Feeling high...

A recent research confirms that cannabis cause severe harm to the lungs - with one joint being as bad as five cigarettes. In the study, researchers from the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wakefield Hospital and the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, studied 339 volunteers.




This research confirms that cannabis poses a serious health risk to the lungs says Reuters . However, tobacco continues to be more harmful overall because it is typically smoked in much higher quantities than cannabis.


Cannabis - the culture

Cannabis have had a past of their own giving rise to the 420 Cannabis culture with the Beatles star Paul McCartney famously saying ,

"I spent my time [in the Tokyo jail] making a mental list of all those drugs which are legal but dangerous. We're all on drugs --cigarettes, whiskey and wild, wild women. Society thinks alcohol is terrific, yet it kills. Cigarettes can kill. They are worse than marijuana. It's just not true that marijuana can kill. What about the little old ladies on Valium? Think of aspirin's danger to the stomach."

after being deported from Japan for bringing almost half a pound of marijuana into Tokyo for an 11-concert Wings tour. He later said,



"I support decriminalization. People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminal is wrong."


Cannabis - the history

Cannabis has been used as a medicine for thousands of years all over the world including India, China and the Middle East. Painted pottery from the Neolithic Yang-shao culture (4200-3200 BC) indicated the presence of cultivated hemp. Hemp reached eastern Europe in the later part of the third millennium BC. Remains of hemp have been discovered in the eighteenth-dynasty tomb of Akhenaten (Amenophis IV) at el-Amarna and cannabis pollen was found on the mummy of Rameses II (nineteenth dynasty).



It was the first psychoactive substance (apart from alcohol) that became a common subject in modern popular music, with jazz classics from the 1930s such as Louis Armstrong's Muggles and Cab Calloway's That Funny Reefer Man topping the bill of marijuana-inspired fare.Finally, in 1937, through the considerable persuasive powers of Harry J. Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the Marihuana (Marijuana) Tax Act became federal law and in 1956 the drug was incorporated into the more comprehensive Narcotics Act.
The history is recorded by BBC in a news item here.


Bhang in India..

Back home in India, the cannabis served as a folk standard of potency. The three varieties are known as bhang, ganja, and charas. Bhang, the least potent of them all is consumed openly during the Indian festival of Holi as a drink and is widely depicted in Indian movies. It is interesting to note that the marijuana used in the United States is equivalent to bhang or, increasingly in recent years, to ganja.



In India while the government cracks down on rave parties where youngsters(allegedly) do drugs the lips are sealed when it comes down to open consumption of Bhang during Holi.

Watch your buddies !

A new study done by researchers at the University of California in San Diego has shown that having fat friends and family may increase your chances of being fat too!

The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says it is plausible that "areas of the brain that correspond to actions such as eating food may be stimulated if these actions are observed by others"



This is the first time research has indicated the unhealthy side of social networking. So watch who you eat out with...OBESITY IS CONTAGIOUS!

All they did was weaken the nation..

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, otherwise referred to as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the 11th president of India served out his term to constitutionally highest post in India. Dr. Kalam has set several precedents during his tenure in the Rashtripati Bhawan which will be difficult to follow for the new incumbent Mrs. Pratibha Patil aka Pratibha Tai...

His dream vision for the future of India by leading the country to be a developed state by 2020, his special relationship and bonding with the kids (whom he hailed as the future of India), his past credentials as the missile man of India and his image as the "aam aami ka pratinidhi" led him to an iconic stature.




He really was the "People's President". Although the comparison is not correct, I would still term him as the best president since our first president Dr. Rajendra Prasad (who, incidentally is the only one to be elected in back-to-back presidential elections). He was also the only prominent national leader after Chacha Nehru to form such an emotional bond with the children...

He now plans to teach at Anna Malai University, in fact he has already joined at the varsity and wants to be referred to as Professor and not former President!

Pratibha Patil, the new President is just a bunny of Congress(I) leader Mrs. Sonia Gandhi (so is Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh) and it still needs to be seen if she can emerge out of her tutelage (although she was chosen specifically for that purpose!). And all this farce in the name of "women empowerment"!




Muslim President and vice-president, first Sikh Prime minister, first Dalit CJI (Chief Justice of India) and now first Women President !

As Col. Jessop would have said, " All they did was weaken the nation".

Benoit was drugged..

Professional wrestler and WWE star Chris Benoit who passed away recently was indeed drugged said medical authorities confirming earlier suspicions.

Reports suggest that the testosterone was injected shortly before Benoit died. In addition to the male sex hormone he had also taken narcotic painkiller Hydrocodone and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax(two widely subscribed drugs). The level of testosterone found in his body was almost 10 times as the normal range. However the level of other two drugs was moderate indicating a theraupatic use over a longer period.



Chris Benoit had killed his wife and son at their home and then hanged himself last month. But investigators say that higher levels of testosterone do not lead to the abnormal behaviour. The WWE which was under fire following the release of the toxicology tests said in a statement that the testosterone had been taken after his April 2007 test.

However this incident has once again brought into light, the stressful lives led by the professional wrestlers like Benoit. Many others like him continue in an industry that feeds on the bruises and aches suffered by many such performers.

Hockey and MBA?

Indian hockey isn't going through the best of phases these days.. clearly in contrast with the glories of the past. However realms of paper have been wasted on this and I am not the first or the last person to put my 50 cents worth into it. But what caught my attention was the recent news about the Indian midfielder Viren Rasquinha not being able to attend the national hockey training camp as he wanted to concentrate on his MBA exams ??




Now let me talk straight..I am not infringing on Viren's right to pursue education he can have all the degrees he wants to... But for a catch..he's not a wide eyed rookie or a regular bench warmer. He has been a formidable force in the Indian midfield for sometime now having played over 200 internationals,in fact he has been the Captain of the Indian Hockey team. Imagine Rahul Dravid (or for that matter any member of Indian cricket team) leaving behind cricket to pursue a mere MBA degree (where they are already rollin' in the Benjamins or the Lincolns or the Gandhis)

Viren has had a troubled relation with the hockey establishment in India as he had been dropped in the past leading him to raise questions about his exclusion. But whatever has happened now is a sad commentary on the state of Indian Hockey.