Several articles are currently circulating about how 'shrooms can benefit cancer patients; however, for those of us who've experienced "magic mushrooms," the fact that they can help cancer patients relax isn't surprising. They can also help cancer patients, and others, discover the origins of tie dye, get lost in conversation about topics across the spectrum and encourage an overall sense of well being.

If we've got to lay out every drug in the world on a spectrum that goes from "good" to "bad," psilocybin (aka 'shrooms) would be closer to the good end than a lot of FDA-approved prescription drugs. Same goes for marijuana being a better choice than the processed, chemical-filled pills the government and pharmaceutical companies would prefer we ingest. But, we know that already. Now to change our antiquated laws so we can take the medicines we prefer.

I've decided the only way to help legislators understand the benefits of non-harmful, but currently illegal, drugs is to get them stoned thoroughly and regularly. I'm betting that, in addition to legalizing pot and 'shrooms, they'll get closer than ever to solving our world's lack-of-peace problem, they'll realize the value of the natural world and they'll stop worrying so much about their public facades. Oh, yeah, and they'll likely boost the budget with the taxes they'll impose on these drugs — taxes dealers and users would love to pay so they can spend more time enjoying their trips and less time worrying about getting busted for doing something harmless.

Another bonus: When we start legalizing these types of products and medicines, we'll also start saving some of the money and lives we're currently losing in the war on drugs.

So, what do you think? Who wants to help Washington and Raleigh get baked?

Further reading: Marijuana Eases Neuropathic Pain — MedPageToday.com

TWO years ago, CNN ran this news story on the benefits of 'shrooms:

Yeah, going to have to go ahead and agree with the Village Voice's Steven Thrasher on this one. I'm happy to say I have a broad spectrum of friends and family members, but the less educated they are and the more rural their living situation, the more likely it is that they watch Faux News, listen to conservative talk radio, collect guns and think other white people feel the same way they do about race relations. They also enjoy circulating, usually via e-mail, a variety of conspiracy theories marginalizing "others" as well as predictions about the world's demise.

It's pretty scary, actually. Some of these folks are really banking on the world collapsing, Jesus returning to whisk them away and their gun collection saving their hide when all the brown-skinned people come to get them. Incidentally, many of them brag about how they've never lived, or traveled, anywhere other than within the boundaries the county they were born in.

Get mad at me for that description if you want, but you know I'm speaking the truth. Don't make me get one of my crazy relatives from Alablamastan on the phone ...

Fortunately, most of the people I spend quality time with are a lot more rational than that. And, let me just add that I don't shun my crazy friends and relatives. I listen to them and try to make sense out of their rambling rage, but ultimately I'm a fan of inclusiveness, tolerance and positivity. (It should be noted that they think I'm nuts also because I've got — gasp — Jewish, Muslim, Latino, Asian and African-American friends ... the white immigrant friends, though, have "cute accents." Mmmkay.)

Still, knowing what I know about those on the far-right fringe, bless their hearts, I totally understand where Thrasher got his material ... and I think he's spot on.

Here's a snippet from his article:

As someone who's spent a lot of time researching and writing about the two unlined, high-hazard coal ash ponds on the edge of Charlotte's main drinking water reservoir, my heart sank when I read the headline about a coal ash pond breach that occurred at a Progress Energy plant near Wilmington this week.

Fortunately, the situation appears to be under control. Though, the more I read about the breach, the more I wonder about the structural integrity of other coal ash ponds, most of which are also held in place by earthen dams. My sincere hope is they're all being well maintained and frequently monitored. (Of course, everyone in charge of such things says all is well.)

You should know, every indication is that the Duke Energy-owned ponds closest to the Queen City appear to be structurally sound; however, as I mentioned above, they too are held in place by earthen dams.

All you have to do to understand the power water has over earth is to look at one of the many streams in our city that have suffered through gully washer after gully washer thanks to poor urban planning — undersight that leads directly to flood warnings every time we have an even moderate rain event. Or, check out the Grand Canyon. It, too, was created by water eroding earth. Since water wins the erosion battle, it's critical the coal ash ponds behind earthen dams are constantly monitored, especially given their proximity to our drinking water.

At the same time, the breach in Wilmington couldn't come at a better time for environmentalists, who've been warning everyone about the dangerous potential these ponds possess, since the EPA is trying to decide how to regulate coal ash and the ponds that contain them. (Check out the reaction from an environmentalist after the jump.)

Eh. Is he fighting back? Personally, I want to see him regain the fighting spirit he exhibited on the campaign trail, back when so many fell in love with the idea of change. I suppose, however, an interview by Rolling Stone, which will appear in their Oct. 15 issue, will have to do for now. It does offer a great deal of insight into what our country's leader faces on a daily battle up on Capitol Hill.

The article is long, but it should be; there's a lot of ground to cover and it's not that often that you can get a major figure, like the President of the United States, to speak so candidly, and at such length, on the record. It's definitely worth a read.

Here's a snippet:

What do you think the Republican Party stands for today?

Well, on the economic front, their only agenda seems to be tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. If you ask their leadership what their agenda will be going into next year to bring about growth and improve the job numbers out there, what they will say is, "We just want these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which will cost us $700 billion and which we're not going to pay for."

Now what they'll also say is, "We're going to control spending." But of course, when you say you're going to borrow $700 billion to give an average $100,000-a-year tax break to people making a million dollars a year, or more, and you're not going to pay for it; when Mitch McConnell's overall tax package that he just announced recently was priced at about $4 trillion; when you, as a caucus, reject a bipartisan idea for a fiscal commission that originated from Judd Gregg, Republican budget chair, and Kent Conrad, Democratic budget chair, so that I had to end up putting the thing together administratively because we couldn't get any support — you don't get a sense that they're actually serious on the deficit side.

What do you think of the Tea Party and the people behind it?

I think the Tea Party is an amalgam, a mixed bag of a lot of different strains in American politics that have been there for a long time. There are some strong and sincere libertarians who are in the Tea Party who generally don't believe in government intervention in the market or socially. There are some social conservatives in the Tea Party who are rejecting me the same way they rejected Bill Clinton, the same way they would reject any Democratic president as being too liberal or too progressive. There are strains in the Tea Party that are troubled by what they saw as a series of instances in which the middle-class and working-class people have been abused or hurt by special interests and Washington, but their anger is misdirected.

And then there are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president. So I think it's hard to characterize the Tea Party as a whole, and I think it's still defining itself.

Read the entire article, by Jann S. Wenner, here.

Where did this guy go? Mr. President, I hope you get your "voice" back soon.

Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. Additionally, she's on the steering committee for the Greater Charlotte Society of Professional Journalists. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.