Marijuana Mondays Ep. 9: Eating Marijuana & Cancer Patients

Marijuana Mondays
In news, we have an unfortunate incident in which a child was taken to the hospital for ingesting marijuana and a doctor's plea for medical marijuana. I've got a cool tip on how to smoke in public, sort of. And, I want to end the show with High Times' Top 10 Strains of the Year (make sure you subscribe). Email me your questions, issues, or concerns about marijuana.

Check the last episode: Marijuana Mondays Ep. 8: New Suppliers & Pink Bunnies

Pot Mumblings: Small children and Cancer Patients

FL parents arrested after toddler eats marijuana stash
In short, these parents took their 1.5yo child to the hospital because he got into their marijuana stash and ate some of it. This story sort of bugs me because of the misinformation that is out there about marijuana. Even some marijuana smokers don't know that marijuana is so safe and nontoxic that even a child can eat it.

And no, the child will NOT get high from eating marijuana. If it were that easy to get high, people wouldn't go through the process of smoking it, cooking it, or making drinks out of it. Heat has to be applied to marijuana to get its effects. That's why simply eating it doesn't work.

Unfortunately, these parents have also lost custody of their child. Chances are they may lose their jobs as well. And, most likely, they will have incredible lawyer fees in trying to regain custody of their child. And this is the result of the marijuana criminalization - families destroyed from the inside out.

Dr. George Wagoner: Patients need relief marijuana gives
This is one of those stories that holds so much weight in the fight to get marijuana legalized for medical use. Dr. Wagoner's wife was diagnosed with cancer. Anyone who's dealt with cancer knows how difficult it is for the patient and their family. He asked about a prescription for marijuana to help his ailing wife. Unfortunately, the doctor could only prescribe Marinol, which is synthetic THC created by Solvay Pharmaceuticals. As is usual with pharmaceuticals, the Marinol did more harm than good. The unnatural, man-made chemical basically drove his wife mad with hallucinations. This is in part because Marinol is dangerously potent and completely ineffective Unfortunately again, Dr. Wagoner had to go out and procure marijuana illegally for his wife. "It was miraculous."

I think this story is important because it answers the question: What would you do if your loved one's life were in danger and marijuana could help? Maybe, when times are good we can lie about the answer. But, when times are bad, the truth comes out. I think we have to stop looking at marijuana as this evil drug. It's neither evil nor is it a drug. It's a plant with very strong medical utility. This is why we need a common sense drug policy that will stop hurting American citizens. I even hope that Ted Kennedy would use marijuana to help his glioma.

Green Tip of the Week: Empty Cigarette Tubes

Although, I knew about empty cigarette tubes for a long time, I never cared to use them. Rarely do I ever smoke in public. I always smoke indoors either in my own home or at a friend's place. If I do smoke outdoors, it's usually some place very secluded or where I know people won't bother me. But, this is not the tip. The tip is where to find those tubes, which ones to get, and how to make them work for you.

First of all, if you live in New York City, just go to West 4th on 6th Ave and look around. There are smoke shops galore. But, if you're not in New York city, just do a search online. Make sure you get the cigarette tubes with the brown filter tip as well. If you really want up-close authenticity, pick up Marlboro Cigarette Blanks. Just make sure you pick up a pack of Marlboro because you'll still need the box and sprinkle a little tobacco on the bottom of the box as well. Authenticity is the key.

And for a smooth smoke, don't rely on your fingers to break up good marijuana. Use a grinder because consistency is important because quality is just as important as quantity. As far as filling up those tubes, you can also buy a filler to do all of the dirty work. But, real marijuana users are always about doing it yourself.

Get yourself a straw and a small stick that will fit in the straw.

1. Cut the straw so that when you put it in the tube, a portion that you can grab is visible.
2. Put the finely ground marijuana into the straw, a little bit at a time.*
3. Using the stick, push it down into the tube.
4. Lift the straw out and use both the stick and the straw to pack down in the tube.**
5. Just keep up that motion until you reach the top.

*If you put too much in the straw, you may have a hard time pushing it all into the tube.
**You don't want to pack it in too tight or else it will be hard to smoke.

Now, you can smoke in public, almost. Remember, there's nothing you can do about the smell so try to stay away from people or keep it moving. And burnt marijuana smells much more strongly. If you can't finish it, throw it out. So, learn how to pack properly so you can adjust the consistency such that it will smoke faster.

If you don't know how to roll at all, you can use this method of tube filling. Simply get some rolling papers and wrap the paper around the straw, glue it, and close it at one end.

Marijuana Media: High Times Top 10 Strains of 2008

Check out that beautiful Brainstorm Haze by Delta9 Labs.