Hypocritical Obama and Corporate Media Are Aggressively Undermining Pot Normalization
Hypocritical Obama and Corporate Media Are Aggressively Undermining Pot Normalization
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Iowa Board of Pharmacy Recommends Medical Marijuana
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that state lawmakers reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II controlled substance and set up a task force to study how to create a medical marijuana program. Medical marijuana bills have failed to move in the state legislature, but the board's action could help spur forward momentum.
Similarly to the federal Controlled Substances Act, Iowa law currently classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug with no proven medical use and a high potential for abuse. By recommending that marijuana be rescheduled to Schedule IIâa potential for abuse, but with accepted medical useâthe board acknowledged the herb's medical efficacy.
Given the board's initial reluctance to take up the issue, the unanimous vote comes as something as a pleasant surprise to advocates. In May 2008, Iowans for Medical Marijuana founder Carl Olsen petitioned the board to reschedule marijuana, arguing that the evidence did not support its classification as Schedule I.
The board rejected that request, and Olsen, three plaintiffs, and the ACLU of Iowa sued to force it to reconsider. (See the filings in the case here). Last year, a Polk County judge ordered the board to take another look at the matter. The board again declined to reclassify marijuana, but did agree to a series of four public hearings.
It was after those hearings, which were packed with medical marijuana supporters, and after a scientific review of the literature, that the board acted this week. In doing so, it becomes the first state pharmacy board in the nation to take such a step before voters or lawmakers have legalized medical marijuana.
The board's action also puts it squarely in line with popular sentiment in the Hawkeye State. According to an Iowa Poll released Tuesday, 64% of Iowans want medical marijuana to be legal. Now, if only the legislature will act on the recommendation of the board and the will of the voters.
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Synthetic Marijuana: Let's Try Regulation Instead of Prohibition
If anyone hasn't heard yet about the exciting new drug that's just like pot, but won't make you fail a drug test or get you arrested, they're about to find out. The hype surrounding synthetic marijuana products, commonly known as Spice or K2, is growing and it's just a matter of time before the national hysteria kicks into full gear.
This isn't the fake pot sold in High Times that doesn't get you high, and it's not Salvia that gives you terrifying hallucinations. Its effects are mild, pleasant, and remarkably familiar to the millions of Americans who already enjoy marijuana. This is the closest thing to legal marijuana anyone's ever seen in most parts of the country, and I have a feeling we're going to be talking about it a lot this year.
Unfortunately, Spice's appeal could quickly become its downfall, given the strange drug war rule that a substance must be bad if it makes people feel good. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have a serious conversation about sensible regulations instead of the frenzied panic we've all come to expect when a new drug makes headlines?
It really shouldnât be necessary to explain that nobody's selling Spice to children, but yes, there is a need for new policies to clarify where and to whom this product should be made available. We have an opportunity to make smart choices about how to deal with this, and we can't let the predictable anxieties of cops and legislators trainwreck the process through premature prohibition.
Research into the drug's effects and possible risks is critical to protecting public health, but it's also an essential prerequisite to any discussion of making this illegal across the board. It's incredible that we've already got legislators in two states making moves to put people in jail over this stuff and they have no clue whether it's even remotely dangerous. Can't we at least indulge the pretext of some sort of scientific process here?
This isn't the fake pot sold in High Times that doesn't get you high, and it's not Salvia that gives you terrifying hallucinations. Its effects are mild, pleasant, and remarkably familiar to the millions of Americans who already enjoy marijuana. This is the closest thing to legal marijuana anyone's ever seen in most parts of the country, and I have a feeling we're going to be talking about it a lot this year.
Unfortunately, Spice's appeal could quickly become its downfall, given the strange drug war rule that a substance must be bad if it makes people feel good. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have a serious conversation about sensible regulations instead of the frenzied panic we've all come to expect when a new drug makes headlines?
"A 10-year-old child could walk into a head shop and buy it," said West Plains Detective Shawn Rhoads. "It's not a tobacco, it's not regulated by anything. It would be like sending my 10-year-old son into Wal-Mart to buy potpourri." [AP]
It really shouldnât be necessary to explain that nobody's selling Spice to children, but yes, there is a need for new policies to clarify where and to whom this product should be made available. We have an opportunity to make smart choices about how to deal with this, and we can't let the predictable anxieties of cops and legislators trainwreck the process through premature prohibition.
Research into the drug's effects and possible risks is critical to protecting public health, but it's also an essential prerequisite to any discussion of making this illegal across the board. It's incredible that we've already got legislators in two states making moves to put people in jail over this stuff and they have no clue whether it's even remotely dangerous. Can't we at least indulge the pretext of some sort of scientific process here?
Event
MA: Joint Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on S1801, An Act to Tax and Regulate the Cannabis Industry
S1801, "An Act to Tax and Regulate the Cannabis Industry," will be heard by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
In The Trenches
Action #2 for Medical Marijuana Week!
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DEA Backs Down After Threatening Colorado Dispensaries
Jeffrey Sweetin of the DEA's Denver office on Saturday:
Jeff Sweetin today:
It sounds an awful lot like Sweetin's comments over the weekend may have resulted in somebody important telling him to calm the hell down. What goes on behind the scenes with this stuff is a mystery to me, but I doubt Sweetin figured out on his own that those nasty comments about raiding dispensaries weren't playing well in the press. I'd prefer to think maybe he got a quick phone call from Washington.
The DOJ's "official" policy of respecting state medical marijuana laws is hardly written in stone, leaving more than enough room for a nut like Sweetin to make a big mess provided that nobody yanks his leash. But if one thing is clear about medical marijuana policy under Obama, it's that they have no interest in doing battle with the 80% of Americans who support it. This latest episode isn't the first time one of the President's drug warriors has back-pedaled after making a stupid public comment about medical marijuana. There are new rules in place, and while they still leave much to be desired, it's important to appreciate the extent to which the old smash and grab medical marijuana policy has been put in check.
The point here isnât that Obama loves medical marijuana, or that the DEA can now be counted on to behave itself. Politicians and drug war soldiers don't change overnight, but the mere expectation that the raids have ended can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy when the media and the public generally believe such activity is now illegal in addition to being unpopular. Imagine trying to convict a medical marijuana defendant in federal court in the current political climate. If you lose, the Dept. of Justice will look impotent during a period of surging marijuana entrepreneurship, and if you win, Obama will get skewered in the press.
So if rogue DEA officials still feel compelled to go around making angry threats in the newspaper, I say bring it on. The war on medical marijuana gets less popular every time they open their mouths.
"Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law," he said. "The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment." [Denver Post]
Jeff Sweetin today:
"We are not declaring war on dispensaries," he says -- though he adds with a laugh, "If we were declaring war on dispensaries, they would not be hard to find. You can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting thirty of them."
Sweetin makes note of the fact that the DEA hasn't ever shut down a Colorado dispensary, and the agency doesn't plan on doing so unless there are aggravating factors involved -- like violence, ties to drug cartels or distribution to children. [Westword]
It sounds an awful lot like Sweetin's comments over the weekend may have resulted in somebody important telling him to calm the hell down. What goes on behind the scenes with this stuff is a mystery to me, but I doubt Sweetin figured out on his own that those nasty comments about raiding dispensaries weren't playing well in the press. I'd prefer to think maybe he got a quick phone call from Washington.
The DOJ's "official" policy of respecting state medical marijuana laws is hardly written in stone, leaving more than enough room for a nut like Sweetin to make a big mess provided that nobody yanks his leash. But if one thing is clear about medical marijuana policy under Obama, it's that they have no interest in doing battle with the 80% of Americans who support it. This latest episode isn't the first time one of the President's drug warriors has back-pedaled after making a stupid public comment about medical marijuana. There are new rules in place, and while they still leave much to be desired, it's important to appreciate the extent to which the old smash and grab medical marijuana policy has been put in check.
The point here isnât that Obama loves medical marijuana, or that the DEA can now be counted on to behave itself. Politicians and drug war soldiers don't change overnight, but the mere expectation that the raids have ended can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy when the media and the public generally believe such activity is now illegal in addition to being unpopular. Imagine trying to convict a medical marijuana defendant in federal court in the current political climate. If you lose, the Dept. of Justice will look impotent during a period of surging marijuana entrepreneurship, and if you win, Obama will get skewered in the press.
So if rogue DEA officials still feel compelled to go around making angry threats in the newspaper, I say bring it on. The war on medical marijuana gets less popular every time they open their mouths.
In The Trenches
DrugSense FOCUS ALERT: #433 Black Tar Heroin
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #433 - Tuesday, 16 February 2010
For newspapers to print a series of articles about heroin is rare. The Los Angeles Times printed, starting on the newspaper's front page each day, an in depth series Sunday through today. The sidebar, below, appeared at the end of each article. Here are the links to each article:
Sunday: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n111/a09.html
Monday: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n114/a01.html
Tuesday: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n117/a03.html
Your letters to the editor may be sent by using the webform at http://mapinc.org/url/bc7El3Yo - which recommends letters of about 150 words or less - or by email to [email protected].
Sustaining all the activities of DrugSense in support of the reform community is difficult in these hard economic times. Please consider giving what you can. Details are at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm.
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ABOUT THIS SERIES
Times staff writer Sam Quinones is the author of two books about Mexico, where he lived for 10 years. For this series, he traveled to Colorado, Idaho, Ohio, West Virginia and Xalisco, Mexico, to track the spread of black-tar heroin. He interviewed police narcotics officers, federal drug agents, prosecutors, public health officials, addiction experts and imprisoned former dealers and addicts across the U.S.
Sunday: Pushing heroin into the heartland.
Monday: Black tar packs a deadly punch.
Tuesday: Drug money transforms a backwater.
latimes.com/blacktar
An audio slide show and other resources are available online.
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Suggestions for Writing LTEs Are at Our Media Activism Center
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides
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Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org
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In The Trenches
Drug Truth 02/15/10
Cultural Baggage * Century of Lies * 4:20 Drug War NEWS
Cultural Baggage for 02/14/10 29:00 El Paso City Councilman Beto O'Rourke on the ultra violence in their sister city of Ciudad Juarez & Michael Blunk, board member of Students for Sensible Drug Policy
LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2778
TRANSCRIPT: ASAP
Century of Lies for 02/14/10 29:00 Courtesy Seattle Channel's "City Inside Out" King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, state senator Pam Roach, Sensible Washington founder Douglas Hiatt, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, ACLU-WA Drug Policy Director Alison Holcomb, and Chemical Dependency Professionals Kelly Kerby and Gary Hothi
LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2779
TRANSCRIPT: ASAP
4:20 Drug War NEWS, 02/15 to 02/21/10 Link at www.drugtruth.net on the right margin -
Sun - Michael Blunk, board member Students for Sensible Drug Policy Sat - Beto O'Rourke 5/5 Fri - El Paso Councilman Beto O'Rourke 4/5 Thu - Beto O'Rourke + Michael Blunk of Students for Sensible Drug Policy Wed - El Paso Councilman Beto O'Rourke 2/5 Tue - Beto O'Rourke, El Paso councilman regarding the barbaric war in sister city Ciudad Juarez Mon - Huffington Post Blog: "Drug War Mistaken"
Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston, 90.1 FM. You can Listen Live Online at www.kpft.org
- Cultural Baggage Sun, 7:30 PM ET, 6:30 PM CT, 5:30 PM MT, 4:30 PM PT (Followed Immediately By Century of Lies)
- Century of Lies, SUN, 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT & 5 PM PT
Who's Next to "Face The Inquisition?": TBD
Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org We have potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates i You can tune into both our 1/2 hour programs, live, at 6:30 central time on Pacifica's KPFT at http://www.kpft.org and call in your questions and concerns toll free at 1-877-9-420 420.
The two, 29:00 shows appear along with the seven, daily, 3:00 "4:20 Drug War NEWS" reports each Monday morning at http://www.drugtruth.net . We currently have 71 affiliated, yet independent broadcast stations. With a simple email request to [email protected] , your station can join the Drug Truth Network, free of charge.
Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, DTN Producer, 713-462-7981, www.drugtruth.net
In The Trenches
Action #1 for Medical Marijuana Week!
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