PRIOR RESTRAINT

= Just in over the transom ...

Actually I saw this on the MMMA website. Goes close to heart of an issue vexing me for some years. The least sign of Interest or even Comprehension can elicit an endless stream of McLuhanesque 'probes' which I'm sure annoy all but those who hear them as some sort of Celestial Music. This is a Big Fuckin Deal for me ~ has been for many, many years. I Am Not Alone in this i hope

Here's the nibs : In the United States there is a Prior Restraint on scientific research involving cannabis imposed by self-interested federal agencies, principally NIDA and the DEA. That Prior Restraint means many basic questions about cannabinoids can not be asked. DEA and NIDA both must approve research protocols or just forget about ever securing any research cannabis from any source. It's policy right out of the Middle Ages, and the Media has yet to note the reason behind the paucity of usable data. We have lost decades of social progress and medical research to the Great Pirates and their Charlatan camp-followers.

*** Neither NIDA nor the DEA, btw, produces anything but their own beanpiles. Both could be gone in a flash and we'd never miss either. Anyone who cares to make The Case for either agency is welcome to step forth and get shredded. ***

Here's the heart of the matter ~ we do not know the true chemical composition of the sundry cannabis strains. How, exactly, do Blueberry strains differ from, say, White Widow. Until we have reliable 'chemical signatures' we can not begin to match reports of effectiveness from patients with the chemical signatures associated with that relief. That's Usable information for producers, patients, farmacies, evaluators, regulators, breeders, scientists, the Public ... what more could we want?

Within the concentric little rings elicited from my pinging & probing ... I've been promoting the notion that a protocol to assay selected strains in situ in California is legal, doable, and necessary; I've been told that collectives in the Bay have been applying more resources than I have as yet garnered to questions larger than mine, and I'm trying to catch up with them.

So this may be the Season's gift to me ~ it fell under my nose literally moments after sending the Fellow a note about sending him some historical material for his back-fill. This is precisely what we were talking about. Chemical signatures for cannabis Strains ~ what a concept. Once you know what a strain really Is, chemically-speaking, one may start pegging patient effectiveness reports to the chemical indicators within each particular strains. NIDA / RIPS could have been doing this for us for thirty years, had they any concept of real Public Purpose.

# # # VIVA CANNABISTAS ! # # #

Heroes in Service to America = Harborside Health Center on the Embarcadero in Oakland CA. Look at what these people are doing !!

Am so damn happy... doing imaginative cartwheels.



= 26 Dec 08