Patients, Activists, and Friends-

Under the Obama Administration, Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memo reinforcing the intent of the federal government to interfere with state medical cannabis laws, specifically the creation and licensing of dispensing centers. Compromising the legitimacy of dispensing centers will jeopardize access for patients in medical cannabis states across the country. The time has come for great action on our part to show the federal government that our state’s right to medical cannabis will not be trumped.

Our community is on red alert. ASA suggests that everyone revisits their emergency response plans, and if you do not have one, now is the time. Sign up for ASA Raid Text Message Alerts by clicking here. If you are a medical cannabis related business, sign up your business for our Raid Response Program.

For more information, click here to view our press release, and click here to read ASA’s Blog reaction.

Americans for Safe Access will be holding a conference call on Tuesday, July 5 2011 at 5:30pPST/8:30pEST-6:30pPST/9:30pEST to discuss our course of action to respond to this event. To dial in on Tuesday, call 832 431 3335 and enter participant code 1618568.

In the meantime, it is very important to build support from our political leaders, and question the Obama Administration for their actions.

If you live in a medical cannabis state, take one minute to call your state’s governor using the following script. To find your governor’s phone number, click here.

Governor-

I am outraged at the Obama Administration’s continual disregard for our state’s medical cannabis laws. We need your leadership to come out against the Obama Administration’s actions, and support the rights of medical cannabis patients!

Thank you.

Everyone across the country should take minute to call Obama’s reelection campaign using the following script. His campaign hotline is 312-698-3670. The White House Comment line is 202-456-1111.

President Obama-

I am outraged with your Administration’s recent Department of Justice Memo from Deputy Attorney General Cole. You made promises to protect our community, and they have been broken. Denying patients the right to access medication through dispensing centers is an attack on the patient community. Issue a policy that allows states to implement their laws, and protect patients rights to safe access!

Thank you.

If you have not done so already, sign ASA’s Petition to Obama to end federal interference with state law by clicking here.

We look forward to talking to you on Tuesday, July 5 about our next steps.

Americans for Safe Access

We trust our physicians to recommend the best medicine to suit our aliments, but do we ever consider that what our trusted physicians are giving us is healthy? On one hand, prescription drugs which are highly prescribed everyday damage digestive systems and other areas of the body. However, obtaining a medical marihuana recommendation and using medical marihuana instead of prescription drugs may just be the answer to a SAFE and effective alternative to prescription drugs. Medical Marijuana is safe for humans because studies show that we have cannabinoid receptors in our bodies. Our bodies know how to read the medicine and know exactly what to do with it. Our bodies put 100% of this plant into effective use in our body. That means there is no toxic residue that our livers have to process. Amazing right?!!

The article “Marijuana as Medicine: Consider the Pros and Cons,” published on The Mayo Clinic website on August 25, 2026 stated: “When smoked or ingested, THC and other cannabinoids in marijuana attach to two types of receptors or cells in your body — like keys in a lock — affecting the cells, once attached. CB1 is one such receptor. CB1 receptors are found mainly in your brain, especially in areas that control body movement, memory and vomiting. This helps explain why marijuana use affects balance and coordination and why it can be useful in treating nausea, pain and loss of appetite. The other type of receptor, CB2, is found in small numbers elsewhere in your body, mainly in tissue of the immune system, such as your spleen and lymph nodes. The function of these receptors is not well understood.”

Let’s move onto the two main marijuana plants, sativa and indica. The sativa plant offers much more of avivacious mood. The effects of sativa plant are on the mind and emotions. In this regard they tend to bemore arousing, exhilarating, motivating, and creativity enhancing. These benefits can be accommodating for the psychological element of many illnesses. The sativa plant is generally better for daytime use. On the other hand, indica plants encourage a mellower mood. The Indica plant is used for anxiety, pain, tremors, sleep deprivation and several other ailments. The response of the Indica plant is primarily physical; however, the comfort of certain physical symptoms may have an emotional aftermath. These effects stimulate relaxation and pain reduction. The indica plant is most commonly used to induce appetite and are generally better for night time use.

These are the basics to the benefits of marijuana and only a small part of what this plant can do medically. We have yet to understand how marijuana can affect our overall health in a positive way. The more we know and understand the more we can evolve, after all, knowledge is the enemy of ignorance.

Mary Jane, bhanging for centuries

Marijuana and sex. Two of my favorite topics, both extraordinarily taboo. My quest is to find a common thread between the pleasure we receive from sex and the bliss we receive from using marijuana, other then the fact that these two are completely natural. Could it be possible there is a link between the pleasure you feel from sex and marijuana?

Biology and evolution prove this to be true. Sex and marijuana share the same part of the brian which gives us pleasure. Being stoned or sexually aroused both produce similar physiological responses. They both play a role in the escape of reality and achieving euphoric experiences through mind and body.

In sync, marijuana and sex have been shared throughout centuries. Ancient India has been using this combo for over 3,000 years!! Back in the day, cannabis was formulated to help lubricate, loosen inhibitions and increase sexual drive. Atharvaveda, an ancient text, describe cannabis as a beneficial herb that “releases anxiety.” Bhang is an orally ingested cannabis preparation, a lot like chai tea and it is still made today. Bhang has become essential to Indian culture having many symbolic meanings. For example, there is a belief, to meet someone carrying bhang indicates success. Longing for hemp declares happiness and to dream about it certifies future fortune. Fans of this tea would join their partners in ‘cannabis rituals,’ the performances of oral sex on the woman by the man and intercourse itself, liberating the nature of sexuality. Other cultures prepared marijuana edibles, using lamb’s meat and cannabis. Female virgins were given this on their wedding night, to lesson the pain. Women have used cannabis to play out erotic fantasies and engage in fantasies when their men were not around. Soon enough, marijuana gained a reputation for releasing women to become sexually uninhibited….and we all thought alcohol did this!!! Using cannabis helps provide an environment where humans could communicate their sexual needs and desires.

When I started to write this article, the challenge was to connect the pleasures of sexual experience with the enjoyment of marijuana use. I found very little current information supporting or challenging this powerhouse connection. Searching sex and marijuana, as separate topics, I found hundreds, if not thousands, of information supporting collected and hypothesized data. I quickly found the challenge is not about finding information to support my hypothesis, it is to help others see the big picture, marijuana needs to be studied as a medicine to help others. The other challenge is to admit that there are so many things we don’t know and so many stones left unturned. It is my hope that we can start to write our own history, so we can be the ancestors who go out with more the just a good bhang.

BHANG: OLD INDIAN RECIPE

2 cups water

1 ounce marijuana

(fresh leaves and flowers, buds of a female plant preferred)
4 cups warm milk
2 tablespoons blanched and chopped almonds
1/8 teaspoon garam masala
(a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom)
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 to 1 teaspoon rosewater
1 cup sugar

Bring the water to a rapid boil and pour into a clean teapot. Remove
any seeds or twigs from the marijuana, add it to the teapot and cover.

Let this brew for about 7 minutes. Now strain the water and marijuana through a piece of muslin cloth, collect the water and save. Take the leaves and flowers and squeeze between your hands to extract any liquid that remains. Add this to the water.

Place the leaves and flowers in a mortar and add 2 teaspoons warm milk. Slowly but firmly grind the milk and leaves together. Gather up the marijuana and squeeze out as much milk as you can. Repeat this process until you have used about 1/2 cup of milk (about 4 to 5 times).

Collect all the milk that has been extracted and place in a bowl. By this time the marijuana will have turned into a pulpy mass. Add the chopped almonds and some more warm milk. Grind this in the mortar until a fine paste is formed. Squeeze this paste and collect the extract as before. Repeat a few more times until all that is left are some fibers and nut meal. Discard the residue. Combine all the liquids that have been collected, including the water the marijuana was brewed in. Add to this the garam masala, dried ginger and rosewater.

Add the sugar and remaining milk. Chill, serve, and enjoy.

For more bhang receipes:

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2010/03/bhang_bhang_your_head_hindu_holi_festival_celebrat.php

http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_recipe1.shtml

websites used and other cool sites to view:

http://www.holifestival.org/bhang-recipes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhang

http://www.webestoned.com/Recipes/bhang.htm

http://hightimes.com/entertainment/ndouglas/565