Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
As the nation awaits the Obama administration's response to marijuana legalization votes in Colorado and Washington, Tuesday saw a two-pronged attack on the whole notion. On the one hand, former drug czars and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) heads lined up to urge the administration to act now to strangle legalization in its crib, while on the other, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) warned that allowing states to legalize would violate international drug control treaties.
"S.O.S." web site celebrates defeat of Hawaii marijuana legalization bill
In a joint letter under the auspices of the anti-drug reform group Save Our Society From Drugs, eight former heads of the DEA and four former heads of the Office of National Drug Control Policy urged the federal government to act now to nullify the votes in Colorado and Washington. The same group similarly called on Attorney General Holder to speak out against those state initiatives last September, but he failed to do so.
Holder, who said last week his decision will be "coming soon," was scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. The retired drug fighters urged senators to press him on the issue.
Holder's actual appearance, though, was anticlimactic. He told the committee only that he hoped, again, to be able to announce a policy "relatively soon."
That prompted committee chair Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to hand out some advice of his own. "If you're going to be -- because of budget cuts -- prioritizing matters, I would suggest there are more serious things than minor possession of marijuana, but it's a personal view," Leahy told Holder, adding that more states were sure to follow in Colorado's and Montana's footsteps.
That's not what the drug warriors were telling Holder.
"We, the undersigned, strongly support the continued enforcement of federal law prohibiting the cultivation, distribution, sale, possession, and use of marijuana -- a dangerous and addictive drug which already has severe harmful effects on American society," they wrote. "We also respectfully request your committee at its March 6 hearing to encourage Attorney General Eric Holder to adhere to long-standing federal law and policy in this regard, and to vigorously enforce the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)."
The signatories suggested that senators ask Holder is he still believed in the Supremacy Clause when it comes to conflicts between state and federal law and why he isn't enforcing the Controlled Substances Act in Colorado and Washington. They also suggested asking him "what is being done about our international drug treaty obligations," noting that they require the federal government to enforce marijuana prohibition.
And speaking of international drug treaty obligations, the INCB, which is charged with ensuring that countries live up to them, also criticized marijuana legalization as it issued its 2012 Annual Report.
Noting the popular votes in favor of legalization in Colorado and Washington, INCB reiterated that "the legalization of cannabis for non-medical and non-scientific purposes would be in contravention to the provisions of the 1961 Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol."
The INCB also took a shot at medical marijuana, noting that "the control requirements that have been adopted in the 17 states in question and in the District of Columbia under the 'medical' cannabis schemes fall short of the requirements set forth in articles 23 and 28 of the 1961 Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol."
And, also expressing concerns about decriminalization moves, INCB "requests that the government of the United States take effective measures to ensure the implementation of all control measures for cannabis plants and cannabis, as required under the 1961 Convention, in all states and territories falling within its legislative authority."
The two-pronged attack excited a quick response from drug reform groups and at least one Democratic congressman.
"As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once observed, states are the laboratories of democracy. The federal government should concentrate on shutting down meth labs -- not the laboratories of democracy. The people of Colorado and Washington voted to implement these laws, and the federal government should respect their will. States have a right to determine their own possession laws," said Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN) in a Tuesday statement.
"If the people of Colorado and Washington want to legalize small amounts of marijuana, that is their decision. It is arrogant of these former DEA chiefs to encourage the President to nullify these laws," Cohen continued. "The fact that these former DEA chiefs are so focused on marijuana possession is why we have lost the war on drugs. The war should be on heroin, meth, crack, cocaine and unauthorized use of prescription drugs -- not marijuana possession."
[Ed: We don't think war on those other drugs is a good thing either -- to the extent at least that "war" means arresting and incarcerating people. Not that we want underground meth labs all over the place. But meth is going to be supplied by someone in some way, despite enforcement efforts, so long as there are people who want to use it. We're losing the "war on drugs" because it is prohibition based, and prohibition doesn't work. The government's focus on marijuana enforcement only highlights the sheer senseless of it all. -DB]
"The former DEA chiefs' statement can best be seen as a self-interested plea to validate the costly and failed policies they championed but that Americans are now rejecting at the ballot box," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "They obviously find it hard to admit that -- at least with respect to marijuana -- their legacy will be much the same as a previous generation of agents who once worked for the federal Bureau of Prohibition enforcing the nation’s alcohol prohibition laws."
"The war on drugs has been a failure by every measure," said Neill Franklin, the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "After more than a trillion dollars spent over the last forty years, we have nothing to show for it except more violence on our streets, the fracturing of community trust in the police and overflowing prison populations. Still, use has not significantly declined. It's unfortunate the DEA heads can't admit this failure. As someone who gave three decades of his life fighting this 'war' on the ground, I can tell you that from that perspective, this policy was dead on arrival."
"It is not surprising that these ex-heads of the marijuana prohibition industry are taking action to maintain the policies that kept them and their colleagues in business for so long," said Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project and an official proponent of the Colorado initiative. "Their desire to keep marijuana sales in an underground market favors the drug cartels, whereas the laws approved in Colorado and Washington favor legitimate, tax-paying businesses. Marijuana prohibition has failed, and voters are ready to move on and adopt a more sensible approach. It's time for these former marijuana prohibitionists to move on too."
As for INCB, it essentially plays the role of toothless nag, said Eric Sterling, the executive director of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. It is mandated by the United Nations to report on adherence to global anti-drug treaties, but has only the power to hector, not to enforce.
"The INCB has no power other than to issue reports," he said. "It can't issue indictments, it can't call for a resolution in some other body to condemn a nation. It's strictly hortatory, and for many years, it's bordered on the preposterous in the condemnations it's made. The INCB thinks that nations ought to suppress music or motion pictures or books that 'send the wrong message' about drugs. In that sense, it is completely out of step with Western Civilization. They would reject art and music and probably science if it were contrary to their abstinence focus on drug use."
Not only is the INCB relatively powerless, it is largely irrelevant, Sterling said.
"In our American drug policy, they have only negligible influence," he said. "I don't think that in any state capital, the INCB's comments carry any political weight. I don't think in most journals of opinion, their observations are important. Whether their comments have significance in other countries would be harder for me to assess. I tend to believe they are not that important," he said.
"Most people don't even know what it is or what its power is or what it said, including most members of Congress and their staffs," Sterling continued. "The INCB is obscure. Maybe some former DEA administrators might want to refer to them in a press release, but nobody else is going to pay any attention."
The forces of opposition to marijuana legalization are lining up to put pressure on the Obama administration. It shouldn't listen to them, said DPA's Nadelmann.
"President Obama and Attorney General Holder really need to allow Washington and Colorado officials to implement the new laws in ways that protect public safety and health while respecting the will of those states’ voters," he said. "At this point, insisting on blind obeisance to strict interpretation of federal drug laws will only serve the interests of criminals who want to keep this industry underground and law enforcement officials who want to justify their legacy."
And the wait for clarity from Washington continues...
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
Obama could go either way
After suffering through the 180 degree turn President Obama did on the medical marijuana dispensaries in CA, bringing back the JAG grants to fund no-knock drug raid investigations and appointing old school drug warrior, Michele Leonhart as DEA head, there's little Obama could do worse concerning drug policy issues. However, now that he is not running for office, there's a chance he might do the sensible thing and not contest the laws in CO & WA. This upcoming decision for the DOJ will either mark a turnabout for the President or further his betrayal of those who so enthusiastically supported him in 2008. Let's hope he has evolved in his thinking process by realizing the will(and polling) of the people and respecting the states rights of CO & WA.
Who is Paying Them?
In reply to Who is Paying Them? by Anonymous21312… (not verified)
They may be making a buck off
They may be making a buck off prohibition but I'd bet they're all true believers. Humans are capable of holding on to any stupid notion they want and these guys have spent so many years of their lives fighting the battle that it's probably psychologically impossible to convince them otherwise.
There's a financial conspiracy angle to any story but in the case of agencies like the DEA or ONDCP it's really just a difference of culture. They probably don't push for more funding for the drug war so that they can get paid more, but because they think if they aren't funded the country will be utterly ruined.
They're imbeciles.
In reply to They may be making a buck off by chad (not verified)
just say no to dogmas!
i prefer another name for 'true believers': 'dogma addicts'. doesn't it have a nice ring to it? dogmas are for more dangerous than 'drugs'. just say no to dogmas!
Tomorrow will prove interesting.
Holder will face the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow (Wednesday.) Will the questions come? Didn't the chair of that committee already write a letter to Holder about this? I believe he did, and in that letter, he seemed eager to ensure that Washington and Colorado state employees won't face prosecution for doing what is essentially their assigned duty.
Also I just checked in on this S.O.S. site... they seem like a bigger threat than SAM could ever be, but they lay it on a little too thick for the average American to believe, I think. Talk about all of your Drug War propaganda all rolled up in one place.
If some of these people actually believe the rhetoric they spew, you'd think they'd be tripping over themselves in a race to make Alcohol and Tobacco illegal... literally for ALL the same reasons they oppose drug legalization, Alcohol and Tobacco should also be banned? That is the proof that it's just rehtoric. They're literally lobbying to keep Mexican drug cartels in business, as MPP said. That's sad.
Fuck those losers.
Well.. guess we'll see. I have a feeling we'll learn more tomorrow either way when Holder meets with Congress. If they indeed ask him about these issues. I trust Stopthedrugwar.org will cover anything relevant, looking forward to reading it.
S.O.S.[help]
Save our society from drugs ? Who do these people think they`re kidding ? From what straightjacket did these delusional psychopathic clowns break out of ? I`d be willing to bet that neither one of `em knows how to crank a lawnmower . Their " legacy " is going up in smoke . I love it .
The one argument that people should use more
The one argument that I wish people would use in this debate is that we should legalize drugs because we want to do them. Maybe America isn't quite far enough along for that argument.. but, hell.. if Joe Q. Boozer can walk to the liquor store and get himself some hooch.. drink the night away, why the hell shouldn't I be able to fire up a joint? It's just an asymmetrical policy that infringes on my civil liberties... especially when you consider that the whole "harm to society" argument falls flat on its face when you point out that alcohol is FAR more harmful to our society.
So? If you truly want to prevent harm to society, put yuor money where your mouth is, and push to make alcohol and tobacco illegal. Since I see no efforts to do such, I have to assume that the anti-legalization folks are only out to serve special interest groups that line their wallets with money!
In reply to The one argument that people should use more by Uncle Bob (not verified)
See? I was right!
Gallup Polls released their well-being poll data at last! Colorado is the 2nd happiest state in America!
Cannabis is its correct name
Marijuana is not the correct historical name, Americans always knew the plant as cannabis. Marijuana is a foreign word used by prohibitionists to scare Americans into allowing cannabis to be criminalized. But, the important point is cannabis prohibition has caused far more problems & harm to the USA than cannabis use ever will. Prohibition created the drug gangs/cartels. Destroys millions of American's future prospects for using a plant that has never killed a user by overdose, & is less addictive than caffeine (NIDA). It's sad how prohibitionists will never accept the fact that throwing $1.5 trillion taxpayer dollars at cannabis use, & ruining millions of lives has not decreased cannabis use. In fact, just since the 1970's, cannabis use has increased 5000% due to the "forbidden fruit" paradox. I will always believe that recreational cannabis use would be very rare today if prohibition had not been enacted. But, medicinal cannabis of upto 40% potency was used in 50% of all American made pharmaceuticals prior to it's deceptive ban. Why was cannabis so popular as a medicine? Because, it doesn't kill patients who use it. It's rarely habit forming (1.5%). It has few negative side effects. And, above all, it works very well to treat over 100 illnesses. Well constructed, peer reviewed medical studies show cannabis extract successfully shrink, & kill even the most intractable cancers, like brainstem gliomas, without harming surrounding brain matter. All, with minimal side effects. Unlike our current FDA approved method of making patients so deathly ill from chemotherapy that kills 50% of all cancer patients. There's a lot of money being made off cannabis users being forced to go through unecessary, & ineffective drug treatment programs. Users have to accept treatment, or go to jail. But, treatment stops no one from using cannabis in the future.This is how prohibitionists come up with insanely high numbers of "patients" treated for cannabis use. Hospitals ask anyone seeking emergency rook treatment if they use marijuana. Patients usually say yes, if they do use, & this is how prohibitionists make the claim of millions of people seeking treatment who use marijuana. Cannabis prohibition is deceptive, counter productive, & a self-fulfilling disaster we can not afford.
If the Roots are Poison, So be the Fruit.
Jan 23 2013
There is no science base to include cannabis as a schedule#1 narcotic in the states. The roots of the The Single Convention Treaty. By none other than Harry Anslinger. The base to list cannabis as a schedule #1 narcotic, including hemp is a profit for Wall St corporations and the prohibition industry. Not a science based conclusion. Nixon rejected his own science and then lumped in medicinal and hemp after the Marihuana Tax Ax was overturned in 69 as Un-Constitutional. So ethically, morally and economically for the majority of tax payers it would be prudent at this juncture to remove all laws concerning cannabis and its possession, manufacture and use. Thats
Recently a judge decided the DEA wasn't arbitrary and capricious rejecting science, after-all their job is to perpetuate the Ganjawar. They never decided IF cannabis was worthy of such a status among the heavy duties such as crack and pcp. Only that the DEA wasn't being asses but simply following asinine rules. Not that there was no medicinal value in cannabis. Just that they weren't being arbitrary and capricious.
As it stands states are persecuting individuals, not the feds. Feds IRS are enforcing Commerce Laws determined by Raich v Gonzales. States with mmj laws are restricting individual users to impossible amounts to legally grow. An ounce or less? Feds rule states in all matters as listed in the Constitution or amendments such as the Commerce and Patriot Axes. States under the 10th amendment have the jurisdiction of all else. Including individuals not growing more than reasonable amounts or selling or exchanging it as charity. A reasonable amount has been determined by the Feds own IND program. 300 joints every 25 days or less than 100 plants per year. For individual use or as a bona fide caregiver for their patients. So I'd highly advise writing the initiatives using the CA prop 215 template that has no limits or conditions. That makes the feds amounts law of the land for individuals. To get around the selling perhaps BYOB clubs could provide paraphernalia and music cover charges and individuals supply their own needs. ??? Top priority is to remove Ganja and Hemp from the CSA.
No state can authorize Buyers Clubs as long as cannabis remains a schedule #1 narcotic. That's straight up even if we didn't know the true plan is to use cannabis medicinally and have it sold by Big Pharma. Already in the works from DEA patents on hundreds of individual cannabinoids to x deputy drug czar Barthwell heading up Sativex for GW Pharmaceuticals and distribution by Bayer. Grown on the same schwag farm as grows it now for bogus NIDA gossip or the 4 remaining IND patients. Prop 19 would have put CA in the same status as the remaining MMJ states with restrictions maintaining the dysfunctional prohibition on several levels. Not with the Compassionate Use Act written by we the people for we the people and over riding all politicians and local ordinances concerning individual users. In spite of many attempts to appease the prohibitionists from SB420 to selling bag ties. Locals or politicians can't regulate Buyers Clubs either according to the latest Supreme decision, even though the Feds can enforce Commerce Laws and Tax laws.
And the drug war wages on... by Thom Hartmann
Court Rejects Bid To Have Marijuana Reclassified
By Frederic J. Frommer, January 22, 2013 Associated Press
Shame on the Drug Worrier Profiteers
California Supreme Court Deems Legality
of Storefront Medical Marijuana Dispensaries "Final"
"Arbitrary and capricious" is legal language that was used by DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young in 1988 to conclude that DEA was obligated under the Controlled Substances Act to reschedule marijuana as a prescription medicine. DEA Chief Administrator Robert Bonner proceeded to arbitrarily and capriciously disregard Judge Young's well researched and reasoned decision, which the Act allowed him to do.
In reply to If the Roots are Poison, So be the Fruit. by DdC (not verified)
I would add
that the place where they grow the government's medicinal cannabis is Elsohly Labs, in Oxford, MS. YOU know, the state that has pretended to decriminalize, it and yet they have police being busted by the FBI for guarding shipments of what they believed to be smack or cocaine? There are crooked cops everywhere, who are tired of the pittance they make, and see the tons of money the drug dealers and cartels make on a daily basis.
This is also another reason to stop this farcical government policy. This is but a waste of our country's precious resources, that have wound up in the pockets of the bankers, the Fed. The too big to fail banks (that won't get off the loan money for small businesses) and the big business officers who make millions, don't pay taxes on their businesses, lay people off, and still expect us to spend money we don't have (and cannot earn without jobs they won't hire for) on the crap they bring in from overseas. I for one, and sick and tired of the whole scam.
Holder today
Holder today said NOTHING new, just that they'd have their decision soon.. and then Leahy told him he should probably not prioritize going after marijuana users.
I can only imagine the 9 ex DEA-chiefs' and anti-legalization lobbies supreme rage.
Anslinger lied!
In 1937 a government official named Harry Anslinger claimed that marijuana caused people to become ax murderers and sought to make it illegal. In the seventy years since the launch of his prohibition we've learned a few important things: 1.) The prohibition absolutely does NOT stop people using marijuana. 2.) The prohibition causes FAR more harm than what it prevents. 3.) Marijuana use does NOT cause people to become ax murderers. In fact, marijuana has repeatedly been proven to NOT cause cancer, heart disease, brain damage, liver disease, emphysema, violence or any other significant health issue, and its addiction potential is about on par with coffee.
Due to Mr. Anslinger's "mistake" American taxpayers are forced to pay $40 Billion/year for a prohibition that DOESN'T stop people using marijuana. And 700,000 people are needlessly arrested every year for the "crime" of choosing to relax with marijuana instead of alcohol. Despite all the harm that the seven decades of prohibition has caused, we have yet to hear of a single ax murder being prevented by keeping marijuana illegal.
Holder will release "his
Holder will release "his decision', which will come from the ONDCP, which will come from the President. The only reason this 'decision has not come yet is due to the political ramifications.
Since the President doesn't want to look bad, it will appear as a decision of Holders. He must then uphold existing law. This is the same paradigm all officials always must operate under. It is called a mandate. One cannot be held responsible as an individual, following a mandate, or at least that is how Politicians and appointees try to make it look, "It's my job". Once again, those responsible will sidestep responsibility for, participating in, and leading a trillion dollar boondoggle into continuing.
The Drug War funding provides 50 Billion a year for these crusaders of the Drug War, remember the war in Vietnam cost 60 billion altogether. As H. Clinton said about whether the prohibition would end, "No, there's too much money in it".
She was not talking about the money the bad guys were getting.
Remember whom at the White House is actually making 'Holder's Statement".
Use SOS
Thank you [kickback]! Dudes and Dudettes... I just checked the SOS website. Its a wealth of information.
- They have a candidates page. Use this to make sure you DO NOT vote for a candidate that is sympathetic to SOS. **Ask for absentee ballots whenever possible! Research your candidates in the comfort of your home.
- Use their legislative "letter-sender" to send letters via their site to Congressional representatives. Modify their letter to read in SUPPORT of decriminalization and legalization. Maintain the professional tone of the email. Present data to them in their own format. Send as many times with as many different names and addresses as you like!
- DO NOT add your address to SOSs database. (its okay to put something like city, state in there)
Keep up the dirty work SOS!
1972 National Commission on Marijuana
Nixons 1972 Commission on Marijuana found that adults should be able to use marijuana as it was not such a problem and that small amounts for no renumeration should be legal to distribute. In 1988 the DEA's own administrative law judge found marijuana to be one of the safest therapuetic active substances. known to man. Technically cannabis is defined as a tall Asiatic herb. It has been used for thousands of years for food, clothing, paper, energy, medicine, insight and re creation. Marijuana aka cannabis'hemp is the most useful plant on the planet. The people have voted for freedom and will continue to vote for freedom
Legalizers, Common Sense & Wrong Dollars
No, that's just what they'll be expecting us to do...
The prohibitionists are living in an Airplane movie..
fiore Reverse World War II youtube Mar 4, 2013
Now that the Sequester is being unleashed, it's time to take a look at some of the propaganda posters of Reverse World War II. Learn all about the fight to come apart! Stay up-to-date with the latest animation!
More Overreaching Arguments Against Marijuana Legalization
by DEA Chiefs and the UN
Hey, Don't ya know Drugwar Lies Linked to Schizophrenia
"Our youth can not understand why society chooses to criminalize a behavior with so little visible ill effect or adverse social impact... These young people have jumped the fence and found no cliff. And the disrespect for the possession laws fosters a disrespect for laws and the system in general... On top of this is the distinct impression among the youth that some police may use the marihuana laws to arrest people they don't like for other reasons, whether it be their politics, their hair style or their ethnic background." "Federal and state laws (should) be changed to no longer make it a crime to possess marijuana for private use." ; "State laws should make the public use of marijuana a criminal offense punishable by a $100 fine. Under federal law, marijuana smoked in public would merely be subject to seizure." ; President Richard M. Nixon's National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse "Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding" March 1972
Nixon lied to schedule Ganja #1
? Nixon Lie Keeps on Killing
? Nixon's 40 Year War On Drugs... Drugs Won!
? Once-Secret Nixon Tapes Show Why the U.S. Outlawed Pot
? AMA Calls For Ending Nixon's Lie?
? Richard Milhouse Nixon to Raymond P. Shafer"
? Nixon Commission Report
? 1972 US Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding
? US National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
? Richard Nixon On Pot
? Pissing on Drug Warrior Graves
? While Nixon Campaigned, FBI Watched John Lennon cache
Legalizers, Common Sense & Wrong Dollars
People have died from not having cannabis. Some for possessing cannabis. Some for snitching after getting busted with cannabis. Some fighting for cannabis and some fighting against cannabis. Some for talking about it and some for teaching about it. None from overdose. Aspirin also causes people to get sick, more white powders sold. Cannabis would remove sickness and profits for Bayer. They worked for Hitler. Can't have that.
Marijuana is safe.
Exactly. Nothing to collect vast profits from, its safe. No side effects, no OD, no hangover. No reckless driving, no fights, no nausea. Its safe! Not good for neocon profits. No one to my knowledge benefiting from the sexual Virtues of Ganja has ever had to call his physician about a 4 hour erection. No corporate money made there.
Because it helps them. DEAth says; No value$$$ homegrown in the herb garden. And it doesn't even create more wealth causing cancer profits like the haliburdons asbestos.
See, I told ya. More profits gone to healthiness. These corporations aren't in the business of healthiness. They treat unhealthiness. Hell, they produce unholiness. For huge amounts of money. Decades of it. Can't have profits stop going to international corporations just because it would benefit millions of Americans paying the tax going to the international corporations.. That a'int American!
According to the neocon health care systems, not enough.
Ya it would instead go to other things. Better food makes people less likely to get sick and buy our drugs. Better housing might curtail crime and even cause self respect. Better education? We need violent rages and drunken brawls and ignorance. Education is the worse thing for maintaining a slave labor pool. What's he thinkin'?
Profiteering middlemen inserted into Medicaid...
"So ignore all the talk about too much government spending and too much aid to moochers who don’t deserve it. As long as the spending ends up lining the right pockets, and the undeserving beneficiaries of public largess are politically connected corporations, conservatives with actual power seem to like Big Government just fine."
~ Paul Krugman
Mooching Off Medicaid
One side pays but the other side collects. Win win for the other side collecting on prison profits and health care.
Each one providing profits to the Koch bros. and Wall St.
Yea, what he said! How many illnesses would we not sell treatment for if it was legal? So this safe medicine might help the people but what about the profits?
Competition to the numerous pills and potions sold for each side effect and aches and pains and depression. This would take a big bite out of crime too, with no mandatory minimum profits or big pharma.
No statistics for the drug worriers to use to maintain dysfunction. They had to resort to DAWN lunacy, as bad as ditchweed eradications saving the kids from burlap. Reagan smothered a bunch of monkey's with pot smoke and no air.
That is the plan, it seems this would go against the agenda of the 1% and tinkledown. Can't fix what ain't broke. These cannabis people must have flunked Walmartian 101.
Yes but you must see this is to benefit the ordinary people. The unwashed masses. Taking away profits from the synthetics industries. It just seems like this might lead to people actually thinking about things. Healthy people aren't duped as easily as desperate and sick people. You can't blackmail a politician on his past use if its legit. So many reasons to promote prohibition and all you can come up with is its inexpensive medicine, without side effects or pollution. Is that even American?
Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”
Seriously, there are no signs of sanity in the near forecast. Cloudy and mildew. Incrementalism and warehousing people away from people is returning to the standard, out of sight out of mind. Less people know of this fascist killing plant the longer things will go better for koch. Hint; they still use slavery, mostly according to skin color. 2 million live on the streets and in warehousing, shelters and under bridges. 2 million in prison getting tax paid over priced secure room and board. $50k to Koch to cage a stoner, teabogs quiet as a tomb. $1k for foodstamps and its nothing but gnashing of teeth and guttural, primal screams of agony. Hey its 4:20 in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Good nuff. Heere they go again...
Won’t say why?
Just when you think Peter Hitchens can sink no lower…
… he does.
The impact of legalization on treatment income
“Follow the money.” Always good advice when considering the motivations of prohibitionists. Certainly it’s true with the true drug warriors, including DEA, police unions, etc.
And, while the treatment industry is comprised of both the truly caring and the avariciously opportunistic, the general sense has been that most of their vocal opposition to legalization has come from those who see legalization as a threat to their revenue.
Well, Kevin Sabet has been pushing back against that with his own notion that legalization will actually result in an increase in profits for the treatment industry (and even for the enforcement industry). continued
Shame on the Drug Worrier Profiteers
Where are the Taxbaggers and Norquest?
Just a Ball Of Confusion... Dysfunction Pays...
People movin' out, people movin' in.
Why, because of the color of their skin.
Run, run, run, but you sho' can't hide
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Vote for me and I'll set you free
Rap on, brother, rap on.
Well, the only person talkin' 'bout love thy brother is the preacher
And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher
Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration, aggravation,
humiliation, obligation to our nation
Ball Of Confusion that's what the world is today (yeah, yeah)
The sale of pills is at an all time high
young folks walkin' 'round with their heads in the sky
Cities aflame in the summer time, and oh the beat goes on
Eve of destruction, tax deduction,
City inspectors, bill collectors,
Evolution, revolution, gun control, the sound of soul,
Shootin' rockets to the moon, kids growin' up too soon
Politicians say more taxes will solve ev'rything, and the band played on.
Round and round and around we go, where the world's headed nobody knows.
Great googa mooga, can't you hear me talkin' to you, just a
Ball of Confusion that's what the world is today. (yeah, yeah)
Fear in the air, tension ev'rywhere
Unemployment rising fast, the Beatle's new record's a gas,
and the only safe place to live is on an Indian reservation,
and the band played on
Eve of destruction, tax deduction,
City inspectors, bill collectors, mod clothes in demand,
population out of hand, suicide too many bills, hippies movin' to the hills
People all over the world are shouting end the war and the band played on.
Round and round and around we go, where the world's headed nobody knows.
Great googa mooga, can't you hear me talkin' to you, just a
Ball of Confusion that's what the world is today
Let me hear you, let me hear you, let me hear you
Ball Of Confusion that's what the world is today...
Old soldiers never die
In this case,they don't even have the decency to fade away.Who cares what a bunch of over the hill drug warriors think?Their careers speak for themselves.That they didn't join LEAP shows they still don't get it.That may be sad but it's hardly relevant.They see what's been the result(more users,more and harder traffickers,more deaths,cheaper and purer drugs,the Mexican and central American wars,the list is endless.)The harsher the law and it's enforcement,the harder the criminals response and the quicker kids move to harder drugs(how many go to prison for softer drugs and come out addicts?).Unless you've been sleeping all these years,that's pretty obvious.Of course these people don't agree.They never have,never will.They are ideologues.Once ideology enters,all dialogue is impossible.
And God said, Behold, I have
And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, which has seed in its fruit; to you it shall be for food.
Ancient Temple Hashish Incense! Did Jesus Inhale?
Gen.3 [22] And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Ganja May Live Up To Be The Elixir of Life
Study Turns Pot Wisdom on Head
It seems marijuana could be good for your brain. Research suggests the drug could have some benefits when administered regularly in a highly potent form. Researchers found that cannabinoids promoted generation of new neurons in rats' hippocampuses.
Aging? Got Ganja?
Anti-Aging and Cannabis Science
Hemp For Victory! (Over Aging)
GBR: Marijuana shown to slow aging process
114-year-old man busted for pot possession
One of the things I've found with working in extensive research projects, as I have over the years with three books and various articles, is that right up until publication I always seem to find new bits of information, as with this recent find I somehow missed regarding the record-holder for world's oldest woman. ~ Chris Bennett - Wednesday, October 21 2009
A Day in the Life of A Dementia Sufferer
"Coming up at eleven," local TV newscasters around the country were breathlessly promising: "how pot could save your life!" The disclosure that marijuana's prime active ingredients can shield human beings from brain damage...
Blasphemy and The Tree of Life
Ezekiel 34:29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown,
and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land,
neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.
Cannabis and Longevity
Rev.22 [2] In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Ancient Temple Hashish Incense! Did Jesus Inhale?
Not surprisingly, records of the use of cannabis as both a drink and an incense can be traced back to some of the earliest civilizations and cultures, as we shall see with a look at cannabis incense in the Ancient World.
In Hebrew the word for hash also means incense...
Bees, Weed and HIV
Unique among all God's creatures,
only the honeybee improves the environment
and preys not on any other species." ~ Royden Brown
Bee Venom Kills HIV!
Scientists have discovered that something in bee venom destroys the HIV virus, while leaving human cells unharmed. They are expecting to produce a gel that can be used during sex that will stop the transmission of HIV. They may eventually find a cure for HIV using the venom.
Ooops...
Latest buzz on bee decline: Maybe it's pesticides
Blamed for Bee Collapse, Monsanto Buys Bee Research Firm
"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth,
man would have no more than four years to live." ~ Albert Einstein
So we need to clone doobie toking bees
for long term and prevention....
MJ Like Chemicals Inhibit HIV in Late-State AIDS
Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS, according to new findings published online in the journal PLoS ONE.
Medical marijuana is prescribed to treat pain, debilitating weight loss and appetite suppression, side effects that are common in advanced AIDS. This is the first study to reveal how the marijuana receptors found on immune cells -- called cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 -- can influence the spread of the virus. Understanding the effect of these receptors on the virus could help scientists develop new drugs to slow the progression of AIDS.
You Can't Stop AIDS Without Ending the Drug War
Making Sure Drugs Kill
Sterile Syringes Prevent Spreading Disease... D'oh!
Granny Storm Crow's MMJ List
Geez Weezy, Bees and Weeds...
How many $billions in pharmaceutical research for another white powder with side effects for even more white powders? For temporary relief naturally, since it only treats symptoms. Prevention and cures aren't high research priorities. Why would a for profit health care system try to prevent or cure themselves out of business? Actually its banned for medicinal cannabis research. Doesn't that seem odd? Like anyone listens to drug worriers except others profiteering on the misery they cause. So many on government assistance could assist themselves and lift their spirits, not being a slave to the bureaucracies strings. Those who perpetuate this Ganjawar are destined for charges of crimes against humanity. Starting with the liars legislating these self profits and the liars paid by taxes to overt, mislead, ignore, lie and intimidate the citizens. Why not, not pay them to tell the truth? Or not pay them, to shut the hell up. Seems odd to pay for DEA offices around the world for subsidizing others to lie, When every other sentence is can't raise taxes, budget cuts on the poor and elderly, too many debts, We must be paying these liars to save the people from preventing and curing.Home grown jobs isn't fair to corporations outsourcing? Throw me a bone here Giligan... Maybe its just the weed.
THC improves appetite and reverses weight loss in AIDS patients
Thalidomide v Cannabis
Thalidomide studied as weight therapy? Flipper babies over doobies?
Wasting Obesity on Ganja
Cannabis plants could provide a new treatment for obese patients at risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Since 1982, Irvin Rosenfeld has received a free tin of 300 marijuana cigarettes from the federal government every 25 days. And he wants the world to know how it has helped him cope with multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis, a bone disorder that resulted in scores of tumors in his body. Bush cut the program before leaving office as thousands of AIDs patients were finding relief from wasting syndrome and nausea by using cannabis.
This 6-inch diameter canister held 254.89 grams of federal medical marijuana for an IND patient, a typical monthly supply mailed from the federal cannabis research garden in Mississippi.
Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”
I appreciate
I appreciate Drug War Chronicles / Stopthedrugwar for their unbiased reporting, and for not censoring their users comments. The folks over at NORML and MPP will just outright re-write your entire comment, or simply delete it.. it's kinda shady man -_-
I guess no matter which side of the fence you're on, there's always politics involved
There's a reason we have former drug war combatants
The reason there is so many drug war combatants out there from many years of the "drug war" on lower income citizens is that the drug war has ALWAYS failed to accomplish it's goals and instead has almost DESTROYED the sovereignty of this country! We are now dependent of various foreign entities for our financial support and our short sighted politicians have allowed the one world government enthusiast to assume control of many of our policies which eventually will deposit the whole country into the one world land bank with the passage of property tax laws being the last straw between citizens actually owning land and the state owning all of the land and renting it back to us in the form of property taxes. All their leadership has to to is ratify a simple deed to the whole country to the internationals for us to be owned in full by the United Nations which is likely to be coming shortly. If it weren't for taxes, they would not have the money to run a zillion dollar drug war all over the world and would have to suck it up and cut spending and giving away moneys for non US interest of non humanitarian causes - like the UN! Taxes were the reason we separated from England in the first place and now the situation has grown to be 100's of times worse than the original colonies could ever conceive! So the tax monster has crossed over the pond and has infiltrated our whole government system! This is the corruption we seek to destroy and it is high time to get it done. Taxes could be renamed and turned into a public charity for support of the personal needs of people in need and their families. If it was run economically, people would donate to it. And another thing - We NEED to have an open cannabis atmosphere in a couple of states for experimental and research reasons to get some real data on the effects and control issues of cannabis - not the skewed opinionated trash the anti cannabis crowd and their paid media propaganda spews world wide on a regular basis. Putting cannabis as a schedule 1 drug effectively throttled research to nothing. And outlawing hemp was an evil corporate buy out of the politicians of the day and the same moneys are being donated both over and under the table to keep it that way so fiber, oils, and other hemp products are kept off the market allowing the chemical and tree cutting industries to maintain their monopoly businesses to continue sucking in unfair moneys and wielding unfair power. Finally - STOP using the M word for cannabis! IT was a drug warrior term developed to connect cannabis and hemp with the old juke joint crazy weed propaganda. The M world is as bad as the N word and also is just as prejudiced and racial! Make sure you stop your conversations if it is mentioned and insert the cannabis/hemp word instead.
The strategy of distraction, the ASAM and FSPHP
The various pro "drug war" groups absolutist public persona is merely a ruse to distract. While attacking the hortatory absolutist nonsense of these groups of negligible influence, and believing that reason, logic, and progress would prevail, the drug warriors have successfully and silently designed a complex web that has both power and protection. By strategy of distraction, the noise of groups with the power to hector but not enforced has enabled other groups with common goals to gain power while remaining silent. By creating organizations that pretend to unrelated and benign groups they opportunistically inserted themselves into medicine at all levels, in each state, and in such a way that they have absolute control over almost every doctor in ways that are mind boggling. The ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine) and the Federation of State Physician Health Programs (FSPHP) are the factions of the drug war that have gained power and protection. They have put up an impenetrable fortress that cannot be dismantled easily. As the brainchild of Robert DuPont, as a way to stranglehold medicine and advance the 12-step institutional rehab drug testing agenda, they have already regressed medicine by decades. The upcoming DSM-V controversial diagnosis of "substance abuse" is part of this legacy. By making it easier to diagnose substance abuse and muscle forward the testing and rehab industry to further their goals they eventually plan on using the abusive "physician health program", FSPHP model on other populations. This needs to be recognized, exposed, and dismantled on a state level.
http://www.asam.org
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Insurance-Company-Financin-by-MedicalWhistleblow-090926-111.html
http://www.fsphp.org
http://blog.massmed.org/index.php/2013/05/is-there-a-marathon-marijuana-connection/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbNuuKJEwEA
Add new comment