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Why garlic, ginger, turmeric, moringa, Indian ginseng are so good for us –five healing foods

In India, plants, herbs and spices are often used to treat ailments and maintain healthWe look at five of the best and most popular ingredients used in Ayurvedic medicine

Ayurvedic medicine uses herbs, spices and foods to treat ailments and improve health. Photo: Alamy

Ayurvedic medicine uses herbs, spices and foods to treat ailments and improve health. Photo: Alamy

India has a long history of using natural medicines to treat ailments.  

There is a belief that illness can be linked to habitual patterns, which in turn are closely connected to thought processes, emotional health and food preferences. Changing these patterns, practitioners claim, means using ingredients that address all three aspects.

Kavita Devgan, nutritionist and author of Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You, believes that Indian spices and plant-based ingredients are packed with healing properties.

“Green leafy vegetables and sprouts have vitamins B and E, which help in digestion and also aid in excreting acid from the body. Barley grass, for instance, helps correct alkalinity and boosts the metabolism and immune system.”

Kavita Devgan, nutritionist and author of Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You, is a big believer in spices and plant-based ingredients.

Kavita Devgan, nutritionist and author of Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You, is a big believer in spices and plant-based ingredients.

Here are five plant-based “healing foods”: turmeric, moringa, ashwagandha, garlic and ginger.

1. Turmeric

Turmeric takes centre stage in the masala dabba, or spice box. It is regarded as sacred, and is offered to deities and applied to newlyweds’ skin. It is customarily stirred into warm milk and drunk at bedtime to nurse colds and coughs. Fresh turmeric root can be preserved in a salt and chilli powder base.

Turmeric is a sacred spice in India and is known for its medicinal properties. Photo: Alamy

Turmeric is a sacred spice in India and is known for its medicinal properties. Photo: Alamy

Devgan says: “Turmeric is apparently the original probiotic” which “when taken with high-protein foods, assists in digestion and prevents formation of gas”.In her book, Turmeric – The Wonder Spice, food historian and writer Colleen Taylor Sen discusses the merits of this spice and the role it has played in Indian, Chinese, and Indonesian medicine. It has over the centuries been used to treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary disorders, diabetes, atherosclerosis and bacterial infections.

A plethora of studies have been done to test turmeric’s benefits. A 2016 meta study of clinical trials of turmeric found evidence to support its efficacy in treating arthritis, though it concluded that the small size and poor quality of most of the studies “were not sufficient to draw definitive conclusions” about the spice.

Moringa is one of the most nutrient dense plants and has antibiotic, antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Photo: Alamy

Moringa is one of the most nutrient dense plants and has antibiotic, antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Photo: Alamy

2. Moringa

Indians have for years used moringa in their cooking: the leaves are cooked in a soupy gravy with lentils and eaten with rice, fried until crisp and used to make dry chutneys, and mixed with spices and coconut for wet chutneys.POST MAGAZINE NEWSLETTERGet updates direct to your inboxSIGN UPBy registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy

The moringa tree is also known as the drumstick tree, the Miracle Tree, the Tree of Life and Mother’s Milk. Why? According to NGO the International Tree Foundation, it is one of the most nutrient dense plants.Five supplements you should consider taking to give your body a boost5 Mar 2019

Solomon Ternder, a moringa advocate and author of books on the plant, points to research carried out by the non-profit World Vegetable Centre in Taiwan that found moringa had the highest nutritional value among 120 foods studied. Ternder says that 100 grams of fresh moringa leaves “provides more protein than an egg, more iron than a steak, more vitamin C than an orange and more calcium than a glass of milk”.

In addition, Ternder claims that moringa has antibiotic, antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, and that its high vitamin B content aids in digestion.

The medicinal herb ashwagandha restores vigour and strength, revitalises tissue and muscles, fights asthma and reduces cholesterol. Photo: Alamy

The medicinal herb ashwagandha restores vigour and strength, revitalises tissue and muscles, fights asthma and reduces cholesterol. Photo: Alamy

3. Ashwagandha

Indian ginseng, or ashwagandha (in Sanskrit ashwa means horse and gandha means fragrance) has very strong smelling roots. Proponents claim that it restores vigour and strength, revitalises tissue and muscles, fights asthma and reduces cholesterol.

Sri Maa Sidh Sidhshakti Ji, “inner scientist” and founder of the Institute of Spiritual Sciences (IOSS) in India, says that ashwagandha is beneficial for the body and the brain.

“It has a rejuvenating and calming influence on the nervous system,” she claims. “It is used exclusively in Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine), and is an ingredient in chyawanprash (a nutrient-rich, rejuvenative jam).”

However, Sri Maa warns that due to its potency, you should consult a doctor before using it. It can have severe side effects, from diarrhoea and gastrointestinal disorders to thyroid dysfunction. She adds that pregnant or nursing mothers, young children and people with severe kidney or liver disease should avoid the plant.

Several studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of ashwagandha, including one reported in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine in 2012 that suggest it might have a role in lowering stress.

Garlic has been used to treat colds and fevers, balance high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Photo: Alamy

Garlic has been used to treat colds and fevers, balance high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Photo: Alamy

4. Garlic

This pungent bulb, rich in vitamins and dietary minerals, has been used as a remedy to alleviate colds and fevers, balance high blood pressure and high cholesterol, improve digestion and enhance bone strength.

Devgan endorses the use of garlic, and recommends “one or two crushed garlic cloves with water on an empty stomach every day”. Garlic, she claims in her book, helps to prevent cancers, lowers cholesterol and protects the heart.

A 2014 review of the available scientific research into garlic’s potential therapeutic effects, published in the Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine, said: “Different compounds in garlic are thought to reduce the risk for cardiovascular diseases, have anti-tumour and antimicrobial effects, and show benefit on high blood glucose concentration.”

A Chinese study published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology this year suggests eating allium vegetables such as garlic, leeks and onions might reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

Ginger is known as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory agent, anti-nausea compound and anti-cancer agent. Photo: Alamy

Ginger is known as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory agent, anti-nausea compound and anti-cancer agent. Photo: Alamy

5. Ginger

One of the most common “grandma remedies” in the Indian household is ginger juice mixed with honey, which can alleviate sore throat and coughs. It is packed with bioactive compounds, and some say it can help prevent indigestion and nausea.

According to Sri Maa, it is also effective for osteoarthritis. “Mix ginger, mastic, cinnamon and apply to painful areas.” For pain relief, Sri Maa also recommends applying a hot ginger poultice to affected areas, though not on broken skin.

In Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects, researchers Ann Bode and Dong Zigang report on “the amazing and mighty ginger” – the title of the chapter which reviews the many studies into the evidence for its effectiveness as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory agent, anti-nausea compound, and anti-cancer agent, and its protective effect against other disease conditions.

They suggest that ginger’s “specific biological targets are largely unknown and remain to be determined”, and conclude that, “in spite of the lack of specific mechanistic information, use of ginger appears to be safe and its effects are mighty and amazing in its many applications”.

Devgan’s overall advice for good health mirrors closely the conventional messaging on foods from global authorities: avoid fatty, processed and refined foods, and cut down on caffeine. She is also a proponent of yoga and meditation for their numerous health benefits.

Originally published by Ranjini Rao at: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3009712/five-indian-healing-foods-ginger-garlic-turmeric

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Northern Ireland showbiz reporter Paul Martin on how he beat cancer with cannabis oil

I won’t lie. I was terrified of what might happen. But as I ingested a small rice-grain size of the smelly, sticky black substance that loomed in front of me, it was an empowering declaration of war against my horrific cancer diagnosis.

I felt a little guilty, a little frightened and, well, a little like I could be breaking the law.

But having four children and a family who needed me to be alive this time next year, I figured, ‘Screw the law, screw medical conformity and screw the taboo status of cannabis. I’m going all in!’

Exactly 30 minutes before my first dance with this controversial substance, a parcel had arrived with £270 worth of 90% cannabis paste. My sister Suzanne had promised me it would cure me. I took her zealous predictions with a pinch of salt – I was stage four, after all, and more often than not there’s no coming back from that.

Over the next three months I upped my dosage and hoped for the best. I was ready for the worst. “Are you afraid of dying?” my good friend Stephen Nolan asked on his radio show. “No,” I replied without hesitation. “But I am terrified of my children growing up without me.”

Fast forward to last Wednesday.

I fell to the floor and shouted at the top of my voice ‘Thank you Jesus!’ Then I called Miss Ireland. I guess that’s why they call me Mr Showbiz. Precisely 52 seconds earlier, the anonymous voice from Belfast’s City Hospital called and banished in a swift expeditious moment what had amounted to seven months of mental and physical torture.

Her words were simple but megalithic in their momentousness: “You don’t have cancer any more, Paul. It’s over.” The strange thing is, I didn’t cry or feel emotional. Just grateful and extremely humbled.

I’m not one to pull out the God card every time something goes spectacularly well or life hits rock bottom – I leave that to the politicians in this country. But thanking a higher power seemed the right thing to do. Goodness knows I’d asked him or her enough times to get me through this.

The effortlessly benevolent former Miss Ireland Emir Holohan witnessed my miraculous transformation from haggard, washed-up, cancer-riddled showbiz writer to a healthy, exuberant and energised life force who dared to say, ‘Screw you, cancer.’

When I broke the good news that my cancer had bit the dust, the emotion from the brunette beauty and vibrant mum-of-six was tangible. I could sense the tears and utter relief as she burst into a passionate and untamed celebration of utter joy.

That moment alone made the months of turmoil, endless medicine and daily dates with facing my own mortality all worthwhile.

My mum embraced me, and we didn’t even have to say any words such was the magnitude of this joyous conclusion to our joint journey through hell.

Prior to the worldly deity that is Emir entering my life at the start of this dismal decline in health, the world around me had collapsed amid the end of my marriage. After that my physical and mental health went into a tumultuous decline.

By January, I was so ill I had to be rushed to the Royal by my horror-stricken mum Susan, and it was there that I took up a six-week residence.

I couldn’t even take comfort from the adage ‘at least you’ve got your health’. When doctors in the Royal announced I had roughly 48 hours to live, the message was clear: you’ve left it late and there are no guarantees you’ll see your 42nd birthday.

“Better late than never,” I quipped, before my eyes rolled back into an oblivion of illness. Gallows humour even in the darkest moments, in true showbiz fashion.

Under the watchful eye of Northern Ireland’s finest doctors, every antibiotic known to mankind was pumped into my rapidly evaporating body, which had plunged to just eight-and-a-half stone. Pneumonia, they call it.

That, coupled with enough sedatives and painkillers to sedate Guatemala, and slowly but surely, I mounted an unlikely comeback, punctuated by boosting calls and visits from Emir, though, heartbreakingly, none from my precious children.

But the worst was still to come. No sooner had I bounced back and was released from hospital, an odd shadow, roughly four centimetres in diameter, made a cameo appearance on my right lung, as if the past months hadn’t been dramatic enough.

“It’s probably nothing,” mulled the doctors as I lamented this unwelcome gatecrasher to my comeback party. “But we’ll biopsy it just in case.”

Six week later, I was battling stage four cancer of the lung and blood. At 42 I was kissing the lips of mortality. I was lucky to have the top doctors, nurses and equipment in my corner thanks to the forces at work at the City Hospital. But a machine can’t put an arm around you and say ‘we’re gonna beat this’. Thankfully, Emir did just that.

Then my sister Suzanne – a dynamic and enlightened presence just two years older than I – made a game-changing call that spun the world of cancer on its head and seemingly gave me a fighting chance.

“Cannabis oil, brother,” she announced with her buoyant London twang. “The f***ing pharmaceuticals hate it because they don’t have a piece of the pie. I’m telling you – it cures cancer.”

Her words immediately resonated. During my last hospital incarceration, at least three top medical aids nudged me and said, ‘Get on it,’ when the writing seemed to be on the wall for an impending cancer diagnosis.

But such is the ignorantly taboo concept of cannabis or THC oil, as it’s called on the high street, I felt divided over whether to give it a go or just stick to conventional medicine.

It didn’t take me long to find several compelling tales online of miraculous cancer comebacks by THC users. The decision was swift: my children needed a dad more than I needed to obey any draconian laws governing our treatment of this horrendous illness.

One call later and Suzanne had a batch of the highest concentration of 90% THC on its way to me, courtesy of a contact who harvested and mixed his own blend after curing himself years earlier. Was all this legal? The truth is, I didn’t care. Living my life and revelling in my beautiful children growing up was more important.

So I defiantly ignited my THC paste regime, taking a rice-grain-sized dollop of this Marmite-like, black, gooey substance every morning and night on a cracker.

Then, roughly four weeks later, a PET scan revealed some quite remarkable news. “We’re scratching our heads a little, Paul,” announced my specialist in Belfast’s City Hospital. “The stage four growth on your lung has shrunk by three centimetres and it’s not taking up any of the glucose we injected into you.” Roughly translated, it meant the tumour had gone from stage four to dead. Benign, Caput.

A final biopsy presented a four-week wait for results which would either mean I would have to endure full-on tough chemo for months, or celebrate what felt like the greatest bullet dodge in medical history. Thankfully it was the latter, and earlier in the week I was given the all clear.

From stage four cancer to not even a dose of chemo although I had radiotherapy. I had my life back, my children’s futures to look forward to and an incredible woman in my corner. The world spins again.

I’m pleased to say that thanks to the combined forces of conventional medicine and the much maligned cannabis plant, recent rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

As my favourite songwriter Bob Dylan has said: “The only things I know how to do is keep on keeping on.” His words certainly ring true.

No matter what we’re faced with in the glorious uncertainty of life, none of us can do much more than that. But at least I’m keeping on with a life warrior in a Miss Ireland, my adoring kids and my wonderful family in my corner.



Originally published by Paul Martin at: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/northern-ireland-showbiz-reporter-paul-martin-on-how-he-beat-cancer-with-cannabis-oil-38351447.html

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Project in Morocco combines hemp and solar to go totally off grid

A team of organizations has completed construction of a ground-breaking eco-building in Morocco that combines hemp construction with a high-tech solar energy system for total independence from the electrical grid.

The SUNIMPLANT project, designed as a single-family dwelling, was created as an entrant in the recent “Solar Decathlon” organized by the United States Department of Energy and Morocco’s Centre de recherche en Energie solaire et Energies nouvelles. The biannual international competition challenges teams of students to design and construct solar-powered buildings. The most recent edition was hosted in Ben Guerir, Morocco, the first time the competition has been held on the African continent.

Advanced ‘space ship’

“This ‘space-ship’ is advanced in time and reflects a turn not only in North Africa but in hemp construction, which doesn’t have comparable prototypes anywhere in the world,” said Monika Brümmer, a German architect and natural builder who led the project.

While the building was designed as a stimulus for rural development, the technology also has application in urban settings, Brümmer noted.

Owner at Spain-based Cannabric, Brümmer is also a co-founder of Adrar Nouh (2017), an NGO which promotes the use of indigenous hemp stalk for rural development and sustainable employment in Morocco’s impoverished High Rif. Adrar Nouh was started in 2017 by Brümmer and Abdellatif Adebibe, a Moroccan expert in alternative development in the Rif region.

monika-brummer
Monika Brümmer

The challenge was to create a hemp composite using vegetable-based bio-resins, avoiding technical or synthetic components, Brümmer said. The cylindrical envelope of the circular building, with minimal exposure of the 24 exterior panels, gives interior comfort through optimal damping and thermal phase shift, and osmosis of the components in the hempcrete formulation, Brümmer said.

Nature meets high-tech

Built for around $120,000, the building’s price tag was less than half the cost of the most expensive buildings in the competition. Additional features of the 90 sq. m. SUNIMPLANT building include:

  1. A double skin façade that employs a mixture of hemp, earth, pozzolan and lime, all sourced locally; and bio-composites incorporating hemp technical fibers that were produced via vacuum injection technology.
  2. A spherical, aerodynamic outer skin comprising 24 semi-flexible photovoltaic panels. Sponsored by DAS-Energy, the panels are exposed to all faces for their use of sun and light, with maximum 40% losses.
  3. Curved bio-composite panels made with hemp wool, which increase the performance of the photovoltaic panels by protecting their back side against the weather extremes of the semi-arid region of Ben Guerir, where temperatures reached 42°–46°C (107°– 114°F) in the shade during the construction phase last August and September.
  4. High-performance glass from French glassmaker Saint Gobain.

International cooperation

Brümmer said even greater performance could have been achieved if original plans to install hemp-clay boards for the internal partitions and floors, and other minor modifications, had not been abandoned due to funding constraints.

Adrar Nouh contributed the architectural design, developed the hemp materials and cooperated in the construction of the building. Other participants on the SUNIMPLANT project were Morocco’s National School of Architecture and National School of Applied Sciences, both based in Tetouan, Morocco, and Germany’s Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics.

Originally published by Hemp Today at: https://hemptoday.net/moroco-hempcrete-project/

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All Cannabis Use is Medicinal

Even if the user misidentified it as ‘recreational.’

The medical cannabis movement is sweeping through the nation with such momentum that even conservative legislators are evolving to see the benefits.  All cannabis use appears imminent west of Colorado and north of Virginia while medical cannabis is plowing through the South.  This is exciting news, but we must remain diligent and see this to the end.  There is one phrase that is slowing cannabis law reform; “Recreational Cannabis.”

“Recreational cannabis use” is the most detrimental phrase our industry faces today.

Over half the U.S. population supports “recreational use” of cannabis.  Unfortunately, those whose don’t support recreational use, oppose it vitriolically.  “Recreational cannabis” is exactly what the opposition is fighting to prevent.

The flip side to this is that over 80% of Americans support medical cannabis use and over 85% support freedom in healthcare decisions.  All of these statistics are trending upwards.

In the South, “recreational cannabis use” is a non-starter and a debate that cannot be empirically won.  On the other hand, “medical cannabis use” is a debate we win.  And we don’t need to manipulate our messaging to change the debate, we need only to correctly identify ‘medicinal use.’

Cannabis and The Human Body

Cannabis is imperative to maintaining a healthy body.  Cannabinoid ligands fuel and balance the human endocannabinoid system, a system that regulates the immune system, mood, sleep patterns, appetite, and pain sensation.  Just like vitamins, the human body needs cannabinoids to function properly.  Due to cannabis prohibition, most Americans suffer from endocannabinoid deficiency syndrome.  Endocannabinoid deficiencies manifest themselves in the form of autoimmune diseases, depression, bipolar disorders, neurodegenerative conditions, inexplicable pain, and sleep disorders.

The American Medical Association(AMA) and US Food and Drug Administration(FDA) considers all of these as legitimate medical conditions.  They approve and sell thousands of different drugs developed to treat all of them.

Now, let’s delve into the mind of a ‘recreational’ cannabis user.

Recently, I’ve been interrogating self-proclaimed ‘recreational’ cannabis users to find out what’s so fun about smoking weed.  Their initial answer is always the same; “I don’t know, I just like it.”  But after digging with some questions, it always turns out the same.

Recreational cannabis users are using cannabis for medical purposes, they just don’t realize it.

Here are the post prodding answers and the medical condition that the ‘recreational user’ is treating using cannabis.  I’ve also added common drugs and medications that are the AMA and FDA’s more popular treatments.

“It makes me relax.” – Anxiety.  Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Prozac, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, and the generics.

“It helps me sleep.” – Sleep disorder/Anxiety. Ambien, Lunesta, Unisom, Nyquil

“It calms me down.” – ADHD/Anxiety – Ritalin, Adderall, Vyvanse

“It helps me think.” ADHD – see above

“It helps my stomach calm down.” GI, IBS, IBD. Pepto, Pepcid, Prilosec, I don’t know the RX drugs for this.

“It helps me talk to people.” Social anxiety – Alcohol

“It makes spending time with my spouse more fun.” – Sexual dysfunction/Anxiety. Viagra, Cialis, that new female viagra.

These are all medicinal applications.

I encourage all “recreational” cannabis users to reevaluate their use.  If there is a prescription or over-the-counter drug designed to treat something that cannabis helps you with, that’s medical use.  If they sell something at GNC or Vitamin World that cannabis helps you with, that’s medical use.  You may not use these other medications because you already know that cannabis is a superior treatment, you just didn’t realize it.

Our society defines recreationally using a drug or medicine as “abuse.”  Exclaiming that you use any drug recreationally is the first step into a 12 step.  If you still don’t think that your cannabis use is medicinal, please call it ‘therapeutic’ so that you don’t look like an addict and hinder the entire movement.  When we have medical, I promise that you’ll be able to find a doctor that will write you a recommendation.

Originally published by Daniel Macris at: https://halcyonorganics.com/all-cannabis-use-is-medical/

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Justice for The Wisdom’s

My activism probably wouldn’t have gone the direction it did, if it were not for my eye opening, and empowering experience, volunteering at Adela Wisdom’s 420 POW booth at Seattle Hempfest in 2015. I had just relocated to Washington state from Southern California, the month prior. Up to that point, my biggest focus in activism was safe access for medical cannabis patients in Apple Valley, California, where dispensaries had been banned. 

Adela and Aaron Wisdom

Before my volunteer experience with POW 420, I was completely clueless to the fact that prisons across the nation house an extremely large number of non-violent “criminals” serving time, many life, over a completely non-toxic healing plant. It is with great sadness that I am now writing about the injustice Adela, and her husband Aaron, are currently facing. 

Adela has been a judicial reform advocate/activist for nearly 20 years. Her activism has reached worldwide, speaking in many different countries, and advocating for real judicial change at The United Nations. She has written to over 1000 POW 420’s, and has done 3 prison interviews. Not only does Adela believe that no one should be caged for Cannabis, she has walked the talk, helping and educating many. 

Adela and Aaron Wisdom are both judicial reform advocates, and small farmers, residing in Callaway county Missouri. Both husband and wife, are running for political office. Aaron is a candidate for Lt. Govenor. Adela is a candidate for US Representative 3rd District of Missouri. Days after announcing their candidacy, The Wisdom’s were raided. On September 17, 2019, their home was searched by the Sheriff’s department looking for cannabis, and other items related to cultivation, drug trafficking, drug sales, and drug use. Law Enforcement did not find what they were looking for in what seems to have been a politically motivated raid. 

A little after 8:00 am, early June 2020, a National Guard helicopter flew over the Wisdom’s farm. Using a telescopic lens, noxious Cannabis was seen on the Wisdom’s property. From the air, they also observed Aaron and Adela burning weeds. Missouri Dept of Agriculture lists Cannabis Sativa  L as a noxious weed. The Oxford dictionary defines noxious weed as a weed which is considered to be harmful to the environment or animals, especially one which may be the subject of regulations governing attempts to control it. 

The observation of the noxious weed, along with the legally required destruction of it, made Law Enforcement feel justified in conducting a warrantless search. Plain clothed officers showed up to the Wisdom’s property, wearing ski masks, and did not identify themselves. Adela had a gun pointed at her face, by a man who she did not know the intentions of, or why he was on their property. Both Aaron and Adela were arrested. They face a decade in prison each for the victimless crime of having 22 wild growing noxious weed plants growing on their property, and destroying them per Missouri law. The raid was carried out by both the Mustang Task Force and local Law Enforcement. At any time, these charges could become Federal charges. 

Seems to me it is pretty clear that the current powers that be in Missouri, feel threatened by Adela and Aaron’s candidacy for political office. Missouri currently has over 7,000 rape kits sitting on shelves, collecting dust, untested. There is no funding to process those rape kits and get violent rapists off the streets, yet somehow funding is always available to investigate and prosecute people over a plant. I say: No Victim No Crime. 

The consequences of unjust Cannabis laws are always about more than just a loss of freedom. For Aaron and Adela it has put a halt on the child adoption process they were in. Due to the ongoing investigation, they cannot pass an FBI background check. Adela has had her chances at motherhood taken from her. A baby in need of a loving, stable home with courageous, compassionate parents, who actively make this world a better place, had that opportunity lost.  

Long time Wisdom family friend Victoria Hughes was asked about what kind of people the Wisdom’s are. “Adela has turned personal tragedies into a passion for helping others who are struggling. She has a way of bringing hope to people who have often been forgotten by society” Victoria shared. “Aaron is a very hard-working gentle soul. He goes out of his way to take care of others around him. I watched him prepare meals daily to take to their 80 year old Veteran neighbor, without asking for anything in return.”

Callaway County, the state of Missouri, nor the World will be any bit safer by having Adela and Aaron locked in prison for 10 years. In my opinion, it would actually be a disservice to all of humanity to have The Wisdom’s incarcerated. They need our help. 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King Jr 

*Write a letter to Judge Carol England asking she drop all charges against Aaron and Adela. Please be polite. A template, or sample letter is available on Adela s website. 
https://www.adelawisdom.com/call_to_action


*Write up a “Drop all charges against Adela and Aaron” sign. Take a photo with your sign and email to itskckush@gmail.com. Photos will be arranged into collages, and sent to the court, in support of Aaron and Adela. 

Originally written by By Kerry Cannon for cannabisactivismnow.com

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Raid on family farm reflects Sweden’s regressive approach to hemp

Stakeholders say the recent raid at a family hemp farm in Sweden reflects lingering ignorance among authorities that is holding back the sector in Scandinavia’s biggest market of 10 million consumers.

Michael Henell and crew at Magic Herb, Öland, Sweden

“The whole thing is probably about ignorance on the part of the police as they must have mistaken the industrial hemp for marijuana and therefore destroyed the cultivation,” Michael Henell said of law enforcement on the island of Öland, where Henell and his family operate Magic Herb, a boutique hemp company that grows and sells hemp buds and products based on extracts.

Henell said police raided his legal hemp business unannounced Aug. 13 while he and and his family were away on vacation, destroying his small hemp crop and, armed with a search warrant, seizing finished products that were stored in the family’s home.

‘No excuse’

It is legal to grow certified varieties of hemp in Sweden under permitting by the Swedish Board of Agriculture.

“I have triple checked that all papers are correct for the cultivation. We have had hemp for several years and it has never been a problem,” said Henell, who had approval of both local administrators and the national agriculture board for a hemp grow of about 1,000 plants that he was cultivating both outdoors and in a greenhouse.

Henell believes ignorance is no excuse. “It is utterly damning that the police can come and destroy our life’s work, for which we have shed blood, sweat and tears. Our entire annual harvest has now been destroyed by the police,” he said.

Prejudice lingers

Swedish authorities’ prejudice against hemp is rooted in aggressive national anti-cannabis campaigns carried out in the 1970s and ’80s, according to David Appelgren, Chairman of the Swedish Hemp Association, a 200-member strong group that advocates for the sector.

David Appelgren, Chairman, Swedish Hemp Association [Photo by: Crelle]

“Slowly, we’re turning. Most youth understand hemp is a regular thing, and even older people are using CBD,” said Appelgren, who tours Sweden educating about hemp. “But they’ve been pushing this agenda for 40 years,” he said of anti-cannabis elements in the country. “It’s still in the culture and hard to get rid of.”

Little grown

Hemp barely registers in Swedish agriculture. Modern-era records that date to 2004 show 150 hectares were under hemp that year. By 2007, hemp fields had grown to 829 hectares, but then started to decline. A total of 170 hectares were cultivated this year, according to government statistics. Appelgren estimates there are about 150 hemp operators in Sweden, most of which are small family businesses like Henell’s.

Hemp grown in Sweden since 2004, in hectares

The sector has survived only because of court cases that went against the government, both Henell and Appelgren said. Most notable, hemp farmer Ulf Hammarsten received damages from the Swedish state after his hemp crop was repeatedly destroyed by authorities. EU officials found in Hammarsten’s favor in 2003, ruling that national legislation prohibiting the cultivation and possession of industrial hemp was incompatible with the “common organization of markets” under EU law.

Swedish hemp history

Hemp is in Sweden’s history, archeologists have found, with cultivation generally presumed to have begun in sometime in the second half of the first century AD, as indicated by pollen records. Finds of seeds demonstrate that the plant was locally cultivated and processed during that epoch.

Hemp fiber is also revealed in subfossil remains found at Lindängelund in the region of Malmö, signalling the earliest evidence of hemp retting in Scandinavia discovered so far. Experts also have said they found evidence of small scale fiber processing in settlements through 400 AD. Remains of hemp later found in lake sediments indicate that the retting of hemp eventually relocated from settlements to lakes shores, where processing became larger in scale and more integrated into the agricultural system of the time.

Originally published by Hemp Today at: https://hemptoday.net/raid-on-family-farm-reflects-swedens-regressive-approach-to-hemp/

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The Injustice of Peggy & Glenn and How I Helped keep Them Free

Halloween night 2017, an act of compassion quickly turned into a 2 year and 9 month long living nightmare for one Ohio family. Glenn Keeling had a friend in need of cannabis, so he gifted his friend 2 grams of cannabis concentrate. Not too long after the friend drove away from the Kimmel-Keeling residence, he was pulled over by law enforcement. That’s when this good deed became a crime. 

Despite the fact that Medical Cannabis was legal in Ohio, law enforcement set their sights on Glenn Keeling. He led the first ever Global Marijuana March in Ohio. Glenn also ran for political office in his town as an open medical cannabis patient. He and his wife Peggy, had began a NORML chapter in their area. Law Enforcement’s attention on this family was no doubt, politically motivated. They were seeking to make an example out of Glenn in corrupt Mercer county Ohio, and had long been doing surveillance on his family’s home.

 
 “I smell marijuana”, the 3 words law enforcement officers often use as probable cause. Those 3 words were said to the friend, when he was pulled over after leaving Glenn and Peggy’s home. The friend fully cooperated with the officer, including naming Glenn as the source of where his cannabis concentrate came from. Later that night, police officers arrived at the Kimmel- Keeling residence. The husband and wife, both being legal patients with a doctors recommendation, thought the misunderstanding could be cleared up by cooperating with the officers. They quickly found out differently. The officers had no interest in seeing Glenn or Peggy’s  doctor signed recommendations.  Their home was immediately raided. What was discovered by officers, was a legal supply of cannabis for 2 patients, along with a teenage girls craft supplies, the officers assumed was for making cannabis edibles. The officers decided that despite medical cannabis being legal in Ohio, not  yet having operating dispensaries, made patients criminals. 


Glenn was arrested that night. His wife Peggy was charged at a later date. Their daughter had to get out of bed, to leave her home for the night, to stay with her adult brother. Multiple charges were brought against Peggy and Glenn. Each faced over 50 years in prison. Peggy and Glenn were both allowed to continue treating their health conditions with cannabis, per their bond conditions. That was a first in Ohio.

Unfortunately, this family did not initially have local support outside of their family. I became aware of this injustice, while scrolling Facebook one day. Peggy had reached out for help in ‘The International Cannabis Patients Wall’ Facebook group. I reached out to Peggy to learn more about what was happening to her family. Not only did she tell her side of the story, but she also provided proof to back up everything she said. One of the charges that hit me right in the heart, was child endangerment. I read the letter Peggy provided from the CPS caseworker. In less than 1 month, CPS completed their investigation, with the determination that Peggy’s teenage daughter (Glenn’s stepdaughter) was safe in the family home and should remain in her parents care. Yet overzealous Mercer County Ohio Prosecutor Matt Fox, persisted with child endangerment charges, as well as many other bogus charges, in an attempt to prosecute and persecute this couple. 


I personally believe that no one, anywhere, with any amount of a healing non-toxic plant should face criminal charges. No Victim, No Crime. The only victims I saw in all this, was a family at risk of being torn apart. I knew I had to do something to help. 


I began a public awareness campaign via social media. Making many more aware of this injustice was step 1. A call to action to call the prosecutors office, to politely ask that all charges against Peggy and Glenn be dropped, was put out shortly after. Many people had made this phone call. Some had telephone conversations with Mr. Fox. The prosecutor told numerous people that the full story wasn’t being told. Sadly some believed that tax dollars wouldn’t be wasted if there was no serious crime, and refused to support this family. It felt like Matt Fox was playing a game, with the arrogance of assuming he’d win.

With all of the details of Peggy and Glenn’s cases being public, I printed up both dockets from the courts website, took to social media in a live video, read all of the charges, showed all of the proof Peggy had provided, compared Ohio law, and proved to many of the doubters, that at most the punishment should have been a small fine. That helped public support really pick up. Throughout this time, I was also collecting photos from all across the country, and the globe, of people holding a handwritten “Drop All Charges Against Peggy and Glenn” sign. I arranged these hundreds of photos into collages. Those photo collages were sent into the court, and added to both of their case files.

Unfortunately, all the stress that came with this long, drawn out legal nightmare, resulted in increased health issues for Peggy. The stress was literally killing her. Glenn came to the conclusion that he needed to take a plea deal, accept whatever consequences Judge Ingraham decided, so that his wife may live. I have much respect for Glenn for making such a loving decision. The stress had taken it’s toll on his health as well. He did what any honorable man would do, he put his wife above himself.

 
The day to sign the plea deal came. Glenn and Peggy both signed deals. They were instructed to check in with their probation officer before the court date for sentencing. I was very pleased to learn that at the meeting with their probation officer, Peggy and Glenn learned they had their probation officer’s support. I was later told that their probation officer was aware of the ‘Keep Peggy And Glenn Free’ photo collages, as well as a petition I wrote on their behalf. Officer Gross asked Peggy and Glenn to have me email him everything, so he could make sure Judge Ingraham sees them. One Monday morning, I sent the emails. Mr. Gross replied quickly, that he was already printing the photos up and thanked me. I thanked him for his help as well. 


Although I have yet to meet Peggy and Glenn in person, nor ever stepped foot into Ohio, I have much love for them and their family. While working on behalf of ending their family’s injustice, I watched them still do all they could do to help others, despite their struggles. I got to know amazing people, who I now consider family.

 
After 2 years and 9 months this family’s nightmare came to an end. July 27, 2020 was sentencing day. Peggy was facing 84 months in prison, 10 years suspended drivers license, and $17,000 in fines. Glenn faced 90 months in prison, 15 years suspended drivers license, and $37,000 in fines. During the hearing, Judge Ingraham held up a binder of photo collages, mentioning I had sent them in to the court. Peggy and Glenn both escaped prison time. They were sentenced to 5 years probation each. Neither had their drivers licenses suspended, and the mandatory fines were waived. What a huge relief for their entire family. One of the great things that comes from the outcome of their cases, is the precedent now set. It can, and will help other medical cannabis patients in Ohio, that may find themselves in a similar situation. 


Public support matters. We all have the power to make a difference. Together we have the power to make a greater difference and a real change. Be the change you wish to see. Stand against injustice. Even if we are not directly affected, we are all indirectly affected. My work made a difference, only because of each and every person who took action with me.   I greatly appreciate all who did. 


Written by: Kerry Cannon aka “KC Kush” exclusively for cannabisactivismnow.com

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How The Cannabis Industry Actually Stifles Innovation And Causes Higher Prices For Patients

When many people hear the words ‘cannabis industry’ they often think of a utopian world where legalization in America applies to everyone and nobody will ever go to jail for growing, possessing, or selling cannabis.

While this may be true for the ultra rich capitalist class of people in America who can afford to pay over a million dollars for a legal cannabis license, it is not true for the majority of us hard working Americans who just want to put some food on our table and smoke a joint or take a dab after a long day of work.

As an activist in Colorado, I learned some interesting things that you won’t see in High Times, NowThis, or any other for-profit corporate media conglomerate. They are only interested in getting money from their rich sponsors, who are only interested in numbers of viewers. The more eyeballs, the more the media company can charge advertisers. This is why they publish sensationalist viral garbage over and over, they seek to appeal to the lowest common denominator and will promote any company who gives them money to do so.

In Colorado, We The People were able to pass a referendum that legalized cannabis for personal use and home growing. As soon as we voted on our own proposed amendment to the Colorado constitution and it passed, politicians in conjunction with cannabis business owners immediately began to roll back our progress and began stripping our newly appointed rights away with dozens of new laws, regulations, and restrictions which hurt patients and only benefited the big business cannabis companies who donated to those politicians to restrict our rights.

While a few of the more ‘daring’ or ‘independent’ media out there might slightly mention what I just described, they will NEVER talk about the main point of this article; how the cannabis industry actually stifles innovation and causes higher prices for patients.

In the capitalist world, everything hinges on one basic concept: ‘intellectual property’. Intellectual property refers to intangible property that is the result of creativity, such as patents, copyrights, etc. Capitalists use intellectual property to justify charging a higher price for their product. Typically this will be done through words and phrases along the lines of: ‘our product was created with a special formula by scientists using a very technical, very expensive machine’… When in reality this product, or one extremely similar, can be made yourself at home quite easily. The capitalist business man, who we will now refer to as the vulgar economist, does not want you to know that you can do this yourself at home because that would hurt his profits. If you can make this, he can’t make money off you buying that product or service from him. So he protects his ideas (which he learned from someone else) by strict intellectual property laws and by deceptively keeping that information from the public.

When we are talking about using cannabis for medical use, keeping vital information that can improve a patient’s outlook and life is not only immoral but is down right destructive. Let’s take the case of Charlotte’s Web, (although every company in the cannabis industry is guilty of this unless they are completely open, transparent, and show the entire process behind how and what is used to make their product).

When Charlotte’s Web came out, nearly every magazine and news station in America carried a story about it and it’s ‘miraculous health benefits’. The company did nothing special to make this product. They simply got a strain from another grower, or created their own which is not hard to do yourself. They then hid any information about what this strain was, so that patients could not grow this strain themselves. Their only option was being forced to purchase products from the vulgar economist made from the strain at the highest price the market allows. If the corporate board members instead would have released the information that ‘Charlotte’s Web’ is pretty much the same thing as the strain ‘R4’, then thousands of patients could have easily have grown this plant at home and maybe then because of the massive increase in moms and dads growing for their epileptic children maybe we could actually achieve a true legalization in America in which all prohibition laws are repealed and we can all grow, sell, and process cannabis instead of just the rich friends of politicians.

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Farmers learn how to cash in on growing cannabis for medicinal use

Norfolk farmers are learning how they can benefit from growing cannabis – more lucrative per gram than strawberries.

Farmers are being encouraged to look at the business potential of growing cannabis. Pic: Cathal McNaughton/PA WireFarmers are being encouraged to look at the business potential of growing cannabis. Pic: Cathal McNaughton/PA Wire

Property giant Savills, better known for selling high-end homes, has teamed up with cannabis specialists to launch a business venture for UK growers.

A new joint project called Crop17 will help farmers with knowing the best land for the crop, sourcing equipment and navigating the legal minefield of the Class B drug.

Although cannabis is illegal in Britain, several countries and states across the world have legalised it, leading to a boom in exports from the UK.Medicinal cannabis plants being grown in a glasshouse at the British Sugar in Wissington. Picture: ArchantMedicinal cannabis plants being grown in a glasshouse at the British Sugar in Wissington. Picture: Archant

Alex Bragg, a director at Savills, said: “The UK agriculture sector is embarking upon a period of unprecedented change. A phasing out of subsidies, a new dawn for trade, adapting to meet climate change targets and a huge growth in agtech presents the industry with huge challenges and opportunities. For the forward-thinking and innovative farmer and grower adapting into new markets is a key priority.”

Kit Papworth, director of farm contracting business LF Papworth, based at Felmingham, near North Walsham, has been invited to attend a Savills conference in London on hemp cultivation in the UK. He said: “The hemp and CBD (Cannabidol) oil markets have a huge potential, for both the oil and the biomass produced by the plant, which can be used in industry, building materials and for sequestering carbon.

“Farming in a post-Brexit world means we have to look closely at all of the opportunities and this is just one of many that we are considering.”

The worldwide legal cannabis industry generated revenues in the region of £11.5bn in 2019 – expected to grow to around £35bn by 2024. The total number of medical cannabis prescriptions issued in the UK could surge from a few hundred to more than 185,000 by the end of 2023 if the country follows a similar path to Australia, whose medical cannabis programme has grown rapidly since the government relaxed restrictions in 2018.

The active ingredient in cannabis – Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – is illegal in the UK but Cannabidiol (CBD) is not. However, all CBD products sold in the UK have to be imported typically from the US, Canada and Columbia.

Originally published at: https://www.edp24.co.uk/business/savills-launches-project-to-help-farmers-grow-cannabis-for-medical-use-1-6518384?fbclid=IwAR3iboq5CdMz9ANQRc9Ob3TbAEY1t0Hmy4pwyegkJHkvCUo8RRDncbd4JJ8