cannabis health - [sep/oct edition 2004]

2 CANNABIS HEALTH Journal

Editorial ......................................................................................... 4

Off the Wire ..................................................................................................................... 4

Sending Legal Cannabis by Canada Post........................................................................... 5

How to safely ship pot by mail

Letters ............................................................................................................................. 5

Our readers let us know what’s on their minds

Cannabis Branding-Where’s the THC? ................................................................6

Alcohol turns to marijuana for marketing help

The Dagga Freedom Coin .......................................................................................8

Artist Jeffery Sax brings cannabis to light through art

Questioning the Direction of Medical Marijuana Research ..................10

The Sacred Plant .........................................................................................................12

Renowned cannabis writer, Chris Bennett, tours marijuana history

High Art: The Grandfather of Herb Art, Pat Ryan......................................16

One Artista on the forefront of art revival

Art and Compassion: Nemo’s Story ....................................................................18

Cannabis Trade Association: Legal Cannabis ................................................20

Team Cannabis ...........................................................................................................22

The Pot BC 2010 Olympic Gear

IACM Requests your Help.......................................................................................23

International Association for Cannabis as Medicine in time of need

Triptorium: A Flashback in High Art ................................................................24

Receptive Earth ................................................................................26

The Persecution of Reverend Brother Michael D. Ethier.................26

Church of the Universe Reverend recalls his story

Marihuana and Religion ..................................................................30

Rev. A.L. Blaauw (ThB) on cannabis and religion

Curing your Buds..............................................................................32

Klozit King gives us step by step instructions for curing great buds

www.cannabishealth.com

Editor: Brian Taylor Production: Teresa Taylor Sales: Lisa SmithAccounting: Barb Cornelius Distribution: Lorraine LangisShipping & Store: Gordon Taylor Web: Barb St. Jean

No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form, print or electronic, without writtenpermission of the publisher.Cannabis Health is also reproduced on the web in downloadable pdf format at cannabishealth.com/archive.html.

The Cannabis Health Foundation was formed in the spring of2002 as a non-profit foundation.

Our mandate as a non-profit foundation is to provide accurate up-to-date informationon Cannabis Marijuana and Cannabis Hemp in a conservative style magazine thatappeals to the general public. We are pleased to announce the journal is now beingmade available to: Government health organizations, patient support groups, medicalassociations, research foundations and other cannabis related corporations at the verylow bulk distribution rate of: $1.00 per copy + shippingAdvertisers in the journal receive up to 300 free copies per issue.For advertising information use phone or fax or e-mail: [email protected].

SUBSCRIPTION / DISTRIBUTION INFORMATIONIf you would like to receive 6 copies per year of the most informative resource formedical marijuana available, subscribe to Cannabis Health by sending your name andaddress to: Cannabis Health Foundation, P.O.Box 1481, Grand Forks, B.C., V0H 1H0 $25cdn in Canada (USA send $45.00cdn and foreign send $75.00cdn)Bulk distribution rates in boxes of 100 at $1.00 per issue plus shipping.E-mail: [email protected]

O n t h e C o v e rThis month’s cover was designed by Jeffrey Sax, an American artist

whose works are inspired by and honoring of the cannabis plant. See more of Jeffrey’s work at:

www.saxgallery.com / www.daggaglass.orgAlso, be sure to read the Dagga Freedom Coin story on page 8.

I N S I D E @ C A N N A B I S H E A L T H

4 C A N N A B I S H E A L T H J o u r n a l

O F F T H E W E BMORE SMOKING MARIJUANAJuly 8, 2004 Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)

More U.S. adults, especially young minoritiesand baby boomers, are habitual users of mari-juana. The prevalence of marijuana abuse ordependence climbed from 1.2 percent of adultsin 1991-92 to 1.5 percent in 2001-02, or an esti-mated 3 million adults 18 and older. That repre-sents an increase of 22 percent, or 800,000 peo-ple, according to data from two nationallyrepresentative surveys that each queried morethan 40,000 adults.

Among 18- to 29-year-olds, the rate remainedstable among whites but surged by about 220percent among black men and women, to 4.5percent of that population, and by almost 150percent among Hispanic men, to 4.7 percent.

Among all adults ages 45 to 64, the rateincreased by 355 percent, to about 0.4 percent ofthat population.

COMPASSION IN MONTANA?On Friday, the Montana government certified

the Marijuana Policy Project’s medical marijua-na initiative for the November 2 ballot. (Afterthree months of petitioning, MPP turned in morethan 32,000 signatures to the Montana govern-ment on June 18.)

If the initiative is passed by a majority of vot-ers, Montana will become the 10th state to pro-tect medical marijuana patients from arrest andjail.

Please visit www.MontanaCares.com to learnmore about the initiative, and visitwww.mpp.org/MT/news_7706.html to readsome of the local news coverage.

SCIENTISTS SAY MARIJUANA RESEARCH BLOCKED

July 20, 2004 Associated Press (Wire)

WASHINGTON - The government is violat-ing federal law by obstructing medical marijua-na research, scientists contend in lawsuits seek-ing faster action on applications to grow thedrug.

In lawsuits to be filed Wednesday, researchersassert that Washington is refusing to act on legit-imate research projects and delaying studies thatcould lead to marijuana’s use as a prescriptiondrug.

“There is an urgent need for an alternative sup-ply of marijuana for medical research,” said LyleCraker, director of the Medicinal Plant Programat the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, themain force behind the lawsuits.The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part ofthe Health and Human Services Department,“maintains a monopoly on research marijuana.Many researchers believe that NIDA’s monop-oly is an obstacle to getting needed studies doneon a timely basis,” Craker said in a statement.

Joining Craker in filing the suit are RickDoblin, president of the MultidisciplinaryAssociation for Psychedelic Studies, and Valerie

Corral, co-founder of the Wo/Men’s Alliance forMedical Marijuana in Santa Cruz, Calif., whouses marijuana to control epileptic seizures.

“As a patient, each day brings new struggles,”she said in a statement. “Instead of providingrelief for critically ill Americans, our govern-ment refuses to allow the research that wouldfree sick and dying members of our collectivefrom living in fear of an administration thatviews medical assistance as criminal activity.”

CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENT POTJuly 13, 2004 The Ottawa Citizen

Some patients are spurning a new batch ofgovernment-certified marijuana, dismissingHealth Canada claims that it’s a stronger, betterquality smoke.

“It’s no good,” Marco Renda, 45, said yester-day from his home in Dundalk, Ont. “I took twopuffs and I put it out.

Prairie Plant Systems, which produces med-ical marijuana on contract for Health Canada,began shipping a second batch on May 21 afterusers gave the first harvest bad reviews. HealthCanada says the new batch has more THC, theprimary active ingredient in marijuana, fewerleaves and twigs and more flowering tops.

“I’ve been told ... that the feedback has beenpositive overall,” said Health Canada spokes-woman Catherine Saunders.

One of the drawbacks of publishing bi-monthly is that some events become stale-dated. One such event, spearheaded byactivist Jody Pressman, was the July 6demonstration, “Fill the Hill” which drew3000 Canadians to Parliament Hill with amessage for politicians; prohibition doesnot work. For me, what was significantabout this traditional style event, was that

after 35 years, so many Canadians still con-tinue to feel such passion and enthusiasm.

Canada’s new Prime Minister, PaulMartin, announced that his governmentwould re-introduce changes to marijuanalaws in October. Optimists are betting thatthe new legislation will reflect the influenceof the New Democrats and that we mightsee a legal plant limit as well as the posses-sion of minor quantities without a fine.Most people feel that at this point anythingis better than the confusion we have.

I am one of those optimists. In the lastfew weeks I have noticed several surprisingindicators of positive change.

Associative Product Marketing, using anassociation with cannabis, marijuana, pot orhemp, to attract new customers to use anon-cannabis product. Who are these peo-ple these marketers are targeting that wantthis safe association with the herb? Myguess is they are a wide demographic of potsmokers and sympathizers who are secretlyreaching out saying, please save our planetand save us from our hypocrisy! Remember

the Berlin Wall.

Another sign has been a new opennessfrom health professions including doctors.

All those news stories and specials anddebates are finally sinking in. People in mytown and all around the country are wakingup and realizing prohibition is dangerous.

More education is needed for doctors, forseniors and for kids.

Modern archeologists uncover some ofthe lost art from the dark period in America,the 1980s. What a discovery. Our wish is tosee a new appreciation, a renaissance of theart from this period. This was a way ofthinking, art with attitude. This will not bethe last readers will see of ARTISTA.

Tune in for more of How the heck do weget ourselves out of the marijuana supplybusiness. The journal will try to shed somelight on quality, and cannabis testing.

The response to this editions theme hasbeen spectacular. Look for more cannabisart and music in the next edition.

E D I T O R @ C A N N A B I S H E A L T H

Brian Taylor: Editor-in-Chief

C A N N A B I S H E A L T H J o u r n a l 5

S H I P P I N G L E G A L C A N N A B I S B YC A N A D A P O S T

Taylor is a licensed marijuana grower andgrows for Michel a legal marijuana patient.Taylor has grown for other patients and has useda variety of mail carriers to send cannabis mari-juana to patients in Canada.

In June, two 3oz shipments sent to Michel’shome in Ontario went missing. After CanadaPost lost the first shipment, Taylor turned toPurolator. The second parcel also went missing.Canada Post initially refused to take responsibil-ity for the lost shipments and refused to ship anymarijuana. Health Canada instructions topatients were not to identify the product as mar-ijuana, package it well and require a signature ondelivery of the shipment. The intention of HealthCanada officials was to draw as little attention tothe product as possible. Without an agreementwith Canada Post, what in fact was happeningwas, shippers were unable to insure their ship-ments. If all went well and the parcel arrived, noone took a loss, however, if the shipmentbecame lost, without insurance, the patient andgrower would take the loss.

Taylor asked other private mail carriers totransport the marijuana to Ontario and all have

refused. A supervisor from Loomis/DHLexplained that they would like to help, but mailcarriers often share planes that are routedthrough Cincinnati, Ohio and are subject to USinspection including the use of sniffer dogs.

Taylor was ready to ship another package tohis patient the next week. His patient Michelwho is chronically ill was threatening to hitch-hike to BC to get his medicine.

Health Canada officials from the MedicalMarijuana Program, were alerted to the difficul-ties patients and growers were experiencing andentered into talks with Canada Post.Subsequently Canada Post officials announcedthat they were not opposed to shipping legalmarijuana, but needed more time to develop pro-tocols for shipping.

As this next edition of the journal goes to pressour advice is:

A# Package your cannabis in a hard plasticcontainer. Disposable Tupperware type contain-ers work well and Duct tape can be used to sealthe lid for added odor control.

B# Insure the contents for a reasonable value.

I.e. $175 to $200 per oz.

C# Nothing on the exterior should indicatethat marijuana is in the package. You do notneed to identify the contents to the Canada Postemployees.

D# Send by Express Post with a signaturerequired on delivery.

CHJWatch for more information on shipping in

the next edition of the journal.

SAY NO TO GOVERNMENT POT?I am surprised that your journal has not

given more coverage to the story of thepoor quality government marijuana.

I am considering applying for a licence,however, why should I bother if I still amforced to buy my marijuana from an illegalsource.

I am totally confused at the conflictingstories over THC levels and quality. I loveyour journal, you are my main source ofcannabis information.

Please help me understand these issuesbetter.

Sincerely yours, Maria Hill

Dear Maria,

We are equally as confused. We will lookinto this further and will have more infor-mation on this in our next issue.

BT

DIVERSITY OF SUPPORT HELPS I loved the last issue, “Cannabis

Generation”. I am always amazed to see thediversity of people that are brought togeth-er through cannabis. This diversity is whatallows the movement to continue to with-stand adversity.

I wish you all the best your endeavors,and will stop by your store to say hello thenext time I’m down south!

Hemp and health,

Patrick M., Williams Lake, BC

L E T T E R S


by Barbara Bud

L’Or Special Drinks, a large Czech alcoholicdrink manufacturer, has launched marijuanaflavoured liquor. The drink (sold mostly insupermarkets and some restaurants) contains notetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active sub-stance in marijuana. It does, however, contain16% alcohol.

Jiri Janak, head of liquor production at DrinksUnion, said; “We produce if from hemp, butthere’s no THC in it,” adding he hasn’t receivedany complaints from anti-drug activists. Expertsagree that drinkers probably can’t get high, but

there has been criti-cism that the drug isbeing used to pro-mote alcohol.

Verina McEwen, aDrug Action Teamcoordinator inEngland, branded thesale of this drink as“irresponsible.” Shesaid; “This is clearlyencouraging the useof more than onedrug, which is totallyirresponsible.Marketing alcohol inthis way should neverbe allowed, and it isan attempt to makedrink more attractivewhen it is actuallydangerous and cankill in extremecases.” (I think we all

know how dangerous alcohol can be)

New Zealand faces a similar issue with a sim-ilar product that is using “cannabis branding”.The Alcohol Advisory Council is asking liquorstores to withdraw Hemp Vodka, which has amarijuana leaf on the label, claiming the productbreaches advertising ethics. Major alcohol man-ufacturers in New Zealand have signed a code ofadvertising standards that confirms they won’tuse illicit drug images or language on labels.The distributor of Hemp vodka, however, is notregistered with the council, which representsmanufacturers. Beer, Wine and Spirits Councilchief executive, Nicki Stewart is aware of theissue and “flabbergasted” how it got through.Christine Rogan of Alcohol Healthwatchbrought this issue to the attention of the council.She is concerned at anything that links the drugculture to young people. “This has got a verylarge, inviting marijuana leaf on the label, asso-ciating the product with an illegal substance.That’s the main concern,” she said. “We are notvery happy about it and would certainly like tosee it off the shelf.”

C A N N A B I S B R A N D I N G : W h e r e ’s t h e T H C ?

by Akasha Jones

In 1994, artist/hemp activist Jeffrey Saxwas given an opportunity to design his owncurrency. It was his intent to unite andempower the cannabis culture with a cur-rency that promoted environmental pros-perity as well as spiritual and personal free-dom.

The first coins featured the “CelestialLady Liberty” smoking a joint, with thewords “IN FREEDOM WE TRUST” andthe tail side featured a hemp leaf in the formof a peace sign overlaid onto a map of theplanet. The words “WORLD PEACE” sur-rounds the image as a proclamation that theworld could heal, prosper, and mellow, throughthe life supporting gifts of the cannabis plant.

The coins were minted on one troy ounce of.999 Fine Silver, and the dates have beenchanged each year to acknowledge the history aswell as give it numismatic value. In 1995, only31 coins were minted.

“I consider this the “1909 svdv” of the collec-tion.” said Jeff “So far we have 1,798 Daggafreedom coins in circulation. One man sent oneto his brother in Turkey, one was gifted to aChinese governor by a filmmaker, and manywere placed internationally, as well as stateside,through my art gallery over the years. For manypeople, it was their first cannabis “outing”.Parents bought them for their children and visa-versa. What really mattered was that it openedup dialog between like-minded people. They seethis coin and it gives them courage to be whothey are.”

As an alternative currency, Dagga freedomcoins have been bartered for meals at restau-rants, exchanged for herbs as well as produce atFarmers Markets, used for rent, as well as giftedto “herbal freedom fighters” around the world.

“I read of a chiropractor who was growingplants for her client who suffered from glauco-ma. She was facing jail time and heavy fines, soI sent her a care package with an encouragingnote. At these times I considered the coin equiv-alent to the Purple Heart, a medal that acknowl-edged exceptional bravery and compassion dur-ing times of war.” exclaimed Jeff. “I soonreceived a letter back from the Doctor which letme know that I was making a difference,”

“What a beautiful coin you sent me!!! I’lltreasure it always as the brightest moment ofthis dismal affair,” were the first words fromher letter.

“I was also very moved when BrownieMary, Dennis Peron’s long time assistant andAIDS activist, wore her freedom coin proudlyaround her neck. We met at the 1993 CannabisCup and she was truly an inspirational angel ofcompassion. Dennis was also riding high onthe momentum of Prop 215 and of course wewere honored to gift him a coin as well.”

“We also gifted the coin to political figures who

were being proactive in thehemp war.It was encouraging to receivea “thank you” letter from theSurgeon General of theUnited States while she stillwas in office on official gov-ernment stationary.”

Jeremy Slate, actor/hempactivist, explained that thecoin is much more than justan ounce of silver. “When my oldest son Jef wasdying of AIDS, cannabis was the only medicinethat eased his pain, but above all else, raised hisspirits to the point of ignoring his predicament.Throughout his ordeal, the coin remained astrong symbol of his commitment to thecannabis culture. I inherited Jef’s coin and keepit on my altar as a treasured momento and areminder of Jef’s better moments.”

Jeff also knew of a groom who bought a coinfor each guest at his wedding party, to celebratehis union, and to let his passion for cannabis setthe tone for the ceremony and reception.

In 1998, WORLD PEACE was changed toWORLD DAGGA, to incorporate a large scalemarketing plan for all hemp products. Cartooncharacters from all walks of life were created topromote and celebrate their cannabis culture.The “freedom coin” became their “currency ofchoice” and their world a place of cannabisinspired wonder.

The name “Dagga” was randomly picked froma list of names for cannabis, from page one of

the 1993/4 edition of “The Emperor Wears NoClothes”, by Jack Herer, who was one of the firstpeople to honor the new currency by “exchang-ing” coins for advertising space.

“From my art gallery on Cannery Row, I paint-ed many cannabis inspired images.” proclaimedJeff. “I was hoping to use my reputation as anaccomplished artist (including museum credits)to enlighten the mainstream about this amazingplant. Often people would buy images not real-izing that there was a cannabis plant in thedesign. Even if they were initially prejudicedagainst the plant, they would still embrace the

image because of the positive vibrations ofthe work.”

“Cannabis reflects the earth’s beauty andsoul, as well as the sun’s healing light. It isinappropriate to be singled out and attackedby military men in helicopters.” reflectsJeff. “Through art, I was channeling andhonoring the grace, wisdom, strength, andthe sacred power of transformation of thecannabis plant. Through the coin, I was

hoping to empowerthe people who sawand lived this truth.”

In the year 2001, anew version of thecoin was offered thatfeatured theCelestial LadyLiberty not smokinga joint. This was forthe people who weremore focused on theindustrial side of thehemp issue. Bothversions were alsooffered as a key-chain.

Dagga has been an evolving concept that hasbeen growing roots steadily since 1995. Afternineteen years, Jeff closed his gallery on 1/1/01,and focused his energies exclusively on Dagga.

Jon Brant, long time webmaster for Dagga,recalls, “I remember what it felt like back in2001 when we did the Santa Cruz Hemp Expo,Seattle Hempfest, and Burning Man for the firsttime. I felt we were ready for release into thepublic. Our booth at the two shows totallyrocked; the stickers, the Dagga Freedom Cointree, the cards, the video. We had it all and I wasexpecting so much more reaction than what hap-pened. It wasn’t till we got to Burning Man thatI truly understood what the Dagga project wasreally about. The gift economy of Burning Man!That was Dagga! It wasn’t about money it wasall about ART and creative free expression.”

“Seeing the huge smiles and lit up faces of thepeople we gave the coins to made me so happyand connected. People ‘got’ what we were tryingto do, a new vibration of thinking. My favoritememory was the coin I gave to the Johnny-on-

T H E D A G G A F R E E D O M C O I N


“Glory Road” by Jeff Sax

the-Spot guy, hired to pump out a city’s worth of porta-potties. I heardthrough the grapevine that their morale was low and they were on theverge of quitting. I jumped up onto his truck and thrust a coin at him

through the window andloudly proclaimed “Thankyou!” He said, “WHOAman, this is the coolestthing I’ve ever seen!!!”

I knew that this guywould have a story to tellhis friends and a coin thatreally acknowledged hisefforts on behalf of the cit-izens of Black Rock City.

In 2002 , Jeff embarkedon a personal, spiritualquest that included beingin total service, Rascal

(the rabbit), and a little animation project called “Ammonite Rising”.“All that is real, and all that matters, is love...” concludes Jeff. “AsDagga moves into the future, I will let this lesson be the guiding lightbehind all manifestations of our work.

It is my hope that 2004 will bring a sense of spiritual renewal foreveryone and that Dagga can be a part of that empowerment and cele-bration.”

www.saxgallery.com / www.dagga.org


by Fred Gardner, editor of O’Shaughnessy’s

The directors of the University of California’sCenter for Medical Cannabis Research -IgorGrant, MD, and Drew Mattison, PhD- organizeda “workshop” in Paestum, Italy last month thatseemed to violate their basic mandate.

The event, entitled “Future Directions inCannabinoid Therapeutics II: From the Bench tothe Clinic,” was held on Sunday, June 27, fol-lowing the International Cannabinoid ResearchSociety’s annual meeting. Participants includedmany prestigious scientists -RaphaelMechoulam, Roger Pertwee, Raj Razdan,Alexandros Makriyannis, Daniele Piomelli,Cecilia Hillard, Vincenzo di Marzo, Ester Fride,Natsuo Ueda, Jun Fu, George Kunos, GeoffreyGuy, and others.

The CMCR (Center for Medical CannabisResearch) conference was not publicized inadvance and as of this writing is not reported ontheir website. I first heard about it as the ICRSmeeting got underway from Sumner Burstein, aUMass medical school researcher who hasdeveloped a synthetic drug, ajulemic acid(named after his granddaughters) that activatesthe cannabinoid receptors. Burstein said that aMassachusetts drug company, Indevus, was test-ing AJA as a treatment for pain, and that theirpromising early results would be reported at “themeeting on Sunday.”

Next evening two California doctors, JeffHergenrather of Sebastopol and Steve Ellis ofSan Francisco, were seated at dinner with DrewMattison, who revealed that the CMCR washolding a meeting on Sunday for companiesdeveloping drugs they hoped to test and marketin the U.S. Mattison said it was “by invitationonly,” and he did not extend an invite to theCalifornia docs (who, being gentlemen, did notprotest).

The following afternoon I encounteredMattison outside the lecture hall and told himthat Burstein had invited me to the CMCR ses-sion. He said, in obvious displeasure, that “sincethere had been so many complaints,” he’d beenforced to “open it up” on a first-come, first-served basis to 20 more participants. I could getin if I showed up early enough.

I asked Mattison if the CMCR -which hasheadquarters at UC San Diego and an office atUC San Francisco- might find a way to provideanalytical-lab services so that Californiapatients, doctors and growers could identify thecomposition of the plants they were using andbegin to duplicate, however crudely, the G.W.approach to research. He gave me a horrifiedlook and instead of responding, said “Gerardmight be starting his talk”, and scurried into thehall where Gerard Le Fur of Sanofi was aboutto describe the effectiveness of a cannabinoid-antagonist drug in treating obesity.

The CMCR Sunday conference was held in a

room at the Ariston Hotel, same as the ICRSmeeting. About 40 distinguished scientists sataround tables with nameplates, microphones,water, gift notepads, etc. (there was a noticeablyhigher percentage of men than at the ICRS meet-ing) Breakfast and lunch were provided. Theabstract book acknowledged grants from theU.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, HealthCanada, Solvay (makers of Marinol), Lilly,Merck, Esteve, Valeant, Indevus, Kadmus, andG.W. Pharmaceuticals. At least five people fromUC San Diego were involved -Mattison andGrant, staffer Heather Bentley, a grad studentand a distraught technician who kept scurryingalong the floor trying to get the mics to workand/or stop screeching.

The program was organized into four sections:“Cannabinoid Agonists,” “CannabinoidAntagonists,” “New Trends in CannabinoidTherapeutics,” and “Cannabinoid DrugDevelopment.” Except for the promotion ofantagonist drugs -which work by blocking thebody’s cannabinoid receptors and pose dangersabout which the designers remain in deepdenial- most of the research being described hadpositive therapeutic implications. The talksinvolved very arcane chemistry, with the excep-tion of Geoffrey Guy’s report that tolerance didnot build up in more than 1,000 patients who hadtaken Sativex for more than a year (for variousconditions).

Our concern is not that the CMCR honchosspent taxpayers’ money on making themselves“players” in the cannabusiness world (the legis-lation creating the CMCR allows them to spendfive percent of their time raising money fromoutside sources), but that the program itself vio-lated their reason for being, which was and is tostudy “marijuana,” not ajulemic acid, orMarinol, or “cannbinoid therapeutics.”

The CMCR was created by “The MarijuanaResearch Act of 1999” -SB-487- which wasintroduced by State Sen. John Vasconcellosexplicitly in response to the passage of Prop215. SB-487 authorized the UC regents to createa “Marijuana Research Program... (to) developand conduct studies intended to ascertain thegeneral medical safety and efficacy of marijuanaand, if found valuable (sic), shall develop med-ical guidelines for the appropriate administra-

tion and use of marijuana.”

Note that the act refers to “marijuana” as itwas and is being used by Californians underProp 215, in other words, the plant. The crudeplant that grows in the crude soil and that wevoted to legalize for medical use. SB-487 madeno reference to synthetic formulations, let aloneantagonist drugs. It authorized UC to sponsorstudies involving “marijuana.” For example:“Proposals shall contain procedures for outreachto patients with various medical conditions whomay be suitable participants in research on mar-ijuana...” And “Proposals shall contain protocolssuitable for research on marijuana...” And“Studies conducted pursuant to this section shallinclude the greatest amount of new scientificresearch possible on the medical uses of, andmedical hazards associated with, marijuana...”And “The marijuana studies shall employ state-of-the-art research methodologies.”

How did it come to pass that research into thesafety and efficacy of marijuana got transmutedinto studies involving synthetics? A key stepwas the selection of UC San Diego -where theinfluence of the medical marijuana movementwas almost nil- to be the headquarters andMattison and Grant to be the directors. This wasarranged by Vasconcellos as a favor to a mutualfriend of his and Mattison’s.

Whereas SB-487 had called for “MarijuanaResearch” the UC center changed its name toCannabis (Latin is so much classier thanMexican). The launch was accompanied by aself-congratulatory mission statement that erad-icated marijuana, introduced the ambiguousterm “cannabis products,” and added a gratu-itous goal that ignores the people of Californiawhile blowing a kiss to fellow bureaucrats.

“The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Researchwill conduct high quality scientific studiesintended to ascertain the general medical safetyand efficacy of cannabis and cannabis productsand examine alternative forms of cannabisadministration. The center will be seen as amodel resource for health policy planning byvirtue of its close collaboration with federal,state, and academic entities.”

Had the CMCR been based at UC SanFrancisco, its operation might have been moni-


Q U E S T I O N I N G T H E D I R E C T I O N O F M E D I C A L C A N N A B I S R E S E A R C H

tored by doctors and cannabis-using patientswho want and need studies relevant to their ownsituation. Who is better positioned than theCMCR to collect data on the conditions thatCalifornians have been treating with cannabis.And to collect and analyze the results? Who isbetter positioned to analyze and provide data onthe strains being used in the here and now? Adirector whose ambitions were on the clinicalrather than the research side of medicine wouldhave promoted such studies.

Instead we have Igor Grant and DrewMattison “bringing together the major stake-holders in the development of cannabinoid ther-apeutics,” as their abstract book puts it, “to sur-vey the laboratory compounds that are mostpromising for testing in human trials, confrontpotential stumbling blocks to testing and devel-opment of these compounds, and identify oppor-tunities for progressing (sic, sic, sic) new com-pounds to clinical readiness.”

The CMCR leaders showed disrespect for thepeople they’re supposed to be serving when theydidn’t invite Hergenrather and Ellis -whobetween them have monitored cannabis use bymore than 5,000 patients!- to their confab.

A member of the CMCR scientific advisoryboard (which has not met in two years) toldyour correspondent that he had not beenapprised of the “workshop” in Paestum. Hesought to defend the CMCR by saying that SB-847 requires that their studies be conductedwith marijuana provided by NIDA. But thewording of the law suggests that studies couldbe conducted with California-grown herb!“The program shall ensure that all marijuanaused in the studies is of the appropriate medicalquality and shall be obtained from the NationalInstitute on Drug Abuse or any other federalagency designated to supply marijuana forauthorized research. If these federal agenciesfail to provide a supply of adequate quality andquantity within six months of the effective dateof this section, the Attorney General shall pro-

vide an adequate supply pursuant to Section11478.”

The federal agencies have indeed failed toprovide marijuana of adequate quality -which iswhy several CMCR studies couldn’t enticeenough test subjects and have been “on hold”for years. (Most egregious example: a SanMateo study designed for 58 subjects thatrecruited just one!) Why don’t the scientistsinvolved ask the AG to start supplying medicinecomparable to what Californians are growing intheir own gardens? Why don’t they just getreal? While they’re at it they can discard any“placebo” protocols that are keeping prospec-tive patients out of their studies. What seriouslyill person would risk getting a placebo whenthey desperately need effective medicine?

We have to remind ourselves that the CMCRwas created in response to Prop 215, which wasa rejection of a prohibition upheld not just bythe government but by the biomedical establish-ment. Research inspired by Prop 215 should berealistic, practical, and designed to answer

questions raised by Californians who usecannabis as medicine in the now.Contact: [email protected] 9143, Berkeley CA 94709


Q U E S T I O N I N G T H E D I R E C T I O N O F M E D I C A L C A N N A B I S R E S E A R C H


T H E S A C R E D P L A N Tby Chris Bennett

The question of cannabis’ role in the develop-ment of humanity’s spiritual conception of theuniverse, is a sort of chicken and the egg ques-tion…Which came first?

We can imagine, as entheobotanist ProfessorRichard Evans Schultes did long before us, thatearly hunter gatherer humanity, in their questfor food and oils, undoubtedly came across thenutritious hemp seed. We can imagine our com-mon stone age ancestors rubbing their handstogether to remove the fragrant pitch of theplant, and possibly later tossing the ball onto thecamp fire... and the sweet smell arisingundoubtedly inspired the collection of moreof the plant to be destined for the flames... Aswild as this may sound, such an event likelyinspired some of the world’s earliest reli-gions.

It is with such a view in mind that Germanentheobotanist Christian Ratsch refers to mar-ijuana as our oldest “cultural object” and thelate Carl Sagan speculated cannabis washumanity’s first agricultural crop, using pyg-mies as an example. The pygmies were basi-cally hunter gatherers until they began usingcannabis ceremoniously and started to culti-vate it to ensure a consistent supply.

From what can be derived from the histori-cal record, we know that on the island ofTaiwan 12,000 year old archeological evi-dence, such as tools used for working hempfibers and impressions of hemp fiber left onpottery fragments, demonstrate stone-agemans knowledge and use of the fibrous hempplant. Showing its already widespread use inthe distant, distant past , the ColumbiaHistory of the World recorded that a trace of10,000 year old hemp fabric was found atCatal Huyuk in ancient Mesopotamia, nowmodern Turkey.

The archeological record documents thatstone-age man was not only familiar withcannabis’ fibers, but also with the effects ofburning the plant as well. Oxford archeologist,Andrew Sherrat, points to the use of cannabisincense at a gravesite of a group known as theProto-Indo-Europeans, the Kurgans, who occu-pied what is now Romania 5,000 years ago. Thediscovery of a smoking-cup, which containedremnants of charred hemp seeds, at the site doc-uments that 3,000 years before Christ humanityhad already been using cannabis for religiouspurposes.

Recent archeological evidence from theRussian excavations in the Kara Kum desert ofTurkmenistan give the clearest evidence ofcannabis’ historic role in the development ofreligious thought. Both the Vedic religion, thesource of Hinduism, and the Zoroastrian religionhave a common ancestry in an earlier cult basedaround the use of a sacred beverage known asSoma in Indian literature and Haoma in Persian.“[F]or the first time in the world archeological

practice, monumental temples were found inwhich intoxicating beverage of the soma-haomatype were prepared for cult ceremonies…Theexcavations documentally proved that poppy,cannabis and ephedra were used for making thesoma-haoma drinks, and thickets of these plantswere found in excess in the vicinity of the exca-vated temples of Margiana.”(Sarianidi, 2003)

Soviet archeologists uncovered a large shrine,about the size of a football field, dating from2,000 BC and consisting of two parts, one ofwhich was obviously for public, but the other,“hidden from the gaze of the multitude, an innersanctum of the priesthood. In one of these pri-

vate rooms were found three ceramic bowls.Analysis of samples found in these vessels byProfessor Mayer-Melikyan revealed the traces ofboth cannabis and Ephedra.”(Rudgley, 1998)Remnants from vessels recovered at the site andinvolved in the preparation of the sacred drinkhave impressions from cannabis seeds left in thegypsum that settled over the millennia and theremnants of ephedra, poppy and mostly cannabisin the white sediment stuck to the sides ofancient pots and pitchers. Russian archeologistVictor Sariandidi says this proves these plants“were used for making the soma – haomadrinks...”(Sariandidi 2003)

The religious use of cannabis spread quicklythroughout Old World religious cults. In the sec-ond quarter of the first millennium BC inMesopotamia, the “word qunnabu (also renderedqunapy, qunubu, qunbu) begins to turn up as fora source of oil, fiber and medicine” (Barber1989).

Ashurbanipal lived about 650 B.C., cuneiform

descriptions of an incense containing qunnapu[cannabis] along with oil of cypress, aloes, myr-tle, palm et al., was described in his library andthis description is generally viewed as a copy ofa much older recipe. Writings during the earlierkingdom period of Ashurbanipal’s fatherEsarhaddon give clear indications of the highregard the ancient Assyrians held for this sacredplant. “the main items for the [sacred] rites arefine oil, water, honey, odorous plants andcannabis [qunubu]”.

The ancient Sumerian city of Ur was FatherAbraham’s ancestral home. When Abrahamtraveled from Ur to become the father of

Judaism, he carried with him the legends andcustoms of his people. Many of these legendsand customs have particular relevance assources to our modern bible.

Prior to the time of Moses, where we getsome of our strongest Biblical evidence ofcannabis use, the Hebrews spent some time inslavery in Egypt, and here too we find similarevidence of the use of cannabis to that inMesopatamia. As reported in Aanova,Monday 7th October 2002, ‘Scientists recre-ate the perfume of the pharaoh’.

Scientists in France say they have recreatedthe perfume of the pharaohs which theybelieve was used by the ancient Egyptians toboost their love-lives. But as the ingredientsof Kyphi perfume, said to be an aphrodisiacwhich helps wearers relax, includes cannabis,it cannot be commercially produced.

Experts from L’Oreal and C2RMF, theCentre for Research and Restoration ofFrench Museums, succeeded in recreating thelegendary Kyphi perfume. French researcherSandrine Videault, who for years had attempt-ed to recreate the aroma, was finally able todo so with the help of Greek historiographerPlutarch.

The Greek writer had written that Kyphihad the power “to send someone to sleep, to helpthem have sweet dreams, to relax them, to driveaway the worries of the day and to bringpeace.”…. But Videault said: “Kyphi will neverbe sold because some of the ingredients are ille-gal substances. In any case the smell is probablymuch too pungent for the modern world.”

Other Egyptian references refer to cannabis assm sm t and describe its use as both a salve andincense (THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM).Further, the forsenic toxologist Dr. SveltaBalabanova discovered evidence of cannabisuse, and other “magic plants” when doing deeptissue samples of Ramses the Great, and otherancient Egyptian mummies (Sumach 1997).

THE HOLY ANOINTING OILIn 1936, a little known Polish Professor, Sara

Benetowa (aka Sula Benet), did extensive ety-mological research, showing that both theAramaic and Hebrew versions of the OldTestament contain references to cannabis as a

fiber for rope and cloth, as well as an incense.Most importantly, Benet found that hemp wasthe active ingredient in the Holy anointing oil ofthe ancient Hebrews, to be used only in theinstallation of priests and kings, and in the con-secration of holy items, as described in Exodus(30: 22-33).

According to Benet’s research, cannabisappears in ancient Hebrew texts as K’nehbosem. Based upon the similarities betweenkaneh bosem and the Assyrian name qunubu aswell as other ancient language terms for theplant and the cognitive pronunciation of themodern word cannabis, Benet showed that thename kaneh bosem described cannabis and dueto a mistake in translation to the Greek and thensubsequent versions, calamus appears in mostmodern translations.

This has continued to be a source of contro-versy and calamus and cannabis are not the onlysuggestions. The argument against cannabisbeing usually the question of how a word ofIndo-European language ended up in theHebrew Bible? The answer to that is in factquite simple and contained in the OldTestament itself. Cannabis was an item of tradeand as such, unlike common things such aswater and wheat, it retained the name fromwhence it came on its travels. Even the Biblicalrecipe for the anointing oil contains similar for-eign words, as we see cinnamon, under thename cinnamon, and this shows that such cog-nate pronunciations can have their counter-partsin modern language. More specifically inJeremiah 6:20 the sweet smelling ‘kaneh’ isreferred to as coming from a foreign land.Calamus on the other hand was a common marshroot!

The book of Exodus records the event ofMoses receiving the instructions for making anddistributing the hemp enriched holy oil, in themost auspicious tones.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take the fol-lowing fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh,half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekelsof qaneh-bosm, 500 shekels of cassia—allaccording to the sanctuary shekel—and a hind ofolive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil”(Exodus 30: 22-33).

As one shekel equals approximately 16.37

grams, this means that the THC of over 9 poundsof flowering cannabis tops were extracted into ahind, about 6.5 liters of oil. The entheogeniceffects of such a solution, even when appliedtopically, would undoubtedly have been intense.References to similar cannabis anointing oilsoccur in the contemporary literature of Egypt,

Assyria and Canaan as well as among Buddhistmonks in Medieval Tibet, European witches and19th century occultists.

Indeed, the Hebrew title “Messiah” means theanointed one, and refers to the psychoactivecannabis ointment mentioned in exodus. The‘anointed ones’, acting as shamans for theancient Israelites, were in a sense the conscious-ness of the group or tribe. The “ideas” that cameto them while they were high were heard as thevoice of God, and through this ‘inner voice’ theyguided the tribe in both war and peace. The holyanointing oil and incense was strictly used on thehigh ranking members of the priestly Levites,“the anointed priests, who were ordained toserve as priests” (Numbers 3:3).

From the time of Moses until that of the laterprophet Samuel, the holy anointing oil was usedby the shamanic Levite priesthood to receive the“revelations of the Lord”. At the dawn of the ageof Kings, Samuel extended the use of the anoint-ing oil to the Hebraic monarchs by anointingSaul (and later David) as “Messiah-king”. Thesekings lead their people with the benefit ofinsights achieved through using the holy anoint-ing oil to become “possessed with the spirit ofthe Lord.”

The Greek title “Christ” is the translation ofthe Hebrew word Messiah, which in Englishbecomes “The Anointed”. The Messiah wasrecognized as such by his being anointed withthe holy anointing oil, the use of which wasrestricted to the instillation of Hebrew priestsand kings. If Jesus was not initiated in this fash-ion then he was not the Christ, and had no offi-cial claim to the title.

The ministry of Jesus marked the return of theJewish Messiah-kings, and thus the re-emer-gence of the holy oil. Jesus was called theChrist because he violated the Old Testamenttaboo on the cannabis oil and distributed itfreely for initiation rites and to heal the sick andwounded.

As the New Testament’s John explains: “. . .you have an anointing from the Holy One, andall of you know the truth. . . the anointing youreceived from him remains in you, and you donot need anyone to teach you. But as his anoint-ing teaches you about all things and as thatanointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has

taught you, remain in him.” (1 John 2: 27).

The ‘Holy Oil’ not only bestowed divineknowledge but also had the power to cure ail-ments. James suggests that anyone of theChristian community who was sick should callto the elders to anoint him with oil in the nameof Jesus. The Twelve are sent out among theirfellow-men casting out demons and anointingthe sick with oil (Mark 6:13).”

At the time of Christ, no differentiation wasmade between medical treatment and exorcismor miracles, all three were interrelated. To curesomeone of a disease or to relieve them of aninjury was paramount to exorcising the torment-ing spirit, or miraculously healing them.

Thus it is not so surprising to find that theanointing oil expelled demons and gave protec-tion against them, correspondingly it cured anddispelled the “sickness” of the soul and body.Exorcism (literally “driving out”) was per-formed by means of anointing.(6:13)

The above examples are far from the onlyones regarding the religious history of cannabis,and as we enter into the 21st century we arefinding out more and more about the hiddenhistory of the holy plant and rediscovering theroots of this once and future tree of life.


T H E S A C R E D P L A N T

Bennett, with wife Renee andson, Shiva


ADVERTISE IN CANNABIS HEALTH!GREAT MAGAZINE. GREAT PEOPLE.


by Chris Ducey

Pat was born & raised in Levittown, NY andmigrated to LA in the mid 60’s.

After several years of working for an adagency on Sunset Blvd., with the Vietnam Warin full swing, Pay Ryan turned on, tuned in anddropped out. In 1971 he packed up his belong-ings and young family, soul singer wife Cyrettaand two young daughters, moving to the littletown of Fairfax in sleepy Marin County, CA justnorth of San Francisco.

Sharing the whole building on the corner of

2nd and B Streets in San Rafael, “The PeanutGallery”, the greatest CA rock poster artists,

mingled, collaborated and got turned on to each others medium and style. Pat Ryan painted mostof this CFFA poster which can be seen in a his-torical context in Paul Grushkin’s book, “Art ofRock”.

In ’78 the Peanut Gallery disbanded and threwa final party, each artist having created a T-Shirtdesign to help fund their move into their ownseparate studios.

Pat Ryan and Dave Sheridan moved to Fairfaxand opened their business; “C.O.D. Grafix –Consistently Over Drawn!” (Inspiration for theARTISTA dragon to be painted by Pat Ryan,Dave Sheridan and Alton Kelley a couple ofyears later)

C.O.D. Grafix in the 80’s

– The Fairfax Years

At C.O.D, Pat Ryan and Dave Sheridan(famous cartoonist of the Fabulous Furry FreakBros. with Gilbert Shelton and creator of theDealer McDope board game) began their sever-al years of close friendship and collaboration.

Pat and Dave, with a little help from Kelley(lettering and chrome effect), painted theARTISTA rainbow dragon squeezed from apaint tube. This was the birth of the ARTISA artgang, eventually numbering over 700 members.

Almost in synch with the ARTISTA arrival,Pat Ryan and Dave Sheridan created the ficti-tious California Homegrowers Association.

In the wild 80’s, Pat Ryan and Dave Sheridancollaborated on the first pot brand labels andpostcards in the California orange crate art style.High Times featured a small article on the ladsduring this period.

The ARTISTA gang grew and the annual par-ties became events not to be missed by Bay Areabud lovers, as they always featured a judgingcontest for the best of the “Kind”!

Sadly, we lost Dave in the early 80’s. Pat Ryancarried on in Sheridan’s absence surrounded byfamily, friends and a colony of artists and theirfamilies the ARTISTA have evolved into.Besides the annual Harvest Moon partiesthroughout the decade, Pat was the coach of theARTISTA co-ed softball team, which dominatedtheir league. In local circles they became knownas the “Team of the 80’s”. Pat brought his art toeverything, even softball!

Pat’s childhood fascination with Indian lore,coupled with the FBI’s assault on the Lakotapeople’s reservation at Pine Ridge, SD, inspiredhim to begin an ambitious series of NativeAmerican tribes. Twelve paintings in all, theypay tribute to the mobility and cultural history ofthe first Americans.

Pat continued working on this series throughthe 80’s and 90’s when, in ’92 he found himselfdrawn to leave Fairfax. With their kids grownand married, he and his wife settled in Redway,CA, where he knew some fellow ARTISTAs.Redway was right in the geographic heart ofNorthern California’s infamous EmeraldTriangle.

The 90’s – Those Humboldt Years

Needless to say, being in one of the primegrowing areas of the world, Pat spun his talentsinto creating new, vibrant and hilarious herblabels. He also became the defacto poster artistin residence for Reggae on the River, SierraNevada World Music Festivals and for theMateel Community Center’s never ending arrayof cool world beat and reggae shows.

The art of Pat Ryan and the story of his con-tinuing effort to express the feeling of one lovefor our troubled planet keep him painting andlaughing. Now, creating new works at his hilltopretreat above California’s Sonoma Valley, Pat’sart will soon be viewed and available to thewhole world at: PatRyanArt.com coming inSeptember, 2004.

H I G H A R T : T h e G r a n d f a t h e r o f H e r b A r t , P a t R y a n

Pat Ryan

Clockwise, from upper right: Linda Miller, Victor Moscoso, Dave Sheridan, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Larry Nagle, Pat Ryan, Tim Harris.


I just came out with a line of greeting cards,just had them printed a few days ago. I went tothe show the other day at The Cannery, in SanFrancisco on Fisherman’s Wharf. All the bigposter artists that are still moving and groovingwere there and a huge crowd of tourists. Thereaction I got to the cards was overwhelming.People just loved them. All the cards are designsthat I did for t-shirts when I lived in HumboldtCounty. There are eightdesigns that have neverreally been seen outside ofNorthern California,unlike the CaliforniaHomegrowers thing Daveand I did in ’82. That wassent all over the place.This is all new stuff;Humboldt Honey, Drive-thru Bud . All this stuffwas done in HumboldtCounty, but it’s still freshtoday. When people sawthese cards, they just wentwild.

When I first arrived inthe Bay area in ’71, that was about the time theIndians had taken over Alcatraz and I met a lotof people in the movement who were very activepolitically. It’s the kind of thing you can givelots of support to, but the situation’s never goingto change. It’s a very sad part of our history,very, very sad. I’ve always had empathy for the

native cause, as a kid I’d go to the movies androot for the Indians, always. I was really into theNative American culture, making bows andarrows. A lot of people have absolutely no ideabecause of the cross conditioning, watchingDisney films where there are Totem Polesbehind the tepees, you know. The culture hasbeen totally mixed up so the thing that I didartistically never did get off the ground. I reallywanted to get some Native American supportand donate something from my Wounded KneeMemorial T-shirt Series to a Native American

museum. I also did a mural in 1974 that’s 7’ highand 16 1/2’ wide on canvas. I still have it rolledup. It was some Navajo Indians in MonumentValley making turquoise jewelry. There’s thisold man, a wise elder, having some vision of allthe dancers from history coming dancing out ofthe clouds. It’s a really cool piece. It got mestarted painting again. Before that I’d beendoing graphics, underground comics, that kind

of thing when I got to theBay area. I worked on Hitthe Road, a hitchhikingcomic I did and YellowDog comic. When I startedthis mural in 1974, itchanged my life totally. Idid this mural in twomonths, then started work-ing on the Wounded KneeMemorial series doings t-shirt designs and justcouldn’t stop. The lastthing that I did was a biground Mandala, it tookthree years.

In 1980 Dave Sheridanand I started C.O.D. Graphix in Fairfax. This iswhere we did ARTISTA and CaliforniaHomegrowers Association. ARTISTA used tosend out postcards when we did shows and par-ties. We sent out postcards with different ganglettering on the back. It was just a joke, youknow, we all wore these black satin jackets with

THE ARTISTA embroidered on the back andwe’d go to car shows and see real gangs and runaway. They’d look at us and think what kind ofwimps are you? Artists as a gang? It was fun, butthen it turned into something that got out ofhand. We started having these parties that gotbigger and the mailing lists got bigger and big-ger and people who were in ARTISTA startedgetting delusions of grandeur. We never intend-ed for it to become like that. To us it was a joke,you know, it was like one of the rules aboutARTISTA is “the only rule is no rules.” It was

A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H P A T R YA N

BUD BOX LABELSCalifornia Homegrowers Association

Pat Ryan with mural (1974)


A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H P A T R YA N

wide open, but that was before people startedconsidering copyrights and lawyers and stuff, soit just kind of faded away. Kelly and I are the lasttwo guys, it wasn’t meant to continue on forev-er.

We did a softball team that I designed all the t-shirts for, we had the coolest uniforms. We start-ed doing if for fun, you know, going out runningaround the bases, drinking beer and smoking potand suddenly, we became the champions of theleague and it started to get serious. We startedrecruiting ladies from the women’s softballleague who were ringers, so all our women wereprobably better than our men. It’s hard just tohave fun because once people get involved; theywant to take it to the next level. When it gets tooserious, I drop out.

I left Marin County in ’92. We should talkabout Humboldt County. A friend and I used togo to Reggae on the River every year and we’d

end up with a whole entourage of people, allfrom Marin County. All our friends and theirkids would show up, it was like our own littlecity. It went on for 10 or 12 years in a row. Whenwe stopped going to Reggae on the River, wehad our own party at our house. We had a flatdeck truck, set up speakers, all our kids aremusicians so they came and played. We had peo-ple from Reggae on the River coming becausethey had to drive by our house anyway, so allthese Rastas showed up and we had our own lit-tle jam at home and it was great.

An old friend and ARTISTA, Chris Ducey,came to me last year or the year before and saidI had to get my stuff on the internet. He offeredto help me set up a website, so we started work-ing on it. He came over with a digital camera andtook pictures of all the work and put thePowerPoint together. We had a big party to helppay for the website and find someone to design

Flash based experience. The party part of it wasgreat and I had an art show within the party, butwe just barely raised enough money to cover theparty expenses, so I didn’t have any money forthe website...but what a party! UnlikeEuropeans, North Americans right now are justnot investing in 30 years worth of artwork.Europe really tunes in to this art. People buy thestickers and used them on their personal prod-ucts.

I never thought at this point in my life that thesituation would not only be the same, but worse.

I hope my art will open some eyes and make adifference, cuz by the fall we should be up on theweb and going global with my catalogue.

In the words of Pat Ryan

After October 1, 2004, be sure to check out:

www.PatRyanArt.com

by Nemo

My mother was always considered the angelof our family. She was the kind of person whohealed lost and injured birds and petitioned toadd more stoplights to our neighborhood. Sheeven saved an ancient lobster at a supermarket;he was relocated to Sea World. Eccentric butbenevolent.

In the summer of 2000, she had just graduat-ed from Unity Church Ministerial School andwas looking forward to building her dream; aretreat center that blended alternative therapieswith environmentalism. Despite feeling weakereach day, she taught simple yoga to retreatantsat Unity’s retreat center.

In mid June the doctors came to a diagnosis:Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. She was imme-diately admitted to a local hospital with uglylight-yellow walls and was treated withchemotherapy. After a month and a half, shewent into remission and was released.

She went travelling with her boyfriend andmy brother to look for alternative healing cen-ters. When she stopped at a huge cancer hospi-tal in Texas, their tests showed she was out ofremission. Her only lasting hope was a bonemarrow transplant; an arduous and dangerousprocedure. Despite her interest in alternativetherapies she was scared and trusted the doctorsenough to do whatever they said.

After being there for a while the chemothera-py didn’t seem to be working. I got the call thatshe would probably be dead in two weeks. Ipacked my bags to say goodbye. When I arrivedshe seemed weak but still hopeful. I told her weshould try something different. Each time theycame in with chemotherapy we could celebrateand try to infuse the chemicals with healingblessings. The doctors and nurses thought wewere nuts but within a few weeks the unthink-

able happened. She had once again gone intocomplete remission, they said it had about a.0001% chance of happening.

After that, I decided to stay. My brother and Ibecame fulltime caretakers. My brother memo-

rized the confusing daily drug schedule while Iencouraged her emotionally and creatively. Wetried to learn what we could about leukemia intheir library. We pored over their few texts onalternative therapies, ironically despite the sizeof the library there wasn’t a single documentabout the role of carcinogens in cancer. In myspare time I started to volunteer in the children’ssection, teaching the kids to express themselves

and forget their pain for just a little while. Mybrother and I lived in the hospital almost asmuch as she did.

When it was time for the transplant, they gaveher extremely intensive chemo-cocktails. Shewas often in pain and the chemo made any foodshe ate taste like dirt. As she got skinnier weknew something had to be done. We knewabout medical marijuana and its benefits forappetite but being in Texas it was not an optionat all. Instead they used chemical appetite stim-ulants. Their main side-effect: temporary psy-chosis.

We were relaxing, watching a movie when wefirst noticed she was looking at the closet andgetting agitated. When we asked her about it,she began to freak out and told us the spirit ofdeath had manifested and was attacking herfrom the closet. My brother and I kept watch onher all night to make sure she didn’t pull thetubes out of her chest or arms. When we askedthe doctor about it, he shrugged and said thereaction happened all the time.

When we learned the transplant failed, shewent into hospice at her parents house.Eccentric as always, my mother passed awayquietly in my arms on the morning ofSeptember 11, 2001 surrounded by family. Thenurse at the house commented “seems like herspirit is needed elsewhere this morning…”.

In the end, my brother and I learned aboutsuffering and the importance of quality of lifefor the terminally ill. I cannot imagine howbureaucrats who never faced such pain couldever limit anyone’s options or anything with thepotential to alleviate pain like medical marijua-na. When the main chemical alternative causestemporary psychosis, I wonder if the bureaucratsmight be suffering from hallucinations.

www.nemo.org / www.nemosutopia.com

A R T A N D C O M P A S S I O N : N E M O ’ S S T O R Y

“Cad

eusu

sII”

byNe

mo

C A N N A B I S T R A D E A S S O C I A T I O N : L e g a l C a n n a b i s


Legal Cannabis Industry Here to Stay

The Cannabis Trade Association was official-ly registered as a non-profit organization in June2004. The group had been in the making for sev-eral months; the need for an industry organiza-tion was clear after reviewing several importantdevelopments in recent years.

The legalization, regulation and taxation ofcannabis was recommended in the 2002Canadian Senate Report on Cannabis whichstated “Cannabis is widely used in every part ofthe world, does not have the harmful effectsascribed to it, and poses little risk to publichealth.”

This year, the 2004 Fraser Institute Reporttitled “Marijuana Growth in British Columbia”by Stephen Easton also recommends a legal reg-ulatory framework for cannabis distribution andsales. “Removing the prohibition on marijuanaproduction would permit society to replacetoday’s gift of revenue to organized crime with(at the very least) an additional source of rev-enue for government coffers… Unless we wishto continue to transfer these billions from this

lucrativeendeavor toorganizedcrime, this pol-icy should beconsidered.”

In addition tothis, manyrespectedmainstreamjournalists andwell-knownpoliticiansfrom acrossCanada arecalling for anend to the pro-

hibition on cannabis. This is also reflected in themany recent public opinion polls on cannabislegalization. The Canadian public is now look-ing towards our government to adopt society’schanged attitudes about cannabis use both med-ically and recreationally, and to develop a legal-ly regulated system of distribution and saleswhich does not impede access to this plant.

The Cannabis Trade Association is the nextlogical extension of the Canadian Government’slong-term vision and commitment to recogniz-ing marijuana as worthy medicine for theCanadian public to use for various health pur-poses. The use of cannabis for medical purposeshas been legal in Canada for years now, andthere is an existing government sanctioned infra-structure to aid in the administering of legalcannabis use, cultivation, distribution and sales.

There are people from all demographic sectorsusing cannabis therapeutically. There are federalgovernment approved and licenced cultivatorsacross Canada growing, distributing and sellingcannabis for medical purposes. Canada Post hasissued a formal press release recognizingcannabis as a consumer product that can now beshipped in our postal system. This is the begin-ning of the legal cannabis industry in Canada,which has now matured past its early formativestages.

The Canadian Government will soon be issu-ing two new contracts for the production of mar-ijuana. This is a significant move to secure analready established and credible cannabis indus-try; the new era of legal cannabis trade is here tostay in Canada.

The Cannabis Trade Association representsthis new industry sector. The CTA’s constitutionis modelled after several large existing agricul-tural organizations, and the Cannabis TradeAssociation meets the needs of all thoseinvolved in any aspect of legal cannabis busi-ness - including the consumer.

If you are interested in becoming involved inthe legal business of cannabis, or are interestedin actively promoting a safe and legally regulat-ed cannabis industry, join the CTA. Don’t be leftbehind. Join a new and prosperous legal industryby becoming a member of the CTA.

Be sure to check out their website atwww.cannabistrade.org

TEAM CANNABISTh e P o t B C 2 0 1 0 O l y m p i c G e a r


by Matthew Leblanc

When Ross Rebagliatti won a controversialgold medal in Nagano in 1998, millions watchedas British Columbia’s Olympic golden boybrought the subject of high-grade BritishColumbia marijuana to the world stage. Notonly could the people of British Columbia boastthe highest quality and most recognized mari-juana in production world-wide, but also nowthe best snowboarder in the world. Overnightthe phrase ‘BC Bud’ became a household nameand a dictionary term world-wide, though thosepeople who knew had long known that BritishColumbia was the land of better cannabis.

Social analysts might look back at thismoment as a turning point in world history,when a large number of baby-boomers firstbrought their heads from the sand, and realizedthat their viewpoints regarding marijuana in thepresent day were not that of their forefathersbefore them. The effects echoed internationally.Prior to the 1998 gold medal scandal, weed inJapan was very hard to come by. After theoccurrence, by popular demand and despiteastronomical prices, an abundant supply hasalways been readily available.

Isn’t it fitting then that in 2010 the Olympictorch will be lit ( along with many a BC blunt )in Whistler and Vancouver as thousands comefor a taste of the THC that propelled the firstever men’s snowboarding gold medalist to vic-tory back in 1998. The countdown to the 2010Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler has begunwith the anticipation of a coming together ofTeam Cannabis fans everywhere. With this inmind, the popular PotBC 2010 Team CannabisOlympic Gear was released, although not with-out adversity. Almost immediately, the 2010Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committeecharged that the sacred BC leaf appearing in thehorizon of the Olympic rings was in copyrightinfringement and issued a cease and desist orderthat threatened legal action. Surplus fromaround the province was recalled and merchantswere issued full refunds although not all of the

original Olympic gear could be recovered.

In the wake of the order, a new symbol wasbrought forth which was again deemed to be aninfringement. This time it was a Team Cannabissnowboarder hoisting a torch whose actionswere in question, even though upon furtherinspection the torch appeared to be nothing otherthan a large blazing joint of the world famousBC hydroponic.

How could a depiction of a snowboarder hold-ing a spliff be a deemed Olympic copyrightinfringement? That question was on the minds ofmany, and yet even to the most cerebrally baked,the answer remained distant and unclear. Couldyou not take pictures of apples and computerstogether because Apple Computer might have apatent? The apple was what Adam ate and whatfell on Newton’s head.

Nevertheless, with the posting of a secondcease and desist order on the PotBC website, itwas at the request of the pot smoking public tocome up with the new 2010 Team Cannabis logofor the PotBC Olympic Gear. Submissionspoured in from artists world-wide and a newdesign was brought forth which was randomlypicked from the winning three. All three winnerswere awarded one ounce of high-grade BC budand the full line of the new PotBC TeamCannabis 2010 Olympic Gear, produced the fol-lowing day in the new design.

The new PotBC 2010 Team CannabisOlympic Gear is becoming more readily avail-able in fine stores nationwide and has been asuccess that has managed to bypass the furtherscrutiny of the Vancouver 2010 OlympicOrganizing Committee. More and more trendymedicinal marijuana users world-wide are sport-ing the clothing daily, which is also availabledirectly from the website at www.potbc.com.

The PotBC Marijuana Network has announcedthat in 2004 all proceeds from the 2010 TeamCannabis Olympic Gear will go to supportminor hockey in the country of the purchaser’sorigin. They would like to thank the 2010Organizing Committee for making this articlepossible and the global community of TeamCannabis fans eagerly awaiting a taste of the BCbud in Vancouver and Whistler in 2010.

Team Cannabis Gear will be available at theBC Bud Depot booth at the 2004 Cannabis Cup.

The International Association for Cannabis asMedicine (IACM) information will not be pub-lished until further notice. Dr. FranjoGrotenhermen, Executive Director of theIACM, is experiencing acutely deterioratedhealth due to chronic disease. The regular com-position of the IACM information was honorar-ily carried out solely by Dr. Grotenhermen inrecent years. At the moment, no one within theIACM Board of Directors feels in a position totake on this laborious work in addition to his orher respective own regular job.

For more than 10 years, Franjo Grotenhermenhas been suffering from a chronic disease of thesmall blood vessels, a so-called “small vesseldisease” that causes heart problems and a severeorthostatic dysregulation to him. After a deterio-ration some weeks ago, cardiologist Prof. Dr.Tauchert (City Hospital Leverkusen) suggesteda special form of treatment (a so-called rheo-hemapheresis) to him which can improve blood

fluidity, thus effecting symptom improvement.Luckily this treatment initially lead to clinicalimprovement of Franjo Grotenhermen`s state.However, the therapy currently has to be repeat-ed every seven days in order to effect a consis-tent stabilization.

Although this therapy is the only one thatproves successful to Franjo Grotenhermen, hishealth insurance refuses to bear the expenses(per treatment approx. 1,150 Euros). The treat-ing doctor anticipates a need of 10-15 furthertherapies for bringing about a reliable stabiliza-tion.

After Franjo Grotenhermen`s long lastingstruggle for making cannabis medicamentslegal, cost-free and accessible to patients, des-tiny has now forced him into a situation in whicha symptom-improving treatment is available, butits costs are not accepted by the health insur-ance.

We, the IACM Board of Directors, havefounded a small association and opened anaccount in order to make the needed medicaltreatment possible for Franjo Grotenhermen.The association is called FRAN-GO. The 1stchairman is Dr. Martin Schnelle from Berlin, the2nd chairwoman is Dr. Kirsten Mueller-Vahlfrom Hannover. We intend to become a charityfor tax reasons, but donations are needed now! We sincerely hope that we can assist this won-derful and dedicated man with his return to a fulland active life.

We urge others to do their share so thatFranjo Grotenhermen will also be able to con-tinue his work in the ACM and IACM.

Donation account:

Dr. Schnelle / FRAN-GO e.V.Bank: Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB)Kronenstraße 1110117 BerlinBank account: 11 55 08 03SWIFT-BIC: BYLADEM 1001IBAN: DE05 1203 0000 0011 5508 03 Reason for transfer: Therapy donationGrotenhermen

Cheques can be sent to:FRAN-GO e.V. c/o Dr. Schnelle Hauptstrasse 160 d13158 BerlinGermany

International Association for Cannabis asMedicine (IACM)Arnimstrasse 1AD-50825 CologneGermanyPhone: 221-9543 9229Fax: 221-130 05 91Email: [email protected]://www.cannabis-med.org

If you want to be added to the IACM-Bulletinmailing list, please visit www.cannabis-med.org/english/subscribe.htm.

You may choose between different languages(English, German, French, Dutch, Italian andSpanish).

I A C M R E Q U E S T S Y O U R H E L P

Dr. Franjo Grotenhermen



Alex Pearlstein, CEOTripatourium.com, the world's largest Blotter Art publisher

Never before had I contemplated apiece of art like the first time I held apiece of Blotter Art. It felt heavy andseemed to almost glow in my handwhile I stood and examined it with awe.It wasn’t the image itself upon thepaper thatcausedsuch a stirin mysoul. No,therepeatingpattern ofblack jetsfallingneatlyinto per-foratedsquareswas sim-ple and soothing but not awe-inspiring. Itwas the connotations and ideas spillingout of my mind that gave the little paper somuch weight. It was as if this little squarewas a direct contact point between theuniverse and myself.

Blotter Art is a form of folk art thatemerged out of the way LSD was pack-aged and distributed. Initially the imageon the paper identified a chemist ora specific batch, just like a logo orwhat we would today term “brand-

ing.” This made it easy to

turn your friends on to those killerGold Keys or warn them to “stayaway from the brown acid.” As LSDuse became more prevalent, themedium took on a life of its own.

Like the magazine covers, sheetsof LSD contained reflections ofthe culture, featuring pop iconsand abstract imagery contained

within the rigid geometry of perforations. Blotter artimagery was, and is, a signof the times and insome cases symbolic ofa specific frame ofmind.

There is somethingmagical, if not spiritual,about Blotter Art. Asimple perforation completelychanges the context and deepens themeaning of the artwork on the paper.It evolves into something so much

more than just a picture; it becomes aconnection to ideas too big to be constrainedby paper. Viewing the artwork in this con-text releases the thoughts, ideas and experi-ences that have been buried deep in ourminds under the weight of agreed-uponreality.A frame of mind

is visited (if onlyfor a moment)where epiphanies

burst in the airlike fireworks.A state wherethe connectionbetween all liv-ing things isnot only believable but remembered.

I always delight in watching someone encounter their first piece ofBlotter Art. If they’re what Jimireferred to as “experienced,” thethought process unfolds in their mindsand runs gleefully across their faces. Their

fingers feel the little indentationslike Braille and their eyes rollupwards. It resonates so deeplythat its mere touch has a sense ofthe taboo, leading to hushed con-

versations that take unusual turns. Theamount of detail involved in a storythat was vividly imagined or in a per-

sonal truth uncovered is remarkable tome. From being ignored to being collected,Blotter art has come a long way. In a largepart this is because of the trials and tribu-lations of Mark McCloud. McCloud wasan artist in San Francisco when he first fell inlove with a completely unrecognized art-form. He began collecting and curatingshows in progressive galleries, much tothe chagrin of the DEA. This began thecontroversy, “Is Blotter Art parapherna-lia?”

After two Federal trials and many taxdollars squandered to fight it, Blotter Artwas determined to be protected speechcovered by the First Amendment. Markwas vindicated and his art was set free.

Today Blotter Art is undergoing arevival. There are many people working topromote this genre and its legitimacy as anart form, such as Alex Grey, H. R. Giger,Paul Booth, Rev. Samuel, Frank Kozikand others. Musicians, no strangers to thecreative and transformative powers of LSD,are now getting involved as well. Soonthere will be Blotter Art available fromsuch bands as George Clinton, Jane’sAddiction, The Melvins, Ministry, andPigface.

This is an evolution forward becauseof the acceptance these artists will bring tothe connotations of the art form. It’s awonderful time to live in when peopleare free to express themselves through amedium so controversial. I invite you totripatourium.com to see the future of thisexciting new medium.

A F L A S H B A C K I N H I G H A R T

“Adam and Eve” by Alex Grey

“Jesus” by Rev. Samuel

“L.S.D.” by Trevor Brown

“Bad Trip” by Paul Booth

R E C E P T I V E E A R T H

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Allison Wright started Receptive Earth in1995 in Nelson B.C., an enlightened communitynestled in the Kootenay mountainscape, in orderto attend the fibre department at a local art

school. During that time she dis-covered the wonders of Hemp.“The more I studied the plant themore intriguing it became. It wasshrouded in mystery at the timeand was very grass roots. All ofthe elements appealed to me, thehistory, the modern movement, theversatility of the plant itself, Icouldn’t resist”.

After the first year the naturalprogression of employment forAllison led her to local Hempmecca Still Eagle. After severalyears she was inspired to becomemore a part of the inspiring com-

munity that fuelled her passion. In 1998 shedecided to create something to reflect her artis-tic ability and root her into the business world.The product was Rainbow Dyed Hemp Twine, abeautifully variegated flow of color that exciteseven the most amateur of craftspeople. Thisquickly evolved into Rasta Dyed Hemp Twineand eventually the line completed itself by theaddition of 13 vibrant solid colors.

Now, nine years later, it was time to moveback to Vancouver and reconnect with familyand friends. “It was inevitable to come backhome. I had moved to Nelson to go to school for

a few years. It was an unexpected near decadeexperience that I couldn’t have done without.The idea of opening up a retail store totallyappealed to me.” The industry is establishedenough and the public educated enough that theboutique atmosphere of Main Street was anexciting prospect to Allison. “The past 6 yearshave been incredibly rewarding and I am grate-ful to be a part of the diverse Hemp community.My contribution has been full of growth, both

personal and tangible. All thanks to a plant thatis divine in its many purposes, which are evennow, still being discovered.” Receptive Earth isa vehicle to reflect the benefits of Hemp.

Visit Receptive Earth at 4168 Main Street inVancouver (at 26th Ave). Call 604-875-6198,toll free 1-800-684-3189 or check out the web atwww.receptiveearth.com.

Allison Wright

Reverend Brother Michel D. Ethier is 47years old, and has been a minister with theAssembly of the Church of the Universe since1998. The Church celebrates 35 years of exis-tence this year. We are a Universal Church. Westrongly believe that the cannabis plant is theTree of Life spoken of in the Bible. We alsobelieve that it is our right to use, grow, providethis plant to others of our culture and educate thepublic on the benefits of this God given herb.

Ministers with the Church of the Universe areexpected to defend themselves without assis-tance of a lawyer when they have run-ins with

the legal system, hence the Universe University.Brother Ethier was unsuccessful in convincingthe judge at two trials in 2000. However, as prac-tice makes perfect, he was acquitted twice at thenext two trials in 2004.

In 2000, he was convicted on three differentincidents and sentenced to a total of fifteenmonths in concentration camps for members ofthe Church of the Universe, the North BayDistrict Jail, Sudbury Jail, Toronto EastDetention Center, Don Jail and MonteithCorrectional Center.

Brother Ethier was released from the concen-tration camps for members of the Church of theUniverse on September 26, 2001. Within a cou-ple of months he was able to reestablish Tarzan’sMission of the Sacred Herb at 171 Queen Street,Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. However, he took aleave of absence to fully recuperate from thenightmare in the concentration camps. Duringthis leave he continued to assist members of hiscongregation with counseling, moral supportand doing what God wants members of theChurch to do, disseminate the Tree of Life.

Early in 2003, he put his name as mayoral can-didate for the municipality of West Nipissing,Ontario.

On February 20, 2003, he was again arrestedand charged with trafficking cannabis and pos-session of cannabis for the purpose of traffick-

ing. After 5 unsuccessful attempts to proceed, hemanaged to proceed with a bail hearing onFebruary 28, 2003. Unfortunately, the Justice ofthe Peace did not permit Brother Ethier to getbail.

At one appearance for these allegations, thecrown attorney conveyed through the duty coun-sel, local dump truck Jim Mahar, that he wouldconsider sentencing Reverend Ethier to twelvemonths in jail if he agreed to plead guilty tosome charge. The amount of Sacrament (mari-juana) involved with this incident, was 62grams.

On March 20, 2003, with the assistance ofSudbury lawyer Joseph Jakabfy, and a change ofvenue, Reverend Ethier was granted bail withconditions, before the Honourable SuperiorCourt Justice Karam. One condition of hisrelease was a 10:30 p.m. curfew.

Throughout this period Brother Ethier contin-ued to participate in various activities to end pro-hibition. He rented an exhibition field for theMillion Marijuana March. The crowd was neverbigger than about 50 people and around 6:00p.m. a Black Sabbath tribute band entertainedthe supporters. There were no problems with thelaw.

On August 14, 2003, Brother Ethier appearedin Provincial Court for trial before theHonourable Justice Lebel. At this time he also

The Persecution of Reverend Brother Michel D. Ethier


filed an application for suspension of the pro-ceeding or a Writ of Certiorari. The HonourableJustice granted an adjournment.

Brother Ethier continued to appeal to the courtto alter his bail charge and afford him the samerights as the courts had provided other followersof the Church of the Universe, Reverend BrotherWalter Tucker and Reverend Brother MichaelBaldasaro.

The Writ of Certiorari is denied and onSeptember 5, 2003 Brother Ethier was arrestedand charged with allegations of traffickingcannabis, proceeds of crime and breach of bail.“As far as I am concerned, this was a con-spiracy to keep me out of the munici-pal election campaign” saidBrother Ethier. On September9, 2003, bail was refused.

September 12, 2003,Reverend Ethier appearedbefore the HonourableSuperior Court JusticeKaram with a Writ ofHabeas Corpus, demandingan immediate release.Justice Karam agreed withthe crown and bail was oncemore denied

September 26, 2003 the WestNipissing Police Service executed whatturned out to be an invalid search warrant at 171Queen Street, Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, the prem-ises known as Tarzan’s Mission of the SacredHerb. It is also the campaign office for BrotherEthier for the municipal election in WestNipissing. The first thing the officers said whenthey walked into the place was “Where isChantale?” Chantale is Brother Ethier’s daugh-ter.

For the next 5 months he mounted differentlegal actions to gain his freedom. On February20, 2004, he was acquitted on some charges andthe judge finally granted him bail.

After five and a half months of being illegallydetained, Brother Ethier was finally, almost afree man.

Brother Ethier firmly believes that the justicesystem and the West Nipissing PoliceDepartment, area OPP and other police officershave something against him, mostly because ofhis honest view and open opinion about thesacred Tree of Life.

Reverend Ethier did managed to receive 63votes in his attempt at the mayor’s seat. Not badfor a person who ran his campaign from behindbars.

One of the real tragedies happened when hisdaughter Chantale, who was expecting a baby,lost the child three weeks before its birth.Incarcerated at the time, Michel was unable toprovide proper fatherly support.

During the five and a half month stay in theconcentration camps, a couple of people of par-ticular interest came and went. One man pledguilty to possession of one pound of cannabis

and was sentenced to sixty days.Another was in for twenty-one

days. He had been caught withhalf a pound of cannabis

and arrested. After hisplea of guilty, the judgesent him home withtime served.

On April 11, 2004,Easter Sunday, BrotherEthier was arrested and

charged with possessionfor the purpose of traf-

ficking cannabis (twentygrams and less than ten

joints), possession of propertyobtained by crime, obstructing a

police officer and breach of bail. According toBrother Ethier, he was traveling North on high-way 64 when an OPP vehicle traveling South,clocked him doing 60 km/h in an 80 km/h zone.The officer turned his vehicle around as hepassed Brother Ethier’s vehicle. AlthoughBrother Ethier had not smoked any sacrament inthe vehicle for over three hours, he was preparedfor something like this and poured an eighth of abottle of Aqua Velva in the defrost of his vehicle,so that there would be no smell of cannabis inthe vehicle.

As the officer approached the driver door.Brother Ethier rolled his window down abouthalf way. The officer asked for the paperworkand driver’s license. Once the officer had a goodlook at the driver’s license he told Brother Ethierthat he smelled cannabis and asked him to stepout of the vehicle. Brother Ethier locked his doorand rolled up his window. “There is no way thisofficer smelled cannabis in my vehicle” BrotherEthier says. “ I was profiled by this officer. Herecognized me as he drove beside me. I am a guy

The Persecution of Reverend BrotherMichel D. Ethier


E-mail: [email protected]: www.johnconroy.com

CONROY & COMPANYBarristers and Solicitors

JOHN W.CONROY, Q.C.Barrister and Solicitor2459 Pauline StreetAbbotsford, B.C.Canada V2S 3S1 Ph: 604-852-5110

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with long hair and a beard that was driving 60 inan 80 zone on an Easter Sunday afternoon on asecondary highway. I had recently pulled overfor a nature call. I drive a maroon 1984 Chevyvan, with a white stripe down the middle. Itsticks out”.

Well, the officer got a little upset as ReverendEthier advised him that he did not smellcannabis and even if the officer did smellcannabis, the officer needed a search warrant tosearch the vehicle as smelling cannabis does notgive an officer probable cause to search a vehi-cle.

The officer told Brother Ethier, “We can dothis the easy way or the hard way”. Well,Brother Ethier decided to take the hard way, soreinforcement was called in. Three officers fromtwo different police services showed up. Theseofficers heard Brother Ethier say “...you need asearch warrant to search my vehicle”. All offi-cers have this written in their notes. BrotherEthier then gave himself to the officers. He waseventually returned to a concentration camp formembers of the Church of the Universe.

He refused to deal with a bail hearing until thetrial on April 22, 2004. From past experience,Brother Ethier knew the court would not havegranted bail due to the outstanding charges;therefore, knowing a trial was around the corner,he decided to remain in custody.

On April 22, 2004, the crown attorney told thecourt he wished to withdraw the charges of traf-ficking and proceeds of crime, but wanted toproceed with the charge of breach of bail. Trialshould not have proceeded because in order toreceive a conviction for a charge of breach ofbail, one must be convicted of anothercrime…1.5 hours later and 7 crown witnesses(all of them police officers) later, theHonourable Provincial Court Justice Lebelfound him not guilty before Brother Ethier couldput in his submissions. The judge did not wish todeal with bail, as the police were not consentingto his release.

On April 23, 2004, Brother Ethier expected tobe on the stand with a reverse onus to argue forhis bail release. To his surprise, both the federaland provincial crown attorneys consented to hisrelease. Reverend Ethier had now spent a totalof 221 days in a concentration camp over a 14months period. A trial was set for August 19,2004.

June 4, 2004, Reverend Ethier, filed nomina-tion papers as a candidate for the Marijuana

Party.

On June 17, 2004 Brother Ethier was inProvincial Court to argue that his recognizanceshould be changed/altered. The Justice of thePeace had an ounce of compassion and allowedhim to be away from his place of residencebetween the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.,permitting him to participate in federal electiondebates.

“I do not want this to happen to anyone else. Itis high time they stopped treating us as crimi-nals. I hurt no one.”, states Brother Ethier.

He continues, “I am a pauper. I do have someknowledge of the justice system and how it oper-ates. Unfortunately from my point of view thissystem should be called corrupt.”

The police service wish he would saddle upand move out of Dodge. “This will never hap-pen” states Brother Ethier. “I plan on making lifein this area more enjoyable, people should nothave to live their life in fear of the concentrationcamps just because we like to smoke a littleplant. The West Nipissing Police Departmentshould be ashamed of itself. How can these peo-ple sleep at night? ‘We are only doing our job’is their usual answer to this question. Funny,that is the same answer the German soldierswould use when they would put people in con-centration camps and gas ovens. We must notallow this madness to go on any longer.”

Brother Ethier is currently trying to assist a fif-teen-year-old lad charged with traffickingcannabis after a West Nipissing Police officersfound a half a gram of marijuana under his mat-tress.

“Every day innocent people are victimized onaccount of the so-called war on drugs.

The Man above keeps me going. “We have anightmare that has been going on for more thaneight decades now. I do not want to see this evilimposed on us much longer. What I am doing isplanting the seed. And as with all plants we willcontinue to grow until we overgrow”.


By Rev. A.L. Blaauw (ThB) [email protected]

Nothing is more controversial than the subjectof marihuana versus religion, so I had to thinktwice before I decided to write an article withrespect to this subject. Yet, after a period ofresearch, my desire grew stronger to find a solidpoint of view in which I would feel comfortable.

It would be easy to immediately shout that theuse of marihuana is both illegal by law andwrong according to the various religious persua-sions. However, one needs to be realistic andhonest when discussing the usage of a substancelike hashish or marihuana, because it is comfort-able to copy opinions, but it is better to haveyour own opinion built upon facts and figures.Nowadays many people are standing on the bar-ricades shouting in favour of, or against a certainsubject without even having done any research.When looking at the Bible, it is clear that oneneeds to be very careful with his or her opinion.In Matthew 7:1-5 it reads: “Judge not, that yoube not judged. For with what judgment youjudge, you will be judged; and with the measureyou use, it will be measured back to you.”

In order to have an unbiased opinion, we firstshould look at history. When doing so, it seemsthat the use of various intoxicating substanceshas existed throughout the ages. Many historiansand archaeologists have found evidence con-firming this and many newspapers dedicatedvaluable space with respect to this evidence. Anexample would be the press release of theAssociated Press in 1992 which was published,amongst others, in the Vancouver newspaper

“The Province” on June 2nd 1992. In this articlethe official antiquities authority of Israel con-firmed the findings of medical substances usedover 1600 years ago, containing hashish.Anthropologist Joel Zias said that researchersalways had known that hashish had been used asmedication and that this was to be considered asarchaeological evidence.

Indeed, the usage of intoxicating substanceshas always existed, regardless whether we speakabout alcohol or certain herbs. Not only in thewestern theology, but also in the Islamic andeastern religions, such as Hinduism, the usage of

these substances is known and acknowledged. Incertain religions cannabis was used as a catalystto achieve the spiritual journey into the heavens.Arab doctors considered cannabis as a sacredmedicine and contrary to what many peoplethink, the use of it was not prohibited by theIslamic religion, as the usage of alcohol actuallywas.

The modern Christendom builds its existence,its doctrines and its motivation on the oldest andmost sold book in this world, the Bible. TheBible is to be considered the Word of God, butthe interpretation is still done by man and so weimmediately find many different interpretationson what the Bible has to say about this subject.

There are many Christians who claim that it isacceptable to use marihuana, because it reads inGenesis 1:29 “And God said See, I have givenyou every herb that yields seed which is on theface of all the earth, and every tree whose fruityields seed; to you it shall be for food.” Based onthis sentence it seems that there is nothing wrongwith smoking hashish or marihuana.

However, the larger group of Christians isagainst the use of marihuana and often they referto I Corinthians 3:16 which states: “Do you notknow that you are the temple of God and that theSpirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defilesthe temple of God, God will destroy him. For thetemple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

Yes, when referring to this paragraph in theBible, it indeed would be smart to not use a sub-stance such as marihuana. But honestly one hasto ask himself: Is it correct when a beer drinkingand tobacco smoking Christian judges a personwho smokes a joint? Then the answer is no.When we want to base our opinion solely on thisparagraph, then we also have to close all theMcDonalds and Burger Kings. I am certain thatyou will be able to think of many other organi-zations which also would go bankrupt.

There are many ways to interpret the Bible andwe can always find a phrase which will conve-niently fit into our argument for or against theusage of marihuana. So how do we thenapproach this subject and how do we decidewhether or not we should be against marihuana?The only answer is by being honest. Regrettablythere are numerous religious people who consid-er themselves as being wise and who think thatthey are able to judge. Amongst these people wewill find leaders from churches and very differ-ent positions within the secular world. They pre-fer a big Cuban cigar and a good glass of winewhen they are discussing the poor lost childrenwho are using marihuana. Let it be crystal clearthat the same Bible warns us for people like this.In Matthew 23:27 we read the words spoken byJesus when addressing the leaders of the churchin that time. It reads: “Woe to you, scribes andPharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white-washed tombs which indeed appear beautifuloutwardly, but inside are full of dead men’sbones and all uncleanness. Even so you also out-

M A R I H U A N A A N D R E L I G I O N


wardly appear righteous to men, but inside youare full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

It is obvious, we have to be honest and look atthe facts and figures as they are known to ustoday. Also we have to realize that we cannotbuild our opinion based upon the fact of whetheror not marihuana or hashish are legal, becausegovernments decide not only on what is good forthe people, they also look at financial aspects. Itis all about profit and our leaders want to stay incontrol. Let us look at some figures.

Number of deaths attributable to selected substances in a typical year:

Tobacco 340,000 - 395,000

Alcohol

(excluding crime/accidents) 125,000+

Drug Overdose (prescription) 24,000 - 27,000

Drug Overdose (illegal) 3,800 - 5,200

Marijuana 0

*Source: U.S. Government Bureau of Mortality Statistics, 1987

Is it not strange that the least deadly drug isillegal and the others, which are far more dan-gerous, are accepted? When we want to be hon-est and have an unbiased opinion, we need torealize that we drink coffee and that we do usesugar, which both are legal drugs, just as alcoholand tobacco are. Looking at the issue from amedical perspective, it is far safer to use mari-huana than many foods we consume daily. So dowe then have “carte blanche” to use an intoxi-cating product? No, only when we can justifythat use in an honest and open way. Let meexplain this a little bit more.

It is not the drug we use which causes us tobehave in an unacceptable manner. The drugonly emphasizes or increases the particular orpeculiar behaviour of its user. Indeed the behav-iour could be greater in number and force, but italways will be a reflection of the original. Inother words, when an aggressive person drinkstoo much, he or she will become even moreaggressive. The opposite is possible as well;when a positive person drinks too much he orshe will actually have more fun. Again, it is notthe drug, but the person who consumes it. As Idid read somewhere: “A man will never escapefrom his destined physical and moral tempera-ment: hashish will be a mirror of his impressionand private thoughts, a magnifying mirror, it istrue, but only a mirror.”

So, based on the preceding, is there justifica-tion possible for the usage of marihuana from areligious point of view? Yes, there is. Imagine aperson who has a terrible disease and only has afew days to live. This person goes throughtremendous pains and has a hard time dealingwith the fact that he is dying. Now he asks formarihuana to get through his last days because it

will make it more bearable for him or her. Wouldyou deny this person the usage of marihuana? Ifso, what would you do if that person was you?

Although there are many religions worldwideand although there are many different denomi-nations within Christianity, there are certainbasic elements which are equal. The mostimportant one is that all religions usually try toteach their followers the difference betweenright and wrong, good and bad and the meaningof the words such as passionate, merciful andcaring. And when looking at those words, I askyou again, would you deny a person, asdescribed in the previous example, the usage ofmarihuana? If you do, then realize that maybeyou are religious, but that you still don’t under-stand the real message as is being brought to youby many religions.

Remember, the Bible is telling us that we willbe measured according to the way we are meas-uring others. Therefore it is better to not judgeothers easily, but show compassion and under-standing. As we can read in I Corinthians 28:“But let a man examine himself, and so let himeat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

It could well be that there are many Christianswho are disagreeing with me, but let us be hon-est, the world will not become a better place bythe ban of the least harmful drug of all. TheBible gives us the real direction and that is tolove others as we love ourselves. Don’t easilyjudge, but care about another. Do not condemn,but help another. The love of God should live ineach and every one of us. It is not one drug asmarihuana which causes all the sadness andproblems in this world. It is the people whodon’t care about others and who are onlyfocused on their own desires. Would the worldnot be a better place when we finally understandwhat it’s really all about?

May the Love of God, the grace of our Lordand Saviour Jesus Christ and the communion ofthe Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Sources:The Holy Bible, New King James VersionCopyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc.The Noble Qur’an, King Fahd ComplexKingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1417 AHThe Teaching of Buddha, Bukkyo DendoKyokai Kosaido Printing Co. Ltd, Revised edi-tion 1997

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Cannabis Health: ContestBox 1481

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Entry Deadline October 1, 2004

Congratulations to the July/August winner,

Suzanna from Edmonton AB“Neds head is on page 24,

in the band picture with his head between two guitarists.

Great articles this issue.”

by Klozit King

Curing your harvested buds will allow someof the THC, CBD and other cannabinol com-pounds to mature, increasing the potency,bringing out necessary medical qualities andenhancing the flavor of the cannabis you growto its full ripeness.

Once the plantshave been thor-oughly flushed, it istime to harvest andcure your buds.Allowing the plantto dry standing inthe pot is great ifyou have the timeand space, since theplant will “sweat”resin at the end inan attempt to keepfrom dying. Thisallows all the resins to leave the plant and bedeposited for the final time in the flowers.Most often it is cut a few days after flushingand hung upside down to wilt in a dark, coolplace (55 degrees F) with good air circula-tion to prevent mold from forming.

As the fan leaves are the largest surfacefor expiration, hang the plant with the fanleaves on for a day to help remove the majorportion of the water in the plant.

Once the plant has wilted, remove the fanleaves, and check the buds for dryness daily.They should be dry outside and slightlyspongy inside. They should be left in a cool,dark place until they are medium dry (2-4days). They should then be cut into branch-lengths and placed in air-tight containers forthe next process: Curing.

1) I use a medium plastic tote container tocure for the first few days, prior to storage inglass jars. Remove and manicure the branches(save those trimmings for later use in a tinc-ture or making hash) and layer them betweenpaper to keep the air circulating and prevent

mold. They will seem nearly dry, but will still bedamp on the inside nearest the stem. Enclosingthe material will equalize the moisture outwardthrough the bud, drawing the moisture from thecenter and making it evenly moist.

Keep the container closed over night, and notethe buds are moist again by morning.Open the container, and allow themoisture to mostly escape for an hour,and close again until the next day,repeating until the stems are brittleenough to easily snap when bent.

2) Once the brittle stage has beenreached, remove the flowers and budsfrom the stems and branches, andloosely store in mason or other quali-ty glass jars with lids so they may beopened and resealed periodically. Thecuring process will continue after the

buds are in jars, so there is asmall chance of moistureallowing mold to grow andruining the quality, so theymust be checked, andcracked open occasionally tolet out excess moisture. Thisis the same process as thefirst stage, but checking canoccur less often, a week apart

will usually be sufficient.

3) Store the finished products in a cool, darkstorage place, such as a basement or root cellar ifyou have one, protecting it from light and keep-ing the temperature low. When it has been prop-erly stored and cared for, the cannabis willremain fresh and potent for a long time. If it isnot, the quality can be very quickly degraded

Many growers store their buds in the freezer,maintaining a temp of below freezing. In myopinion this can unnecessarily dry out and freez-er-burn the buds. For this reason, cooling abovefreezing temperatures is better. Using this tech-nique, a year of storage is possible.

All the best,

Klozit King


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