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Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy

"New Study: Marijuana Might Cure Brain Tumors," "Someone Tell the Drug Czar That Hemp Isn't a Drug," "Digg and Reddit Users Want to Legalize Marijuana," "US Government Encourages Drug Offenders to Choose the Army Instead of College."
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New Study: Marijuana Might Cure Brain Tumors

One of the great ironies in the debate over marijuana's medical applications is that the drug may prove to be vastly more useful than many marijuana activists even realize. As the U.S. government continues to block medical marijuana research, scientists around the world are discovering new and exciting possibilities:
Investigators at Bar-Ilan University in Israel report that the administration of THC significantly affects the viability of GBM cells. Glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of glioma (brain cancer), strikes some 7,000 Americans annually, and generally results in death within one to two years following diagnosis.

"THC [is] an essential mediator of cannabinoid antitumoral action," investigators concluded. [NORML]
Or, in layman's terms, THC might stop tumors from killing people. Isn't that great? Now all we have to do is legalize it so people can cure their brains without fear of being raided by the DEA.

As evidence of marijuana's potential value in treating various cancers continues to grow, it becomes increasingly vital that we silence marijuana opponents who seek to prevent such discoveries from being made. The more helpful the drug turns out to be, the more deadly and foolish becomes the conspiracy to destroy its reputation and punish its users.

Is it really so difficult to conceive of the possibility that this plant, like so many others, exists for a good reason?
In The Trenches

The Sentencing Project: Disenfranchisement News & Updates - 10/18/07

National: Resolution Supports Voting While on Community Supervision The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) approved a resolution in support of restoring voting rights upon completion of sentence including no loss of voting rights while on community supervision. The resolution was passed by APPA's Board of Directors last month. "Voting is an integral part of community participation in democratic societies and is one of vital importance in building truly representative governments," the APPA stated in a release. "When large sectors of the population are prevented from voting, a democracy cannot function as it should." Wisconsin: Challenge Posed to Policymakers, Residents The Capital Times in Wisconsin published a letter to the editor in support of Assembly Bill 390, which would give individuals the right to vote upon completion of sentence. The author of the letter, Greg Shiver, wrote: "If the goal is to rehabilitate offenders and integrate them back in to the community, giving them the right to vote is essential. What better way to tell someone that they are part of the community? By giving felons the right to vote we are promoting public safety." Mr. Shiver continued that an estimated 62,342 Wisconsin citizens with felony convictions are banned from voting - 1.5 percent of the voting population. International: 'Unlike the U.S.,' Australia Would 'Never' Disenfranchise Because of Past Convictions The Honorable Justice Michael Kirby, a member of the Australian High Court whose vote was in the majority in striking down legislation stripping inmates of voting rights in the recent Roach v. Electoral Commissioner, gave the address during the conferral of degrees at Southern Cross University in New South Wales September 29. The theme of Justice Kirby's address dealt primarily with the August decision which overturned legislation stripping all inmates of voting rights. In his speech, Kirby stated: "Some, of course, will say that we should not worry about prisoners. Take away their civil rights. Throw away the key. We all know the usual suspects who are of this persuasion. However, it has not been the temperate tradition of Australia. Ours is a land made up, largely, of immigrants without sharp class distinctions. Many of our earliest settlers were convicts. They were people who served their time. Prisoners must be able to "live it down." And as for those serving shorter sentences, they remain entitled to choose their rulers. It remains an inclusive society. Unlike the United States, it would never tolerate excluding millions (or thousands) of citizens from the vote because of past convictions ... The Australian Constitution expressly provides that a person may be elected to serve in Parliament although sentenced to imprisonment for less than one year. If a member of Parliament, with those higher duties, could serve despite such a sentence, it would be paradoxical to exclude altogether prisoners with their much less onerous obligations of being voters." The 4-2 decision, however upheld a 2004 law denying the vote to inmates jailed for more than three years. As a result, only 8,000 of the country's 20,000 sentenced prisoners can vote in the federal election scheduled later this year. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information: email: [email protected], web: http://www.sentencingproject.org
In The Trenches

Drug Truth Network: Cultural Baggage + Century of Lies + DEA Bust Video 10/18/07

Drug Truth Network Update: Cultural Baggage + Century of Lies + DEA Bust Video Half Hour Programs, Live Tuesdays & Wednesdays... at 90.1 FM in Houston & on the web at www.kpft.org. Cultural Baggage for 10/17/07 Medical Marijuana Dispensary Busts: Dr. Mitch Earleywine, Judge James P. Gray, Rick Steves, Doug McVay, Rob Kampia, Rebecca Saltzman, Ethan Nadelmann, James Anthony, Cliff Shaffer, Phil Smith & Poppygate MP3 MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_101707.mp3 Century of Lies for 10/16/07 NORML Conference Special: Rick Steves, Doug McVay, Jeff Jones, Rob Kampia, Steve Dillon, Dr. Mitch Earleywine, Dr. Tom O'Connel, Mathew Robinson & Rebecca Saltzman MP3 MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/COL_101607.mp3 NEW Video: I just uploaded a 6:32 video from last Thursday's DEA bust of the Arts District Healing Center cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG9cyFi9Pqg Next Week - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed: - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:20 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:20 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: NORML Conference III NOTE: NEW RELEASE DATE FOR CULTURAL BAGGAGE (Broadcast onTues) & CENTURY OF LIES (Broadcasts Wed) Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada., ck out our latest videos via www.drugtruth.net/dtnvideo.htm 1 video: "Prohibition is Evil" + 2 from townhall meeting on racial disparity. 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, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net
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In The Trenches

Press Release: Symposium to Explore Solutions to Injection Drug Use in SF, Including Feasibility of Legal Safe-Injection Facility

For Immediate Release: October 17, 2007 Contact: Laura Thomas 415-846-4614 Public Heath Officials, Injection Drug Users and Advocates Join to Explore Solutions to Injection Drug Use in San Francisco October 18 Symposium Will Examine Needs, Feasibility, Support and Options for Legal Safe-Injection Facility 27 Cities in Eight Countries Have Adopted Safe Injecting Sites; Evidence Shows they Reduce HIV, Crime and Drug Use Public health officials, injection drug users, drug war reform adovocates and others will convene for a day-long symposium to examine the needs, feasibility, support, and various options for a legal Safe Injection Facility in San Francisco. The envisioned Safe Injection Facility would serve homeless and marginally housed injection drug users, and the communities most affected by them. The symposium, which is free of charge, will be held on October 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Women's Building auditorium, 3543 18th St. & Valencia in San Francisco. Speakers include public health officials, service providers, legal experts, injection drug users, community groups, leaders in the faith community and evaluators from InSite, a safe injection facility in Vancouver, Canada. San Francisco has several large concentrations of injection drug users (IDUs), and while prevalence of HIV/AIDS remains relatively low among IDUs, rates of hepatitis C have reached epidemic levels, and fatal opiate overdose remains one of the leading causes of death in San Francisco. Community concerns regarding public drug use and improperly discarded syringes have been raised repeatedly over the last few decades. Twenty-seven other cities in eight countries around the world facing similar issues have opened Safe Injection Facilities, and this symposium will open a broad discussion about this option. The symposium is sponsored by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and the Alliance for Saving Lives (ASL), a community consortium working to promote community and individual health through legal safer substance use sites. ASL members include the Harm Reduction Coalition, Tenderloin Health, Mission Neighborhood Resource Center, Homeless Youth Alliance, Drug Policy Alliance, and individual researchers and service providers throughout San Francisco. Continuing Education Units are available for a small fee for RN's, Certified Addiction Treatment Specialists, LCSW's and MFT's. As seating is limited, please RSVP to [email protected] to reserve a space. ###
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Someone Tell the Drug Czar That Hemp Isn't a Drug

The brave drug warriors at ONDCP need so much help. They are just as confused as can be about so many things, but they wear industrial strength earplugs and never go on the internet except to periodically blog about how confused they are. It would be funny if they weren't destroying America.

So anyone who still thinks these people are serious should visit the Drug Czar's blog right away and read his recent post, "Terminated! Gov. Schwarzenegger Vetoes Pro-Drug Hemp Bill." It is downright delusional; a perfect encapsulation of the thinly-veiled psychosis that festers beneath the skin of the powerful Drug War Experts in Washington D.C.
While drug legalization groups extol hemp as some kind of miracle-plant, many Americans aren’t getting the full story. Industrial hemp and marijuana are not just "related" – they come from the same cannabis sativa plant.

The real agenda of hemp enthusiasts is to legalize smoked marijuana and it is no coincidence that legalizing hemp would complicate efforts to curb the production and use of smoked marijuana by young people.
Now, I could explain that hemp actually is a useful plant. I could propose that a hemp bill can't be "pro-drug" because hemp isn't a drug. I could point out that the farmers who want to grow it don't care about marijuana legalization. I could argue that Americans already know it's a type of marijuana. And I could even prove that you can't grow commercial marijuana anywhere near it due to cross-pollination.

But that would be pointless, because the Drug Czar doesn't care about these things. All he cares about is that marijuana legalization advocates sometimes participate in criticizing U.S. hemp policy, and if those people want hemp, he will burn to the ground every damned stalk until they pry the flamethrower from his shriveled dead hands.

In fact, as a marijuana legalization advocate, I should maybe shut up about this, lest I fuel the Drug Czar's deranged fantasy that people who want to make pants and granola bars are actually part of a diabolical conspiracy to turn California into the world's biggest rehab clinic.
In The Trenches

Fall 2007 NY Harm Reduction Trainings - SPACE AVAILABLE!

Dear Friends of the Harm Reduction Coalition, There is still space available in a number of our Fall 2007 NY Harm Reduction Coalition calendar trainings. You may visit our website for registration policies and information by going to www.harmreduction.org or cut and paste this link into your web browser to download our registration form: http://harm.live.radicaldesigns.org/downloads/NYC%20Fall%202007%20Registration%20Form.pdf Please contact us with questions at [email protected] or (212) 683-2334. Best, Stephen Crowe Assistant Training Coordinator
In The Trenches

Sponsor a medical marijuana patient today

John Lehman has suffered from AIDS for the last 10 years. The pain medicine he takes kept him unfocused and mainly in bed, keeping him from his work as a writer. "It was frustrating, to say the least, when vague thoughts of stories danced in my head and there was nothing I could do to put them onto a page," he says.

Luckily, John lives in Montana, where voters passed MPP's medical marijuana ballot initiative in November 2004. Since then, patients like John have been permitted to use and grow their own marijuana legally for medical purposes. However, with no income, John couldn't afford the $50 fee to register with the state's medical marijuana program and obtain the ID card that would protect him from arrest.

Fortunately, MPP was able to help. Through our medical marijuana scholarship program, we paid John's registration fee so that, now, he doesn't need to fear being arrested by state and local police.

Here are John's own words:

Fewer pain pills to pop plus using medical marijuana to alleviate my discomfort equals the opportunity to write again. Medical marijuana also stimulates my appetite when keeping my weight is threatened. In turn, this enables me to go out into the community and give back.

If anyone can help continue the phenomenal work of the Marijuana Policy Project by a kind donation, please do. Other patients like me need your help.

Won't you please help other low-income patients get the protection they need by paying a full or partial registration fee?

A donation of $50 will keep one patient out of jail in Montana or Vermont; a donation of $75 will do the same in Rhode Island; and a donation of $110 or $200 will do the same in Colorado or Nevada, respectively. If you can't afford those amounts, please give what you can.

After MPP's recent lobbying campaigns in Vermont and Rhode Island and our ballot initiative campaign in Montana, these three states now allow patients to possess and grow their own marijuana. But many seriously ill patients have little or no income and are unable to afford fees for the required state medical marijuana ID cards. In response, MPP created a financial assistance program to help pay the registry fees for patients who cannot afford it — and has since paid the registration fees for 90 financially needy patients.

Would you please sponsor a low-income medical marijuana patient today? Your donation can prevent medical marijuana patients from being arrested and jailed simply because they cannot afford to pay the registration fee.

Whether it's $10 or $1,000, cancer, AIDS, and other seriously ill patients are hoping you will give the most generous gift you can to help them. Please give now, while it's fresh in your mind. Thanks so much ...

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2007. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

In The Trenches

ASA’s Medical Marijuana in the News: 10/12/07

ASA ACTION: Patients Ask California Governor for Protection

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed his support for California's medical marijuana program, but activists want him to do what he can to stop federal interference. More than 300 patients and advocates attended ASA's rally at the governor's office in LA to help educate him on the importance of this issue. Letters of support came from Republican elected officials as well as Los Angeles City Council Member Dennis Zine and Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby. Local media, which reaches more than 10 million people, covered the protest extensively.

Marijuana activists rally in downtown LA, want end to raids
Associated Press
About 200 people on Thursday protested federal raids on cannabis clinics and urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to compel the Bush administration to back off. Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, a pro-medical marijuana group, said Schwarzenegger should coordinate with the 12 other governors whose states have legalized medical marijuana to send a message to Washington.

Marijuana activists assemble downtown
Daily Breeze (CA)
About 200 demonstrated outside of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in Los Angeles, demanding he do more to end federal raids on cannabis clinics.

CA Marijuana Protest
KSBY - NBC TV 6 (San Luis Obispo)
Marijuana activists rallied today in downtown Los Angeles, calling for an end to federal raids on cannabis clinics and urging Governor Schwarzenegger to compel the Bush administration to back off.

ASA ACTION: Protests of DEA Raids Drawing Attention

Last week’s protest in support of a maker of edible cannabis products for patients got more attention this week. ASA and other advocates are denouncing the rash of recent raids on medical marijuana patients and dispensaries in California.

Advocates decry medical marijuana raids
by Michael Manekin, Contra Costa Times (CA)
The raid of a large Oakland-based manufacturer of cannabis-laced candy last month was deemed by the federal government as a timely victory in the war on drugs. But medical marijuana advocates pointed to the raid as further evidence that the DEA has escalated its attack on California's marijuana laws by targeting the most vulnerable medical cannabis patients.

FEDERAL: Another Dispensary Raided in LA

DEA agents staged another paramilitary-style raid on a California medical marijuana dispensary, seizing records, cash and marijuana, but making no arrests. Alerted to the raid by a network of emails and text messages, more than 75 ASA activists, patients and other advocates protested in front of the dispensary while it happened.

DEA Agents Raid L.A. Medical Marijuana Clinic
KABC TV Los Angeles
A loud protest broke out Thursday night when agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration raided a medical marijuana clinic in downtown Los Angeles.