This Vitamin D Supplement Mistake Raises Your Death Rate by 2% — Are You at Risk?

By Dr. Mercola

Drisdol and Calcitriol are synthetic forms of vitamin D2; the form of vitamin D typically prescribed by doctors.

But this is not the type produced by your body in response to sun or safe tanning bed exposure.

A recent meta-analysis by the Cochrane Database looked at mortality rates for people who supplemented their diets with D2 versus those who did so with D3, the form naturally produced by your body.

The analysis of 50 randomized controlled trials, which included a total of 94,000 participants, showed:

• A six percent relative risk reduction among those who used vitamin D3, but
• A two percent relative risk increase among those who used D2

In an article posted on Live in the Now, Dr. John J. Cannell writes:

"Amazingly, this study somehow slipped under the radar...

You would think a paper that took a look at tens of thousands of subjects and analyzed the efficacy of prescription vitamin D (D2) and over-the-counter vitamin D (D3) would warrant a news story or two.

To my knowledge, these papers are the first to paint such a clear picture about the efficacy between D3 and D2."

The Two Types of Vitamin D

Supplemental vitamin D comes in two forms:

1. Ergocalciferol (vitamin D2)
2. Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3)

They have long been regarded as equivalent and interchangeable+ especially since a recognized vitamin D expert, Dr. Michael Hollick, recoomended it. But that notion was based on studies of rickets prevention in infants conducted several decades ago. Today, we know a lot more about vitamin D, and the featured study offers compelling support for the recommendation to take vitamin D3 if you need to take an oral supplement—which is the same type of D vitamin created in your body when you expose your skin to sunlight.

According to the latest research, D3 is approximately 87 percent more potent in raising and maintaining vitamin D concentrations and produces 2- to 3-fold greater storage of vitamin D than does D2. Regardless of which form you use, your body must convert it into a more active form, and vitamin D3 is converted 500 percent faster than vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 also has a shorter shelf life, and its metabolites bind poorly with proteins, further hampering its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, vitamin D2—which is a synthetic version made by irradiating fungus and plant matter—is the form of vitamin D most often prescribed by doctors in the U.S. Hopefully this will change sooner rather than later.

As stated by Dr. Cannell in the featured article:

"While there may be explanations for D3's superiority other than improved efficacy, for the time being, these papers send doctors a message: use D3, not D2."

The Incredible Health Benefits of Vitamin D

Optimizing your vitamin D levels may be one of the most important steps you can take in support of your long-term health. There's overwhelming evidence that vitamin D is a key player in your overall health. This is understandable when you consider that it is not "just" a vitamin; it's actually a neuroregulatory steroidal hormone that influences nearly 3,000 different genes in your body. Receptors that respond to the vitamin have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones.

Just one example of an important gene that vitamin D up-regulates is your ability to fight infections, as well as chronic inflammation. It produces over 200 antimicrobial peptides, the most important of which is cathelicidin, a naturally occurring broad-spectrum antibiotic. This is one of the explanations for why it can be so effective against colds and influenza.

That said, keeping a close eye on your vitamin D levels is a wise move for most. The widespread vitamin D deficiency seen today is now thought to fuel an astonishingly diverse array of common chronic diseases, including:

Cancer	Hypertension	Heart disease
Autism	Obesity	Rheumatoid arthritis
Diabetes 1 and 2	Multiple Sclerosis	Crohn's disease
Cold & Flu	Inflammatory Bowel Disease	Tuberculosis
Septicemia	Signs of aging	Dementia
Eczema & Psoriasis	Insomnia	Hearing loss
Muscle pain	Cavities	Periodontal disease
Osteoporosis	Macular degeneration	Reduced C-section risk
Pre eclampsia	Seizures	Infertility
Asthma	Cystic fibrosis	Migraines
Depression	Alzheimer's disease	Schizophrenia

What's Better than a Vitamin D3 Supplement?

While this article focuses on oral vitamin D supplementation, it's important to realize that the ideal way to optimize your vitamin D levels is through appropriate sun or safe tannig bed exposure. There are a number of reasons for this:

• When you expose your skin to the sun, your skin also synthesizes high amounts of cholesterol sulfate, which is very important for heart- and cardiovascular health. In fact, according to research by Dr. Stephanie Seneff, high LDL and subsequent heart disease may in fact be a symptom of cholesterol sulfate deficiency. Sulfur deficiency also promotes obesity and related health problems like diabetes
• When exposed to sunshine, your skin also synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. This form of vitamin D is water soluble, unlike oral vitamin D3 supplements, which is unsulfated. The water-soluble form can travel freely in your bloodstream, whereas the unsulfated form needs LDL (the so-called "bad" cholesterol) as a vehicle of transport. According to Dr. Stephanie Seneff, there's reason to believe that many of the profound benefits of vitamin D are actually due to the vitamin D sulfate. As a result, she suspects that the oral non-sulfated form of vitamin D might not provide all of the same benefits, because it cannot be converted to vitamin D sulfate
• You cannot overdose when getting your vitamin D from sun exposure, as your body has the ability to self-regulate and only make what it needs

Guidelines for Naturally Optimizing Your Vitamin D Levels

To optimize your levels, you need to expose large portions of your skin to the sun, and you need to do it for more than a few minutes. And, contrary to popular belief, the best time to be in the sun for vitamin D production is actually as near to solar noon as possible. During this time you need the shortest exposure time to produce vitamin D because UVB rays are most intense at this time. Plus, when the sun goes down toward the horizon, the UVB is filtered out much more than the dangerous UVA.

Just be cautious about the length of your exposure. You only need enough exposure to have your skin turn the lightest shade of pink. Once you reach this point your body will not make any additional vitamin D due to its self-regulating mechanism. Any additional exposure will only cause harm and damage to your skin.

Unfortunately, studies have shown only about 30 percent of Americans' circulating vitamin D is the product of sunlight exposure. This is a byproduct of public health agencies' misguided advice to stay out of the sun to avoid cancer (when in fact vitamin D from sun exposure will actually help prevent it).

The truth is, vitamin D from sun exposure or a safe tanning bed is the BEST way to optimize your vitamin D levels. Safe tanning beds have electronic ballasts rather than magnetic ballasts, which helps you avoid unnecessary exposure to health-harming EMF fields. They also have less of the dangerous UVA than sunlight, while unsafe ones have more UVA than sunlight.

Vitamin D Dosage Recommendations

If appropriate tanning is not feasible, then you'll be wise to consider an oral vitamin D3 supplement. According to the most recent findings by Carole Baggerly, founder of GrassrootsHealth, her research of nearly 10,000 people shows the ideal adult dose appears to be 8,000 IU's a day to get most into the healthy range. Just remember to get your vitamin D levels tested regularly if you take an oral supplement.

Important: Your Serum Level is what Really Matters

While 8,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day is a general recommendation that appears to be beneficial for most people, vitamin D experts from around the world are in agreement that the most important factor is your vitamin D serum level. There's no specific dosage level at which "magic" happens. So the take-home message is that you need to take whatever dosage required to obtain a therapeutic level of vitamin D in your blood.

At the time (in 2007) the recommended level was 40-60 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). Since then, the optimal vitamin D level has been raised to 50-70 ng/ml, and when treating cancer or heart disease, as high as 70-100 ng/ml.

Take Heed – Nearly Every Processed Food You Eat is Contaminated with this Material

By Dr. Mercola

In Europe genetically modified foods and ingredients have to be labeled.

In the United States, they do not.

But the truth is, if and when GM labeling is finally required in the United States, you're going to see changes to the majority of food labels in your supermarket, as GM foods already widely appear in our food supply.

Most people are not aware that nearly EVERY processed food you encounter at your local supermarket that does not bear the "USDA Organic" label is filled with GM components.

This is due to the amount of GM crops now grown in the United States (over 90 percent of all corn is GM corn and over 95 percent all soy is GM soy).

As you might suspect, it's in the interest of the industry to keep the prevalence of GM ingredients quiet and they won't go down without a fight.

Biotech Industry Spends More Than Half a Billion to Influence Congress

In just over a decade, the food and agriculture biotechnology industry has spent more than $572 million in campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures, according to an analysis by Food & Water Watch.

Key among the goals of this intense lobbying effort is to prevent GM food labeling and keep Americans in the dark about the contents of their food.

The analysis states:

"The food and agriculture biotechnology industry has been flexing its financial political muscle to ease the regulatory oversight of genetically modified foods. Lobbying efforts for some of these firms and groups have included approval of cloned food and genetically engineered food, animals and livestock.

Companies are also fighting to eliminate or prevent labeling on genetically modified foods in the United States and preventing other countries from regulating genetically modified foods. These efforts have dovetailed with lobbying to tighten intellectual property law protections over patented seeds and animals in attempts to further benefit the biotech industry."

Over 95 percent of Americans polled said they think GM foods should require a label, stating it's an ethical issue and consumers should be able to make an informed choice. Like people in Europe, Americans are suspicious of GM foods, and a large part of why many continue to buy them is because they are unaware that they're already in the food. A prominent GM food label would be a death sentence to U.S. GM crops, which are right now enjoying a free for all when it comes to entering the food market.

As Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association stated:

"Why are there basically no genetically engineered foods or crops anywhere in Europe, while 75 percent of U.S. supermarket foods—including many so-called "natural" foods—are GE tainted?

The answer is simple. In Europe genetically modified foods and ingredients have to be labeled. In the U.S. they do not. Up until now, in North America, Monsanto and the Biotechnocrats have enjoyed free reign to secretly lace non-organic foods with gene-spliced viruses, bacteria, antibiotic-resistant marker genes, and foreign DNA—mutant "Frankenfoods" shown to severely damage the health of animals, plants, and other living organisms in numerous scientific studies.

Monsanto and their allies understand the threat that truth-in-labeling poses for GMOs.

As soon as genetically modified foods start to be labeled in the U.S., millions of consumers will start to read these labels and react.

They'll complain to grocery store managers and companies, they'll talk to their family and friends. They'll start switching to foods that are organic or at least GMO-free. Once enough consumers start complaining about GM foods and food ingredients; stores will eventually stop selling them; and farmers will stop planting them.

Genetically engineered foods have absolutely no benefit for consumers or the environment, only hazards. This is why Monsanto and their friends in the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations have prevented consumer GMO truth-in-labeling laws from ever getting a public discussion, much less coming to a vote in Congress."

Why the Approval of GM Alfalfa Could Mean the End of Organic

Industry lobbying is clearly working, as to date biotech companies have evaded mandatory labeling laws (although a new California initiative may change all of that). They also succeeded in getting GM alfalfa approved, which quite literally threatens the entire organic industry, including organic meat, as alfalfa is the fourth largest crop in the U.S., and is used to produce forage seed and hay to feed cows and other livestock.

Contamination would be disastrous for organic dairy- and cattle farmers as federal organic standards forbid them from using GM crops, and organic food manufacturers will reject a food ingredient if found to be contaminated with GM material -- not to mention Monsanto's history of suing both conventional and organic farmers for patent infringement should their crops be cross-contaminated.

Download Interview Transcript

Cummins noted in the above  interview that any alfalfa growing within a five-mile radius of GM alfalfa will immediately become contaminated, and it's clearly evident that GM crops of all kinds cannot be contained. They absolutely WILL contaminate their conventional and organic counterparts, which will mean ultimately the entire food supply will contain GMOs.

Some, like Dr. Philip Bereano, professor emeritus at the University of Washington and an engaged activist concerning GM foods, believe contamination is actually an intentional strategy by both the government and the industry to weaken the organic industry to simply allow GM animal feed in organics. 

Indeed, while USDA chief Tom Vilsack acknowledged alfalfa contamination concerns in an "Open Letter to Stakeholders" on December 30, 2010, stating that the USDA's environmental impact statement "acknowledges the potential of cross-fertilization to non-GE alfalfa from GE alfalfa," adding that cross-fertilization is "a significant concern for farmers who produce for non-GE markets at home and abroad," steps were not taken to address them.

Congress is the Puppet, Biotech is the Puppeteer

It takes only a flick of biotech's wrist to move Congress' regulatory arms, and the truth is the revolving door between the two is spinning so fast that the line between industry lobbyists and legislators is permanently blurred.

As the Food & Water Watch report noted:

"At least a baker's dozen of former members of Congress represent food and agriculture biotechnology interests as lobbyists. Of the companies surveyed, seven spent over $8.5 million to hire the firms of at least 13 former senators and representatives to represent these biotechnology interests to their former colleagues in the Congress. Many of these former legislators-turned-lobbyists have formidable legislative pedigrees.

For example, Former House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Charles Stenholm (D-TX) is currently a registered lobbyist for Syngenta, a seller of genetically modified plants in the United States and abroad."

Biotech giant Monsanto is a prime example of how the industry has infiltrated U.S. regulatory agencies like the FDA and the USDA with their previous employees who are still very loyal to Monsanto. Cummins pointed out the following connections as a start:

• Clarence Thomas, who did not withdraw himself from a Supreme Court decision on genetically engineered alfalfa last year, used to be the general counsel for Monsanto.
• Michael Taylor, who was formerly the vice president of Monsanto, is now the Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Foods.
• Roger Beachy, the former director of the Monsanto-funded Danforth Plant Science Center in Saint Louis, is now the director of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
• Islam Siddiqui was vice president of Monsanto and Dupont's funded pesticide-promotion group CropLife. He is now the agricultural negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative. In other words, he is the enforcer for U.S. foreign policy that countries have to accept our genetically engineered exports.
• Rajiv Shah is the former Agricultural Development Director for the pro-biotech Gates Foundation, who are frequently partnering with Monsanto. He served as Obama's USDA undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics.
• Elena Kagan has served as President Obama's Solicitor General. She took Monsanto's side against organic farmers on the roundup ready alfalfa case.
• Ramona Ramiro, corporate counsel to Dupont, another biotech bully, has been nominated by President Obama to serve as general counsel for the USDA.

This is not an issue of Republican versus Democrat. As Cummins noted, both parties are guilty:   

"We must point that it's not just the Obama Administration that has served as a revolving door for Monsanto. We saw the same situation under Bush Jr., Clinton and Bush Sr. We have a corporation Monsanto that is not only out of control, but that places its people in high positions; that donates large sums of money to members of congress; and that basically gets its way every time there is a policy decision made in Washington."

It should not come as a surprise, then, that even the current secretary of the USDA, Tom Vilsack, is thoroughly entrenched in the industry. As the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) pointed out:

• Vilsack has been a strong supporter of genetically engineered crops, including bio-pharmaceutical corn.
• The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, named Vilsack Biotech Governor of the Year. He was also the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.
• When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster child of economic development potential was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning dairy cows.
• The undemocratic and highly unpopular 2005 seed pre-emption bill was Vilsack's brainchild. The law strips local government's right to regulate genetically engineered seed (including where GE can be grown, maintaining GE-free buffers or banning GE corn locally).
• Vilsack is an ardent supporter of corn and soy-based biofuels, which use as much or more fossil fuel energy to produce them as they generate, while driving up world food prices and literally starving the poor.
• Overall, Vilsack's record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and promoting animal cloning.

I think this makes it a lot easier to understand why GM crops have proliferated the American landscape and food supply, despite public outcry and organized opposition.

GM Crops Failing Miserably, Threatening Public Health

Virtually all of the claims of benefit of GM crops – increased yields, more food production, controlled pests and weeds, reductions in chemical use in agriculture, drought-tolerant seeds – have not materialized. The Global Citizens' Report on the State of GMOs states:

• Contrary to the claim of feeding the world, genetic engineering has not increased the yield of a single crop.
• Herbicide tolerant (Roundup Ready) crops were supposed to control weeds and Bt crops were intended to control pests. Instead of controlling weeds and pests, GE crops have led to the emergence of super weeds and super pests … Herbicide resistant crops such as Roundup Ready cotton can create the risk of herbicide resistant "superweeds" by transferring the herbicide resistance to weeds.
• Despite claims that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will lower the levels of chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) used, this has not been the case. This is of great concern both because of the negative impacts of these chemicals on ecosystems and humans, and because there is the danger that increased chemical use will cause pests and weeds to develop resistance, requiring even more chemicals in order to manage them.
• Monsanto has been claiming that through genetic engineering it can breed crops for drought tolerance and other climate-resilient traits. This is a false promise.
• Among the false claims made by Monsanto and the Biotechnology industry is that GE foods are safe. However, there are enough independent studies to show that GE foods can cause health damage.

At the same time, earlier this year, Cry1Ab, a specific type of Bt toxin from certain GM crops, has for the first time been detected in human and fetal blood samples. It appears the toxin is quite prevalent, as upon testing 69 pregnant and non-pregnant women who were eating a typical Canadian diet (which included foods such as GM soy, corn and potatoes), researchers found Bt toxin in:

• 93 percent of blood samples of pregnant women
• 80 percent of fetal blood samples
• 69 percent of non-pregnant women blood samples

There's now plenty of evidence that the Bt toxin may trigger an inflammatory response, and as you may know, chronic inflammation is at the root of many increasingly common diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. Food allergies are also skyrocketing, as is infertility, which could also be a potential side effect of GM foods, based on results from animal studies. Monsanto insists that GM foods are no different from conventionally grown varieties, but the research does NOT support this claim. Here is just a sampling of the unsavory findings associated with GM foods:

GM pea protein caused lung damage in mice	Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce
GM potatoes may cause cancer in rats	Male mice fed GM soy had damaged young sperm cells
Bacteria in your gut can take up DNA from GM food	The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning
GM foods lead to significant organ disruptions in rats and mice, specifically the kidney, liver, heart and spleen	Several US farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties
Bt corn caused a wide variety of immune responses in mice, commonly associated with diseases such as arthritis, Lou Gehrig's disease, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bowel disease	Investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products

The Time is Ripe to Fight Back

All is not lost on the GM food front, as we now have a practical plan to end this disaster. By educating the public about the risks of GM foods through a massive education campaign, and launching a ballot initiative in California for 2012, which will require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods and food ingredients, our plan is to generate a tipping point of consumer rejection to make GMOs a thing of the past.

Several organizations, including Mercola.com, the Organic Consumers Association, the Institute for Responsible Technology, and even the Environmental Working Group are getting actively involved. But we do need your help.

Here's how you can get involved:

• If you live in California and are willing to attend a short training session and then start collecting petition signatures (you will be part of a team of 2-4 people) in early November for the California Ballot Initiative, sign up here. (For more information see: The California Ballot Initiative: Taking Down Monsanto.) Also remember to share this information with family and friends in California!
• Whether you live in California or not, please donate money to this historic effort
• Talk to organic producers and stores and ask them to actively support the California Ballot. It may be the only chance we have to have to label genetically engineered foods.
• Distribute WIDELY the Non-GMO Shopping Guide to help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. Look for products (including organic products) that feature the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal to be sure that at-risk ingredients have been tested for GMO content. You can also download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.
• For timely updates, please join the Organic Consumers Association on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.
• You can also join the Non-GMO Project on Facebook, or Twitter

In the meantime, the simplest way to avoid GM foods is to buy whole, certified organic foods. By definition, foods that are certified organic must never intentionally use GM organisms, produced without artificial pesticides and fertilizers and from an animal reared without the routine use of antibiotics, growth promoters or other drugs. Additionally, grass-fed beef will not have been fed GM corn feed.

You can also look for foods that are "non-GMO verified" by the Non-GMO Project.

The Appalling Betrayals which Illegitimatize this Agency’s Views – Why Do You Still Trust Them?

By Dr. Mercola

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims their mission is to "collaborate to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health…"

And with a budget of $10.6 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2011, and a requested budget of $11.3 billion for FY 2012, they should be well equipped to fulfill said mission.

However, it appears yet again that the officials in charge of making important regulatory decisions that impact your health are masters of poor judgment calls, and in some cases, outright fraud.

A report released under the direction of Senator Tom Coburn, CDC Off Center, reveals that the agency in charge of "fighting and preventing disease" has frittered away hundreds of millions of tax dollars for outrageous purchases and unsuccessful prevention efforts, while at the same time failing to control disease.

This report was released in June 2007, but it got little attention in the press. And the truth is, most Americans still believe the CDC is doing a fine job at protecting their health. That's why I feel it's important to revisit this now, so more Americans can get a clearer picture of what the CDC is really about …

CDC Funds Used for Erotic Writing Classes, Bar Night, Porn Star …

The CDC's budget may not seem outrageous initially, considering the formidable task they are undertaking, but a closer review reveals lavish spending and questionable judgment are more the norm than the exception at the CDC. For instance, the report reveals the following about the CDC's spending habits:

• CDC's Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center cost nearly $110 million – including $10 million in furniture
• CDC spent $106 million on the Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications & Visitor Center, when it already had one
• CDC built a $200,000 fitness center (inside a $21-milllion CDC building) that has $30,000 saunas, zero-gravity chairs, and mood-enhancing light shows

Perhaps you can justify the need for the preeminent health agency in the United States to have state-of-the-art buildings … but I challenge you to find a way to justify the spending of the CDC-funded Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco, California, which allegedly included:

• A "Men for Hire" event, with the featured speaker Joseph Itiel, who, according to the report it was advertised, "presents practical tips and covers the seven guidelines for safe and friendly relations with escorts."
• A two-hour workshop on how to "flirt with greater finesse."
• A four-part erotic writing workshop
• A magazine, which included such articles as "Party at BJ's," which explained how to have a "house party" and how much alcohol to serve
• A bar night for HIV-positive men. As the report pointed out, "To recap: a group that receives federal funds spends money to target not only a high-risk population, but one actually carrying the communicable disease HIV, and hosts the targeted event at a bar with alcohol, a known risk factor for spreading HIV."

Other groups have also used CDC funds to host a safe-sex event that featured a porn star dressed in a towel and cowboy boots, as well as, a transgender beauty pageant, As the report stated:

"Instead of focusing efforts on partner-notification, risk avoidance, early diagnosis through routine testing, and other proven epidemiological approaches for preventing the spread of communicable diseases, all too often many of CDC's largest grantees were hosting events that produced questionable, if any, results and in some cases promoted activities in direct contradiction with known risk-behaviors for spreading the disease.

One of CDC's largest HIV/AIDS grantees was cited for actually using CDC prevention funds to encourage sexual behavior. CDC guidelines for AIDS assistance programs direct that no funds are to "be used to provide education or information designed to promote or encourage, directly, homosexual or heterosexual sexual activity or intravenous substance abuse."

They further note that this shall "not be construed to restrict the ability of an education program to provide accurate information about … [AIDS], provided that any informational materials used are not obscene." After years of congressional inquiry, CDC finally sent a warning letter to the offending group whose activities were encouraging sexual behavior."

CDC Spends $1.7 Million for "Hollywood Liaison"

This is part of the CDC Entertainment Education Program, which makes sure that when your favorite TV shows feature a health topic, that information is accurate, or at least "CDC-approved." As the report notes, this includes consulting at a rate of nearly $6,000 per television episode, as well as:

"CDC officials persuaded producers of NBC's "ER" to place a condom poster on the set "as a roundabout way of getting the health message to TV viewers," and made sure that a bioterrorism 92 scenario on Fox's "24" is accurate. CDC also makes sure the proper federal agency is referenced in a show, trying to correct past mistakes where one show depicted NIH personnel doing tasks that would more likely have been the CDC's responsibility.

And all these resources are provided to the entertainment industry free of charge, courtesy of four federal health agencies spending American tax dollars."

And let's also not forget the CDC has established an awards program for TV shows to honor those that feature accurate health themes, judged by none other than CDC and NCI health experts.

What about Disease Prevention?

Of course, the real question is whether the CDC is making a dent in the rising disease rates across the United States, and the answer appears to be a resounding no …

For instance, the report noted that after the CDC announced plans to eliminate syphilis, five years later the rate had increased 68 percent among men. Then there was the $335 million kid-targeted media campaign to fight obesity, which had unknown health impacts, and obesity rates are still rising.

The report explains:

" … while CDC has been given millions, and in some cases billions, of dollars to help prevent certain diseases among Americans, for many of these diseases the rates have not decreased, but have stayed the same or even increased under CDC's watch. In the case of HIV, despite spending billions of dollars, CDC cannot even report how many Americans have the communicable disease."

The CDC is also the mastermind behind many questionable public health initiatives … like the 2009 H1N1 swine flu debacle. As you may recall, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic turned out to be a complete sham, with a fast-tracked and particularly dangerous vaccine being pushed as the sole remedy.

Children and pregnant women were the primary targets of this dangerous vaccine. The H1N1 flu was a perfect example of how the CDC can brazenly distort reality, and often ignore and deny the dangerous and life-threatening side effects of their solution. As a result of this bogus propaganda campaign, thousands of people were harmed (and many died) worldwide.

CDC is No Stranger to Fraud, Questionable Integrity

Unfortunately, the CDC's insults to taxpayers do not stop at lavish spending but rather extend to questionable ethics and integrity -- even outright fraud. For instance, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that since the 1970's, the dental health professionals in the CDC have had sole control over the agency's stance supporting water fluoridation. 

The CDC is part of a larger administrative structure that provides intra-agency support and resource sharing for health issues that require the input from more than one area of expertise. Other offices that share information and expertise with the CDC include the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of Minority Health and Health Equity, and the Agency for Toxic Substances.

The general assumption has been that the agency used a broad range of expert input to evaluate fluoride before reaching the decision to support water fluoridation.

Yet the documents show that no CDC toxicologists, minority health professionals, experts in diabetes, or others outside the Oral Health Division had any input into the agency's position.

This flies in the face of what the agency claims, and what water, health,  and political leaders have believed about the way the CDC operates. Without these additional experts from other fields, can we reasonably believe that the agency has properly assessed the research on whole-body harm from fluoridation? The documents have drawn attention to the CDC's and the EPA's fluoride safety statements, which appear completely at odds with current scientific knowledge, and the fact that no outside experts from related fields were ever included may very well explain this discrepancy.

Another shocking case involving the CDC is that of Dr. Poul Thorsen, who, after being found to have falsified documents, was indicted on fraud, money laundering and tax evasion after stealing somewhere between $1-2 million in research grant money from the CDC.

Here you might wonder why I'm faulting the CDC, as the organization was the victim of fraud.

The reason I fault them is because they hired Dr. Thorsen to debunk the link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism—which he did to their satisfaction. However, CDC officials may have played a significant role in "guiding" this research to their desired end, and now that Thorsen has been exposed as a fraud, the agency still upholds his research as being of high caliber. (Thorsen's research center, the North Atlantic Epidemiology Alliances (NANEA), has also received $14.6 million from the CDC since 2002, according to The Huffington Post.

Many of the resulting "research" studies from NANEA have been used to support supposed vaccine safety.)

And then there is Dr. Kimberly Quinlan Lindsey, a top official with the CDC who has recently been arrested and charged with two counts of child molestation and one count of bestiality. Dr. Lindsey, who joined the CDC in 1999, is currently the deputy director for the Laboratory Science Policy and Practice Program Office. She's second in command of the program office.

As an official in charge of CDC health recommendations for all American children, her alleged actions raise troublesome questions about her level of concern for the health and well-being of children in general.

Who is Holding the CDC Accountable?

It seems no one, and therein lies the problem, as it is the CDC who is supposed to be looking out for your health.

So, who can you trust?

I would recommend trusting yourself. Do your own research, and make your own decisions accordingly. I urge you -- for your health's sake -- to consider what the motivating force is behind the messages you hear, even if they come from "trusted" sources like the CDC. You've got to think about who's gaining what from their recommendations, and then ultimately use your own judgment.

I'm reminded of a popular quote by Buddha, which sums this up nicely:

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it -- even if I have said it -- unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

Help Your Heart: 71% of Those Who Drank This Lowered Their Blood Pressure

By Dr. Mercola

I have long been a fan of coconut oil as one of the most health promoting of all plant-based fats.

I have spent nearly 15 winters in Hawaii where fresh coconuts off the tree are readily available.

Coconut oil comes from the "meat" of the coconut.

But today, I'd like to share a little information about coconut oil's best friend: coconut water.

If you've ever picked up a fresh coconut in the grocery store and shaken it, you've heard the liquid sloshing inside—this is coconut water.

Both coconut water and coconut milk come from coconuts, but they are not the same thing.

Coconut Milk Versus Coconut Water

Coconut milk, known in Malaysia and Indonesia as "santan" and as "gata" in the Philippines, is a thick liquid made by grinding up coconut meat and then diluting it with plain water. Coconut milk is a rich source of healthy fat, protein, and energy and is often used in cooking, especially in Asian cuisine.

Coconut milk is comprised of about 50 percent fat/protein and 50 percent water, and this is what you commonly see in cans in the Asian section of your grocery store.

Coconut water, on the other hand, is a clear, light, refreshing liquid (95 percent water) extracted from young, green coconuts that have not reached maturity. These look much different than the brown hairy ones you commonly see in the produce section—they are white, smooth, and pointed on one end, flat on the other.

When you can find them, young coconuts will be in the refrigerated produce section because they are perishable.

Coconut water is the liquid part of the endosperm (kernel) of the coconut fruit. When coconuts are immature, the endosperm is semisolid and jelly-like. As the coconut matures, the endosperm becomes more solid and fibrous, developing into the firmer coconut meat with which you are familiar. As the coconut matures, the water inside is replaced by more coconut "meat" and air, so it's best to harvest the water when the coconut is young.

It turns out that BOTH the "meat" and the liquid of coconuts are nutritional powerhouses!

"Dew from the Heavens"

Hawaiians call coconut water "noelani," which means "dew from the heavens." Many tropical cultures prize coconut water above all other beverages due to its rehydrating and health renewing properties. Not only is coconut water good for you, it's good for plants too, having been traditionally used as a growth supplement in plant propagation. As a result of the rich volcanic soils and mineral-rich seawater in which coconut palms grow, coconut water's nutritional profile is very impressive.

Coconut water is:

• Rich in natural vitamins (especially the B vitamins), minerals, and trace elements (including zinc, selenium, iodine, sulfur, and manganese). Vitamins are necessary for the enzymatic reactions your cells need in order to function.
• Full of amino acids, organic acids, enzymes, antioxidants, and phytonutrients.
• Rich source of electrolytes and natural salts, especially potassium and magnesium.
• Light, low calorie and nearly fat-free, as well as low in sugar but pleasantly sweet—contains about a fifth of the sugar of other fruit juices, like apple or grape juice, as well as containing a little fiber to moderate absorption.
• Rich in cytokinins, or plant hormones, which have anti-aging, anti-cancer, and anti-thrombolytic effects in humans.

Coconut water also has an alkalizing effect on your body, which can help correct the cumulative effects of acidifying foods that make up most diets today. For a complete nutritional profile, refer to the tables at the Coconut Research Center site. The list of health benefits of coconut water is impressive, and growing by leaps and bounds with each new scientific study.

Coconut Water's Abundance of Health Benefits

Addressing every one of these areas is beyond the scope of one article, but I would like to touch on a few of the most impressive areas where coconut water may give your health a boost. According to Bruce Fife, author of Coconut Water for Health and Healing and one of the leading coconut experts, scientific research and clinical observation have shown coconut water to have the following broad-spanning health benefits:

Rehydration (water and electrolytes)	Increased exercise performance	Cardioprotective (rich in potassium and magnesium); helps regulate blood pressure, improve circulation, reduces plaque formation
Anti-inflammatory; reduces swelling in hands and feet	Prevents abnormal blood clotting	Aids in kidney function (preventing and dissolving kidney stones, UTI remedy)
Helps balance blood glucose and insulin levels	Digestive tonic (rich in enzymes); feeds friendly gut flora	Remedy for constipation and diarrhea
Anti-aging properties	Enhances skin health (elasticity, age spots, wrinkles), improves wound healing	Enhances eye health (cataracts, glaucoma)
Supports good immune function; antimicrobial (contains monolaurin)	Helps prevent osteoporosis	Anti-cancer properties

Perfect Electrolyte Balance from Mother Nature

Electrolytes are inorganic compounds that become ions in solution and have the capacity to conduct electricity. They are important for electrical signaling—and of course your brain, heart, muscles and nervous system are all bioelectrical systems. Your cells use electrolytes to maintain voltage across their membranes and carry electrical impulses to other cells.

Things like water balance and blood pH depend on your body's proper electrolyte balance, and you can suffer severe medical problems if your electrolytes fall out of balance.

Fresh coconut water is one of the richest natural sources of electrolytes and can be used to prevent dehydration from strenuous exercise, vomiting, or diarrhea. You lose electrolytes (especially sodium and potassium) when you sweat, which must be replenished with food and water intake. Because coconut water naturally contains so many electrolytes, it's been called "Nature's Gatorade."

Coconut water has five electrolytes your body needs:

1. Potassium: The most important positive ion (cation) inside your cells; potassium regulates heartbeat and muscle function; coconut water contains 295 mg, which is 15 times the amount in the average sports drink
2. Sodium: The most important positive ion in fluid outside your cells, and also the one most depleted with exercise, as you lose sodium through sweat and urine
3. Magnesium: important for maintaining the electrical potential of your cells, proper muscle function, and preventing calcium overload
4. Phosphorous: Plays important roles in bone health, but also in transferring energy throughout your body, helping your muscles contract, and regulating nerve function (partners with calcium)
5. Calcium: Important for bone health (partners with phosphorous)

The ONLY "Sports Drink" I Recommend

For most average exercisers and athletes, sports drinks are not only a waste of your money, but more importantly, can actually worsen the health of most who use them. Less than one percent of those who use sports drinks actually benefit from them. Most sports drinks are loaded with things you DON'T want, like refined sugars, artificial colors and chemicals, none of which are in natural coconut water.

If you exercise for 30 minutes a day at a moderate to high intensity, fresh, pure water is the best thing to help you stay hydrated. It's only when you've been exercising for longer periods, such as for more than 60 minutes, or in the heat, or at extreme intensity levels, where you are sweating profusely, that you may need something more than water to replenish your body.

Besides plain water, coconut water is one of the best and safest option to rehydrate yourself after a strenuous workout. If you need the electrolytes, it will provide them. If you don't need them, then it certainly won't hurt you. And as you're learning, coconut water has a mountain of other health benefits in addition to rehydration, which no commercial sports drink in the world can provide. Depending on how much salt you've lost through sweating, you might even add a tiny pinch of natural Himalayan salt to your glass of coconut water.

One study in 2007 found sodium-enriched coconut water to be as effective as commercial sports drinks for whole body rehydration after exercise, with less stomach upset.

Coconut water is sterile when it comes out of the coconut, and extremely similar in composition to human blood plasma. These unique properties make it so completely compatible with the human body that it can be infused intravenously into your bloodstream. Physicians have actually used coconut water successfully as an IV fluid for more than 60 years, especially in remote regions of the world where medical supplies are limited and it has saved many lives. You can appreciate how safe and beneficial this natural beverage is, if it can be used intravenously!

Cytokinins: Secret Fountain of Youth Revealed!

Possibly the most important nutritional constituent in coconut water—more beneficial than the electrolytes vitamins and minerals and amino acids—is something you've likely never even heard of: cytokinins.

Cytokinins are phytohormones, or plant hormones. These hormones regulate the growth, development, and aging of a plant. Coconut water has been an important horticultural resource, used in the propagation of several plants, including orchids and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. The cytokinins found in coconut water support cell division, and thus promote rapid growth.

But what does this have to do with humans?

Cytokinins have actually been found to exert an anti-aging effect on human cells and tissues. When human cells are exposed to cytokinins, aging slows down considerably. Cells treated with cytokinins don't undergo the normal degenerative changes, so they don't "act their age." Researchers have suggested that if you consume a diet rich in cytokinins, you may experience anti-aging effects and have less risk for degenerative and age-related diseases. And coconut water is the richest natural dietary source of cytokinins.

Cytokinins have also been found to have anti-thrombolytic properties so may lower your risk for blood clots. But coconut's heart benefits don't stop there. They have also been shown to have anti-cancer effects.

According to Bruce Fife:

"In regulating cell growth, cytokinins prevent the mistakes that may lead to the development of cancer. Normal cells are kept healthy while cancerous cells are programmed to die, preventing them from growing and spreading. Subsequently, the anti-cancer effects of cytokinins have been well documented."

Benefits for Your Heart and Urinary Tract

High levels of mineral ions, especially potassium, in coconut water have been found to help prevent heart attacks. And coconut water has been found to have blood pressure benefits. In one study, 71 percent of people who drank coconut water experienced lower blood pressures.

Similar benefits have been found if you have problems with urinary stones. Dr. Eugenio Macalalag, director of the urology department of the Chinese General Hospital in the Philippines, reported that coconut water was effective in treating his patient's kidney and urethral stones. He reported that his patients who drank coconut water two to three times a week experienced a significant reduction in stone size and expulsion, eliminating their need for surgery.

Pesticide, Chemical and Environmental Considerations

The most common variety of coconut being grown today for harvesting coconut water is a high-water yield dwarf hybrid variety that CAN be heavily fertilized and sprayed with pesticides. This makes it very important for you to select organic coconut water and organic fresh coconuts.

It is important to make sure the coconuts and coconut products you purchase are certified organic and sustainably raised. Regular coconut palms grow to be 80 to 100 feet tall, and because workers have to climb up and pick the coconuts, more manageable dwarf varieties have been cultivated that average about nine feet tall. There are environmental concerns as well, related to the intense market demand for coconuts and their products.

According to Josefine Staats, the founder of KULAU Coconut Water:

"Coconut palms are often cultivated in industrial-style monocultures geared towards efficiency. But plantation economies with the sole focus of maximizing their yield often severely damage fragile ecosystems. There are a few (who profit), but many others are left to deal with the ecological consequences."

SO Much More Than a Sports Drink

Coconut water is one of Nature's perfect foods—it is hard to say enough good things about it. It's the perfect replacement for juice or soda. Please remember to read the label, to make sure it's as pure and unprocessed as possible. Of course, drinking it fresh from the coconut, as opposed to bottled, is the ultimate choice.

I'd like to close with a quote from Jean Yong (et al), who published a comprehensive review of the potential impact on human health of this amazing natural elixir:

"The recent discovery of other medicinal values of coconut water signifies a good potential in improving human health. Better insights and understanding of the functions and properties of the individual components of coconut water will, therefore, help us to better utilize this marvelous and multidimensional liquid with special biological properties from nature."

So next time you're searching for a cool, refreshing after-workout beverage, crack open a coconut and experience its rejuvenation for yourself!

References:

• Coconut Research Center
• J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci March 2002
• MedicineNet
• Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health July 2007
• Am J Emerg Med January 2000
• Plant-Hormones
• J Anti-Aging Med March 2002
• Experimental Hematology October 2002
• HealthTruthRevealed April 2008
• Plant Foods for Human Nutrition
• West Indian Med J January 2005
•  Int Surg October-December 1987
• The Nibble August 2011
• Molecules 2009

The Medical Miracle You’ll Get Arrested for Using

By Dr. Mercola

Marijuana was a popular botanical medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, common in U.S. pharmacies of the time.

Yet, in 1970, the herb was declared a Schedule 1 controlled substance and labeled as a drug with a "high potential for abuse" and "no accepted medical use."

Three years later the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was formed to enforce the newly created drug schedules, and the fight against marijuana use began.

The Huffington Post has a concise history of marijuana prohibition, and the struggle for legalization, that is well worth reading -- but the most successful movement to date, and the one that is set to produce the first legal marijuana market in decades, is the medical marijuana movement.

Unfortunately, the feds have recently announced a blatant reversal on their previous pro-medical marijuana stance -- a move that is threatening to stop the industry cold.

Why are the Feds So Concerned About Medical Marijuana?

Fifteen states plus the District of Columbia have laws allowing medical marijuana.

In other words, in those states it is considered legal to consume, possess or distribute marijuana for medical use.

Up until 2009, the U.S. Justice Department essentially told federal prosecutors to lay off Americans producing and using medical marijuana in accordance with state laws.

But despite marijuana's legal status at the state level, historically it was common for the DEA to raid medical marijuana suppliers and even arrest patients.

This is because federal law overrides state law, defining the possession or distribution of marijuana as a criminal offense.

According to The State of the Medical Marijuana Markets 2011, the national market for medical marijuana is now worth $1.7 billion -- and could grow to close to $9 billion in the next five years -- if not for a stunning reversal by the Obama administration. In October 2011, the Obama administration released a letter to clarify their earlier position, which, as Seattle Weekly reports, indicates, "The only people safe from arrest were the "seriously ill" patients and their caregivers... Everyone else? Be forewarned."

The Obama administration has long been supportive of the medical marijuana movement, even stating during the presidential campaign that, "The basic concept of using medical marijuana... [is] entirely appropriate." However the Feds now appear to be launching a full-fledged attack against this legitimate industry, not only by threatening prosecution and arrest, but also by intimidating and coercing banks, land and store owners, as well as other business entities, that help keep the medical marijuana industry alive.

Feds Attempt to Force Medical Marijuana Industry Out of Business

In recent months there have been several blows to the various industries who support the medical marijuana market. Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, reported in U.S. News & World Report Opinion, these disturbing changes:

• "The Department of Justice sent letters this past spring to state lawmakers that were debating legislation to allow for the licensed distribution of medical cannabis, threatening prosecution of those involved with said efforts if the measures went forward;
• The IRS has assessed crippling penalties on taxpaying medical cannabis facilities in California by denying these operations the right to file standard expense deductions;
• The Department of Treasury has strong-armed local banks and other financial institutions into closing their accounts with medicinal cannabis operators;
• The Drug Enforcement Administration has rejected a nine-year-old administrative petition that called for hearings regarding the federal rescheduling of cannabis for medical use, ignoring extensive scientific evidence of its medical efficacy;
• The National Institute on Drug Abuse rejected an FDA-approved protocol to allow for clinical research assessing the use of cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, stating, "We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana."
• Most recently, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, along with the four U.S. attorneys from California, announced plans for a coordinated effort against operations in California that provide above-ground access to cannabis for those patients qualified to use the substance in accordance with state law."

The war on marijuana is indeed a strange one, considering the legality of cigarettes and alcohol -- products that have vastly greater potential to harm public health, without any of the medicinal benefits. Not to mention that the FDA approves drugs, prescribed by doctors every day, that kill over 100,000 Americans a year.

Moreover, by shutting down reputable marijuana dispensaries, it will only force those who legitimately depend upon it to alleviate their suffering to enter the (sometimes dangerous) black market.

As Seattle Weekly wrote:

"Landlords, worried the feds will steal their property, will tell dispensaries to move out. Banks won't handle money for pot-themed businesses. Dispensaries will be taxed so heavily they won't be able to cover the payroll or pay the electric bill.

… An estimated one million people in California have obtained a doctor's recommendation to grow and use marijuana legally. Patient estimates in Washington are hazier, but the number is thought to be around 100,000.

If the feds shut down every dispensary in the country, all these people will still be able to legally possess marijuana—no matter where they bought it—under their state laws. The only difference is they'll be forced to go back to buying their weed from Mexican drug cartels, rather than from Americans who provide jobs and pay taxes."

What are the Medical Uses for Marijuana?

In order to really comprehend the movement behind medical marijuana, you must first understand that this herb truly does show outstanding promise as a medicinal plant. The studies conducted so far show significant potential for the use of cannabis in the prevention and treatment of a wide range of health conditions, including cancer.

For instance, in 2009 a study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research found that marijuana smokers have a lower risk of head and neck cancers than non-marijuana smokers.

Harvard researchers also found that THC in marijuana cuts tumor growth in lung cancer while significantly reducing its ability to spread. There is also a wealth of research linking marijuana with pain relief and improved sleep. In one recent study, just three puffs of marijuana a day for five days helped those with chronic nerve pain to relieve pain and sleep better.

Americans for Safe Access also has links to research studies suggesting that cannabis may help in the treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's disease and cancer, while the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine highlights the following medical uses:

Nausea	Vomiting	Anorexia	Cachexia (Wasting Syndrome)
Spasticity	Movement Disorders	Pain	Glaucoma
Epilepsy	Asthma	Dependency and Withdrawal	Psychiatric Symptoms
Autoimmune Diseases	Inflammation	High Blood Pressure	Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Lastly, the research site GreenMedInfo.com lists over 126 potential therapeutic applications for marijuana in disease prevention and treatment, further illustrating just how voluminous the scientific evidence really is in support of the medical marijuana movement.

Your Body is Hard-Wired to Respond to Cannabinoids in the Marijuana Plant

There are more than 60 chemical compounds known as cannabinoids in the marijuana plant. Cannabinoids interact with your body by way of naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors embedded in cell membranes throughout your body. There are cannabinoid receptors in your brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, immune system and more; both the therapeutic and psychoactive properties of marijuana occur when a cannabinoid (such as the THC produced by the cannabis plant) activates a cannabinoid receptor.

Your body also has naturally occurring endocannabinoids that stimulate your cannabinoid receptors and produce a variety of important physiologic processes, far beyond that of the traditional "highs" associated with THC.

What is amazing is that your body is actually hard-wired to respond to cannabinoids through this unique cannabinoid receptor system; research is still ongoing on just how extensive their impact is on our health, but to date it's known that cannabinoid receptors play an important role in many body processes, including metabolic regulation, cravings, pain, anxiety, bone growth, and immune function.

A report by Dr. Manuel Guzman in the journal of Nature Reviews suggests that these active components of cannabis and their derivatives are potential anti-cancer agents:

" … these compounds [cannabinoids] have been shown to inhibit the growth of tumour cells in culture and animal models by modulating key cell-signaling pathways. Cannabinoids are usually well tolerated, and do not produce the generalized toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies."

A report by the American College of Physicians (ACP) further notes that:

"Marijuana has been smoked for its medicinal properties for centuries. It was in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia until 1942 when it was removed because federal legislation made the drug illegal … Still, the overwhelming number of anecdotal reports on the therapeutic properties of marijuana sparks interest from scientists, health care providers, and patients.

Over the past 20 years, researchers have discovered cannabinoid receptors: CB1, which mediates the central nervous system (CNS), and CB2, which occurs outside the CNS and is believed to have anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activity.

These scientific developments have revealed much information supporting expansion of research into the potential therapeutic properties of marijuana and its cannabinoids."

Why Isn't Marijuana Being Studied?

This is the burning question, as even a quick review of the data suggests that cannabis deserves more than a passing glance as a potential treatment for various diseases. But in the United States – primarily for political reasons -- these studies are not being performed.

According to a report by Americans for Safe Access:

"In the past three decades, there has been an explosion of international studies designed to investigate the therapeutic value of cannabis (marijuana).

However, drastic restrictions on research in the U.S. have meant that few clinical trials are being conducted domestically and none are being conducted as part of a sponsor-funded drug development plan aimed at obtaining Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the prescription use of the botanical plant itself.

Meanwhile, research teams in Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Israel, and elsewhere have confirmed - through case studies, basic research, pre-clinical, and preliminary clinical investigations - the medical value of cannabis … "

Of course, in the United States marijuana is so heavily controlled that even if you wanted to conduct a clinical trial, you would have a hard time getting a supply for research purposes. As the Safe Access report states:

" … the federal monopoly on the supply of cannabis has fundamentally limited FDA-approved clinical research to investigate its safety and efficacy in controlling symptoms of serious and chronic illnesses.

In the United States, research is stalled, and in some cases blocked, by a complicated federal approval process, restricted access to research-grade cannabis, and the refusal of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to license private production of cannabis for use exclusively in federally approved research."

The DEA appears to be behind many puzzling restrictions concerning the marijuana plant, including the fact that it is even illegal to grow hemp in the United States.

Contrary to popular opinion, hemp and marijuana are not the same. Both are members of the Cannabis sativa plant species, but they are two distinct varieties, with hemp generally being too low in THC (the compound responsible for the plant's notorious psychoactive effect) to create a "high." In fact, the THC is intentionally bred out of the plant in order to maximize its fiber, seeds and oil -- the constituents for which it is most commonly used.

Ironically, despite these differences, the DEA classifies all Cannabis sativa varieties as "marijuana." This is why the United States is the only industrialized nation in the world where growing industrial hemp is next to impossible. To do so requires a permit from the DEA -- and it is reportedly almost impossible to get one.

Could it be that the DEA has its own agenda for keeping marijuana a controlled substance?

Seattle Weekly speculates:

"Ignorance, false propaganda, and rank political posturing tend to be the foundation of the anti-marijuana argument. (Throw in bureaucratic turf protection as well. The DEA, for example, would need fewer agents if pot was decriminalized nationwide.)"

Many Americans Have an Open Mind About Legalizing Marijuana

A new Gallup poll found that a record high number of Americans -- 50 percent -- favor legalizing marijuana use, which suggests that public pressure will continue to build for a (pun-intended) grassroots legislative overhaul of U.S marijuana laws...

Of course, there are certainly some downsides to marijuana use that need to be addressed, particularly if you are thinking of smoking it for recreational purposes.

Marijuana use can be addictive, and no doubt resources have been squandered, families have been broken up and jobs lost over its use. In the short-term, marijuana use can cause trouble with your ability to think clearly and may impair memory. Marijuana also leads to motor skill impairment and may adversely affect alertness, coordination and reaction time, which is why it should never be used prior to driving.

There is also some evidence that marijuana use can exacerbate psychotic symptoms in those with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, as well as serve as a "gateway" drug that eventually leads to the use of "harder" drugs like cocaine and heroine, although this is still a matter of debate.

Marijuana use among children and teens can also have dire consequences, as drug use of any kind may encourage risky choices and irresponsible behaviors.

Furthermore, while the vast majority of marijuana use is through the act of smoking it, it is worth noting that anytime you heat materials and inhale them you run the risk of introducing toxic elements into your system. Because of this it is always best to use an organic version; any pesticides that are on the material that is burned and inhaled will dramatically increase its toxicity.

It is possible to avoid these risks entirely by either using cannabis in hemp oil form or, as many medical marijuana patients advocate, by using a vaporizer. The device allows for the ingestion of marijuana without any combustion byproducts, eliminating rightful concerns about the cumulative harms associated with smoking it. It is also possible to minimize harm by eating marijuana (along with some fat, as THC is fat-soluble and will not dissolve in water).

It is important to note that in the United States today using marijuana for any reason is still considered an illegal activity that can result in serious legal consequences, including imprisonment.

Sadly, it is not the scientific evidence -- but rather politics and an increasingly insatiable privatized industrial-prison complex in need of more drug-convicted "criminals" -- which maintains the stranglehold on our freedom to choose wild growing plants as our medicine rather than soley FDA-approved drugs.

I think Willie Nelson said it well in the following quote:

I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If He put it here and He wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?

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