Two papers published in April in JAMA Internal Medicine that analyzed more than five years of Medicare Part D and Medicaid prescription data found that when states allow for the use of marijuana the number of opioid prescribed, and the daily usage of opioids, reduced significantly. What we don’t know is if patients are gravitating towards weed or if doctors are the driving force.

In this time when we are so concerned—rightly so—about opiate misuse and abuse and the mortality that’s occurring, we need to be clear-eyed and use evidence to drive our policies. If you’re interested in giving people options for pain management that don’t bring the particular risks that opiates do, states should contemplate turning on dispensary-based cannabis policies.” – W. David Bradford, an economist at the University of Georgia, author of one of the studies.

We have seen this correlation in other research but the new research includes much larger datasets.

One of the new studies stated that people on Medicare filled 14 percent fewer prescriptions for opioids after medical marijuana laws were passed in their states. The second study found that Medicaid enrollees filled nearly 40 fewer opioid prescriptions per 1,000 people each year after their state passed any law making cannabis accessible—with greater drops seen in states that legalized both medical and recreational marijuana.” – Scientific America

A recent Pew survey states 61 percent of Americans now favor legalizing marijuana. Currently, there are nine states that allow marijuana use with no restrictions, and 20 other U.S. states allow for medicinal marijuana. The states with medical marijuana laws vary in how restrictive marijuana use is. States that have marijuana dispensaries had the greatest decrease in opioid prescriptions. States that allow for medical marijuana but do not have active dispensaries did not realize the same dramatic decline, but opioid use was still down for those more restrictive states.

That makes sense, Bradford noted. There’s a big difference between telling someone they can pick up a prescription at a local pharmacy and telling someone they should go pick up some plants and grow them at home for a few months, often with little help or support.” – Discovery Campus

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There are many variations to the following, but the basic procedure here will get you through just about any situation when it comes to making any kind of herbal extract you’d care to.

1. Fill a blender half full with the herb or herbs of your choice (any kind of blender will do in a pinch, but Vita-Mix blenders are the best).
2. On top of these herbs, pour out some 100-proof vodka.  In an emergency you can even use whiskey, brandy or any strong alcoholic hard liquor – Everclear cut 50/50 with distilled water is the best, followed by vodka as these are pure grain alcohols diluted with distilled water only.  Other hard liquors have sugar and other ingredients in them so don’t work as quite as well. Don’t let that stop you in an emergency if all you’ve got on hand is Bailey’s Irish Cream, though. After you’ve poured it in, the alcohol liquid level should be 2 to 3 inches above the top of all the herbs in your blender.
3. Blend the dickens out of it for a minimum of one minute up to a maximum of 2 minutes.
4. Pour the mixed contents into a glass mason jar (these come in pints, quarts, and half gallons), put a lid on, and then store in a dark place.
5. At least once a day, shake your mixture thoroughly.  Twice a day is best.
6. After two weeks, strain off the top liquid into another mason jar, and then press the rest of your mixture using a beer press, or a potato ricer, and an organic cotton canvas cloth to act as a filter to strain out the particles.  You can also use the fanciest press around that money can buy = a Norwalk juicer.
7. Store your tinctures in brown bottles and keep out of the light in a cool, dark place.  A top quality extract made with Everclear can last up to a hundred years or more stored this way.

You’re done!  That’s it!  That’s all there is to it!  You can also use pure apple cider vinegar instead of alcohol with certain softer herbs and veggies, but stay away from using glycerin (which is a lousy catalyst with very poor absorption characteristics).

Also check out DIY Organic Chamomile Tincture (image credit, great article as well), and Cannabis Tinctures 101 if cannabis is your thing, but the basics are the same.

Related Reading:

• How to Make a Tincture
• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Total Nutrition – Make your own Homemade Multivitamin and Mineral Formula
• Doc Shillington’s Total Body Cleanse
• Homemade Calcium and Magnesium
• Homemade Vitamin C

The mention of fur causes the majority of us to scowl a little. Most of us know how cruel, barbaric, and inhumane the fur trade is. But what about leather? It’s time to shed light on the leather industry.

Leather is a cloth-like material made from the hide or skin of an animal. Cows provide the bulk of leather we use, but goats, pigs, and sheep are in high demand, and reptile skins are also sold at a premium. If you’re like most consumers, you assume that leather is a byproduct of the meat industry, save the reptile skins.

And, the fact is that most of the cow leather that comes from cows is taken from those cows slaughtered for their meat or from dairy cows that no longer produce enough milk. But, that’s not the whole story. It’s assumed that the hide is ‘leftover’, and it will go to waste if it’s not used. This is a common misconception. Also, much of cow leather and in many other animals hides that are produced and sold do come from animals that are killed primarily, or only, for their skins. Leather makes up around 10% of a cows total value. This means that the hide of a cow, not the meat, is the most valuable part of the cow, pound for pound.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

The demand for leather is increasing, along with the demand for more exotic, luxurious leather goods. The more sought-after, expensive, and  “luxurious” (i.e. soft and thin) hide-material comes from veal calves. The leather sometimes comes from unborn calves taken prematurely from their mother’s wombs. In countries where animal protection laws are weak or non-existent, animals are often killed only for their hides, even when endangered or threatened. Thank consumer demand.

Leather production damages local ecosystems. The chemicals used to produce leather are extremely volatile. The toxic waste from making leather is often dumped illegally, polluting groundwater and rivers.

India and China are two of the biggest producers of leather in the world, and welfare laws there are either non-existent, lax, or seldom if ever enforced. China is the world’s leading exporter of leather, and they aren’t picky about their choices of animal hide. An estimated two million cats and dogs are killed for their skins, and most consumers have no idea what country these hides are coming from, or even from which animals the hide came from.

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

https://www.facebook.com/lightmoveme/videos/1177183282403351/

Even worse, the production of leather involves unbelievable barbarity and cruelty. Even the animals one would suspect were hunted (pythons, alligators, lizards, stingrays, etc) may have been farm raised for their skins in abysmal conditions. In India, a PETA investigation witnessed the practice of breaking the cows’ tails and rubbing chili pepper and tobacco into the cow’s eyes in order to force them to get up and walk after collapsing from exhaustion on the way to their slaughterhouse.

Let’s take a moment to consider that last fact. Can you imagine going out like that? Can you imagine your last days on this miserable planet consisting walking to your death at the behest of chili peppers and tobacco in the eyes? We’re well past beleiving that animals don’t feel pain, right?

Much of the most heinous abuses are due to the fact that the world leather trade is mostly clandestine and illegal – and the authorities that could stop it are routinely bribed to let it continue. Hindus hold the cow in special esteem, and Jains, a hindu sect, regard all life as so sacred that they avoid hurting insects. But investigations have shown that all pf India’s major communities are complicit in the cruel treatment of their sacred cows.

If you don’t want to contribute to the leather industry, don’t! Natural and synthetic cruelty-free alternatives are available, Checkout MooShoes, Beyond Skin, Vegan Essentials, Alternative Outfitters and Vaute Couture. Vote with your wallet, read the labels, Google the companies, and support smaller ethical companies that consider their impact on the planet.

Excerpt from Peta’s 14 Things the Leather Industry Doesn’t Want You to See

1. Every year, the global leather industry slaughters more than a billion animals.

2. If you’re wearing leather, it probably came from China or India.

In China, there are no penalties for abusing animals on farms.

3. Along with cattle, other animals—including sheep, dogs, and cats—are killed for their skin in China.

Dog and cat leather is often intentionally mislabeled, so you could be wearing dog leather and not even know it.

4. In India, animals fare no better.

India’s animal-protection laws are also rarely enforced.

5. In India, cows are forced to march for days—without food or water—to their own deaths.

6. Cattle who collapse from exhaustion have their tails broken or chili peppers rubbed into their eyes in order to force them to keep moving.

7. There’s virtually no way to tell where leather comes from.

Even if a product says that it was made in Italy or the U.S., the raw materials probably came from India or China.

Click here for the rest of 14 Things the Leather Industry Doesn’t Want You to See

Sources:

• The Global Leather Trade – PETA
• Vegan Guide to Leather Alternatives 2018 Edition – The Vegan Resource Group
• Is your leather from China? It might be made of dog or cat skin – The Guardian

A 33-foot sperm whale carcass surfaced near a lighthouse in Cabo de Palos on Spain’s southeastern coast in February. Washington Post reported that a necropsy revealed the whale had “trash bags, polypropylene sacks, ropes, net segments and a drum, among other things,” located in the stomach and intestines.

Local authorities report that the whale animal died due to peritonitis, inflammation of the abdominal lining, due to blockage from the trash.

The picture, shared by a local environmental group, shows a severely underweight sperm whale. Reports place the animal’s weight at 14,300 pounds. Adult sperm whales are supposed to weight between 77,000 and 130,000 lbs.

Sperm whales reside in the ocean at around 2,000 feet below sea level and feed off of large squid, sharks, and fish. This certainly isn’t the first time. For decades, whales and other marine life have been washing ashore full of plastic.

The Trump administration is considering allowing states to require drug testing for some food stamp recipients. The plan would narrowly target and affect mostly “able-bodied” people, according to an anonymous administration official, AP reports. The rule would apply to around five percent of those enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to AP’s source. In addition, the plan would target people without dependents who are seeking certain specialized jobs, the AP reported.

Conservatives have been pushing for mandatory drug testing for people who receive SNAP benefits for years. Federal law prevents states from implementing their own conditions for individuals to be eligible for SNAP.

Secretary Sonny Perdue wants to provide states with “greater control over SNAP.”

As a former governor, I know first-hand how important it is for states to be given flexibility to achieve the desired goal of self-sufficiency for people. We want to provide the nutrition people need, but we also want to help them transition from government programs, back to work, and into lives of independence.”

On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order calling for federal agencies to establish expand on existing work requirements for individuals on federal welfare programs.

Ed Bolen, the senior policy analyst at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities think tank thinks implementing drug testing for SNAP recipients is legally murky.

Are people losing their food assistance if they don’t take the test, and in that case, is that a condition of eligibility, which the states aren’t allowed to impose? And does drug testing fall into what’s allowable under a state training and employment program, which typically lists things like job search or education or on-the-job experience? This is kind of a different bucket.”

Utah did its own welfare drug testing on 4,730 applicants from Aug 2012 to July 2013 for their Temporary Assistance For Needy Families program. Less than one percent were found to be using illegal drugs.

A lawsuit was filed in 2010 by the little-known Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT). This not-for-profit group sued 90 coffee retailers, including Starbucks, on grounds they were violating a California law that requires companies to warn consumers about the chemicals in their products that could cause cancer. The law is often called “Prop 65.” A judge just ruled that Starbucks and other coffee sellers need a cancer warning on coffee sold in California. The ruling calls for fines as large as $2,500 for every customer exposed to the chemical since 2002 at the coffee shops. Any civil penalties, which will be decided in a third phase of the trial, would likely be massive in California, with a population of nearly 40 million.

One of the chemicals in coffee that’s problematic is acrylamide, a byproduct of roasting coffee beans that is present in high levels in brewed coffee. Acrylamide isn’t just in coffee. The National Cancer Institute says it’s also often found in French fries, potato chips, crackers, bread, cookies, cereals, canned black olives, and prune juice. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been considering issuing guidelines on the acrylamide content in food for some time.

Related: Advanced Glycated End Products

Aside from food, the other main source of acrylamide is cigarette smoke—though people are exposed to substantially more acrylamide from tobacco smoke than from food, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said that Starbucks and the other companies did not prove there isn’t risk from carcinogens produced by the coffee roasting process. This ruling could potentially expose the companies to millions of dollars in fines. Starbucks and other defendants have until April 10 to file objections.

Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that consumption of coffee confers a benefit to human health.” – Judge Elihu Berle

Starbucks and the other defendants lost the first phase of the trial because it failed to show that the level of acrylamide in coffee was below levels that pose significant risk of cancer. In the second phase of the trial, the defendants failed to prove there was an acceptable “alternative” risk level for the carcinogen, according to court documents showed.

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Several defendants settled the case before Wednesday’s verdict. They agreed to post warnings about the cancer-linked chemical and they agreed to pay millions in fines.

Source:

• Coffee Warning? What You Need to Know About Acrylamide – Shape
• Starbucks coffee in California must have cancer warning, judge says – Reuters

In the 1980s supermarkets were even more concerned with proper shape and size of produce than they are today. Consumers expected carrots to be a particular size, shape, and color. Anything that didn’t fit the image was sold for juice or processing or animal feed, or often simply thrown away.

There are “true baby carrots” and then there are the processed “baby carrots” we normally see in stores. True baby carrots are just young carrots harvested before the root reaches its mature size. Some say they are sweeter this way. Some even think they’re healthier. These carrots aren’t nearly as common in grocery stores, but when you see them they often still have their stalks. What we typically see labeled as “baby carrots” in those small plastic bags are full grown carrots that would once have been rejected and wasted.

Broken and misshaped carrots that are not pretty enough for consumers were discarded, leaving farmers with as little as 30 percent of their crop to sell. Mike Yurosek was tired of this waste. He took his ugly reject carrots and used a potato peeler to reshape them into small pieces. Yurosek then scaled up with an industrial green bean cutter to quickly whittle the carrots into the well-known sizes we still see today. ¹

How Are Baby Carrots Made Today?

The industry calls them “baby cuts.” They are no longer simply rejected carrots. These baby cuts you see in supermarkets come from carrots have been specifically bred to be smaller in diameter, and to be a bright orange without color variation, and they are also raised to have considerably sweeter than regular carrots. ²

These baby carrots are planted closer together than traditional carrots and they are harvested in about 120 days. But before packaging, the carrots are cut and peeled and scrubbed, then they get the infamous chlorine bath. But the amount of chlorine in the water is not really anything to be alarmed about. It’s likely that every time you eat out at a restaurant you will consume more chlorine than when eating baby carrots.

Grimmway Farms uses a chlorine solution on all its carrots — organic and non-organic — to prevent food poisoning, before a final wash in water. Grimmway says the chlorine rinse is well within limits set by the EPA and is comparable to levels found in tap water.” – Fox

The minute amount of chlorine in our water for washing carrots is nearly 90% less than the chlorine level in normal tap (drinking) water.” – The Truth About Baby Carrots

What’s the Concern?

Baby carrots are no longer a byproduct of the carrot industry, so buying baby carrots no longer helps to reduce food waste.

The chlorine is problematic but if you eat out at restaurants, even healthy ones, you’re getting plenty of chlorine in your food. If you shower without water filtration, you’re breathing it in.

The problem is that the food is processed. People think they are getting fresh carrots, but they’re not. The life force energy of the food is gone (the chlorine bath allows the food to last longer, and some may have additional preservatives). The enzymes are done. And the peel, which contains the highest concentration of nutrients, is gone.

Eating baby carrots is eating processed food, but it’s not the worst choice one could make. As poor food choices go, this is probably the best of them. I have been I situations where I was very hungry and the only food choice I saw that would not make me sick were baby carrots, and I have eaten plenty.

But the best carrots for you are unprocessed, unpeeled, un-messed-with carrots. Vitamin C and niacin are most concentrated in the peel. A little more than half of the phytonutrients are found in the peel. ³

Five Random Carrot Facts

• Carrots come in orange, white, yellow, red, and purple
• Cultivated carrots are usually about 88% water, 7% sugar, 1% protein, 1% fibre, 1% ash, and 0.2% fat
• The world’s largest carrot producer is China, accounting for over 45% of the global output
• The voice of cartoon character Bugs Bunny reportedly did not like carrots

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• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
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• Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Sources

1. The Truth Behind Baby Carrots – Fox News
2. The Origin and Evolution of Baby Carrots – Carrot Museum
3. Is it true that most of a carrot’s nutrients are in or just below the skin, so it shouldn’t be peeled? – Nutrition letter
4. Carrot Facts for Kids – Food Facts