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Canada Grows Medical Marijuana for Its Citizens
In case anyone forgot. CBC News now reports that demand for government marijuana is increasing. Since this particular marijuana isnât supposed to be very good, my guess is that Canadian patients simply prefer the convenience of not having to buy their medicine from criminals on the street.So Canada spends tax dollars to provide medical marijuana to sick people, while here in America, we spend tax dollars trying to prevent sick people from getting medical marijuana.
Is Willie Nelson mature enough to smoke marijuana?
(Eric Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, joins us as a regular blogger in the Speakeasy.) âIt's a good thing I had a bag of marijuana instead of a bag of spinach or I'd be dead by now,â Willie Nelson said recently.
People are Getting Beheaded in Mexico
Itâs horrible. But thereâs nothing very surprising about it. The drug war promises endless violence and always delivers. Pablo Escobar killed three presidential candidates in the same election and blew up an entire passenger plane to kill two snitches.
The Deputy Drug Czar Comes to South Dakota
Scott Burns, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota's largest city, on Friday. The only apparent reason for his presence was to try to defeat the medical marijuana initiative on the November 7 ballot.
If Use Doesn't Rise, We Must Legalize
Talkleft reports that the UK is experiencing a drop in marijuana use after reducing penalties for possession. From The Observer:
Reflections from a Dr. Hurwitz patient
I am sure many of you recognize the name of Dr. Wm. Hurwitz. Dr. Hurwitz was a nationally known very prominent pain management physician. He was known for his very aggressive pain treatment and had patients from almost every state in the country. These were the patients that nobody else would take, they were too complicated, needed doses that were too high for other doctors. I was one of these patients and Dr. H saved my life. He is the most caring and compassionate dr I have ever known. In his younger years he served with Doctors Without Borders in Brazil. He was known never to turn away people who couldn't pay.
Maybe They Just Like the Way it Smells
People are getting wasted on cocaine again. Science Blog reports on data from the University of Florida that may suggest a coming epidemic:
Ok, Now I'm Pissed
This is outrageous:The Chicago Crime Commission will hold its Stars of Distinction, 2006 Awards Dinner to recognize outstanding individual and organizational contributions in fighting crime. DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy will accept the Education Award along with Museum for Science and Industry partners responsible for bringing âTarget America: Opening Eyes to the Danger Drugs Causeâ to Chicago.
No Winners in Chicago Open Air Drug Market Bust
An article by Michelle Keller in the Chicago Tribune today very factually reported on a police raid and shutdown of an open-air drug market. Fourteen suspects described as gang members were charged with conspiracy and delivery of a controlled substance, according to the article.
Another Reason to Get High With Grandma
The New York Times reports that the value of traditional Alzheimerâs medications has been dramatically overstated:More and more often, it seems, drugs that were widely thought to be effective against serious illnesses turn out to show little or no value when tested in large, impartial clinical trials insulated from drug company influence.â¦These discouraging results speak mostly to the desperate need for effective new treatments for Alzheimerâs.Desperate need for effective new treatment, huh? Look no further. In fact, marijuana may eliminate the need for Alzheimerâs treatments altogether, since it seems to actually prevent the onset of the disease.I have enough experience with Alzheimerâs to know that families confronted with it will usually try anything. Itâs ironic to think that the family values fanatics who arbitrarily oppose medical marijuana may soon find themselves shoving a bong in grandmaâs mouth.
Doing "Ant Work" on the Drug War With Mainstream Press Reporters
When I read the autobiography of 20th Century Salvadoran revolutionary leader Miguel Marmol some years ago, one phrase from the book stuck with me. When Marmol talked about the tedious, day-to-day organizing over the long-term to build a revolutionary movement, he called it "trabajo de hormigas," or "ant work." I thought the term was especially apt and evocative, suggesting the unglamorous, but necessary, laying the groundwork for change.
Countdown to the November elections
Election day is now three weeks away, and the Chronicle will be focusing on drug policy-related races across the country between now and then. With most people's attention focused on whether the Democrats will regain control of the House and/or Senate, the drug policy-related races and ballot questions are not getting much attention, except at the local and state level, but there are some important drug policy-related questions being decided on election day. Expect to see a lot of articles focused on the elections between now and November 7, and, of course, the Friday following the election.
WELL, GEE WHIZ!!!
WELL GEE WHIZ--I bet Gordon and Constance Gee are getting tired of that joke, among many others, by now. Anyway, nobody is going to be asking for any Gee whiz. Class structure in America has never been more clearly delineated. The wife of the Chancellor of Vanderbilt University can be outed as a pot smoker in the Wall Street Journal, and all anybody does is titter. For the rest of us, it's a different story.
Federal jurors buy testimony by pot-smoker, set him free
I felt this would be an interesting read for everyone concerned.It's written by a local newspaper journalist from San Antonio, TX. Federal jurors buy testimony by pot-smoker, set him free Web Posted: 10/12/2006 12:58 AM CDT
"We'll need grinders and large bongs"
From CNN.comCanadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall.
More Silliness from the Drug Czar
When the paranoid family values fanatics at Focus on the Family write news stories based on quotes from John Walters, you know what youâre gonna get:
This is Your Government on Drugs
What happens when a satirical TV program tricks 50 members of Italian Parliament into taking a drug test? Controversy.From News.com
The Chronicle plans a trip to the Andes
Snowflakes are falling in the Dakotas today. With winter coming to the High Plains, it's a good time to be thinking about heading south, and that's just what I intend to do in a few weeks, probably in early January. Thanks to a targeted gift from an individual donor (the same guy who financed my Afghanistan trip last year), I will be heading to Bolivia and Peru to report on the status of the Andean drug war.
Finally, A Local Newspaper Drug Bust Story That Asks the Right Question
My job requires me to look at countless drug-related newspaper articles every day in search of drug policy news. Most of those articles are not about drug policy, but about the more mundane daily drug busts. And the vast majority of articles about drug busts follow a simple template: Report the bust, report the cops' self-congratulatory remarks about making a difference. It is extremely rare for these run-of-the-mill drug bust stories to carry any context or raise the larger questions about the (f)utility of our current drug policies. That's why it's so heartwarming to come across a story like the one that was published in the Easton (Pennsylvania) Times-Express on Sunday.
How Can We Say No To Drugs, When We Can Pay For Wars In South America!
In 1996 the federal govenment and DEA could only account for 6% of all federal dollers spent on the war on drugs !