ALL THE WORLD [IS ITS] STAGE
A PLANT WHOSE PAST IS AS PROLIFIC AS ITS FUTURE
Cannabis is the most versatile plant available to us today. It’s difficult to imagine that any government would continue to prohibit the use of cannabis with today’s problems: the opioid crisis, climate change, a lack of sustainable farming practices, soil erosion, mental health issues, skyrocketing pharmaceutical costs, etc. And yet here we are in the 21st century watching a plant who’s past is as prolific as its future being held up by politicians, medicine, science and fear.
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(Street Art - Graffiti - Valparaiso, Chile)
A MAJOR PLAYER
From Lord Shiva’s devotions to George Washington's Mt. Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to Henry Ford’s automobile, and from the call for hemp during the war to the creatives in the 60’s and 70’s, cannabis has played a major part in many scenes from the past. In the 1980’s, its major compounds were discovered and named, kicking off the Cannabis Renaissance just in time for an amazing discovery made in the 1990’s.
(Orange House on a Hill - Valparaiso, Chili)
THE GREAT REGULATOR
The discovery of the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) in the early 1990's changed everything. A previously unknown internal system, the ECS is responsible for maintaining homeostasis throughout the body, balancing every internal system against the others to achieve optimal health. This discovery has triggered exponential growth in research in disparate diseases and pathological conditions, ranging from mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury, to cancer, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, glaucoma, obesity/metabolic syndrome, and osteoporosis.
(Parco del Monte Subasio of Assis, Umbria, Central Italy)
FIVEÂ THOUSANDÂ YEAR RELATIONSHIP
The fact that our Endocannabinoid System (ECS) and the cannabis plant synchronize so perfectly with each other is simply more proof of our long and symbiotic relationship. Weaving its way though history for thousand of years, cannabis has been fulfilling its purpose for generations. And for future generations looking for innovative solutions to serious problems, the cannabis plant holds unlimited possibilities.
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Moai - Rapa Nui - (Easter Island)
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FOR THE FUTURE
People of the future, looking back at the early part of the 21st century will see this as the beginning of the Cannabis Renaissance. They will chuckle that it took us so long, but they will also clearly understand the context cannabis played in moving humanity into its new state of balance and homeostasis.
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Chamonix, Mount Blanc, French Alps
Oh to be so misunderstood.