Latest

Even though only 20% of Americans still oppose medical marijuana, there's enough lingering prejudice to create serious problems for patients. Via MPP, here's another ugly example of the workplace discrimination many medical users continue to face:

ANDERSON - Although he says he has a doctor's recommendation to smoke medical marijuana, the on-site manager of a senior apartment complex here claims he was fired by its new Southern California-based management company after he failed its drug-screening test.

The firing of Christian Hughes, 33, who has two weeks in which to leave his apartment in the well-kept complex, has raised the ire of some of those senior citizens who live comfortably at the 81-unit Regency Place Senior Apartments on Red Bud Lane. [Record-Searchlight]

Apparently, Hughes's popularity with the residents has made things complicated:

Sixty-four-year-old Diane Bethany, an apartment complex resident who started a petition drive that obtained about 60 signatures in support of Hughes, says she and many others there are upset by his firing.

"He's a terrific guy," she said, adding that he's always been protective of the residents and goes above and beyond his management duties to help them out.

I can't help but grin at the thought of a bunch of seniors signing a petition to protest an unfair marijuana policy. Hopefully, the press coverage will help Christian Hughes find new employment. Moreover, any companies that still discriminate against patients should take note of the public controversy you invite when you fire good people for bad reasons.

For the second time in as many weeks, DEA agents in Colorado raided a medical marijuana operation last Thursday. Highland Park medical marijuana patient and provider Chris Bartkowiscz had been seen showing off his basement garden Tuesday night in a blurb for an upcoming local news report. On Thursday, the DEA raided him, seizing his plants and growing equipment. Bartkowiscz has been jailed pending a decision from the US Attorney's Office on whether to charge him. That decision could come tomorrow. This despite last October's Department of Justice memorandum instructing federal agencies to lay off medical marijuana in states where it is legal—unless the provider is violating both state and federal law. DEA Denver Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Jeffrey Sweetin apparently didn't get the memo. Either that, or he is blatantly thumbing his nose at his bosses, the American attorney general and president. In a Saturday interview with local TV 9 News, Sweetin said that even though state law allows for medical marijuana, federal law does not. "We will continue to enforce the federal law. That's what we are paid to do," he said. Sweetin said the Justice Department guidelines give him discretion. "Discretion is: I can't send my DEA agents out on 10-plant grows. I'm not interested in that, it's not what we do. We work criminal organizations that are enterprises generating funds by distributing illegal substances," Sweetin said. Sweetin left open the door to go after medical marijuana dispensaries. "Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law. 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," he told the Denver Post. "Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law." The October Justice Department memo said the feds should not go after people in "clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana." The memo said nothing about "large grows" or dispensaries not be included. Denver medical marijuana attorney Robert Corry is waiting to see whether the feds will charge Bartkowiscz. On Saturday, he filed a complaint with the Justice Department against Sweetin and the DEA, saying the raid on Bartkowiscz violated the agency's policy on enforcing drug laws in states that allow medical marijuana. Has Sweetin gone rogue? Or is the Obama administration retreating from the position staked out in the October memo? Stay tuned.

Via DrugWarRant, here's a video that I'm sure all of you will find entertaining. I didn't think it was possible to hate marijuana more than Michael Savage does, but of course it is:

As the debate over marijuana policy becomes increasingly mainstream, our opponents sound increasingly violent, reckless and insane.

One of the most interesting and least-discussed issues in drug policy over the past year is the emergence of synthetic marijuana products, sold under names such Spice and K2, which are being sold openly in head shops around the country. There's one important difference between this and the fake pot that's been advertised in High Times for many years…it actually gets you high.

The manufacturers behind this trend are reluctant to explain what's in their product, but the consensus seems to be that they've synthesized a unique combination of cannabinoids that aren't technically marijuana, but sure as hell do the trick. I'm not a scientist, but I've tried the stuff and it's legit. The effects, coupled with the fact that it's sold in stores and doesn’t come up on any drug tests is enough to get a lot of people pretty excited about it.

I'm a little confused about the legality of all this, given the breadth of federal legislation dealing with synthetic drugs. Nevertheless, legislators in Kansas and Missouri are trying to ban it, which gives the impression that it's legal for now:

Missouri state Rep. Ward Franz, R-West Plains sponsored a bill that would add K2 to Missouri’s list of illegal drugs. That bill was heard before the House Public Safety committee Tuesday.
…
"We don’t know much about this, but it’s going to end up killing somebody," Franz said.

Or maybe it will cure cancer. Jut because it's a drug and people like it doesn’t mean anyone has to die. In a sane society, the invention of a substance that enhances enjoyment would be considered cause for celebration, not a massive public health scare.

Decades into our failed and vastly counterproductive effort to eradicate marijuana, we have an opportunity not to ban something similar without first studying it to see if it's actually dangerous. If synthetic marijuana products are prohibited without any effort to understand them, it will prove that the anti-drug zealots care more about imposing sobriety than protecting health.

As advocates for sensible drug policy, we should defend the legality of new drugs as vigorously as we oppose prohibition of the old ones.