The US May Weaponise Cannabis

The US May Weaponise Cannabis

It might surprise you to learn that cannabis has applications as a weapon. What probably won’t surprise you is that the US Military has an obsession with all kinds of weaponry.

Conventional lethal favourites like machine guns and bombs probably won’t be abandoned; rather a suite of terminator-like autonomous war machines will be equipped with them in the near future.

Weaponised cannabis wouldn’t be the strangest thing the US Military has ever seriously researched, not even close.

Any fans of Art Bell talk radio or anyone that’s binged watched “Stranger Things” on Netflix can attest that bizarre business goes down behind the reinforced doors of US Military bases and secret installations. We lift the curtain on those that dream of pushing the button on the Canna-Bomb!

NON-LETHAL CHEMICAL WARFARE: THE RED OIL

In 1952, the Shell development corporation was under contract by the US Army, specifically the US Army Chemical Corp’s. Tasked with the examination of cannabis for both incapacitating and lethal effects. Needless to say they made little progress with the later.

Two years later, in 1954, they turned to Dr. Edward F. Domino, professor of pharmacology, University of Michigan. Dr. Domino led a series of tests at the behest of the military, performed exclusively on canines, for a strange drug called “EA 1476”.

“EA 1476” is better known as the “Red Oil”. It is actually something similar to hash oil produced via chemical extraction and distillation. Soon the scientists discovered that dosing the dogs with oil could immobilise them thoroughly.

“You could step on their feet without any response; it is an amazing effect and a reversible phenomenon. It has greatly increased our interest in this compound” - according to a gem from the actual experiment notes of one quack.

HUMAN TESTING AND FINE TUNING

By the late 1950’s the Army was testing EA 1476 on GI volunteers at Edgewood Arsenal, close to Baltimore. The red oil proved to be highly effective getting soldiers completely stoned, but failed to pack the punch the Army expected from its chemical weapons.

Although a signatory to the 1925 Geneva Convention, which expressly prohibits chemical weapons amongst other nasties, the US has a history of selective interpretation of treaties.

Harry Pars, a scientist working for the Arthur D. Little Inc pharmaceutical company was the mad scientist they were looking for. The army knew the next step from red oil was pure psychoactive THC.

Not only would it be more potent than the red oil, it would also weigh less, which is always handy when packing warheads - more bang for your buck.

Pars synthesized EA 2233 far more potent and refined than its predecessor. Just a tiny ingested dose of between 10-60 micrograms per kilo of body weight was sufficient to induce a powerful effect lasting for up to 30 hours. Sign us up!

CANNABIS WEAPONOLOGY

SAINT Cannabis Brand founded by Charles Aknar, is a company that specialises in non-lethal weaponised cannabis.

Their website proudly declares “A method of humanely incapacitating or immobilizing a human or animal by providing a formulation including a cannabinoid rendering a recipient incapacitated or immobilized within a short period of time, and a delivery system which doses the recipient with the formulation resulting in a tetrahydrocannabinol blood level of above at least approximately 1-50 milligrams per millilitre of whole blood and below a dosage which causes irreparable harm to or the death of the recipient”.

Perhaps you find all this talk of canna-weapons abhorrent? If so, then you will be positively alarmed, and reaching for the bong to take a nice calming hit, when we tell you the company aims to release a whole range of canna-munitions from darts to balls and everything in between with the aim of incapacitating without killing.

As Police departments in the US become increasingly militarised in terms of both tactics and equipment it’s not hard to imagine non-lethal canna-sters being used in lieu of tear gas in future tense crowd control situations.

This is really the stuff of nightmares for most stoners. It’s not exactly a clear and present danger nor is it so farfetched you can forget you ever heard about it.

Consider the following “Article II(9)(d) of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention provides: 9. “Purposes Not Prohibited Under this Convention” means: (d) Law enforcement including domestic riot control purposes.” So legally speaking the US can get away with this madness.

THE OTHER WEAPONISED CANNABIS: SYNTHETIC POISONS

Poisons branded as “Synthetic Cannabis” or “Legal Highs” are the real weaponised substances. Very little is known about the long term effects on humans from taking these drugs.

So far the immediate effects are obviously negative as these little packets of chemically laden herbs and shredded Chinese newspapers are absolutely nothing like marijuana. They are all poison - plain and simple. Ingesting anything brewed up by a 3rd rate meth cook is gambling with one’s life.

Most habitual users of garbage like “Spice” are homeless drug addicts too broke to cop a regular fix. This substance is nothing to mess with and should be avoided like the plague.

The tabloid newspapers the world over are littered with horror stories about the deadly consequences of these substances. Really how many “Drugs Inc” specials to the folks at the National Geographic channel have to make before people wake up to the serious dangers associated with this crap?

So far cannabis has never killed anybody, in fact it’s the best medicine and great fun for recreation. It’s a real shame that elements of the US Military-Industrial complex are intent on travelling the dark path with cannabis.

There are so many things really wrong with weaponising cannabis we could write a book on it but it would be a real bummer and an unproductive use of time.

Cannabis is the plant of 50,000 different uses, let’s not make any one of them associated with doing harm. Let’s use this plant for good all over the world and vigorously oppose those that seek to prohibit or misuse this magic herb of peace and love.