In this story a farmer has been convicted for possession of cannabis. He said he had it for deworming his ducks. But I note that neither the linked story, nor any other I’ve found, indicate that the prosecution disputed his claim; they just prosecuted him for possession.
Is there any validity to his claim? Is the cannabis plant good for killing intestinal worms?
What you’re talking about would be called an “affirmative defense”. IOW, something is illegal per se but is justified under certain conditions. If you can show one such condition applied to your situation, then you would be justified in committing the illegal act. For example, self-defense is an affirmative defense to manslaughter.
The answer to your question would depend on whether or not there was an affirmative defense to possession of MJ that applied to the defendant’s situation. If not, the prosecution was justified in ignoring it since it had no legal relevance.
I’m not actually interested in the legal side. Just whether or not cannabis does what this farmer says it does.
I wouldn’t mind seeing video of a bunch of ducks (hopefully worm-free) after a few hours spent backstage at a Phish/Willie Nelson/Snoop Dogg concert…
It turns out it was used for just that purpose in ancient Greece. It also is effective against bacteria, for which reason it was used in topical corn remedies up until the last years before the federal government hounded it out of the market in the late 1930s.
I’ve never done a study on dogs who ingested pot (usually the dog owner’s roommate’s pot) to find out if they were rendered worm free later. However, due to the other undesirable effects and cost, I don’t think it would be very efficient. There’s plenty of other stuff that’s going to be cheaper, work better and not make the animal a pain in the ass to be around for several hours.
How do you use marijuana to deworm a duck? Blow smoke up his ass?
There is some evidence that oregano works as a coccidiastat in poultry (I’m too drunk to look up cites now, but might later if you ask nice). It is used by several organic farmers I’ve visited. In those cases, administration is of the distilled oregano oil mixed into the watering systems. However, I’m pretty sure the literature is thin on use of cannabis.
A quick search found a some French and Indian articles referring to the effect of cannabis extract on worms. No suggestions on how to administer it to ducks.
Having never been around an animal that was high on MJ, I have to ask: what are the observable effects of MJ on domesticated pets?
FTR, I’ve thought about locking my cat in the bathroom with me the next time I toke, but I keep forgetting (heh).
Not a pet, but a moth I once shared a joint with lost the ability to fly (temporarily) and started walking backwards in circles.
Would cannabis that’s been eaten have any hallucinogenic effect?
If it’s eaten with a fatty meal, yes. THC is fat soluble, so if you eat just the leaves, or drink pot tea without eating fat with it, then no, it won’t. Or rather, it might, but it’s most likely placebo driven. But if you eat a bud along with, say, a nice greasy burger, the fat in the burger will dissolve enough of the THC from the bud in your stomach to get you high.
Good “pot brownies” and such are generally made by soaking pot in butter or oil and using the infused butter or oil in a standard recipe. No need for the actual green stuff in the brownies.
Bit of a downer for the farmer.
See this for details. Basically, they’re pooping, peeing, crying, vomiting and hyper. They may have moments of mellowness but they are hyperreactive and the slightest noise or movement could set them off again.
In my experience, animals that have consumed marijuana are generally very sedated. I think the pooping, peeing, crying, and vomiting have been over-emphasized to drive the point that it is not generally considered a good thing to give animals intoxicants, especially illegal ones. One time, my friend made a large batch of marijuana cookies, and threw the butter soaked marijuana used to make the infusion in the trash can. His three dogs tore through the trash bag and ate it all. They became almost comatose. Obviously this varies by animal, and the type of weed being used is also a factor.
It’s not only mammals that drugs have effect on
http://www.trinity.edu/jdunn/spiderdrugs.htm
I should stop using Caffeine:smack:
That’s not as implausible as it sounds - historically, tobacco has been used as a vermifuge for horses and cattle, with the help of a set of bellows.
Anecdotally, I have seen cannabis oil administered orally (mixed into food) to deworm a cat.
Pro: After every OTC treatment utterly failed, cat was finally worm free. (Unexpected result - ejection of still-wriggling worms in clear mucous. Ewww.)
Con: Cat spent an unhappy day hunkered down in a quiet cupboard. Not “Dude, I’m like totally baked” hunkered down, but “I am feeling really ill” hunkered down. Poor little guy. 
I don’t know about cannabis and ducks, but farmers have traditionally used tobacco plugs to deworm horses.
Hint: it’s not administered orally.