitis B, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, liver failure, and aplastic anemia. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. There is strong evidence that adalimumab increases risk of serious infections, such as tuberculosis. - source- Wikipedia'
'Those anticipating Humira (adalimumab) relinquishing its crown as the industry’s best-selling drug still have some time to wait. AbbVie’s legendary patent thicket around the drug means that any US biosimilars will not launch until 2023 at the earliest. '
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41573-020-00047-7
'Adalimumab, sold under the brand name Humira among others, is a medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, uveitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Use is generally only recommended in people who have not responded to other treatments. It is used by injection under the skin.
Common side effects include upper respiratory tract infections, pain at the site of injection, rash, and headache. Other side effects may include serious infections, cancer, anaphylaxis, reactivation of hepatitis B, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, liver failure, and aplastic anemia.
It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. There is strong evidence that adalimumab increases risk of serious infections, such as tuberculosis. It also increases the risk of cancers, including lymphoma and solid malignancies. The risk of cancer is higher with higher doses of adalimumab'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalimumab
'Overall, these PROs underscore four key points: 1) individuals are substituting cannabis for prescription drugs, independent of whether they identify themselves as medical users (medical users are doing so at almost five times the odds of non-medical users) and independent of legal access to medical cannabis; 2) this practice increases in frequency with age, up to 65 years, and is more common in females, particularly female medical users, and Native American/Asians/Pacific Islanders; 3) the most common classes of substitution were narcotics/opioids, anxiolytics/benzodiazepines and antidepressants; and 4) the odds of reporting substituting cannabis for prescription drugs were more than one and a half times greater among those reporting the use of cannabis to manage pain, anxiety and depression than among those using it to manage only one of these three conditions. Stated differently, pain, anxiety and depression seem to represent a comorbidity triad that is associated with greater substitution frequency.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5422566/
'He located a doctor in Brooklyn who was a writing fool. That croaker would go three scripts a day for as high as thirty tablets a script. Every now and then he would get dubious on the deal, but the sight of money always straightened him out.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'NPS users report a range of reasons behind their preference for NPS as opposed to traditional drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin, including typical lack of detectability, greater affordability, lack of stigma, and relative ease of online acquisition. Recently, however, the phenomenon of using prescription drugs in an idiosyncratic way to resemble, or counteract, the effects of NPS, has increasingly been described. This phenomenon refers not only to high potency opioids (e.g., fentanyl) and ‘exotic’/designer benzodiazepines—molecules already having been reported to be addictive—but also: gabapentinoids, a range of stimulants, antipsychotics, antidepressants and image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDS, e.g., anabolic steroids, vitamins, clenbuterol and salbutamol). Among over-the-counter drugs, the two most common agents reportedly ingested in intentional abuse cases are the antitussive, dextromethorphan, and loperamide, a common antidiarrhoeal drug.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5924409/
'This nationwide population-based cross-sectional study delineated that nurses had a nearly four-fold risk for OSHA (overdose for sedatives, hypnotics, and antipsychotics) than other HCPs. Younger nurses (< 35 years) had higher risks for OSHA than their respective younger controls in the general population. Younger nurses, registered nurses, and nurses from clinics, local hospitals, and regional hospitals had higher risks than their respective nurse controls, which suggests that more attention
should be given to the occupational health of these populations'
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202004
'Within a cohort of 146 patients initiated on medical cannabis therapy, 45.2% patients successfully discontinued their pre-existing benzodiazepine therapy. This observation merits further investigation into the risks and benefits of the therapeutic use of medical cannabis and its role relating to benzodiazepine use.'
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/can.2018.0020
'NPS users report a range of reasons behind their preference for NPS as opposed to traditional drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin, including typical lack of detectability, greater affordability, lack of stigma, and relative ease of online acquisition. Recently, however, the phenomenon of using prescription drugs in an idiosyncratic way to resemble, or counteract, the effects of NPS, has increasingly been described. This phenomenon refers not only to high potency opioids (e.g., fentanyl) and ‘exotic’/designer benzodiazepines—molecules already having been reported to be addictive—but also: gabapentinoids, a range of stimulants, antipsychotics, antidepressants and image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDS, e.g., anabolic steroids, vitamins, clenbuterol and salbutamol). Among over-the-counter drugs, the two most common agents reportedly ingested in intentional abuse cases are the antitussive, dextromethorphan, and loperamide, a common antidiarrhoeal drug.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5924409/
'This nationwide population-based cross-sectional study delineated that nurses had a nearly four-fold risk for OSHA (overdose for sedatives, hypnotics, and antipsychotics) than other HCPs. Younger nurses (< 35 years) had higher risks for OSHA than their respective younger controls in the general population. Younger nurses, registered nurses, and nurses from clinics, local hospitals, and regional hospitals had higher risks than their respective nurse controls, which suggests that more attention
should be given to the occupational health of these populations'
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202004
'Within a cohort of 146 patients initiated on medical cannabis therapy, 45.2% patients successfully discontinued their pre-existing benzodiazepine therapy. This observation merits further investigation into the risks and benefits of the therapeutic use of medical cannabis and its role relating to benzodiazepine use.'
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/can.2018.0020
'There are several varieties of writing croakers. Some will write only if they are convinced you are an addict, others only if they are convinced you are not. Most addicts put down a story worn smooth by years of use. Some claim gallstones or kidney stones. This is the story most generally used, and a croaker will often get up and open the door as soon as you mention gallstones. I got better results with facial neuralgia after I had looked up the symptoms and committed them to memory. Roy had an operation scar on his stomach that he used to suport his gallstone routine.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Beyond the problems of fitting within a medical world monopolized by synthetic products, the emergence of marijuana as medicine is not being driven by doctors, scientists, and pharmaceutical companies. It is a grassroots movement driven by the demands of patients already self-medicating with marijuana. The only reason marijuana re-entered our medical landscape is that self-medicating patients commenced litigation claiming that they had the constitutional right to choose this medicine despite the presence of a criminal prohibition. It turns out they were right.'
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/171516350413700101
'So, excuse us if we put more stock in what patients say than in discredited “reefer madness” warnings from those who would make criminals of Eric Crawford of Mason County and many other Kentuckians who say they find greater relief in illegal cannabis than in the legal treatments they have tried.'
https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article224079695.html
'According to Newman and Cragg 2012, the utility of natural products as sources of novel structures is still alive and well. Up to 50% the approved drugs during the last 30 years are from either directly or indirectly from natural products and in the area of cancer, over the time frame from around the 1940s to date, of the 175 small molecules 85 actually being either natural products or directly derived there from.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3560124/
'“We haven’t seen a big spike in consumption,” Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper told Rolling Stone in April. “The only increase in consumption is among senior citizens, which we think is either Baby Boomers coming home to roost or arthritis and the aches and pains of growing older—people finding that marijuana is better pain solution than opioids or other things.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-consumption-booming-among-baby-boomers-study-finds/
'Generally speaking, old doctors are more apt to write than the young ones. Refugee doctors were a good field for a while, but the addicts burned them down.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
Opposing cannabis through large scale funding...then deciding on becoming a cannabis company and finally exporting failed drugs internationally since its not viable locally anymore....a pharma case study....
'President and CEO Saeed Motahari said that the waning market for fentanyl delivery systems, which are prone to misuse, has negatively impacted Subsys sales in the context of the overdose crisis. Asked who would buy the company’s opioid assets, he said they would appeal to oncology companies.
In spite of the announcement of the shift in strategy, Insys will maintain the activity of Subsys until a sale. But now they’ll be focusing on international markets. Insys has reached an exclusive deal with Dubai-based company Lunatas to commercialize Subsys in the Middle East. '
https://filtermag.org/2018/11/06/insys-which-fought-cannabis-legalization-now-hopes-to-turn-itself-entirely-into-a-cannabis-company/
At approx 10$ a gram for legal marijuana, with $32,500 you can buy about 3250g or 3.25 kg a year of natural flower and consume it at nearly 10g a day for the whole year...
'The drug gained approval for medical use by the FDA earlier this summer, and in September the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration classified it as a Schedule V drug. In order to help low-income patients afford the drug, which will reportedly cost patients around $32,500 a year without insurance, GW has launched a program called EPIDIOLEX Engage aimed at lowering out-of-pocket costs.'
https://www.hempbizjournal.com/epidiolex-now-available-50-u-s-states/
Packaging the plant the pharma way...
'GW Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: GWPH, AIM: “GWP,” GW,” “the Company” or “the Group”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform, announces positive top-line results of the second randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial of EPIDIOLEX® (cannabidiol or CBD) CV in the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of childhood-onset epilepsy.'
http://ir.gwpharm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gw-pharmaceuticals-announces-second-positive-phase-3-pivotal-0
'As a part of the agreement, Tilray will be able to use Sandoz’s muscular global sales channels to help smooth the way for the marijuana producer to introduce medical products where it is legally allowed to do so, Kennedy said. Tilray said that it cut an exclusive deal with Novartis, which is not allowed to partner with another pot company, and Tilray cannot make a pact with another pharmaceutical business on non-combustible products.'
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tilray-partners-with-novartis-in-big-pharmas-first-deal-of-its-kind-with-big-marijuana-2018-12-18
Opposing cannabis through large scale funding...then deciding on becoming a cannabis company and finally exporting failed drugs internationally since its not viable locally anymore....a pharma case study....
'President and CEO Saeed Motahari said that the waning market for fentanyl delivery systems, which are prone to misuse, has negatively impacted Subsys sales in the context of the overdose crisis. Asked who would buy the company’s opioid assets, he said they would appeal to oncology companies.
In spite of the announcement of the shift in strategy, Insys will maintain the activity of Subsys until a sale. But now they’ll be focusing on international markets. Insys has reached an exclusive deal with Dubai-based company Lunatas to commercialize Subsys in the Middle East. '
https://filtermag.org/2018/11/06/insys-which-fought-cannabis-legalization-now-hopes-to-turn-itself-entirely-into-a-cannabis-company/
At approx 10$ a gram for legal marijuana, with $32,500 you can buy about 3250g or 3.25 kg a year of natural flower and consume it at nearly 10g a day for the whole year...
'The drug gained approval for medical use by the FDA earlier this summer, and in September the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration classified it as a Schedule V drug. In order to help low-income patients afford the drug, which will reportedly cost patients around $32,500 a year without insurance, GW has launched a program called EPIDIOLEX Engage aimed at lowering out-of-pocket costs.'
https://www.hempbizjournal.com/epidiolex-now-available-50-u-s-states/
Packaging the plant the pharma way...
'GW Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: GWPH, AIM: “GWP,” GW,” “the Company” or “the Group”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform, announces positive top-line results of the second randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial of EPIDIOLEX® (cannabidiol or CBD) CV in the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of childhood-onset epilepsy.'
http://ir.gwpharm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gw-pharmaceuticals-announces-second-positive-phase-3-pivotal-0
'As a part of the agreement, Tilray will be able to use Sandoz’s muscular global sales channels to help smooth the way for the marijuana producer to introduce medical products where it is legally allowed to do so, Kennedy said. Tilray said that it cut an exclusive deal with Novartis, which is not allowed to partner with another pot company, and Tilray cannot make a pact with another pharmaceutical business on non-combustible products.'
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tilray-partners-with-novartis-in-big-pharmas-first-deal-of-its-kind-with-big-marijuana-2018-12-18
'Doctors are so exclusively nurtured on exaggerated ideas of their position that, generally speaking, a factual approach is the worst possible. Even though they do not believe your story, nonetheless they want to hear one. It is like some Oriental face-saving ritual. One man plays the high-minded doctor who wouldn't write an unethical script for a thousand dollars, the other does his best to act like a legitimate patient. If you say, "Look, Doc, I want an M.S. script and am willing to pay double price for it," the croaker blows his top and throws you out of the office. You need a good bedside manner with doctors or you will get nowhere.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'When asked if pharmaceutical companies could use the results of foreign studies, Dr Lee said this was not possible in the case of marijuana due to its high profile.
He also said the specifics of these trials may not be completely in line with the products that pharmaceutical firms planned for Malaysia.'
https://www.malaymail.com/s/1706394/health-ministry-wants-documented-evidence-of-medical-marijuana-benefits-fir
'The Civil Sector for Medical Marijuana has raised doubts about the Intellectual Property Department’s (IPD) apparent reluctance to reject cannabis-related patent applications filed by two firms.
In its statement, the group identified these firms as GW Pharma and Otsuka.
“All seven controversial patent applications related to cannabis are from these two firms,” the group said.'
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30362472
'British pharmaceutical company GW Pharma and its American subsidiary Greenwich BioSciences are quietly moving proprietary CBD bills through at least two U.S. state legislatures, and could have plans for similar bills in other states.
The proposed measures, both taken from the same template, would effectively give GW/Greenwich a temporary monopoly on legal CBD products in South Dakota and Nebraska.
The pharmaceutical company’s lobbyists are moving in anticipation of the FDA’s expected approval of Epidiolex, a CBD-based drug that’s currently in Phase III clinical trials. Epidiolex has been developed by GW/Greenwich for the treatment of several rare childhood-onset epilepsy disorders. The company has been developing the drug for years, and FDA approval could come as early as this summer.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/leafly-exclusive-gw-pharma-moving-cbd-bills-low
'When asked if pharmaceutical companies could use the results of foreign studies, Dr Lee said this was not possible in the case of marijuana due to its high profile.
He also said the specifics of these trials may not be completely in line with the products that pharmaceutical firms planned for Malaysia.'
https://www.malaymail.com/s/1706394/health-ministry-wants-documented-evidence-of-medical-marijuana-benefits-fir
'The Civil Sector for Medical Marijuana has raised doubts about the Intellectual Property Department’s (IPD) apparent reluctance to reject cannabis-related patent applications filed by two firms.
In its statement, the group identified these firms as GW Pharma and Otsuka.
“All seven controversial patent applications related to cannabis are from these two firms,” the group said.'
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30362472
'British pharmaceutical company GW Pharma and its American subsidiary Greenwich BioSciences are quietly moving proprietary CBD bills through at least two U.S. state legislatures, and could have plans for similar bills in other states.
The proposed measures, both taken from the same template, would effectively give GW/Greenwich a temporary monopoly on legal CBD products in South Dakota and Nebraska.
The pharmaceutical company’s lobbyists are moving in anticipation of the FDA’s expected approval of Epidiolex, a CBD-based drug that’s currently in Phase III clinical trials. Epidiolex has been developed by GW/Greenwich for the treatment of several rare childhood-onset epilepsy disorders. The company has been developing the drug for years, and FDA approval could come as early as this summer.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/leafly-exclusive-gw-pharma-moving-cbd-bills-low
'We were having trouble filling the scripts. Most drugstores will only fill a morphine script once or twice, many not at all. There was one drugstore that would fill all our scripts anytime, and we took them all there..' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Medical Marijuana Inc CEO Stuart Titus told Benzinga the company became the first CBD company to be listed in the Prescribers’ Digital Reference, a book and online database containing drug manufacturers' prescribing information, used by doctors, pharmacists and other health care practitioners across the United States.'
https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/19/02/13153490/scoop-one-of-americas-top-pharmaceutical-drug-directories-includes-c
Pharma companies try their best to milk as much revenue as possible from the plant by breaking down the herb into its constituents, amping up the potency of each constituent if possible and selling each constituent independently as a pharmaceutical drug at exorbitant rates. If the plant itself is legalized and sold in its natural form, how will pharma companies, insurance companies, medical institutions, doctors,regulatory bodies, governments, etc make maximum money in minimum time? Only the farmers, especially the smaller ones and the consumers would stand to gain. Now that wouldn't be good for the middlemen, would it?
'GW Pharmaceuticals is setting out to sell $300 million worth of U.S. depository shares. The London-based company’s announcement comes on the heels of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s move to take some cannabidiol products off the most restrictive class of controlled substances.
That change will allow Epidiolex – a CBD drug manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals to treat rare types of epilepsy – to be distributed through traditional pharmaceutical channels via doctors’ prescriptions rather than medical marijuana dispensaries.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/cbd-drugmaker-gw-pharmaceuticals-poised-to-raise-300-million-with-stock-offering/
Now, could this be a reason why the US government is stalling on making cannabis federally legal? I wonder how many other governments around the world have quietly approved pharma patents on the ganja plant.
'American cannabis growers, medical patients, and dispensary owners continue to risk arrest and imprisonment for conducting the same kind of work that investors are rewarding GW Pharma for today. The British company has yet to enforce any of its patents against American purveyors of botanical medicine. But it is now armed with patents backed by the full faith, credit, and power of the U.S. government. And if cannabis turns federally legal, the day of patent enforcement may arrive.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/how-gw-pharma-could-use-us-patents-to-shape-the-future-of-medical
'“This study advances knowledge in the evidence-based approach to harm reduction and benefit promotion regarding medical cannabis,” the researchers wrote. “Given the growing use of cannabis for medical purposes and the widespread use for recreation purposes despite criminalization, the current public health framework focusing primarily on cannabis abstinence appears obsolete.”
“Those working in public health and medicine have an obligation to reduce harm and maximize benefits to the health of individuals and society, and thus serious consideration and scientific investigation of medical cannabis are needed,” the study concluded.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/most-medical-marijuana-patients-stop-or-reduce-pharmaceutical-use-with-cannabis-survey-finds/
'Medical Marijuana Inc CEO Stuart Titus told Benzinga the company became the first CBD company to be listed in the Prescribers’ Digital Reference, a book and online database containing drug manufacturers' prescribing information, used by doctors, pharmacists and other health care practitioners across the United States.'
https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/19/02/13153490/scoop-one-of-americas-top-pharmaceutical-drug-directories-includes-c
Pharma companies try their best to milk as much revenue as possible from the plant by breaking down the herb into its constituents, amping up the potency of each constituent if possible and selling each constituent independently as a pharmaceutical drug at exorbitant rates. If the plant itself is legalized and sold in its natural form, how will pharma companies, insurance companies, medical institutions, doctors,regulatory bodies, governments, etc make maximum money in minimum time? Only the farmers, especially the smaller ones and the consumers would stand to gain. Now that wouldn't be good for the middlemen, would it?
'GW Pharmaceuticals is setting out to sell $300 million worth of U.S. depository shares. The London-based company’s announcement comes on the heels of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s move to take some cannabidiol products off the most restrictive class of controlled substances.
That change will allow Epidiolex – a CBD drug manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals to treat rare types of epilepsy – to be distributed through traditional pharmaceutical channels via doctors’ prescriptions rather than medical marijuana dispensaries.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/cbd-drugmaker-gw-pharmaceuticals-poised-to-raise-300-million-with-stock-offering/
Now, could this be a reason why the US government is stalling on making cannabis federally legal? I wonder how many other governments around the world have quietly approved pharma patents on the ganja plant.
'American cannabis growers, medical patients, and dispensary owners continue to risk arrest and imprisonment for conducting the same kind of work that investors are rewarding GW Pharma for today. The British company has yet to enforce any of its patents against American purveyors of botanical medicine. But it is now armed with patents backed by the full faith, credit, and power of the U.S. government. And if cannabis turns federally legal, the day of patent enforcement may arrive.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/how-gw-pharma-could-use-us-patents-to-shape-the-future-of-medical
'“This study advances knowledge in the evidence-based approach to harm reduction and benefit promotion regarding medical cannabis,” the researchers wrote. “Given the growing use of cannabis for medical purposes and the widespread use for recreation purposes despite criminalization, the current public health framework focusing primarily on cannabis abstinence appears obsolete.”
“Those working in public health and medicine have an obligation to reduce harm and maximize benefits to the health of individuals and society, and thus serious consideration and scientific investigation of medical cannabis are needed,” the study concluded.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/most-medical-marijuana-patients-stop-or-reduce-pharmaceutical-use-with-cannabis-survey-finds/
'As a habit takes hold, other interests lose importance to the user. Life telescopes down to junk, one fix and looking forward to the next, "stashes" and "scripts," "spikes" and "droppers." The addict himself often feels that he is leading a normal life and that junk is incidental. He does not realize that he is just going through the motions in his non-junk activities. It is not until his supply is cut off that he realizes what junk means to him.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'The President of the Pharmacy Association in Zurich, Valeria Dora, says that more and more people in Switzerland are consuming cannabis, and that selling it legally would provide users with safe products and combat criminals profiting on the black market.
The group has penned a position paper stating its desire to decriminalise marijuana for medical and recreational use.
Experts have praised the move, saying it is the right thing to do and that the necessary infrastructure and staff already exists.'
https://www.thelocal.ch/20190111/swiss-pharmacies-want-to-sell-marijuana-in-the-future-valeria-dora-cannabis
'Evening cannabis smokers in general report more restful sleep. Using cannabis allows most people a more complete rest with a higher amount of “alpha time” during sleep as compared with prescription or sleep-inducing patent sedatives. Prescription sleeping pills (the so called “legal, safe and effective” drugs) are often just synthesized analogs of truly dangerous plants like mandrake, henbane and belladonna. As late as 1991, doctors, pharmacists and drug companies were fighting off new legislation to restrict these often abused compounds (L.A. Times, April 2, 1991). Unlike Valium, cannabis does not potentiate the effects of alcohol. It is estimated that cannabis could replace more than 50% of Valium, Librium, Thorazine, Stelazine, other “-zine” drugs and most sleeping pills. It is unconscionable that, over the past two decades, tens of thousands of parents have committed their own children, aged 11 to 17, to be treated by massive doses of so-called “-zine” drugs in order to get them off pot, at the urging of parent groups, the PDFA, the feds and administrators and doctors from federally approved, private and high-profit drug rehabilitation centers. Often, “-zine” drugs do work to stop these youths from using pot. They also stop a kid from loving his or her dog, too – and children stand a one-in-four chance of suffering from uncontrollable shaking for the rest of their lives.* But at least they’re not high. *The U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said that 20-40% of “-zine” drug users have or will develop permanent lifetime palsies (shakes), November 1983. These prescription neurotoxins are chemically related to the pesticide and warfare nerve gas Sarin. Hundreds of private drug-rehabilitation centers and their leaders keep this policy alive and in front of the media, often quoting discredited reports from NIDA or DEA (see Chapter 15, Debunking Gutter Science) – because they earn fat profits selling their useless or destructive “marijuana treatment” for children.' - The emperor wears no clothes by Jack Herer
'In addition to alcohol, some older adults have also been found to be drug abusers (Li and Jackson, 2016). These drugs include prescription drugs and illicit drugs. Older people are reported to have the highest prescription-drug abuse rate of any other age group (Briggs et al., 2011). Among the prescription drugs, benzodiazepines and opioid analgesics are frequently prescribed to individuals aged 65 years and older. In Australia’s aged care services, around 4.4 percent of residents report misusing opioids or benzodiazepines (Li and Jackson, 2016).'
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2055102917708136
'The President of the Pharmacy Association in Zurich, Valeria Dora, says that more and more people in Switzerland are consuming cannabis, and that selling it legally would provide users with safe products and combat criminals profiting on the black market.
The group has penned a position paper stating its desire to decriminalise marijuana for medical and recreational use.
Experts have praised the move, saying it is the right thing to do and that the necessary infrastructure and staff already exists.'
https://www.thelocal.ch/20190111/swiss-pharmacies-want-to-sell-marijuana-in-the-future-valeria-dora-cannabis
'Evening cannabis smokers in general report more restful sleep. Using cannabis allows most people a more complete rest with a higher amount of “alpha time” during sleep as compared with prescription or sleep-inducing patent sedatives. Prescription sleeping pills (the so called “legal, safe and effective” drugs) are often just synthesized analogs of truly dangerous plants like mandrake, henbane and belladonna. As late as 1991, doctors, pharmacists and drug companies were fighting off new legislation to restrict these often abused compounds (L.A. Times, April 2, 1991). Unlike Valium, cannabis does not potentiate the effects of alcohol. It is estimated that cannabis could replace more than 50% of Valium, Librium, Thorazine, Stelazine, other “-zine” drugs and most sleeping pills. It is unconscionable that, over the past two decades, tens of thousands of parents have committed their own children, aged 11 to 17, to be treated by massive doses of so-called “-zine” drugs in order to get them off pot, at the urging of parent groups, the PDFA, the feds and administrators and doctors from federally approved, private and high-profit drug rehabilitation centers. Often, “-zine” drugs do work to stop these youths from using pot. They also stop a kid from loving his or her dog, too – and children stand a one-in-four chance of suffering from uncontrollable shaking for the rest of their lives.* But at least they’re not high. *The U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said that 20-40% of “-zine” drug users have or will develop permanent lifetime palsies (shakes), November 1983. These prescription neurotoxins are chemically related to the pesticide and warfare nerve gas Sarin. Hundreds of private drug-rehabilitation centers and their leaders keep this policy alive and in front of the media, often quoting discredited reports from NIDA or DEA (see Chapter 15, Debunking Gutter Science) – because they earn fat profits selling their useless or destructive “marijuana treatment” for children.' - The emperor wears no clothes by Jack Herer
'In addition to alcohol, some older adults have also been found to be drug abusers (Li and Jackson, 2016). These drugs include prescription drugs and illicit drugs. Older people are reported to have the highest prescription-drug abuse rate of any other age group (Briggs et al., 2011). Among the prescription drugs, benzodiazepines and opioid analgesics are frequently prescribed to individuals aged 65 years and older. In Australia’s aged care services, around 4.4 percent of residents report misusing opioids or benzodiazepines (Li and Jackson, 2016).'
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2055102917708136
'The doctor's office was in junk territory on 102nd, off Broadway. He was a doddering old man and could not resist the junkies who filled his office and were, in fact, his only patients. It seemed to give him a feeling of importance to look out and see an office full of people. I guess he had reached a point where he could change the appearance of things to suit his needs and when he looked out there he saw a distinguished and diversfied clientele, probably well dressed in 1910 style, instead of a bunch of ratty-looking junkies come to hit him for a morphine script.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
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