Issue #774 – Property Right Newsletter, October 3, 2014

October 3, 2014 – Issue #774

“God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants,
walks in animals, and thinks in man.”
– Arthur Young

US tobacco growers brace for tougher competition. Starting next month, America’s remaining tobacco growers will be totally exposed to the laws of supply and demand.

When the last checks are cashed, surviving growers will be on their own, forced to find profits in a tremendously competitive global market.

But those who remain in the business are thriving right now: Many are producing more leaf than they have in years, and enjoying higher prices as well.

“The people who can hang on can make a substantial living,” said Harry Lea, a leaf dealer and tobacco warehouse owner in Danville.

Nicotine, the Wonder Drug:

This notorious stimulant may enhance learning and help treat Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and other neurological diseases. Every drug of addiction must have its day. Morphine remains one of the most potent painkillers ever discovered.

Cocaine’s chemical cousin lidocaine is still used by physicians and dentists as an effective local anesthetic. Even demon alcohol, when taken in moderation, cuts the risk of heart attacks, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and a hodgepodge of other ailments.

Now comes nicotine, perhaps the most unlikely wonder drug ever to be reviled. If dozens of human and animal studies published over the past six years are borne out by large clinical trials, nicotine – freed at last of its noxious host, tobacco, and delivered instead by chewing gum or trans-dermal patch – may prove to be a weirdly, improbably effective drug for relieving or preventing a variety of neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Tourette’s and schizophrenia.

It might even improve attention and focus enough to qualify as a cognitive enhancer. And, oh yeah, it’s long been associated with weight loss, with few known safety risks.

WV Illegal Ginseng:

Police seize 190 pounds of illegally harvested ginseng. West Virginia natural resources police say they have made 11 arrests and seized 190 pounds of dry ginseng that was illegally harvested.

The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources estimates the market value of the native herb at $180,000. Natural resources officials say demand has spurred illegal harvesting.

Ginseng is any one of 11 species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae.

Ginseng is found in North America and in eastern Asia (mostly Korea, northeast China, Bhutan, eastern Siberia), typically in cooler climates.

Australia medical cannabis closer to federal approval:

The federal government would be given oversight over the production and distribution of medical cannabis under new legislation to make the drug available to patients with chronic pain.

For any form of cannabis to be approved for medicinal use in Australia an application needs to be made to the Therapeutic Goods Administration with supporting data to assess its quality, safety and efficacy.

U.S. Forest Service Update:

Taking a Picture in a National Forest Could Get You a $1,000 Fine, Unless you Buy a $1,500 License.

Liz Close, a spokesperson for the Forest Service, says that the laws are intended to “preserve the untamed character of the country’s wilderness”, whatever that means.

According to the agency, these laws were created to protect the environment and prevent areas of wilderness from being “exploited” by photographers.

Gregg Leslie, the legal defense director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Alexandria, Va. says that these permit laws could be used to discourage journalists from covering certain topics or gaining access to certain areas.

“It’s pretty clearly unconstitutional, they would have to show an important need to justify these limits, and they just can’t.” he said.

Carl V. Phillips: 

Mike Siegel inappropriately blames the failure of his ill-advised research plans on others. it was far too expensive to fund via crowd-sourcing.

If even only a few percent of the total budget were collected from the e-cigarette community, it would take away enough funding to crowd out every other advocacy, education, and research the community wants to support.

Dear Public Health:

The public despises you, so you are probably doing it wrong. It is easy to despise “public health” for what they do. But it is a different matter if you can understand what it looks like from the inside and how they got there.

Once you understand that, you can still despise them for what they do, but you might want to consider despising them even more for how they got there.

World Smokers News – See breaking news about smoking.