What are two substances you would never imagine would help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease? If you answered Marijuana and Red Wine, you’d be absolutely correct. And according to researchers from UCLA and the University of Ohio, they do!

According to this article, “Scientists are gaining a clearer understanding of the mechanics of memory deterioration and discovering some promising approaches to prevention.”

Gary Wenk, a psychologist from the University of Ohio, found that a synthetic drug much like THC lowers inflammation in the part of the brain associated with short-term memory and stimulates the growth of new brain cells. When tested on elderly rats, those who had been given the THC treatment performed better at memory tests than the control group, who had not been given the THC-like drug.

Similarly, polyphenols, a natural component of red wine are responsible for blocking the formation of the toxic plaque long-associated with the destruction of brain cells and the reduction of pre-existing deterioration.

David Teplow, a neurologist from UCLA, extracted polyphenols from grape seeds and gave them to rats exposed to Alzheimer’s disease. He concluded that the polyphenols block the formation of toxic aggregates in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Gary Wenk noted that to be completely effective, treatment must start before memory loss is obvious.

In 1994, Grunge phenomenon Nirvana’s lead singer, Kurt Cobain, died of what is usually rumored to be a heroin overdose. At the time of his death, a bit of his ashes were scattered in a Buddhist temple in New York and the Wishkah River in Washington, but the rest of them were kept in the Los Angeles home of his widow, Courtney Love.

Earlier this year, the ashes of Cobain were stolen from the home, and now a German artist, Barmy Natascha Stellmach, plans to smoke the ashes mixed in a joint with marijuana. Stellmach won’t reveal how she came into possession of the ashes, but, according to this article, when asked why she plans to smoke them, she states that it’s to release him “into the ether from the media circus.”

Smoking peoples’ ashes is the most vile thing I’ve ever heard of. What even makes people think of these things? Personally, I think this woman watched How High a few too many times.

The events surrounding Kurt Cobain’s death are going to keep him in the “media circus” for years to come, and there’s nothing Stellmach or anyone else can do about it.

Twilight’s Kristen Stewart was recently photographed smoking a bowl on her front porch. The Internet has been crazy the past few days with people speculating about it… I figured it was time to put in my two cents.

Leave the poor girl alone, for Christ’s sake! She’s an eighteen year old in California. It’s okay for everyone to gather on Hippie Hill and smoke bongs all day, but this girl can’t sit on her front porch and toke a tiny bowl? Why? Because it doesn’t make her a good role model?

Bullshit. Millions of people smoke pot – tons of celebrities included (Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, I could go on for days…) – and it doesn’t make them any less human.

So what if it’s illegal? There are only 13 states that prescribe marijuana, legally, as a medication. That hasn’t stopped anyone in the other 37 states, has it? (Go ahead and act like you’ve never smoked pot before.) You’re only making a big deal out of it because she’s newly famous.

Get off her back. Let her make her own decisions. She’s a big girl; I’m sure she can deal with the consequences.