The Kush

Hi! Welcome to the 25^th edition of The Kush. If you’re reading this for the first time, then welcome. It’s the dawn of another new week and we couldn’t have been more trippier than we already are. For all we want for our readers is for them to focus on the higher purpose, because there is no other purpose so to speak. A higher purpose will help an individual understand the narratives coursing through the world of ours today and make sense of them for his or her own personal and professional commitments.

Let’s start blazing.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Investment

In the western markets, many celebrities and athletes have already made their presence known in terms of investments in the cannabis sector. When we say the cannabis ‘sector’ we mean using cannabis’ seeds, leaves and flowers to extract medicinally important compounds and then make medicines, foods and beverages and other nicher things like gummies or protein powder (yes, the seeds can be crushed into powder, it’s a great vegan protein source, try it). As more and more markets open up for cannabis, we’re convinced that within this decade’s end, cannabis is going to become a formal global commodity worth billions.

Quoting from CNBC:

“Goop CEO and founder Gwyneth Paltrow is the latest Hollywood celebrity investing in the cannabis industry. The actress-turned-wellness guru just announced she’s backing Cann, an cannabis-infused beverage maker. Paltrow calls cannabis a “hero ingredient of the future” for wellness and says she was drawn to Cann’s drinks, which are infused with small doses of THC and CBD, as an appealing alternative to alcohol.”

Cann is a cannabis infused beverage maker that uses small amounts of THC and CBD, the two most well known and hence, the two most studied about cannabinoids present inside the cannabis plant. When we say small amounts of THC and CBD, we mean amounts like 2-4 milligrams, just about enough for a very very small microdose. In case someone has been sober for a few days, in that case he or she can use this drink, feel an uplifting buzz and maybe get on with their work day.

““Cann produces adult-infused beverages with flavors like grapefruit-rosemary, lemon-lavender, blood orange-cardamom. The tonics contain 2 milligrams of THC and 4 milligrams of CBD — portions of cannabis compounds that are considered microdoses. Cann’s founders, former Bain consultants Luke Anderson and Jake Bullock, said the point of the smaller doses is to incentivize consumers to have multiple drinks without getting incapacitated.”

It is great to see cannabis being accepted as a recreational cum medicinal drink in the formal commercial market. We ourselves feel that in a country like India, cannabis infused beverages have a greater chance of adoption as compared to smoking cannabis, because many people just do not like to look or feel smoke going inside their lungs. Beverages and foods are hence more acceptable. We think it’s high time for an Indian company to make branded cannabis drinks which are sold medicinally. We think this is quite doable. After all, Bhang is technically the world’s first marketed cannabis drink, containing milk, dry fruits and other herbs in the guise of the popular festival of Holi.

Let’s keep blazing.

India’s Sugar Love. Cannabis deserves more.

Sugar, sugar everywhere, sugar, sugar is everywhere.

Sugar goes through so many of the same analogies we pose for cannabis, which the peddlers of bad logic just do not seem to understand. For instance, we’ve pointed out that making bland statements like ‘sugar is a killer’ is uncorrect, because it is a lot of sugar that is bad for the body and turns into a killer. Statements like ‘sugar is a killer’ mean to say as if a single piece of sweet is bad. It’s the same thing for cannabis usage as well. A lot of it (but how much? Changes from person to person) is indeed detrimental over the long-term just like sugar.

Here’s today ET talking about Indian sugar.

“In a world where sugar has attracted increasing scrutiny for its impact on health and obesity, there are moves afoot in the biggest consuming country to persuade people to eat more of the sweetener. Mills in India are eyeing increased consumption as a way to cut the nation’s chronic oversupply, which stems partly from the favorable incentives provided to growers in politically powerful rural areas. High production costs mean the country finds it hard to sell sugar on the global market without subsidies.”

We aren’t making any criticisms because this is an economical issue and not a moral issue. Similarly discussions about cannabis ought to happen from an economic perspective and not a moral perspective simply because ‘moral’ issues do not make sense in the real, objective world. ‘Morals’ exist only in the minds of human beings.

“To push forward their initiative, the mills have begun an online campaign to boost domestic demand, involving workshops and webinars, where everyone from nutritionists and endocrinologists, to public health experts and medical practitioners will share their expertise and knowledge. “Sugar is the most preferred source of the body’s fuel for brain power, muscle energy and every natural process that goes into proper functioning of our body cells,” the Indian Sugar Mills Association said, adding that the calories in sugar are the same as calories from any other food, and it’s only when calories are not burnt adequately or too many are consumed, that body weight increases.”

Any substance can be justified.

Let’s keep blazing.

The Always on Debate: ‘Traditional’ versus ‘Allopathy’

The peddlers of bad logic refuse to see the world as dynamic, instead viewing it from a static sense, where knowledge always remains the same and no progress is made or even possible. It’s more or less the same with ‘ayurveda’ and ‘allopathy’, with their primary distinctions being ‘natural’ versus ‘synthetic’ respectively. We don’t mean to say that one side is right and the other wrong. This in essence is the fundamental problem that bad logic peddlers keep harping time and again.

There is not one ‘right’ side. There is no one ‘wrong’ side. No.

Rather in reality, what happens is that one side is right sometimes, and wrong sometimes, while the other side is also right, sometimes, while being wrong sometimes. This is very very difficult to understand for the peddlers of bad logic who continue to view the world as absolutes, containing ‘right’ things and ‘wrong’ things or ‘good’ things and ‘bad’ things. Their brains just cannot understand the complexities inherent in evolution and life.

Here’s Dr. Apurve Mehra blazing away:

“The fact is that every system of medicine has strengths. But this strength becomes a weakness when the practitioner says ‘my way or the highway’. Every medical practice has a time and place. It is important to make the right choice. For instance, in the case of a bone fracture it is important to go in for surgical care but after that one can choose from among traditional medicines and allopathy to strengthen the reset bone right from intake of calcium to other alternatives. Unfortunately, nobody is positioning themselves to serve patient needs, and instead opt to stick to what they have learnt in their medical studies and harbor skepticism for any other system of medicine. Over time and especially now during this pandemic, it is obvious that the time has come for doctors to come together and learn from each other.”

For far too long the peddlers of bad logic have played with our emotions by claiming one side is wrong while the other side is right, a popular debate format on mainstream media that does not serve the common man’s purpose and is instead focused on ‘entertainment’ rather than facts or logic. In such a time, when people yell over each other, what can anyone hope to learn about the world they inhabit?

“The term alternate medicine needs to be eradicated. We should instead call it the original medicine as history will vouch for the fact that for thousands of years, human beings have relied on nature for medicines. It is only in the last hundred years that pharmaceuticals have taken over medicines. Anyone who believes that pharmaceuticals are the only medicine is welcome to prove their point by living off pharmaceutical medicines and vitamins in place of natural food for a month.”

Let’s keep blazing as always.

Have a great day 🙂