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The Government is Still Trying (and Failing) to Prove That Marijuana is Dangerous
Ever heard someone argue against medical marijuana on the grounds that there hasnât been enough research to prove that it works? There's been plenty, of course, but there would be even more if the government weren't spending all its grant money trying to prove that marijuana is poisonous instead of therapeutic:
Last I checked, the "primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana" is widely available in an FDA-approved pill that the National Institute on Drug Abuse has never lobbied to take off the shelves. How concerned could they possibly be about the dangers of THC if they let doctors prescribe it to people?
The sick truth here is that their only agenda is to create negative headlines about marijuana, not to discover anything of actual scientific significance. That's why they spend their money dosing rats with powerful synthetic chemicals instead of studying the massive population of real medical marijuana patients who are using it successfully to treat a variety of illnesses.
The Medical College of Wisconsin will investigate the effects of chemicals in marijuana on the development of psychiatric disorders thanks to $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse.
â¦
Using lab research and mouse models, this study will test the hypothesis that the primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana produces an over-activation of an enzyme in the brain and that this is responsible for the increased incidence of psychiatric disorders in marijuana users.
Last I checked, the "primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana" is widely available in an FDA-approved pill that the National Institute on Drug Abuse has never lobbied to take off the shelves. How concerned could they possibly be about the dangers of THC if they let doctors prescribe it to people?
The sick truth here is that their only agenda is to create negative headlines about marijuana, not to discover anything of actual scientific significance. That's why they spend their money dosing rats with powerful synthetic chemicals instead of studying the massive population of real medical marijuana patients who are using it successfully to treat a variety of illnesses.
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The Best Argument Ever for Legalizing and Taxing Marijuana
Ok, maybe it's not the best ever, but this observation from the comment section of a recent article caught my eye:
I see two different important points here:
1. Legalization doesn't mean that people who don't do drugs will have to start doing them.
2. If other people are paying taxes on a product you don't buy, that just means more government services for you.
It sounds like a really great deal, as long as you can keep yourself from becoming confused by the apocalyptic predictions of people whose job it is to hate and vilify drugs.
I never did (and pretty surely never will do) pot, alcohol or cigarettes in my life so legalizing pot (or even cocaine, heroine, crack etc) won't change my life at all. as a matter of fact any taxation that doesn't affect my pocket is welcomed.
I see two different important points here:
1. Legalization doesn't mean that people who don't do drugs will have to start doing them.
2. If other people are paying taxes on a product you don't buy, that just means more government services for you.
It sounds like a really great deal, as long as you can keep yourself from becoming confused by the apocalyptic predictions of people whose job it is to hate and vilify drugs.
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Legal and Know Your Rights Event
This event is free and presented by Sensible Colorado.
For more information, contact 720-890-4247 or [email protected].
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Denver 420 Rally 2010
This action packed day is sure to get you Rocky Mountain High. Boasting a full line-up of bands and speakers, this is sure to be a beautiful and memorable event.
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âGreen Teamâ Trash Pick Up
Join the âGreen Teamâ!
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Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Expo
The Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Expo is sponsored by The Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council.
In The Trenches
Sensible Colorado: Activist Events Next Week
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In The Trenches
Press Release: Medical Marijuana Expected to Qualify for Arizona Ballot
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
APRIL 14, 2010
Medical Marijuana Expected to Qualify for Arizona Ballot
Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project will turn in more than 250,000 signatures today to place initiative on November ballot
CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 202-905-2030 or [email protected]
PHOENIX, ARIZONA â Today, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project will submit more than 250,000 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of Stateâs office in order to place medical marijuana on the November ballot in Arizona. The initiative requires 153,365 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Once the initiative qualifies, Arizona voters will be asked on November 2 to vote yes on the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, which would allow terminally and seriously ill patients who find relief from marijuana to use it with their doctorâs approval.
        âWe are proud to turn in these signatures today on behalf of the thousands of patients in Arizona who will benefit from this law once it is enacted,â said Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project. âPeople suffering from multiple sclerosis, cancer, AIDS, and other serious illnesses should not be forced to seek on the streets the medicine they and their doctors know they need. This initiative proposes instead a dispensary system that will give patients safe and reliable access to medical marijuana if they possess a doctorâs recommendation to use it. We look forward to qualifying for the ballot and bringing our message to voters over the coming months.âÂ
        Upon its passage, medical marijuana will be regulated by the Arizona Department of Health Services and will permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to legally purchase their medicine from tightly regulated clinics, as they would any other medicine â they need not purchase it from the criminal market. It will protect seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking doctor-recommended medicine.
        If the initiative qualifies, Arizona will join South Dakota in having medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot this November. Currently 14 states have effective medical marijuana laws, and more than a dozen other states, including New York, Illinois, and Delaware, are considering medical marijuana laws this year.
        AMMPP receives significant support and funding from the Marijuana Policy Project. With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
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In The Trenches
Press Release: MPP Urges Furlough of Marijuana Offenders Before Violent Convicts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
APRIL 14, 2010
MPP Urges Furlough of Marijuana Offenders Before Violent Convicts
In Congressional Testimony, MPP Calls for Prioritizing Release of Marijuana Offenders When States Furlough Prisoners to Save Money
CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 202-905-2030 or [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. â Today, Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, testified before the U.S. House of Representativesâ Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. In that testimony, he asked the subcommittee to urge the Department of Justice to encourage states that furlough prisoners because of budget crunches âto certify that no inmates convicted of crimes of violence, including sexual abuse and assault, will be released before non-violent offenders whose sole offense relates to the possession, sale, or manufacture of marijuana.âÂ
        On March 31, the Associated Press reported a disturbing trend: âInmates convicted of violent crimes are among those being freed early from California jails to save money, despite lawmakersâ promises that they would exclude most dangerous prisoners and sex offenders ⦠An Associated Press review of inmate data shows that some of the freed criminals were convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, battery, domestic violence, and attacks on children and the elderly.â The A.P. noted that similar programs were initiated or expanded in a dozen other states: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.Â
        Houston asked the subcommittee to urge the Department of Justice to consider conditioning grant awards to states and municipal correctional systems on their certification that no inmates convicted of crimes of violence will have been furloughed before non-violent marijuana offenders.
        âPrioritizing the release of people whose only crime is marijuana-related just makes sense,â Houston said.
        With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
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Teachers for Marijuana Legalization
More of this please:
This "adding another substance to the list" argument just kills me every time. It's such a classic prohibitionist fantasy to pretend as though marijuana is just a theoretical concept, the dangerous risks of which remain entirely unknown thanks to prohibition. Please, oh please, can we legalize marijuana so I can finally give it a try?
The longer folks like the Partnership for a Drug-free America continue spouting such nonsense, the more we can expect to hear from prominent educators like Randi Weingarten who aren't buying it anymore.
Teachers union boss Randi Weingarten thinks it's high time marijuana is legalized.
Weingarten - head of the American Federation of Teachers and former president of New York's United Federation of Teachers - came out in support of a California proposition to legalize pot for personal use.
â¦
While advocates of legalization have applauded Weingarten, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America blasted her stance.
"Legalizing marijuana would just add another substance, along with alcohol, to the menu of intoxicants that are already too available - and harmful - to kids," said Partnership spokeswoman Josie Feliz. "It's hard for us to look on legalization as a positive." [NYDailyNews]
This "adding another substance to the list" argument just kills me every time. It's such a classic prohibitionist fantasy to pretend as though marijuana is just a theoretical concept, the dangerous risks of which remain entirely unknown thanks to prohibition. Please, oh please, can we legalize marijuana so I can finally give it a try?
The longer folks like the Partnership for a Drug-free America continue spouting such nonsense, the more we can expect to hear from prominent educators like Randi Weingarten who aren't buying it anymore.
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Dr. Drew Endorses Planting Evidence on Drug Users to Get Them Locked Up
Celebrity addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky is someone I used to respect as a teenager. Too bad he sold-out and became a dangerous quack who'll say anything to make headlines:
You see, Dr. Drew is really concerned about her safety:
Something terrible? Like getting framed for a carload of drugs by your own family!? Maybe they don't cover this in medical school, Dr. Drew, but you should really make yourself aware of the fact that many people have been accidentally shot by drug cops, sexually assaulted in jail, and otherwise mercilessly screwed over by the criminal justice system in ways that you and your massive ego don't have the luxury of predicting.
Planting drugs on anyone is a serious crime that could go wrong in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Anyone who endorses screwing around like this has no business practicing medicine, parenthood or friendship. You can get people killed with this sort of idiocy, and as much as it would reveal about the stupidity of the war on drugs, "Hollywood Starlet Shot in Face by SWAT Team" is a story no drug policy blogger wants to write.
There is a real drug war going on in America and the men and women who come to save you from your "illness" don't wear white coats; they come in body armor bearing machine guns with the safety off. So when you sell Beverly Hills addiction therapy as pop-culture entertainment media, you forget that those same rules don't apply in Ohio and any parent taking Dr. Drew's reckless advice is putting their family in the drug war's deadly crossfire.
When drug cops start making their own rules, it's time to take away their badge and gun. When celebrity addiction doctors do the same, it's time to take away their license and, more importantly, their microphone.
While Lindsay Lohan continues to party until the wee hours of the morning, and her family and friends grow increasingly concerned for her, Dr. Drew Pinsky, who is not treating Lohan, has some candid advice for the people closest to her.
The board certified addiction specialist tells RadarOnline.com, "If she were my daughter, I would pack her car full with illegal substances, send her on her way, call the police, and make sure she was arrested. I would make sure she was not allowed to get out of jail. I would then go to the judge and make sure she was ordered to a minimum of a three year sobriety program." [Radar]
You see, Dr. Drew is really concerned about her safety:
"I absolutely wish no harm to her, but I just have a feeling that something awful is going to happen to her, like she is going to lose a limb. I hope Lindsay gets help before something terrible happens."
Something terrible? Like getting framed for a carload of drugs by your own family!? Maybe they don't cover this in medical school, Dr. Drew, but you should really make yourself aware of the fact that many people have been accidentally shot by drug cops, sexually assaulted in jail, and otherwise mercilessly screwed over by the criminal justice system in ways that you and your massive ego don't have the luxury of predicting.
Planting drugs on anyone is a serious crime that could go wrong in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Anyone who endorses screwing around like this has no business practicing medicine, parenthood or friendship. You can get people killed with this sort of idiocy, and as much as it would reveal about the stupidity of the war on drugs, "Hollywood Starlet Shot in Face by SWAT Team" is a story no drug policy blogger wants to write.
There is a real drug war going on in America and the men and women who come to save you from your "illness" don't wear white coats; they come in body armor bearing machine guns with the safety off. So when you sell Beverly Hills addiction therapy as pop-culture entertainment media, you forget that those same rules don't apply in Ohio and any parent taking Dr. Drew's reckless advice is putting their family in the drug war's deadly crossfire.
When drug cops start making their own rules, it's time to take away their badge and gun. When celebrity addiction doctors do the same, it's time to take away their license and, more importantly, their microphone.
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Drugs, Pregnancy and Parenting: What the Experts Have to Say Part II
Time: 4 Hour Half Day Program
Credits: Continuing Education Credits in the areas of Law, Social Work & CASAC
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Congressional Hearing: ONDCP's Fiscal Year 2011 National Drug Control Budget: Are We Still Funding a War on Drugs?
This Congressional hearing looks at the Obama Administration's drug war policies.
In The Trenches
Press Release: Drug Czar and DPA's Ethan Nadelmann Testify on Obama's Drug War Policies
For Immediate Release: April 13, 2010
Contact: Tony Newman, tel: 646-335-5384 or Bill Piper, tel: 202-669-6430
Wednesday: Congressional Hearing Looks at Obama Administration's Drug War Policies
Both Nation's Drug Czar, Gil Kerkikowske, and Nation's Leading Critic of Drug War, Ethan Nadelmann, to Testify
Despite Significant Reforms, Administration's 2011 Budget Criticized for Mirroring Bush's Emphasis on Arrests and Incarceration over Treatment
The U.S. House Domestic Policy Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), will hold a hearing Wednesday morning on the White House's drug war budget and forthcoming 2010 National Drug Control Strategy. The Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (also known as the drug czar), Gil Kerlikowske, and the executive director of the anti-drug-war Drug Policy Alliance, Ethan Nadelmann, will both be testifying.
Mr. Nadelmann testimony will focus on:
* The drug war's flawed performance measures;
* The lop-sided ratio between supply and demand spending in the national drug budget;
* The lack of innovation in the drug czar's proposed strategies;
* The Administration's failure to adequately evaluate drug policies.
The hearing comes in the wake of significant drug policy reforms under the Obama Administration, including a directive urging federal law enforcement agencies to stop arresting medical marijuana patients and caregivers in compliance with their state's medical marijuana law, and the repeal of the two decade old federal syringe funding ban, which prohibited states from funding syringe exchange programs with federal money to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. Additionally, a few weeks ago a White House backed bi-partisan bill reforming the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity passed the U.S. Senate unanimously.
The Administration's drug war budget, however, is still focused overwhelmingly on failed supply side policies and ignores important harm reduction measures. Director Kerlikowske told the Wall Street Journal last year that he doesn't like to use the term "war on drugs" because "[w]e're not at war with people in this country." Yet 64% of their budget - virtually the same as under the Bush Administration - focuses on largely futile interdiction efforts as well as arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating extraordinary numbers of people. Only 36% is earmarked for demand reduction. The budget also ignores life-saving harm reduction measures such as naloxone-distribution and heroin assisted treatment, widely viewed around the world as a necessary part of any balanced, evidenced based drug strategy.
"Congress and the Obama administration have broken with the costly and failed drug war strategies of the past in some important ways," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "But the continuing emphasis on interdiction and law enforcement in the federal drug war budget suggest that ONDCP is far more wedded to the failures of the past than to any new vision for the future. I urge this committee to hold ONDCP and federal drug policy accountable to new criteria that focus on reductions in the death, disease, crime and suffering associated with both drugs and drug prohibition."
What: Congressional hearing titled, "ONDCP's Fiscal Year 2011 National Drug Control Budget: Are We Still Funding a War on Drugs?"
When: 10:00AM, Wednesday, April 14th.
Where: 2154 Rayburn HOB
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