The Union: The Business Behind Getting High

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:43 pm

I finished watching this recently. It's made me think a lot. It's about Cannabis.

Some things I have known about, others I haven't. I mean, I've been eating Hemp Seeds for a couple of years now; and I've known about the discussion overall, but not some of the details that are talked about here. Warning, it's 11 parts, and about 110 minutes long, or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ie1YotW ... re=related

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 11:40 pm

Yeah, it's good stuff (the information).

However, we're moving away from legalizing drugs and toward more selective prosecution. New laws block flavored tobacco - as if that will stop kids from smoking. They don't block the chemical menthol, the most popular flavor (and one that just so happens not to be popular with young smokers).

We're unlikely to move toward truly decriminalizing pot, either.

-Crissa

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 7:15 am

Definitely interesting.

Edit: Finished. The thing on caffeine being more addictive than pot totally fits with my personal experiences.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:26 pm

Caffeine even has physical withdrawal symptoms. It's totally addictive, yes.

-Crissa

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:46 am

Crissa wrote:Caffeine even has physical withdrawal symptoms. It's totally addictive, yes.

-Crissa

Totally. I'm pretty sure that the reason I stopped getting as many headaches (like, WAY fewer) lately is because I've kept caffeine basically out of my diet for the last three months or so.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:48 am

Yeah, I got addicted to it back in high school, and had to deal with headaches and shitty moods from withdrawal (though the shitty moods could also have been because I was a high school student, ie, a teenager). Working, not so bad - you can just have a constant intake of sugar and caffeine while you work. Now I just avoid having a lifestyle that requires getting up in the morning, so I don't need caffeine and avoid withdrawal by not having much in my system in the first place.

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:53 pm

Crissa wrote:Caffeine even has physical withdrawal symptoms. It's totally addictive, yes.

Yes but at low levels the withdrawal symptoms are negligible. When I lived in Key West, Florida, I used to have a “grande con leche” and slices of toasted Cuban bread for breakfast. The “grande con leche” was made from the slop bucket created from the espresso machines the “con leche” and for the “buchi.” (Or a single shot of Cuban espresso; this seems to be a Key West thing.)

Café con leche, or "coffee with milk", a Cuban espresso served alongside a cup of hot or steamed milk. Originally served separately, the cafecito is dumped into the glass of hot milk and stirred in. It is the traditional Cuban breakfast beverage, served with slices of buttered, toasted cuban bread that are dunked in the coffee cup. In addition, traditional Cuban "café con leche" contains a pinch of salt (popularized by the Chinese immigrants who arrived in 19th century Cuba) and a pinch of butter, giving it a unique taste.

I think there had to be at least three or four shots in a grande con leche. I had this every workday. On Saturday I slept too late for breakfast. The result was a major withdrawal headache on Sunday, sin falta.

Since I have started drinking tea, on the other hand, with the caffeine levels lower and with other agents that balance and smooth out the effects of caffeine I can go without drinking for days and not even notice it.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:20 pm

If it's Cuban, the caffeine probably wasn't the addictive part :p

But yes, tea has, by the cup, way less caffeine than coffee. And tastes better while being less destructive to the stomach.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:50 pm

tzor wrote:Since I have started drinking tea, on the other hand, with the caffeine levels lower and with other agents that balance and smooth out the effects of caffeine I can go without drinking for days and not even notice it.

It's the theanine (an amino acid) in tea that helps ameliorate the effect of caffeine on your system.

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:59 pm

Koumei wrote:If it's Cuban, the caffeine probably wasn't the addictive part

Tell me more, tell me more.

IIRC, the coffee they were using at the local shop in Key West was Café Bustelo Espresso bricks, and I think I can get that around here.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 10:35 pm

Black teas make my spouse sick to her stomach. I always wondered why.

-Crissa

Aktariel · Post by **Aktariel** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:56 am

Very strange. How about green tea? Or white?

Black tea is just green tea that's been oxidized more (it's Camellia sinensis either way) White tea is also the same plant (red tea is not).

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 3:41 am

Sometimes green tea will, moreso on an empty stomach. White tea definitely. Red tea... Well, I dunno. Coffee without milk, certainly, but not as much.

But like a cola or similar won't do the same trouble.

-Crissa

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:07 pm

Crissa wrote:Sometimes green tea will, moreso on an empty stomach. White tea definitely. Red tea... Well, I dunno. Coffee without milk, certainly, but not as much.

"Black" tea has been oxidized under controlled temperature and humidity.
"Green" tea has been processed to prevent the oxidation.
"White" tea is made from young leaves with neither oxidation or curing.

All of the above teas are made from the Camellia sinensis plant.

"Red" "tea" is commonly made from the "Rooibos" (Aspalathus linearis) plant. (In asia the term is also used for what we call "black tea" so there is a potential for cunfusion.)

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:37 pm

I'm not sure how that helps, tzor.

I know that they're different and yet the same.

I know red tea is different. I really like it.

-Crissa

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:03 pm

I'm guessing that it's something in the oxidation that your spouse has problems with; that's the biggest difference between black and the (white / green). Red tea, being different has a whole set of different chemicals and therefore possible reaction causes.