Vermont Considers Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

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Terri Hallenbeck
Burlington Free Press

MONTPELIER — Here’s what Shayne Lynn envisions somewhere in Chittenden County: an office as non-descript as a doctor’s office or a pharmacy from which he would sell marijuana to those with qualifying medical conditions.

There’d be a waiting room. Clients would be seen by appointment only. There’d be security. He might also offer clients yoga, acupuncture and Reiki. He’d probably grow the marijuana somewhere else, at an indoor facility.

Lynn could become one of the first people to run such an operation in Vermont if proposed legislation the Senate is expected to consider this week passes.

Lynn, a 40-year-old professional photographer who lives in Burlington, said he believes in marijuana’s medicinal value for those who suffer from chronic pain and he thinks it’s wrong that such people have nowhere legal to buy the relief.

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NC bill threatens to criminalize naturopaths, homeopaths, herbalists, midwives, aromatherapists as felons

Ethan A. Huff
Natural News

Alternative health practitioners in North Carolina (NC) and their patients need your help to defeat a stealth bill that flew under the radar of most everyone in the natural health community. Senate Bill 31, which clarifies the penalties for the "unauthorized practice of medicine," essentially criminalizes the practice of unlicensed forms of medicine, which includes the work of many naturopaths, homeopaths, herbalists, aromatherapists, and even some midwives in the state. The bill was adopted by a judiciary committee in early March, and it recently passed the NC Senate. Now, the NC House is set to vote on the bill tonight, and unless NC governor Bev Perdue vetoes it, the practice of natural medicine for many in NC may soon become a more severe criminal offense.

SB 31 states that anyone who practices medicine or surgery without having been first "licensed and registered to do so" will be guilty of a Class I felony. Class I felonies in NC are the least severe kinds of felonies, but they do include things like burning crosses on private or public property, and sexually exploiting children. So if passed, SB 31 will essentially make those who practice alternative medicine without an official, state-sanctioned license and permit, criminals of the likes of sexual predators and cross burners.
You can read the short bill for yourself at the following link:
http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/Senate/PDF/S31v2.pdf

Proponents of the bill say it fixes a loophole in the current law that classifies out-of-state practitioners who practice without a license as Class I felons, while in-state practitioners who practice without a license are only guilty of a Class I misdemeanor. But what the bill actually appears to do is make it even harder for alternative practitioners who literally cannot be licensed in NC because their work is not "approved," to practice at all. After all, who is going to be willing to provide alternative medical services for consenting patients when doing so makes them a felon?

SB 31 is really just another way to target alternative practitioners and reign in the practice of medicine to only that which has been approved by the government overlords. And the timeline for defeating this bill is very short. Alternative practitioners in NC, and those who safely and successfully use their services, need your help now to successfully defeat this bill.

Citizens for Healthcare Freedom (CHF), a nonprofit health freedom organization in NC, says the bill is "not in the interest of the citizens of North Carolina" because it affects many alternative practitioners who will be put out of business if it passes. The vast majority of these practitioners have been practicing for years, and they have helped thousands of patients over the years using methods not officially sanctioned by state medical boards (http://www.ncchf.org/2011/03/29/opposition-to-sb31-action-alert/).

The NC House is set to debate and vote on SB 31 at 7:00 pm tonight. And whether or not you live in NC, this bill contributes to setting a precedent of intolerance for natural and alternative medicine, so it is important to oppose it regardless of whether or not you live in NC.

You can reach the NC House to oppose the bill by calling (919) 733-7928.

You can reach Governor Bev Perdue's Washington DC office to oppose the bill by calling (202) 624-5833.

Remember, when contacting government officials to express your thoughts, always be respectful, but firm in your discourse. Clearly and succinctly express opposition to SB 31 on the grounds that it further erodes health freedom in NC by criminalizing those who practice alternative medicine. Also, urge support for the CHF Consumer Health Freedom Act, which establishes the freedom to practice alternative medicine without criminal penalty (http://www.ncchf.org/2011/03/29/opposition-to-sb31-action-alert/).

Please visit Natural News for more breaking news and tips concerning your health.

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Ayahuasca Monologues: I Think I’m Dying, But It’s Okay

Natural Medicine Ayahuasca
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Bill Kennedy
Reality Sandwich

Three years ago I moved to New York from St. Louis.  A week later I went to the subway at four in the morning and the platform was empty except for a book. It was a sci-fi choose-your-own-adventure book. I still have it. A year later I found a room in a loft space with fourteen other people. Outside the front door, painted on a gas pipe were the words "choose your own adventure." I knew I was in the right place.

The fourteen people that lived there ranged from raw foodists and foot fetishists to message therapists and yoga teachers to numerologists and astrologers, hailing from places like Korea, Australia, Chile, and Canada. Then there was me, the Midwesterner who's into baseball, red meat, money and partying. The loft's website coined the space "a holistic multi-cultural center dedicated to spirit, healing arts, and community" next to a picture of the founder in some Indian-style chi-like pose. My dad called me after seeing the website to make sure I hadn't joined a cult.

A couple of months later the founder told me about the ayahuasca ceremonies that were held at the space and that if I wanted to try this hallucinogen for free, I could volunteer to be a guardian. He said that the guardians help bring people to the bathroom during ceremony, that twenty people would sit in a circle and a shaman would play music as people vomited and shat for six to eight hours.  I signed up right on the spot.

I showed up to the ceremony with four other roommates/guardians all dressed in white. Twenty other white-clad strangers entered our house, gathering in a circle on mattresses around the shaman.  It looked like a scene straight out of The Twilight Zone. If this shit happened in Missouri, it was way beyond my circle.

The shaman was an American "body psychologist" and self-proclaimed "neo shaman," who said he'd found ayahuasca to be a useful "tool." His intro was brief and included a single warning about taking a "death dose" that many encounter in ceremony.  "You may experience a feeling of dying," he told us. When he broke out an i-Book and put on some low, tonal trance music, I named him Shaman Macintosh. As people came to Shaman Macintosh, they would kneel and drink. After the last person drank and returned to his mattress, the circle was complete -- people blindfolded, music on, and plants of various sorts giving the subtle illusion of a rainforest-like atmosphere. We turned off the lights and covered the windows with dark curtains but the car alarms and people chatting in the street were frequent reminders that this was the concrete jungle of NYC.

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RELATED ARTICLE:
Does Indigenous Plant Medicine Offer a Natural Gateway to Healing Ourselves and the World?

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Does Ayahuasca Offer a Natural Gateway to Healing Ourselves and the World?

Ayahuasca is a indigenous plant medicine that is said to teach a holistic understanding of the true nature of ourselves and the universe.

Amazon Shaman at Rainforest Plant Medicine gathering
at Guaria de Osa EcoLodge, Costa Rica

Human World Order
Activist Post

As the material world rushes around us at a blistering pace, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find truth and meaning in all the chaos.  The rat-race economy occupies most of our time and energy, and what's left is typically drowned out by perpetually empty distractions.

We may feel utterly disconnected from nature and each other, almost as if we've been deliberately torn from our natural state to conform to a manufactured reality.

When we become conscious of this illusory fabric of our society, it's a somewhat liberating experience.  On one hand, understanding that the matrix is following a predetermined track helps to bring clarity to previously incomprehensible world events, as we can now begin to see the forest through the strategically placed trees. By contrast, it can be quite frightening to realize that the engineers of this matrix seem to prefer war and fear to peace and love.

Perhaps recognizing the genuine structure of the fabricated system makes it easier to succeed or survive in the matrix, as one will likely better understand that the primary trait required is ruthlessness.  The rub is that if one learns the truth that perpetuating this "system" is fatally destructive, then ruthlessness becomes nearly impossible for the enlightened.  As it only feeds what you've grown to despise.

So then, how do we function in this mad society when we begin to awaken?  Shall we keep taking the soma fed to us by the controllers to keep our level of contentment just a notch above catatonic? Or shall we strive to step out of the grid to use our awakening to better ourselves in order to affect the world around us?

It can be difficult to find the willpower to heal ourselves in such a poisoned world.  Some use meditation, prayer, exercise, diet, or friends to seek clarity amidst the storm of daily life. Indeed, many have proven to find great success and happiness in the active pursuit for a better world using these methods.  And each new accomplishment moves them closer to a holistic understanding of the truth by passionately living the solution.

It seems that many have the intellectual knowledge of why we must make personal changes to effect the greater good, yet what is lacking is the profound understanding that can only come from direct experience.

Ayahuasca is now being used by many for such an experience.  Said to be a "great teacher," ayahuasca is a psychotropic plant brew that has been used by South American shaman for thousands of years to better "see" the world.  It has inspired the work of many great philosophers of the recent awakening like John Perkins, David Icke, and Daniel Pinchbeck.  Below is David Icke speaking about his ayahuasca experience:



It had such an illuminating effect on Perkins and Pinchbeck that they both, individually, help organize bringing others to the great healing teacher.  Pinchbeck, author of three terrific books, filmmaker and a contributor to RealitySandwich.com regularly attends authentic shamanic sessions held in Costa Rica. These all-inclusive Experiential Gatherings are open to the publicon a limited basis for a cost of $2000 for 10 nights and 11 days.

The intentions of these gatherings, referred to as "vacations with a purpose," are the following:

• To experientially learn from ancient rainforest plant medicine traditions stemming from the time-tested, traditional healing and wellness practices of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon.
• To welcome an alchemical transformation, healing, and re-integration of body, mind, heart and spirit.
• To receive insight and guidance from these ancient and profound worldviews and thus strengthen one's essence and improve one's health.
• To enjoy and be nurtured by the pristine Pacific Ocean and mighty rainforest ecosystems on the Osa Peninsula and her natural wonders.
• Expand one's guts and grace. (Source: The Rainforest Plant Medicine Council)

It is unlikely ayahuasca will ever be considered a "party" drug as some other psychotropics like mushrooms or LCD have been labeled.  Ayahuasca is overwhelmingly taken for the purpose of learning and healing where authentic gatherings run by trained shaman offer the most powerful experience.  Below is a trailer to a new documentary following three successful people on their journey to ayahuasca:



So does ayahuasca allow you to "connect to the umbilical cord of the universe" to experience the "infinite" understanding?  Is it the natural gateway to healing ourselves so we can help heal the world?  There's only one way to find out . . . .

For more information on taking the journey to experience the Rainforest Plant Medicine Gatherings visit HERE

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Radiation Protection, Now and Long Term

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Dr. Dan Beilin
Fortify Health

It is critical for those in the U.S., especially on the West Coast, to adjust to the continuing increased radiation, potential radiation and the resulting food contamination from Japan's tragic nuclear disasters. You can check daily Geiger readings for Northern California, which extends from San Luis Obispo to Mendocino.

Plan One is to optimize your own organs for detoxification and fortify your antioxidant reserves so as to be ready and protect your DNA and cell membranes. Plan Two is for when the radiation levels get above 60 Counts Per Minute (CPM), in order to specifically block the radioactive particles selectively.

It is important to remember to take action calmly, after clearly evaluating the degree of true risk.

The major radioactive elements currently headed for the US West Coast are Cesium 137, Iodine 131, and Tellurium (as well as unknown noble gases such as Xenon, which have not been measured at this time). Uranium and Plutonium may be present in Japan, but they are heavy atoms and do not usually traverse long distances.

Which ones are most troublesome? Cesium 137 and Iodine 131. The Iodine has short half-life of 7-8 days and should dissipate well before it reaches the West coast.

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RELATED ARTICLE:
3 Ways to Protect Yourself from Radiation NATURALLY

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Potassium Iodide Works: Rare Agreement Between Alternative Health and the FDA

Brandon Turbeville

Activist Post 

With the tragedy in Japan continuing to unfold as we speak, most news coverage has focused on the death toll resulting from the earthquake and tsunami. Some coverage has also been given to the meltdown of the Japanese nuclear reactors. However, there has been very little discussion in the mainstream media of the attempted cover-up of problems at seventeen reactors that malfunctioned in 2003, or that the radioactive particles from the latest full-blown catastrophe could soon be reaching the western United States as early as March 25th.  

Much of the independent media, on the other hand, has been covering the wider issues and, as a result, a discussion has been generated about the means by which we can protect ourselves against such radiation. In this regard, there has been much conjecture as to whether KI (Potassium Iodide) can protect against radiation poisoning, as well as whether or not KI poses enough significant health risks as to preclude its usage.

First, in regards to whether or not KI is useful in protecting against radiation, the answer is Yes. KI is recognized by most professionals ranging from natural health promoters such as Natural News to those who are generally the enemy of all things natural and wholesome, the FDA.

The Health Ranger, Mike Adams of Natural News, writes:  

If you leave the fate of your own health up to a bunch of state bureaucrats, you’re a fool. Everybody needs to have somepotassium iodide on hand to protect themselves from radiation poisoning caused by nuclear accidents or nuclear terrorism. [emphasis added]

He continues in the same article:

Never mind that experts say the over-the-counter potassium iodide pills are the cheapest and easiest way to prevent radiation poisoning – especially in children – in case of a nuke attack. [emphasis added] Source

And:

Last year, a report commissioned by Congress recommended that everyone under 40 near a nuclear power plant should have the pills on hand. [emphasis added] Source

The FDA itself actually says something similar.   The FDA released a document entitled, Guidance on Potassium Iodide as a Thyroid Blocking Agent in Radiation Emergencies, the purpose of which was to provide guidance to other Federal agencies such as the EPA and the NRC, as well State and Local agencies, regarding the safety and efficacy of using KI in the event of a nuclear emergency where radioactive iodine is released into the environment.  

Another FDA document which discussed KI can be found here, as well as the FAQ section on the FDA’s own website regarding KI which can be found here. This document and the FAQ section clearly demonstrate that the FDA recognizes KI as a radioprotective agent. Indeed, the FDA expressly states:

The effectiveness of KI as a specific blocker of thyroid radioiodine uptake is well established. When administered in the recommended dose, KI is effective in reducing the risk of thyroid cancer in individuals or populations at risk for inhalation or ingestion of radioiodines. 

KI works by flooding the thyroid with non-radioactive Iodine which thereby prevents the uptake of the radioactive Iodine molecules. These molecules are then released through the urine. That being said, it should be noted that KI is not a general protection agent against radiation. KI ONLY prevents the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine. Therefore, one should not look at KI as a general “sun-block” version of radiation protection. 

There are also many risks associated with KI according to the FDA. Although researchers continue to debate the severity of these risks, possible dangers include:

• Acne 
• Rashes 
• Allergic Reactions 
• Swelling of the Glands (similar to Mumps)  
• Runny Eyes  
• Runny Nose  
• Impotence  
• Sore Teeth and Gums  
• Metallic Taste in Mouth  
• Swelling of the Salivary Glands

In more serious cases, according to Mike Adams, as a result of deluging an otherwise normal thyroid gland with KI, the result may be the inhibition of the gland’s production of thyroxine. There has also been some question (although its widely debated) as to whether or not KI in abnormal amounts can actually facilitate the growth of cancer.

Most of these side effects manifest themselves as a result of the fact that humans need just the right amount of KI for optimal thyroid function. In short, more is not better . . .  and neither is less.  

In the event of a radioactive emergency, none of these side effects are severe enough to preclude KI from being used. The dangers of radioactive exposure far outweigh the side effects of short term KI treatment. Nevertheless, KI should only be used in the event of an emergency and not merely as a regular dietary supplement.  

Keep in mind, a proven safe and effective means of natural iodine consumption is Kelp. In fact, your body absorbs iodine better from Kelp (a natural source) than it does from KI supplements. It is also much safer, especially in regards to the thyroid gland. In reference to Kelp, Earl Mindell, author of Vitamin Bible for the Twenty-First Century, writes that “Kelp has a normalizing effect on the thyroid gland. In other words, thin people with thyroid trouble can gain weight by using kelp, and obese people can lose weight with it.”

In the incredibly rare event where natural health and government health overlap in agreement, as in the case of the protective benefits of potassium iodide against nuclear radiation exposure, it duly requires our added level of attention. 

Please leave your comments about your knowledge and preparation against the growing concern of radioactive exposure in the U.S. and elsewhere. 

Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Mullins, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University where he earned the Pee Dee Electric Scholar’s Award as an undergraduate. He has had numerous articles published dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, and civil liberties. He is also the author of Codex Alimentarius - The End of Health Freedom 

Currently out of stock on iodide tablets but taking orders -- great source for all survival needs

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