Jeebus, aNOTHer pot thread?

[hambone]

Med MJ is still another form of control...

[Velokid1]

It is. Fortunately, it's a way for many of us to regain a little control over our own bodies, choices and freedom.

[glasseye]

I love it when this happens:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/25/d ... -drug-use/

Robert Watson, a high-ranking Republican state legislator in Rhode Island, is in hot water after being charged with driving under the influence of marijuana and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Drug charges alone would be bad enough for a public official, but Watson, Rhode Island's House minority leader, is still remembered for his controversial anti-drug, anti-gay and anti-immigrant remarks.

In February, Watson said the Rhode Island legislature had their priorities right "if you are a Guatemalan gay man who likes to gamble and smokes marijuana."

Watson was a guest on a radio show soon after the luncheon where he made the misstep, and in response to the outcry over his comments said, "I reject the suggestion that it's insulting." He went on to say that lawmakers were "preoccupied with a number of issues, primarily social issues," when Watson thought they should focus on the economy.

"I apologize when appropriate and/or necessary," Watson told the Providence Journal in February. "I identify this situation as representing neither circumstance."

Watson was pulled over at a police checkpoint Friday, East Haven police told the Associated Press. Police noted a "strong odor of marijuana" coming from Watson's car, and charged him with possession and driving under the influence. The lawmaker was released after he promised to appear in court, and has not yet issued a statement.

[Velokid1]

Priceless.

And very common due, I believe, to the fact that it's almost always the case that anybody who is vehemently against something is actually motivated by fear of their own darkness or inadequacies, or things they subconsciously PERCEIVE as being darknesses or inadequacies.

We're all so afraid of our Jungian shadows.

In other pawt news... I'm legal now.

[steve74baywin]

I love it when this happens:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/25/d ... -drug-use/

Robert Watson, a high-ranking Republican state legislator in Rhode Island, is in hot water .

Sounds like that Watson is part of the criminal cartel that makes rules to keep itself in power.
It sorta makes sense why he would be for the extra rules against it even if he him self likes it, he knows it can be used to control, dominate and get rich for himself and others.
We could try hard to get this man to get his mob to change rules so the guns are turned and pointed at other people, maybe those who eat too much instead of those who smoke.
We could all run around the country trying to get everyone to beg him for this, or, we could just take the power from them. Start viewing everything done by the mob as criminal. If enough people said they were no longer going to allow them to use the guns to take the money from us on a weekly basis, it would be real hard for them to lock us all up. They couldn't point the gun at 90% of the population. Hence why I say we need more people knowing what is up and what is wrong with this system.
The time is now to move from a criminal system based on force and violence to bring about change and instead lets go with a smart, intelligent system. Let's evolve in a better way.

[hambone]

Do as I say, not what I do says the emperor.
When will there be an uprising? No, too many cowards.

[airkooledchris]

It is. Fortunately, it's a way for many of us to regain a little control over our own bodies, choices and freedom.

There are a lot of advantages to the medical MJ industry really, like Clean Green Certification. Yes, it can simply be grown from the earth, but like the food you eat it's good to know exactly how it was produced and with what chemicals (if any.) These are steps that can be taken when it's finally legalized as well.

[Sluggo]

It is. Fortunately, it's a way for many of us to regain a little control over our own bodies, choices and freedom.

There are a lot of advantages to the medical MJ industry really, like Clean Green Certification. Yes, it can simply be grown from the earth, but like the food you eat it's good to know exactly how it was produced and with what chemicals (if any.) These are steps that can be taken when it's finally legalized as well.

That's how a lot of stores in L.A. do it. The one I worked only bought from certain growers who disclosed all their growing techniques. They even visited some if they were suspicious. Only the bigger store could exercise that kind of authority though. The smaller ones got from whomever.

[Velokid1]

16 states with medical marijuana laws now and seems like a half dozen more states with pending legislation to either legalize or decriminalize. Every year the Feds have another 1-3 states they are pushing against.

Rescheduling at the federal level is probably where we'll see the flood gates finally open.

Medical Marijuana Advocates Sue Federal Government Over Rescheduling Delay/Writ filed today in DC Circuit Court for unreasonable delay in answering 9-year-old petition

*Washington, DC* -- A Coalition of advocacy groups and patients filed suit in the DC Circuit Court today to compel the Obama administration to answer a 9-year-old petition to reclassify medical marijuana. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC) has never received an answer to its 2002 petition, despite a formal recommendation in 2006 from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the final arbiter in the rescheduling process. As recently as July 2010, the DEA issued a 54-page "Position on Marijuana," but failed to even mention the pending CRC petition. Plaintiffs in the case include the CRC, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Patients Out of Time, as well as individually named patients, one of whom is listed on the CRC petition but died in 2005.

"The federal government's strategy has been delay, delay, delay," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel of ASA and lead counsel on the writ. "It is far past time for the government to answer our rescheduling petition, but unfortunately we've been forced to go to court in order to get resolution." The writ of mandamus filed today accuses the government of unreasonable delay in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. A previous cannabis (marijuana) rescheduling petition filed in 1972 went unanswered for 22 years before being denied.

The writ argues that cannabis is not a dangerous drug and that ample evidence of its therapeutic value exists based on scientific studies in the US and around the world. "Despite numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies establishing that marijuana is effective" in treating numerous medical conditions, the government "continues to deprive seriously ill persons of this needed, and often life-saving therapy by maintaining marijuana as a Schedule I substance." The writ calls out the government for unlawfully failing to answer the petition despite an Inter-Agency Advisory issued by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006 and "almost five years after receiving a 41-page memorandum from HHS stating its scientific evaluation and recommendations."

The two largest physician groups in the country -- the American Medical Association <http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downl ... Report.pdf> and the American College of Physicians <http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/where ... ijuana.pdf> -- have both called on the federal government to review marijuana's status as a Schedule I substance with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The National Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health, added cannabis to its website earlier this year as a Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) and recognized that, "/Cannabis/ has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years prior to its current status as an illegal substance."

Medical marijuana has now been decriminalized in 16 states and the District of Columbia, and has an 80% approval rating among Americans according to several polls. In a 1988 ruling on a prior rescheduling petition, the DEA's own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young recommended in favor of reclassification stating that, "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

A formal rejection of the CRC petition would enable the group to challenge in court the government's assertion that marijuana has no medical value. "Adhering to outdated public policy that ignores science has created a war zone for doctors and their patients who are seeking use cannabis therapeutics," said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of ASA and a plaintiff in the writ. Jon Gettman, who filed the rescheduling petition on behalf of the CRC added that, "The Obama Administration's refusal to act on this petition is an irresponsible stalling tactic."

A synthetic form of THC, the main chemical ingredient in the cannabis plant, is currently classified Schedule III for its use in a prescribed pill trademarked as Marinol®. The pill goes off-patent this year and companies vying to sell generic versions are petitioning the government to also reclassify the more economical, naturally-derived THC (from the plant) to Schedule III. The rescheduling process involves federal agencies such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse, HHS, and DEA. On average, it takes 6 months from HHS review to final action, whereas it's been nearly 5 years since HHS issued its recommendation on the CRC petition, more than twice as long as any other rescheduling petition reviewed since 2002.

Further information:

Writ filed today: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downl ... C_Writ.pdf

ASA backgrounder on rescheduling:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downl ... ounder.pdf

CRC rescheduling petition:

http://www.drugscience.org/PDF/Petition_Final_2002.pdf

2006 HHS recommendation:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downl ... dation.pdf

2010 DEA Position on Marijuana:

http://www.justice.gov/dea/marijuana_po ... july10.pdf

[glasseye]

Superb.

As I said on the prisoner-release issue: their position is indefensible.

[hambone]

Geez won't they free the herb already?

[glasseye]

LEADING WORLD POLITICIANS URGE 'PARADIGM SHIFT' ON DRUGS POLICY

Kofi Annan, George Shultz and Richard Branson Among Those Urging Public Health Approach

Former presidents, prime ministers, eminent economists and leading members of the business community will unite behind a call for a shift in global drug policy. The Global Commission on Drug Policy will host a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York to launch a report that describes the drug war as a failure and calls for a "paradigm shift" in approaching the issue.

Those backing the call include Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico; George Papandreou, former prime minister of Greece; Cesar Gaviria, former president of Colombia; Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil; George Shultz, former US secretary of state; Javier Solana, former EU high representative; Virgin tycoon Richard Branson; and Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve.

The commission will call for drug policy to move from being focused on criminal justice towards a public health approach. The global advocacy organisation Avaaz, which has nine million members, will present a petition in support of the commission's recommendations to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

The commission is the most distinguished group to call for such far-reaching changes in the way society deals with illicit drugs. Danny Kushlick, head of external affairs at Transform, the drug policy foundation that has consultative status with the UN, said current events, such as the cartel-related violence in Mexico, President Barack Obama's comments that it was "perfectly legitimate" to question whether the war on drugs was working, and the wider global economic crisis, had given calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the world's drugs policy a fresh impetus.

Kushlick described this week's conference as hugely significant. "What we have here is the greatest collection thus far of ex-presidents and prime ministers calling very clearly for decriminalisation and experiments with legal regulation," he said. "It will be a watershed moment."

Transform believes the case for overhauling the prohibition approach to drugs is now overwhelming. It quotes Nicholas Green, chairman of the Bar Council, who observed that drug-related crime costs the UK economy around UKP13bn a year. "Decriminalising personal use can have positive consequences; it can free up huge amounts of police resources, reduce crime and recidivism and improve public health," he said.

But while politicians no longer in office are vocal in calling for a change, incumbents appear less likely to back the idea of any radical shift in policy. In its 2002 review of UK drug policy, the parliamentary home affairs select committee, which included the prime minister, David Cameron, called for the government to "initiate a discussion" into the possibility of legalising and regulating drugs.

Despite the calls successive ministers have declined to endorse them.


http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n348/a02.html

[steve74baywin]

LEADING WORLD POLITICIANS URGE 'PARADIGM SHIFT' ON DRUGS POLICY
Kofi Annan, George Shultz and Richard Branson Among Those Urging Public Health Approach

It is just so tiring after a while. Public Health approach for example. Sounds good, who wouldn't want the public healthy. But to have a group making laws for the health of the "public". What is this "public"? Who has interest in it? It clearly puts forth the idea that this "public" is owned. The "public" knows what is up, let the "public" do what the "public" wants to do for the "public". Who are our Masters?

[ruckman101]

A lesser evil, if even evil, than criminalization. Lives and families no longer destroyed. Law enforcement could then concentrate on the violent truly criminal acts that leave victims, like folks who illegally sell and ingest raw milk, or sovereign citizens off the deep end killing cops who want to tell them their brake lights are out.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Alcohol is treated as a health issue. I fail to see it as overreach by our "Masters".

I think it would be a huge step forward out of insanity and control. Drugs and the threat of incarceration are used to control this populace. A convenient tool to get the "right" people into the entanglement of the legal system.



neal

[steve74baywin]

Alcohol is treated as a health issue. I fail to see it as overreach by our "Masters".

I think it would be a huge step forward out of insanity and control. Drugs and the threat of incarceration are used to control this populace. A convenient tool to get the "right" people into the entanglement of the legal system.



neal

I'm saying, health issue but who needs gov or politicians for that.
Lesser of two evils it could be.