This post was five times as long as this with all sorts of medical, historical, and other issues in discussion but then my computer crashed and I lost the draft so rather than retype everything I will just go with this . . . perhaps some day we will do a longer version again.
Recently there has been more and more press on the controversial (to some) use of marijuana for medicinal purposes as more and more states in the United States thumb their noses at federal laws banning the drug and allow legalized use of marijuana for medical purposes with many of those states experiencing a budgetary boon in terms of tax revenues but also very positive unforseen economic growth in industries and employment sectors previously not seen as associated with the drug’s traditional economy (carpenters, electricians, and more are seeing increased business as they build and maintain grow houses).
The medical marijuana issue in the US has become yet another area where the seeming age-old but really only as old as the nation itself question comes into play of states rights versus federal control with some of the very folks who are against so-called big government in favor of federal mandate on this issue. For instance under President George Bush, the federal authorities raided and prosecuted marijuana dispensaries in California even though they were legal by state law while President Barack Obama’s administration did not change the law but chose not to spend resources on enforcing it (that has changed recently as the wind has shifted and Obama has been putting prosecution efforts into play).
In any case, that’s not why I am posting now . . . certainly, nothing to do with the nice lady in the image above.
“Legitimate” research has finally begun happening in terms of marijuana and its medical properties with a whole slew of discoveries of its medicinal properties. One property recently touted as a new use is actually a very old use . . . in fact, Queen Victoria of England, the selfsame monarch who gave her name to an age that is often perceived as conservative and perhaps a bit prudish, use marijuana regularly for menstrual cramps to great easement of her extreme condition (I know, a lot of men don’t get just how debilitating menstrual cramps can be for some women – a few of my male students confided to me once they thought it was grossly unfair that women are legally granted a day off of work in Taiwan for menstrual cramps while men have no such benefit . . . of course, if they knew a bit more about women they’d not see this as a benefit as with some women the intensity of the cramping can be rather intense . . . it’s not a mini-vacation, guys . . . a few of my female students who have graduated have noted that in job interviews they have been asked if they’re the type of women who have extreme menstrual cramps as companies don’t want to give workers the day off they are afforded by right of law . . . sheesh).
In any case Queen Victoria was a victim of extreme victim of menstrual cramps and used the drug with very good effect . . .in fact she also used it for morning sickness and in childbirth. Her physician did a lot of work with marijuana and published very positive findings on marijuana’s medicinal value . . . findings that have been ignored for over one hundred years as researchers are only now doing studies that verify what he found long long ago.
See http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october162009/pms_mj_pl.php and http://www.ukcia.org/medical/menstrualcrampsmorningsicknessandlabourpain.php and http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/site/NOTES.htm for more.
All the best,
Brian
http://www.briandavidphillips.com
