VALO'S ARCHIVE

You’re here because you love cannabis.  Or perhaps you’re just curious about it. (Or, maybe you hate it with a furious passion and are reading this only to elevate your sense that you are far superior to “those dirty pot-smoking hippies.”) As you probably know, the United States is in the midst of a major transition toward cannabis-friendly policies after decades of demonization, criminalization, and the futile “War on Drugs.” This is spectacular news for those of us who see cannabis as a medicine with numerous benevolent properties. Cannabis has proven effective in treating a  laundry list  of physical and mental ailments — everything from anxiety and insomnia to chronic pain and cancer. Some sources have gone as far as to call it a “ medical miracle .” The astounding evidence in favor of medicinal marijuana raises an important question: Is cannabis valuable only as a treatment for those who are sick? Arguably, no. Marijuan...

Common Name Botanical Name AKA Chocolate Theobroma cacao Cocoa Chocolate We Love The rainforest tree from which chocolate derives is Theobroma cacao, named by the 18th century Swedish scientist Carl von Linne’. Botanical experts offer differing opinions regarding the origin of cacao. New genetic testing seems to have settled the matter, pointing to the Orinoco Valley of Venezuela as the first place where the tree grew. Wild cacao then presumably spread up into Mexico, where it was first cultivated. The tree ranges between four and eight meters in height, and its cinnamon brown trunk usually does not exceed two meters in length. The branches of the cacao tree are covered with shiny, dark green leaves about ten inches long and three inches wide. Though the tree bears fruit and flowers all year around, usually there are two harvest seasons for gathering the fruit. The actual ...