Pubdate: Sun, 04 Jan 2015
Source: Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA)
Copyright: 2015 The Standard-Speaker
Contact:  http://www.standardspeaker.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1085
Author: Lil Junas
Note: Lil Junas is a former photojournalist, editor and college professor.

MARIJUANA: A PLANT OR MEDICATION FOR THE MASSES?

It's been thousands of years since people have been using marijuana 
around the world. And cultivating marijuana goes back to 2700 B.C. 
when China and India were used as a treatment for rheumatism, malaria 
and other things.

Then the Spanish brought marijuana to America in 1545, following the 
English in 1611 when it became a major commercial crop. They grew 
marijuana mainly for use as hemp rope but were aware of its 
hallucinogenic properties. Today, medical cannabis treatments are well known.

Now we have electronic cigarettes, as explained in a recent 
Standard-Speaker article. Will that make smoking safer? And will the 
health officials over regulate--like producing too much nicotine or 
vapor? But mainly, will marijuana still be king?

Since 2012, only Colorado and Washington have legalized marijuana for 
medical and recreational purposes, and Alaska and Oregon will become 
legal in 2015. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia now 
have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. State Representative 
Mark Cohen has co-sponsored a bill in the Pennsylvania House that 
would legalize marijuana for medical use.

Although most people say marijuana is harmful, there are legal ways 
to help others medically.

For example, the Oakland Health Center in California serves more than 
94,000 patients, most using cannabis (hemp) medically.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, medical correspondent at CNN, produced "Weed," a 
documentary about medical marijuana in March 2014. It highlights 
five-year-old Charlotte Figi who suffered severe epilepsy. Although 
the Drug Enforcement Agency said there is no medicinal value for 
marijuana, Dr. Gupta believes medical marijuana is reducing seizures 
in epilepsy.

Soon after I came to Arkansas in the '70s, I met an active hiking 
group. We hiked almost every week. We'd eat lunch near a stream, then 
view the area before walking on.

That day, I picked some interesting plants to take home and but them 
in my backpack. No sooner than turning my head, Tom said laughing, 
"Do you know you took marijuana in your pack?"

That was the first time I saw marijuana ... a beautiful plant. 
Through the years as a photojournalist, I learned a lot about 
marijuana, going with the sheriffs when busting marijuana situations. 
And I learned how to find gardens full of marijuana plants.

Then the time came. My friend Lian was suffering with pancreas 
cancer. And one night I saw a magazine story about a man who was 
using marijuana to treat a serious sickness. Why can't Lian get help 
with marijuana, I thought?

It was easy to get the pot. A woman at our newspaper had two sons in 
college. The next day, Annie opened her sweater and gave me three 
marijuana cigarettes. That afternoon I went to Lian's home.

Following the directions in the magazine, Lian took a cigarette and 
sucked a little marijuana, holding it a few seconds. That was easy 
since Lian was a smoker for years. After another suck, Lian sat 
quietly, "I feel SO good. No pain at all!" Both of us were laughing 
with thanks. Lian saved the rest of the cigarettes for later.

Although marijuana was not legal in Arkansas, Lian's few minutes of 
marijuana was worth it.

Almost a year later, fighting pancreas cancer, Lian died.

That story has ended. But there are many other stories like that.

There's no doubt that drugs, including marijuana, are hurting people. 
But medical marijuana has helped people like Dr. Gupta's patients-so 
they'll be around for many years.

That's what Americans said when we repealed prohibition 81 years ago.

Gardening gems

I got an interesting call from Betty Fisher in Drums, saying she saw 
a large tree with many huge balls. It was near the United Methodist 
Church. She was curious because she never saw such a tree like that.

After seeing my column about hazelnuts recently, Betty was wondering 
what this tree was. So I went to Visintainer Nursery in Drums and got 
the answer. They were not nuts. What we saw was Osage-Orange.

Mr. Visintainer showed several photos and information about the 
Osage-Orange, and he knows about the tree by the church. There's 
usually two trees nearby, a male or a female, and only the female 
will produce the balls, he said.

I brought home three of the balls and asked others what they knew 
about the Osage-Orange. They never saw anything like that. So I cut 
open one of the balls. I was shocked. Inside was a white milky, 
stringy and sticky sap. There were lots of seeds around the slimy husk.

Then I called Betty, telling what I learned from the nursery and the 
ball. Since then, I checked the tree, wondering what happened with 
the balls. After two big snows, the balls were smashed.

Later in the spring, we'll discuss other interesting uses of the 
Osage-Orange. In the meantime, I'll be looking for the second 
Osage-Orange tree in the area.

Make sense

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that 
matter." Martin Luther King, Jr.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom