🚀 go-pugleaf

> "kbotinseattle" <iinvilid@innvalid.comm> wrote in message
> news:43d5a22173855643$892e7fe2@smart.net...
>
>
>> Microflora of marijuana
>>
>> Most of these organisms infect people via the respiratory tract, or by 
>> oral-mucosal contact with contaminated material. Inhaling a marijuana 
>> cigarette contaminated with any of these organisms poses a risk.  Smoking 
>> shit? Well, yea....
>>
>> Rotting marijuana produces a spectrum of odors, from stale to musty to 
>> moldy. P. italicum perfumes a lavender bouquet, while A. flavus smells 
>> like a locker room. Clostridium bacteria stink like carrion.
>>
>> Infested marijuana often darkens in color and becomes crumbly. Anaerobic 
>> bacteria turn marijuana into brown slime. Marijuana undergoing rapid 
>> decay may feel warm to touch. (At this stage your stash is ready for the 
>> compost heap.) Tufts of fungi are often visible in mold material. In 
>> marijuana stored in darkness, strands look white to light grey. Exposed 
>> to light, storage molds spawn millions of colored spores in velvet 
>> clumps. A slight tap sends these spores into great billowing clouds. 
>> Generally, Rhizopus and Mucor produce grey-black spores; Penicillium 
>> species are light blue-green; and Aspergillus species are dark 
>> green-black.
>>
>> To screen for insects, simply shake samples in a No. 10 steel sieve. Of 
>> course, not all bugs found in marijuana cause damage. Some are simply 
>> "innocent bystanders" caught during harvesting and die right away. Live 
>> (and chewing) insects are more suspicious.
>>
>> Viruses and protozoans => Cates & Warren (1975) associated marijuana use 
>> with an epidemic of hepatitis B in Germany, but did  isolate the virus 
>> from plant material. An outbreak of Hepatitis A in Washington state was 
>> linked to consumption of Mexican marijuana, fertilized with human 
>> excrement (Alexander 1987). No protozoans are reported from marijuana in 
>> the literature.
>>
>> Bacteria => Several bacteria species cited as present on marijuana are 
>> human pathogens, and produce toxins: Taylor et al. (1982) isolated 
>> Salmonella muenchen from illicit marijuana. Ungerlerder et al. (1982) 
>> cultivated Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, E. agglomerans, 
>> group D Streptococcus, and Bacillus sp. from marijuana supplied by the 
>> National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Kurup et al. (1983) isolated 
>> several thermophilic actinomycetes from marijuana cigarettes, including 
>> Thermoactinomyces candidus, T. vulgaris, and Micropolyspora faeni. These 
>> organisms, while infectious, cause allergic pneumonitis in hypersensitive 
>> individuals.
>>
>> Marijuana and its active ingredient THC has been shown in some studies to 
>> suppress immune function.
>>
>> Smoked marijuana increases the risk of lung infections and complications.
>>
>> Marijuana may be contaminated with insecticides, pesticides, fungus 
>> and/or bacteria. Ingesting these could have mild-to-severe health 
>> consequences. (Some claim that microwaving marijuana for ten seconds on 
>> high may decrease risks associated with fungus contamination.)
>>
>> Marijuana/THC has short-term impact on mental status. Long-term effects 
>> are less clear.
>>
>> Some studies suggest that marijuana/THC may decrease testosterone levels.
>>
>>
>> Fungi => In the popular press, Margolis and Clorfene (1975) and DuToit 
>> (1980) describe molds colonizing marijuana in the United States and South 
>> Africa, respectively. The "black weblike fungus" described by Margolis & 
>> Clorfene (1975) suggests an Aspergillus species. Chusid et al. (1975) 
>> cite A. fumigatus causing pneumonitis in a patient who buried his 
>> marijuana in the ground for "aging." Llamas et al. (1978) recovered A. 
>> fumigatus from marijuana owned by a patient suffering allergic 
>> bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Kagen (1981) isolated several Aspergillus 
>> species from moldy marijuana, including A. fumigatus, A. niger and A. 
>> flavus. Babu et al. (1977) cultured A. niger, A. flavus, A. tamarii, A. 
>> sulphureus, and A. repens from seeds in marijuana. Schwartz (1985) 
>> isolated A. niger from the sinuses of a marijuana smoker who suffered 
>> severe headaches. Llewellyn & O'Rear (1977) demonstrated aflatoxin 
>> production in marijuana contaminated with A. flavus and A. parasiticus.
>>
>> Penicillium species have been isolated from marijuana cigarettes by Kagen 
>> et al. (1983) and Kurup et al. (1983). Babu et al. (1977) cultured P. 
>> chrysogenum from Cannabis seeds. Bush Doctor (1993) reports isolating P. 
>> italicum from marijuana stored with an orange peel at 0o C.
>> Mucor species have been recovered from marijuana by Kagen et al. (1983) 
>> and Kurup et al. (1983). A related zygomycete, Rhizopus stolonifer, was 
>> isolated from damp marijuana by Bush Doctor (1993).
>>
>> Babu et al. (1977) cultured several other fungi from Cannabis seeds that, 
>> according to Bossche et al. (1990), may cause opportunistic infections in 
>> AIDS patients. These include Alternaria alternata and Curvularia lunata. 
>> McPartland (1983, 1991, 1992) recovered these fungi from Cannabis in the 
>> field, plus a Fusarium spp. All these fungi produce toxins. Ram�rez 
>> (1990) reports four policeman contracting histoplasmosis, caused by 
>> Histoplasma capsulatum, after destroying a Cannabis field in Puerto Rico.
>>
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