Public Hearing on Drug Policy in the European Union
UPDATE: This public hearing will be broadcasted live on the Internet on the following channels:
GREEN MEDIA: http://greenmediabox.eu/live/
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In The Trenches
Real Reform Results From Your Letters!
Real Reform Results From Your Letters!
Thanks to you, 2009 was a banner year for drug policy reform. Governor Corzine of New Jersey just signed medical marijuana legislation into law. In December, President Obama signed a bill reinstating the District of Columbia's medical marijuana initiative as well as lifting a federal ban on funding for needle exchange programs wthe District.
You made these remarkable advancements and many more like them possible via your Letters-to-the Editor (LTEs). Last year, we counted 1,900 LTEs favorable to marijuana, with 684 devoted specifically to medical marijuana. Thirty encouraged needle exchange. The Washington Post alone printed six of your letters, while activists pelted New Jersey newspapers with a remarkable 23 reform-focused LTEs.
What's more, your letters have advertising value. For example, we estimate that those 1,900 medical marijuana LTEs can be valued at approximately $1.8 million; the ones in New Jersey alone were worth over $20,000. Please see http://www.mapinc.org/lte/
Real reform resulted from your letters!
Pat yourself on the back and enjoy your success. While you're at it, please help the organization that keeps you and so many others informed and engaged in this humanitarian movement for social change.
Counting LTEs and encouraging the writers who produce them may seem easy and inexpensive, yet none of this (and the resulting change) would be possible without 15 years of hard work and a budget to support it.
Donating is simple, secure, and tax deductible. Just visit http://www.drugsense.org/donate
Let's make 2010 even better. Keep those letters coming!
Mark Greer
Executive Director
P.S. Don't forget! You can spread your donation over the course of a year by automatically repeating it every month, quarter, or half year as noted on our donate page at http://www.drugsense.org/donate
Checks can also be made payable to DrugSense and mailed to:
DrugSense
14252 Culver Dr #328
Irvine, CA 92604-0326
Or you can donate toll free by calling 1-800-266-5759.
In The Trenches
Drug Truth 02/01/10
Cultural Baggage * Century of Lies * 4:20 Drug War NEWS
Cultural Baggage for 01/31/10 29:00 Cynthia Henley, past Pres of Hou Criminal Lawyer Assoc, DTN Editorial/Msg to Houston Council, report from WTKR TV, Roanoake VA, Phil Smith with Corrupt Cop Stories.
LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2760
TRANSCRIPT: ASAP
Century of Lies for 01/31/10 29:00 Matt Elrod, Canadian reformer, computer guru for DrugSense.org & dozens of reform organizations, Full Spectrum Lab raided by DEA in Denver, Eric Sterling of Criminal Justice Policy Foundation on how we diminish drug war harms
LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2761
TRANSCRIPT: ASAP
4:20 Drug War NEWS, 02/01 to 01/07/10 Link at www.drugtruth.net on the right margin -
Sun - Defense atty Cynthia Henley discusses criminal, justice in Houston Sat - Phil Smith of Drug War Chronicle re Michelle Leonhart's likely appointment to be permanent head of DEA Fri - Eric Sterling of Criminal Justice Policy Foundation regarding how we bring focus to bear on bad policy Thu - Marijuana NEWS from Virginia, courtesy WTKR TV Wed - Phil Smith with this weeks Corrupt Cop Stories Tue - Betty Aldworth regarding DEA raid of Full Spectrum Lab in Denver Mon - DTN Editorial/Request to City Council
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
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Obama Avoids Questions About Legalizing Marijuana (Again)
Another online Q&A contest concluded Monday without any straight answers from the President about why marijuana remains illegal. YouTube, which sponsored the forum, declined to ask the President a single marijuana-related question, despite overwhelming public demand.
As was the case with every previous online forum of this sort, questions about marijuana legalization were not only prominent, they were by far the most popular vote-getters.
These are the top three highest-rated questions from the entire contest:
Sadly, none of these questions were answered. In contrast, the most popular question that wasn't about marijuana received 1,331 votes and, yes, the President answered that one. It was about net neutrality, which Obama says he supports. So, at least we'll continue to enjoy free speech on the internet, even as the White House pretends not to hear us.
Incredibly, this political popularity contest was broken up into categories including Jobs & the Economy, Health Care, Energy & Environment, Foreign Policy & National Security, Education, Financial Reform, and Government Reform, yet it was the "Other" section which drew the most votes, due entirely to its emphasis on legalizing marijuana. "Other" has become a de-facto euphemism for drug policy reform in several of these White House sponsored forums, which wouldn't keep happening if "Crime & Drug Policy" were given its own well-deserved category alongside the other issues that supposedly encompass the modern political landscape.
Instead, the whole online voting process has become a self-evident mockery, as the contest's democratic structure is violated time and again simply to avoid answering one simple question. But if you're frustrated by all of this, don't be. We're winning the online debate, and we're doing so at a time when online outreach is important enough to the White House that they keep coming back for more.
As was the case with every previous online forum of this sort, questions about marijuana legalization were not only prominent, they were by far the most popular vote-getters.
These are the top three highest-rated questions from the entire contest:
"Mr. President, When you asked the country to give you questions, one of the most asked was "Are you going to legalize Marijuana". When you read it, you laughed like it wasnt serious. Why is that?"
None, Florida
1,906 Votes
"What are your plans for cannabis legalization?"
Anonymous, Oklahoma
1,783 Votes                        Â
"Why don't you legalize marijuana, it seems like a great way to gain tax money, and people should have to right to use it if they please, and it would cripple gang activity? Do you plan to?"
Lussy Picker, Kentucky
1,766 Votes           Â
Sadly, none of these questions were answered. In contrast, the most popular question that wasn't about marijuana received 1,331 votes and, yes, the President answered that one. It was about net neutrality, which Obama says he supports. So, at least we'll continue to enjoy free speech on the internet, even as the White House pretends not to hear us.
Incredibly, this political popularity contest was broken up into categories including Jobs & the Economy, Health Care, Energy & Environment, Foreign Policy & National Security, Education, Financial Reform, and Government Reform, yet it was the "Other" section which drew the most votes, due entirely to its emphasis on legalizing marijuana. "Other" has become a de-facto euphemism for drug policy reform in several of these White House sponsored forums, which wouldn't keep happening if "Crime & Drug Policy" were given its own well-deserved category alongside the other issues that supposedly encompass the modern political landscape.
Instead, the whole online voting process has become a self-evident mockery, as the contest's democratic structure is violated time and again simply to avoid answering one simple question. But if you're frustrated by all of this, don't be. We're winning the online debate, and we're doing so at a time when online outreach is important enough to the White House that they keep coming back for more.
Blog
Medical Marijuana: Colorado Bill to Rein-In Booming Scene Passes Senate
Stunned at the rapid increase in the number of registered medical marijuana patients in the state, the Colorado Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to impose new restrictions on physicians who make medical marijuana recommendations. The Senate voted 34-1 to pass SB 109.
Sponsored by Sens. Chris Romer (D-Denver) and Nancy Spence (R-Centennial), the bill would require physicians who make medical marijuana recommendations to have a "bona fide" relationship with patients, including treating a patient before he applies for medical marijuana, conducting a thorough physical exam, and providing follow-up care. The bill would also bar doctors from being paid by dispensaries to write recommendations and require that they not have any restrictions on their medical licenses. Doctors would have to keep records of all medical marijuana recommendations and provide them to state health agencies seeking to investigate doctors for violating state laws.
The bill would also require persons between 18 and 21 to get recommended by two different physicians.
Colorado began registering medical marijuana patients in June 2001 after voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing its use. For years, the number of patients hovered around 2,000, but after state courts last year threw out a regulation limiting the number of patients caregivers could provide for to five and the Obama administration signaled that it was not going to interfere in medical marijuana states, the numbers exploded. By last September, there were more than 17,000 registered patients, and now the number is near 40,000. A similar boom has gone on with dispensaries, with Colorado now second only to California in their numbers.
The bill was supported by Colorado law enforcement and the Colorado Medical Association, but was opposed by most medical marijuana patients and providers.
"This is the beginning of the end of the Wild West" for the state's booming medical-marijuana industry, said bill sponsor Sen. Chris Romer.
"This bill is an unprecedented assault on the doctor-patient privilege that would hold medical marijuana doctors to a higher standard than any other doctor," medical marijuana attorney Robert Correy told lawmakers. "This would cause human suffering. The most sick and the most poor would be disproportionately harmed. You're going to see the Board of Medical Examiners conducting witch hunts against medical marijuana providers."
The bill now moves to the House.
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Feature: Hundreds of Los Angeles Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Face Closure Under New Rules Passed by Council
America's second largest city has adopted regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries. But while medical marijuana advocates want the industry regulated, the new Los Angeles ordinance is being seen as unduly restrictive. This battle isn't over just yet.