Does marijuana make sweet taste sweeter?
No, we're not endorsing use of the weed, just noting an interesting piece of science published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and Kyushu University in Japan.
The active ingredients in cannabis "act directly on taste receptors on the tongue to enhance sweet taste," according to a release from Monell -- at least that's what happens in mice. One of the authors, Dr. Robert Margolskee of Monell, noted that this phenom may be related to the famed "munchies" marijuana users report. (I'd send you to the research paper but it's not accessible online.)
Talking of marijuana and food, this from an Associated Press article: "Gourmet chefs are taking the art of cooking with marijuana to a higher level. In Denver, a new medical-marijuana shop called Ganja Gourmet serves cannabis-infused specialties such as pizza, hummus and lasagna. Across town in the Mile-High City, a Caribbean restaurant plans to offer classes on how to make multi-course meals with pot in every dish." You have to present a medical card to get served those items at Ganja Gourmet, apparently.
On L.A.'s ongoing medical marijuana dispensary debate, meanwhile, the LA Times' Tim Rutten had this to say on the topic in a Wednesday column:
"There are about 120 Starbucks coffee outlets within the Los Angeles city limits. According to the most reliable estimates, there are somewhere between 900 and 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries. Mull over the implications of that comparison and you're on the way to understanding why the City Council seems enmeshed in an endless wrangle over how to regulate the number and sites of the nonprofit cooperatives allowed by local ordinance to distribute cannabis to individuals with doctors' prescriptions." His take, in part: The medical necessity is "really rather limited," and "we'd be best regulating the facilities like bars and liquor stores." (But read the whole column here.)
The City Council still hasn't decided how close the dispensaries can be to schools and residential areas and will be taking the matter up again on Jan. 13.
--Rosie Mestel
Photo Credit: Rick Bowmer / Associated Press
Cannabis, used as an appetite stimulant for people who suffer various maladies, GEE , MAYBE IT DOES HAVE MEDICINAL USES !!! Now can we get the government to come into the 21st century, and reschedule Cannabis at an appropriate level,so that citizens who get relief by using Cannabis will not be considered criminals by the feds.....
Posted by: LLLou | December 22, 2009 at 08:10 AM
Another day, another LA Times article promoting marijuana. I'd love to pull up their articles from the 1930's and see if they pushed booze this hard. Maybe they need the advertising revenue.
By the way, did you know you can grind marijuana up and make car tires from it? Did you know that it's biodegradable, totally organic, and has pretty colors? Stay tuned, it's coming up soon in the LA Times.
In yesterday's "feature article", one idiot claimed marijuana cured AIDS. Not helped, CURED (the caps were his, not mine).
For Christ's sake, this crap is bad for our society. No matter how hard the sell, it makes you useless. With a $12 trillion debt to pay off, we don't have time for quitting, sitting around, and getting stoned anymore.
The drug culture is a big part of why we're in this mess. Go visit you local freeway offramp if you need any further detail. Or a trip to Tijuana.
Has legalizing pot in LA turned TJ into a new paradise and gotten rid of the criminal activity? Get real.
One wonders if the Times will be advocating putting cocaine back in the Coca-Cola tomorrow.
Posted by: Big Jim Slade | January 05, 2010 at 08:13 AM
Legalizing Marijuana will make tax time a lot sweeter also. Find out just how much we can save on taxing Marijuana per every city and state in the USA. http://MarijuanaLobby.org
Posted by: MarijuanaLobby | January 18, 2010 at 12:48 AM