Consequences of Prohibition
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A marijuana tax and regulate bill advances in DC, a legalization bill gets filed in Georgia, Seattle's mayor has a plan to regulate medical marijuana, prescription heroin is coming to Vancouver, Malta is ready to decriminalize drug possession, and more. Let's get to it:
Pharmaceutical diacetylmorphine AKA diamorphine AKA heroin. Now on prescription for some in Vancouver. (wikipedia.org)
DC City Council Committee Approves Tax and Regulate Bill. The council's Committee on Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs today voted in favor of legislation to tax, regulate, and license the production, distribution, and sale of marijuana in the nation's capital. The bill is B20-466, the Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Act. Movement on the bill comes just three weeks after DC voters overwhelmingly approved the Measure 71 marijuana possession and cultivation legalization initiative. That initiative didn't address taxation and regulation because it could not do so under DC law, which leaves such moves to the council. And the council is moving.
Georgia State Senator Files Legalization, Medical Marijuana Bills. State Sen. Curt Thompson (D-Norcross) Monday pre-filed bills to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana. SR 6 is a resolution calling for a state constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana, while SB 7 is a full-fledged medical marijuana bill that would allow patients to grow their own and possess up to two ounces, allow registered caregivers to grow for patients, and allow for dispensaries.
New Mexico State Representative Talks Pot Legalization. A marijuana legalization bill died in the legislature this year, and prospects for passage in the incoming, even more heavily Republican legislature next year are not good. But that's not stopping Rep. Bill McCamley (D-Las Cruces). He says the state needs to have the legalization conversation, and he's making his case today during a meeting of the interim Health and Human Services Committee. Click on the link for some McCamley quotes.
Medical Marijuana
Seattle Mayor Releases Medical Marijuana Plan. Mayor Ed Murray's office Monday unveiled its plan for regulating medical marijuana collective gardens and dispensaries. The plan would create two classes of collective gardens. Class 1 would operate dispensaries, while Class 2 would not and is subject to fewer regulatory restrictions. Under state law, recreational marijuana is regulated at the state level, but medical marijuana is not. While efforts to regulate medical are likely in the state legislature next year, Murray said even if they pass, they wouldn't go into effect until 2016, so the city is moving to regulate now.
International
Australia's Queensland to Toughen Penalties for Drug Dealers in Fatal Overdoses. The Queensland state government is set to introduce a bill today that would compel courts to consider the death of a drug user an aggravating factor in sentencing of drug dealers. Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie said the bill was inspired by a case last year in which a man was sentenced only to probation after supplying a shot of morphine to a minor who died of an overdose.
Prescription Heroin Coming to Vancouver. Doctors in Vancouver have received the first shipment of prescription heroin to be used by former participants in a clinical heroin maintenance trial. In all, 120 severely addicted people have been approved by Health Canada to receive the drugs. The first shipment will begin to be administered this week to the first 26 participants. The patients will go to a clinic two or three times a day to receive and inject the drug. They must then wait at the clinic for at least 20 minutes to nurses can monitor them. The project is an outgrowth of the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) and the follow-up Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME).
Chile Celebrates Fourth Legalize Festival. Thousands of people attended the fourth annual Legalize festival in Santiago Monday. Part pot party, part political protest, the festival includes expositions, panels, and live music. Ancient British rockers Deep Purple were among the bands playing yesterday.
Malta Ponders Bill to Decriminalize Drug Possession. A major drug reform bill, the Drug Dependence Bill, which would decriminalize the first-time possession of drugs, went to parliament Monday. First offenders would face only fines, but repeat offenders would have to appear before a Drug Offender Rehabilitation Board and could be ordered to drug treatment if appropriate. People could grow one marijuana plant without being subject to mandatory jail time, and the bill would also allow for the use of medical marijuana.
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Comments
Georgia Cannabis
Given the opportunity , Georgia voters would vote yes on legal Cannabis . When the majority of people on jury/selection/ duty laugh when asked about Cannabis , what does that tell you . I know what it tell`s me . Legal Cannabis in the Ga . in 2016 .
Vancouver heroin
If you're thinking about taking a trip here,forget it.I know most of the long time advocates for heroin maintenance here and not one of them is on this program.I couldn't even get a number until I spent a whole day harassing nurses and medical staff.The clinic put a web site up later that afternoon.I phoned and after several hang ups was told that they were taking no patients.They had their 120 clients and no new patients would be considered.I had spoken to the doctor when the program was still on paper and he got angry and told me to call back when there was an announcement.I've already paid a terrible price for the work I've done in advocacy.I've earned the ire of the BC medical system to where they disallowed my recommendation for dilaudid for a chronic injury that requires heavy medication.I was stripped of all opiates and put on methadone.A drug I hate and have been on so many times it's totally ineffective.I have been surviving on the hope that there would eventually be a sane doctor or a heroin program.This program may one day be a great thing and help many people.I'm 66 and am just about out of time.If there was heroin on Vancouver streets it wouldn't be quite as hard to take.There has been no heroin available on the city street drug markets for almost a year.Ironically,the only heroin in Vancouver is at the clinic.It's like a cosmic joke on me.I have never wanted anything out of life but to be left alone with my drug of choice.Everything I've done in 46 years has been directed toward that purpose.Now,with an actual maintenance program in town I can't even get an appointment.There is probably heroin out there somewhere.Since my injury I have been totally out of the loop.I still have people who I can buy from but every one of them has had nothing but Fentanyl for 10+months.To make everything unbearable,the methadone here was switched to this megadose that is cut with an unknown substance to prevent injection.I thought being on methadone was awful.This isn't even methadone.It has 50% of users complaining of a variety of side effects.It causes me headaches if I take more than 150 mgms.My wife is scratching herself raw.She was talking about quitting because she can't stand it anymore.So,no heroin,no heroin program unless you're one of the 120 and the methadone is cut with poison.I hear megadose is everywhere?Someone is very wealthy and a lot of addicts are very sick.Very few people care about addicts.The response to the program,otherwise,is very positive.People just want their stuff to be safe.It took a lot of years for the public to come this far.Me.I'm not impressed.
Opiates and opoids
I have D's from before 2008.They may be alright.I am about to check your reference links.I just know that the old chrystal meth was decent.This megawhatever is not only not managing the pain anymore.If it try to up my dose to try nullifying the pain I have to walk a fine line between nausea andno pain relief at all.I assume this all started with the abuse of oxycontin and changing the formula to prevent smoking,snorting or shooting it?Thanks for the links and other information.It used to be very lonely on the site for junkies.I think there was me and maybe one or two others.I sent to linkdin to try to access the articles and although they are listed there is no way to acess them withpout knowing which aleksander shulgin i mean.There are four of them?
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