Cannabis Book Review

Recently ii was delighted to find not one but three Cannabis medicine related books which ii had not yet read at my local library in Fish Hoek.  As a matter of interest all three books were found in different sections being social issues, self-help and obviously alternative healing. So while Cannabis is still a long way off from being legalised ii find it incredibly progressive of a small conservative sea side village to realise the value of making this type of information available to the greater community.

Cannabis Pharmacy by Michael Backes

Cannabis Pharmacy presented by Michael Backes which was self-published in 2014 in association with Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers in New York and the Elephant Book Company Limited in Britain. This is certainly the most recently printed hard copy book I have held in my hands regarding the emerging science of Cannabis medicine.

A very powerful opening by medical doctor Andrew Weil M.D. is the perfect way to soften the blow on the reader when they hear from a qualified doctor that Cannabis is not the big monster we have been brainwashed to believe over the past 100 years.

Cannabis Pharmacy is a brilliantly constructed and user friendly introduction to Cannabis and the Endocannabinoid System. This work leaves the duty on the reader to decide whether they believe that we have always had this system or that humans are simply evolving and we only developed this system since the advent of the internet.

As a person who is moving towards self- publishing a Cannabis related book in the future I can really relate to the challenge of arranging technical medical information into a fun and entertaining version which might not leave the reader falling asleep from boredom or overuse of technical jargon. Before on line search engines back in the 80’s and 90’s a researcher could not simply walk into a library and obtain trustworthy information about an illegal but life-saving medicinal plant. The encyclopaedia section might have rendered half a page of usable information but for the most part it was almost impossible to get this information. 

This book is one of the most comprehensive works I have personally seen. It feels so incredibly good to hold a Cannabis medicine textbook in my hand after all these years of having to hide away in the mountains consulting with my Rastafari Elders about the healing abilities of the holy herb. I highly recommend this book for both beginners and medical doctors seeking out the knowledge of how to be more helpful to their patients and developing new ways of looking at how the body actually works now that we know the importance of THC and that it is only found in the Cannabis plant to human life.

This book is written from the spirit and not once did I have to wonder what the author was trying to say. Part of being a writer is to harness the ability to explain complicated subject matter in such a way that a child would understand what you are saying. Adults require this just as much in order to accept that the author actually understands what they are writing about.  Michael Backes in my opinion has achieved this and I am a huge fan of achievement.

The author has spent a lot of time to produce a really remarkable collection of available plant strains which is vital information for the patient and the doctor. I would go so far as to say it could be the modern MIMS medical database update of our time. The last section of the book discusses how Cannabis can be effective in healing different types of medical conditions. Again a very comprehensive study which is so required by the community so that people may become familiar with what healing this extraordinary plant has to offer.

The only section which I found to be lacking in research which in the authors defence is not readily available is where the author discusses Cannabis with children and pregnancy on pages 239 and 240. It is a misconception that Cannabis contributes to male or female infertility and one only needs to observe families in the Rastafari community where most families have on average six children. At the risk of taking anything away from my own research the truth is that Cannabis is actually intricately involved in the conception and pregnancy process of human and animal life.

The first step to the community accepting Cannabis as a legitimate healing medicine instead of a party drug is education which is sorely lacking. Many people do not have access to internet so to be able to hold such a valuable visual recording of some of the most important medical history concerned with humankind is indeed a privilege and definitely a book for any Cannabis medicine student to keep close by.

  

Marijuana Medicine – A world Tour of the Healing and Visionary powers of Cannabis by Christian Ratsch

My second find was Marijuana Medicine – A world Tour of the Healing and Visionary powers of Cannabis by Christian Ratsch and translated by John Baker.

One of the known secrets to a successful publication is a powerful introduction so ii was delighted to see Dr Lester Grinspoon offering the opening pearls of wisdom because I have studied his works in my own research so ii know that he is a legitimate resource of valuable medical information. In fact ii am the proud owner of Dr Grinspoon’s 1994 Marihuana Reconsidered which at the time and indeed to this day remains one of the most authorative evaluations of the benefits and dangers of Cannabis. It is a fact that even to this day there really are very few experts in the field of Cannabis medicine.

The reader is literally taken on a world tour and treated to valuable information about Hemp and Cannabis throughout the history of mankind up until Cannabis became illegal about 100 years ago. Cannabis has literally followed us humans all over the world from the Himalayas in Asia to the Rockies in America not to mention Africa. So Cannabis and humans and definitely animals have been developing an intimate relationship for thousands of years and it is true that the Chinese having been using Cannabis for over 12 000 years.

I love in the introduction how the author goes straight to the topic of consciousness because Cannabis definitely has a consciousness of its own which has led to it becoming the entity it is today where it even has a court presence in many countries especially South Africa.

Throughout this book the author embraces metaphysical ideas like alchemy, spirit healing, the elixir of life and the key to immortality. He successfully does this in a spiritual and mysteriously physical sense at the exact same time and I see this as part of an awakening message the author is offering to the reader. Shamanism has always been the starting point of most ancient cultures and their medical histories and the author takes us throughout Asia where we learn how the science of healing with plants and especially the Cannabis plant was forever originally envisioned by the people blessed with spiritual knowledge.

South Africa is featured from page 126 to 132 where after the author takes us through upper Africa. His explanation of the origin of the word ‘dagga’ was of personal interest to me as I absolutely abhor this name largely because of the negative connotation this word has given to the Cannabis plant by equating it to a dirty and dangerous street drug. Personally I have consulted with a number of Khoi san chiefs and Elders over the years who have confirmed that the word ‘dagga’ does not refer to Cannabis but to another plant called ‘wild dagga’.

Christian Ratsch’s statement that the Khoi san and bushman people were smoking Leonotis leonurus long before the arrival of hemp on our shores is proof that this offensive word has nothing to do with Cannabis.

This book is a brilliant compilation of world Cannabis history and a very useful resource for information about the interaction of Cannabis and human life over the ages including well researched tales of folk lore from the Celtics to the Brazilians. The author displays the presence of a strong and original vision in which he successfully employs the art of writing as a medium of exploration and incredibly interesting world travel without leaving your seat. Truly this book was such a joy for my soul to sip on and ii will surely have to renew it if there is not already a waiting list.

This is Cannabis by Nick Brownlee

Finally which interestingly was the first book I found on my jackpot library day and was also the smallest book. This is Cannabis by Nick Brownlee was categorised in the social issues department. The authors name is familiar to me so I was overjoyed to find something in hard copy. This paperback was published by Sanctuary Publishing Limited in the UK in 2002. 

Nick Brownlee is a man who gets straight to the point and you can get a sense of this in his short and sweet introduction which packs three powerful paragraphs which would entice any reader to continue even if this was an unfamiliar topic. I like the fact that he acknowledges the most important chemical component of the Cannabis plant being THC or Delta -9-tetrahydrocannabinol.

The opening chapter embraces the rich Cannabis culture which has emerged over the past few generations since prohibition. This author also embraces the consciousness aspect of the plant. He also highlights the ridiculousness of prohibition and the fact that while a lot of cops will turn a blind eye to Cannabis possession there are still a lot who are happy to enforce these laws at every level even throwing people into cages with murderers and rapists.

From page 29 you can read about celebrities who have been caught with Cannabis and even Prince Harry had to endure a rehab centre for experimenting with Cannabis as a teenager. He gives a good recollection of the true history of illegal Cannabis and quite correctly states that the effect of Anslinger’s radical and racially motivated propaganda was truly electrifying. Today more than ever the ordinary person in the street cannot quite comprehend exactly why this plant is illegal and Nick Brownlee shows a deep appreciation for the reality that if a story does not make sense one must simply follow the money.

Not many authors are prepared to delve into religion and especially Rastafari so it was with great delight that I read what Nick had to say about the movement and he paid a beautiful photo tribute to His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia who is the deity and living God of people who follow Rastafari and use Cannabis as a sacrament.

Personally I feel that it is through authors like these that the world is finally awakening to the truth about Cannabis and on 18  March 2018 Prime Minister Gaston Browne of the Caribbean issued the world’s first official apology to Rastafari for being brutally persecuted by these unfair and unconstitutional laws. Honestly with books like these being published we really ought to demand a world-wide moratorium on Cannabis laws.

The controversy of Cannabis versus alcohol will always remain a demanding debate in society and the author highlights this topic clearly and how world leaders consistently fight the fact that alcohol is more dangerous than Cannabis. This is not a war on drugs this a war on consciousness and the author brings this forward with enlightening information about the deep set corruption to be found within the pharmaceutical industry which we all look up to for good health and peace of mind.

Nick Brownlee does not hesitate to endorse that Cannabis is helpful for all terminal illnesses, AIDS, arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, degenerative muscle and bone diseases as well as an array of other conditions he discusses throughout the book. He suggests that people should grow it, smoke it, eat it even pack it into pies and he is correct because this is the future of Cannabis medicine where anyone can grow and produce their own medicine in the privacy of their homes which is what we are fighting for in the highest courts of our land here in South Africa.

All three of these authors will no doubt convince even the reader who is new to Cannabis medicine that in this plant we have a truly remarkable healing plant. After reading these books there is no doubt in my mind that Cannabis is the extremely vital element of preventative healthcare and should be included in all healthcare programs as individual treatment plans. Cannabis is also the natural supply of a perfectly adaptive support and defence system in our ever increasing toxic environment. Every day we are learning more and more about this amazing plant and it seems certain that it will continue to surprise and amaze humanity with the different types of healing it can offer mentally, physically, spiritually, economically and communally.