All Entries in the "Illegal Drugs" Category

White House Rejects Petition To Legalize Marijuana

The White House has rejected several marijuana legalization petitions, one of which called on the federal government to stop interfering with state marijuana legalization efforts.

“As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem,” wrote Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, in a statement released late on Friday. “We also recognize that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use.”

The statement came in response to a petition submitted by retired Baltimore narcotics officer Neill Franklin as part of the White House’s “We The People” project, an effort to allow ordinary Americans to gain the attention of policymakers through an online portal at the White House website. Any petition garnering 5,000 signatures within 30 days of submission is guaranteed a response from the White House; Franklin’s petition received more than 17,000.

Full Story Here: White House Rejects Petition To Legalize Marijuana.

Support For Marijuana Legalization Reaches Historic High | ThinkProgress

New polling released by Gallup today finds that 50 percent of Americans now support marijuana legalization, while 46 percent of Americans oppose it. This support for legalizing marijuana is actually a record high, as Gallup illustrates in the following chart:

Full Story Here: Support For Marijuana Legalization Reaches Historic High | ThinkProgress.

California’s Doctors Back Legalization Of Marijuana

California’s largest industry group for doctors is calling for the legalization of marijuana even as it maintains that the drug has few proven health benefits.

Trustees of the California Medical Association adopted the new stance at its annual meeting Friday in Anaheim, according to a Los Angeles Times report ( ). http://lat.ms/qR96hb

Dr. Donald Lyman, the Sacramento physician who wrote the group’s new policy, said doctors are increasingly frustrated by the state’s medical marijuana law, which allows use with a doctor’s recommendation. Physicians are put in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether to recommend a drug that’s illegal under federal law, Lyman said.

Full Story Here: California’s Doctors Back Legalization Of Marijuana.

Is Obama’s Drug Policy Worse Than Bush’s? The War on Medical Marijuana Escalates

U.S. Attorneys in California have announced a campaign to target medical marijuana, suggesting the beginning of the end for the medical marijuana industry.

Signaling an intensification of federal government targeting of medical marijuana providers, the four US Attorneys in California Friday announced a campaign of “coordinated enforcement actions targeting the illegal operations of the commercial marijuana industry in California.” The announcement came at a Sacramento news conference.

The federal prosecutors said their enforcement actions would rely on pursuing civil forfeiture lawsuits against properties where dispensaries are located, threatening letters to dispensary landlords, and criminal prosecutions. The prosecutors said recent dispensary busts in Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego were part of the enforcement campaign.

The feds said that enforcement actions would vary across regions of the state and that they would be working with federal law enforcement and local officials to crack down. The Department of Justice in Washington made clear that this was not an instance of prosecutors going off the reservation.

Full Story Here: Is Obama’s Drug Policy Worse Than Bush’s? The War on Medical Marijuana Escalates | | AlterNet.

Florida’s welfare drug testing costs more than it saves 

Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s plan to test welfare recipients for drugs is costing the state money, despite his claims that the program would actually save tax dollars.

A WFTV investigation found that out of the 40 recipients tested by Department of Central Florida’s (DCF) region, only two resulted in positive results. And one of those tests is being appealed.

Under the rules of the program, the state must reimburse recipients who receive negative test results. The state paid about $1,140 for the 38 negative tests, while saving less than $240 a month by denying benefits over the two positive tests.

“We have a diminishing amount of returns for our tax dollars,” the ACLU’s Derek Brett told WFTV. “Do we want our governor throwing our precious tax dollars into a program that has already been proven not to work?”

Full Story Here: Florida’s welfare drug testing costs more than it saves | Raw Replay.

Barney Frank and Ron Paul will Introduce Legislation on Thursday to Fully Legalize Marijuana

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce “bi-partisan legislation tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference,” according to a press release from the Marijuana Policy Project that just hit my inbox. More from that email:

Other co-sponsors include Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). The legislation would limit the federal government’s role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling, allowing people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal. The legislation is the first bill ever introduced in Congress to end federal marijuana prohibition.

Full Story Here: Barney Frank and Ron Paul will Introduce Legislation on Thursday to Fully Legalize Marijuana – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine.

President Carter urges U.S. to rethink drug war

Former President Jimmy Carter, in an editorial published by The New York Times on Thursday, urged sitting U.S. officials to rethink the drug war by decriminalizing marijuana possession and focusing on harm reduction policies over hard boiled policing.

In his essay, Carter looks at the proposals by a global commission of formerly high ranking officials who pleaded with the U.S. recently to take a new approach to reducing the harm caused by drug addiction. the former U.S. president calls their research and conclusions “persuasive” and suggests it is not far from what he proposed in 1977.

“I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts,” he wrote. “I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: ‘Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.’”

Full Story Here: President Carter urges U.S. to rethink drug war | The Raw Story.

Former world leaders say decriminalizing marijuana worth trying

A group of prominent former world leaders said Wednesday the so-called war on drugs has “failed” and that decriminalizing marijuana may help curb drug-related violence and social ills.

“The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world,” the members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy say in a report.

“Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President (Richard) Nixon launched the US government’s war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed.”

And saying that restrictions on marijuana should be loosened, the report urged governments to “end the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others.”

Full Story Here: Former world leaders say decriminalizing marijuana worth trying | The Raw Story.

Major panel: Drug war failed; legalize marijuana

The global war on drugs has failed and governments should explore legalizing marijuana and other controlled substances, according to a commission that includes former heads of state, a former U.N. secretary-general and a business mogul.

A new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy argues that the decades-old “global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” The 24-page paper will be released Thursday.

“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won,” the report said.

Full Story Here: Major panel: Drug war failed; legalize marijuana.

The 5 Worst States to Get Busted With Pot

Even a minor pot bust can be life-altering for people unlucky enough to be arrested in one of these five states.

Police prosecute over 800,000 Americans annually for violating state marijuana laws. The penalties for those busted and convicted vary greatly, ranging from the imposition of small fines to license revocation to potential incarceration. But for the citizens arrested in these five states, the ramifications of even a minor pot bust are likely to be exceptionally severe.

Full Story Here: The 5 Worst States to Get Busted With Pot | Drugs | AlterNet.

DEA head: A thousand dead children means we’re winning war on drugs – War Room – Salon.com

Michele Leonhart, our top drug cop, has a funny definition of victory

Producing and distributing illegal drugs is a profitable business, because there will always be a lot of demand and because illegality allows you to charge a great deal of money. That illegality also means that the people who produce and distribute the drugs are generally not responsible corporate citizens. So thanks to our expensive, terribly ineffective and endless war on drugs, lots of people are dying.

The Washington Post recently reported that the victims of Mexican drug cartel violence increasingly include children, who are being specifically targeted in order to terrorize people and intimidate potential business rivals:

The children’s rights group estimates that 994 people younger than 18 were killed in drug-related violence between late 2006 and late 2010, based on media accounts, which are incomplete because newspapers are often too intimidated to report drug-related crimes.
[...]

Full Story Here: DEA head: A thousand dead children means we’re winning war on drugs – War Room – Salon.com.

Dem Rep. Jared Polis calls on Congress to end marijuana prohibition

Speaking alongside industry advocates, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) called Wednesday for Congress to end the prohibition on marijuana, stressing the need to reduce drug violence while hailing the medical cannabis market’s capacity for growing the economy.

“Ending the failed policy of prohibition with regard to marijuana will strike a major blow against the criminal cartels that are terrorizing Americans and Mexicans on both sides of the border,” Polis said at the National Press Club, in response to a question from Raw Story.

“It’s been estimated that the drug cartels drive about half of their revenue from marijuana, so I think it would reduce the violence by half, and reduce the money that fuels the criminal enterprises by half.”

Full Story Here: Dem Rep. Jared Polis calls on Congress to end marijuana prohibition | The Raw Story.

Oakland’s Plan to Cash In on Marijuana Farms Hits a Roadblock

For a brief, smoky moment last fall, this economically challenged city seemed poised to become the nation’s most aggressive when it comes to growing and taxing medical marijuana.

Those hopes have been dimmed considerably in recent weeks, though, since an exchange of letters between the city attorney and federal law enforcement officials has made it exceedingly clear that Washington will not tolerate plans for the large-scale marijuana farms the City Council approved last July. City officials had hoped to use the massive indoor growing facilities to raise some $38 million annually in fees and taxes at a time when the city is struggling with a $31 million deficit and 17 percent unemployment.

Polls last summer suggested that voters were likely to pass a November ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational marijuana use in California. They did not. But Oakland decided to proceed with its plans anyway.

Full Story Here: Oakland’s Plan to Cash In on Marijuana Farms Hits a Roadblock – NYTimes.com.

weGrow, ‘Wal-Mart Of Weed,’ Set To Open In Sacramento

A retail store billing itself as “the Wal-Mart of weed” will open its doors in Sacramento tomorrow, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The 10,000-square-foot weGrow outlet, advertised as a one-stop shop for legal growers seeking supplies and training, claims the honor of being the industry’s first-ever national franchise. Look for outposts of the self-proclaimed “first honest hydro store,” which started as a solo warehouse operation in Oakland last year, to sprout up in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and even New Jersey in the coming months.

The Ganja Galleria doesn’t sell any actual pot–it just sells supplies, provides classes, and offers an on-site doctor to help customers choose their favorite strain.

Full Story Here: weGrow, ‘Wal-Mart Of Weed,’ Set To Open In Sacramento.

DEA to legalize marijuana only for ‘Big Pharma,’ NORML claims

A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposal to reclassify the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana as a Schedule III substance would allow pharmaceutical companies to market the drug while still penalizing common recreational use, according to marijuana law reform advocates.

The main psychoactive chemical in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is currently a Schedule I substance within the US Controlled Substances Act, the most restrictive schedule with the greatest criminal penalties.

In November 2010, the DEA proposed reclassifying dronabinol, a synthetic THC, as a Schedule III substance, which would place it among substances such as hydrocodone and allow it to be dispensed with a written or oral prescription.

Full Story Here: DEA to legalize marijuana only for ‘Big Pharma,’ NORML claims | The Raw Story.

Seattle Times endorsing marijuana legalization bill

The Seattle Times is endorsing a bill in the Washington state Legislature to legalize marijuana, in an editorial to be published this Sunday.

The paper is coming out in favor of House Bill 1550, which would make it legal to sell pot in liquor stores.

The editorial comes just days after Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said he has stopped prosecuting user-level possession cases.

Full Story Here: Seattle Times endorsing marijuana legalization bill | KING5.com | Seattle and Washington Political News.

Top 8 Drug Stories of 2010: Momentum Is Building to End the Failed Drug War

The debate around failed marijuana prohibition and the larger drug war arrived in a big way in 2010. Here are some of the most significant stories of the year.

It’s been a difficult year for progressives, and most other Americans as well. While I feel discouraged about many things happening in our country and around the world, and have lost lots of my “Yes We Can” glow from only two years ago, the issue that is closest to my heart — ending the war on people who use drugs — continues to bring me hope and cautious optimism.

The debate around failed marijuana prohibition and the larger drug war arrived in a big way in 2010. Below are some of the most significant stories from 2010 and the reasons why I’m encouraged that we can start finding an exit strategy from America’s longest running war.

Full Story Here: Top 8 Drug Stories of 2010: Momentum Is Building to End the Failed Drug War | | AlterNet.

Pat Robertson Wants To Legalize Pot

Pat Robertson came out in favor of marijuana legalization on the 12/22/2010 episode of The 700 Club

Marijuana-legalization push gets voice on Capitol Hill

The cannabis industry has flexed its muscles in 15 states where it’s legal to smoke marijuana for medical purposes. Now the industry is ready to go to work in Washington.

A new trade group, called the National Cannabis Industry Association, is an attempt to bring together sellers, growers and manufacturers and to promote pot on Capitol Hill.

“Our intent is to be the go-to organization in Washington for this industry,” said Aaron Smith, the group’s executive director.

Full Story Here: Marijuana-legalization push gets voice on Capitol Hill | McClatchy.

Calif. cities move to license industrial marijuana growing operations

As numerous cities get set to levy voter-approved taxes on medical marijuana retailers, some municipalities in Northern California are already moving aggressively toward creating government-sanctioned marijuana farms to help supply them.

Cities hope to rake in even more tax revenue from medical marijuana cultivation, which has remained in the shadows although it has been legal in the state since 1996.

On Monday, Oakland will begin the application process for four permits to run industrial-scale marijuana farms within city limits.

In Berkeley, a successful ballot measure to allow medical pot cultivation in industrial zones has would-be growers scrambling to score scarce real estate.

Full Story: Calif. cities move to license industrial marijuana growing operations | Raw Story.

Pot Advocates To Push For Legalization In 2012

Proponents of Proposition 19, the California ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational use and possession of small amounts of marijuana, have vowed they will get pot back on the ballot in 2012.

“We have a debate that was just heard around the world and the conversation has only begun,” Dale Jones, a spokeswoman for Prop 19, said at a Wednesday news conference. “There’s a seat at the table for 2012,” she added. “This is not a matter of if, but when, and our leaders are already working on how to move this issue forward.”

Although the measure went down to defeat on Election Day, Richard Lee, a medical marijuana entrepreneur and the author of Prop 19, noted that the effort “got more votes than Meg Whitman.”

Full Story: Pot Advocates To Push For Legalization In 2012.

Billionaire George Soros gives $1 million to Calif. marijuana legalization campaign | Raw Story

Billionaire financier George Soros has thrown his money behind California’s marijuana legalization measure with a $1 million donation a week before the vote.

The contribution reported Tuesday by The Sacramento Bee is the single biggest donation from an individual other than Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee, the main sponsor of Proposition 19.

Soros, a high-profile liberal, was one of the top financial backers of the 1996 measure that made California the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana for medical use.

Full Story: Billionaire George Soros gives $1 million to Calif. marijuana legalization campaign | Raw Story.

Joseph McNamara: Let’s Be Honest: The War Against Marijuana Has Failed

I’ve worked in law enforcement for 35 years, including 15 years as the police chief in San Jose, California. Over my career, I have seen firsthand how misguided our marijuana policies are for our state and our country. That’s why I narrated the Yes on 19 campaign’s new TV ad.

For 70 years, we have prohibited marijuana in this country, each day expecting different results. But as William F. Buckley once said: “Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”

We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year arresting people for marijuana possession, sending them to trial, and incarcerating small-time offenders.

And yet, despite our war against it, marijuana is so freely available that anyone who wants it in California can get it.

Full Story: Joseph McNamara: Let’s Be Honest: The War Against Marijuana Has Failed.

Dozens of law professors nation-wide endorse Calif. marijuana legalization

More than 65 professors of law from universities nation-wide gave their endorsement on Tuesday to California ballot initiative Prop. 19, which would allow for the regulation and taxation of the state’s cannabis trade, potentially generate millions in new revenue for the cash-strapped state.

The professors, from schools such as Yale, Harvard, Georgetown, New York University, UCLA, Berkeley, George Mason University, Emory and the Washington College of Law, signed an open letter published by the “Yes on 19″ campaign, all calling for legalization.

“Our communities would be better served if the criminal justice resources we currently spend to investigate, arrest, and prosecute people for marijuana offenses each year were redirected toward addressing unsolved violent crimes,” they opined. “In short, the present policy is causing more harm than good, and is eroding respect for the law.

Full Story: Dozens of law professors nation-wide endorse Calif. marijuana legalization | Raw Story.

Feds’ Warning on Legal Pot Bad News for Big Growers

The federal government made it clear today that it will continue to enforce drug laws even if California votes to legalize marijuana on Nov. 2.

Observers said the Obama administration’s pronouncement that it would continue to “vigorously enforce” the laws against people buying, selling, or growing marijuana for recreational use would have a greater effect on big pot impresarios rather than the average stoner if Proposition 19 passes.

“I don’t see them coming in and taking down people with their little five-foot by five- foot gardens,” said Bill Panzer, an Oakland lawyer who helped write seminal state legislation on medical marijuana.

Full Story: Feds’ Warning on Legal Pot Bad News for Big Growers – The Bay Citizen.

Major shift: California leans toward marijuana legalization

A new Field Poll highlighted Sunday in The San Francisco Chronicle (whose site has crashed as of this writing) suggests that the tide has turned in favor of medical marijuana legalization.

“In a dramatic shift of sentiment, nearly half of California’s likely voters now want to legalize marijuana use in the state, according to a new Field Poll,” the site’s authors write.

“The numbers have flipped (on Proposition 19) since our July poll,” Mark DiCamillo, the poll’s director, told the Chronicle. “That’s a major change in the direction of public feelings on legalizing marijuana.”

Full Story: Major shift: California leans toward marijuana legalization | Raw Story.

What the pot legalization campaign really threatens – Drugs – Salon.com

By David Sirota:

A far more harmful drug that causes hundreds of annual deaths and contributes to violent crime is already legal

Here’s a fact that even drug policy reform advocates can acknowledge: California’s 2010 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana does, indeed, pose a real threat, as conservative culture warriors insist. But not to public health, as those conservatives claim.

According to most physicians, pot is less toxic — and has more medicinal applications — than a legal and more pervasive drug like alcohol. Whereas alcohol causes hundreds of annual overdose deaths, contributes to untold numbers of illnesses and is a major factor in violent crime, the use of marijuana has never resulted in a fatal overdose and has not been systemically linked to major illness or violent behavior.

So this ballot measure is no public health threat. If anything, it would give the millions of citizens who want to use inebriating substances a safer alternative to alcohol. Which, of course, gets to what this ballot initiative really endangers: alcohol industry profits.

Full Story: What the pot legalization campaign really threatens – Drugs – Salon.com.

Alcohol Lobby Now Openly Spending Against CA’s Legal Pot Initiative in Alliance with Police Industrial Complex

Big Alcohol’s decision to squash marijuana law reform to protect its bottom line is simply politics as usual.

It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows, but there are arguably few stranger than the emerging alliance between two of California’s most powerful political players: the police-industrial complex and Big Alcohol. Campaign finance reports from the Golden State disclose that the California Beer and Beverage Distributors — a trade organization that represents over 100 beer distributors statewide — is one of the primary backers of the lobby group Public Safety First, sponsors of the No on Prop. 19 campaign.

According to the California Secretary of State’s office, the beer lobby donated $10,000 to Public Safety First on September 7, 2010. The donation came just days before PSF issued an online mailing alleging that the passage of Prop. 19 — which would legalize the private adult use and cultivation of limited amounts of cannabis, and allow local governments the option of regulating its commercial production and retail distribution — would inevitably lead to stoned school bus drivers and crossing guards, and will cause California public schools to “lose as much as $9.4 billion in federal funding.” (Needless to say, passage of the measure would do none of these things.)

Full Story: Alcohol Lobby Now Openly Spending Against CA’s Legal Pot Initiative in Alliance with Police Industrial Complex | Drugs | AlterNet.

The Fraudulent Criminalization of Marijuana

For almost 40 years, the United States has waged a war on its own citizens who have used marijuana as a part of a drug culture originally encouraged by the government. The war was commenced despite the government’s own findings that marijuana posed less of a risk to American society than alcohol, and that the greatest harm that would result from criminalization would be the injury caused to those arrested for possession and use. The harm caused by the war extends beyond its 15 million prisoners; its cost has exceeded a trillion dollars, and it has benefitted only those who profit from the illegal cultivation and sale of marijuana.

Government Responsibility for the Drug Culture

Drug use became endemic among U.S. troops serving in Vietnam with more than 80% getting stoned on marijuana and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Many of the secrets are still hidden; however, we now have some information about the extent of the government’s responsibility for the development of the drug culture in the military and in communities across America. These are the highlights:

Full Story: The Fraudulent Criminalization of Marijuana.

Drug use higher than in nearly a decade, report says

The rate of illegal drug use rose last year to the highest level in nearly a decade, fueled by a sharp increase in marijuana use and a surge in ecstasy and methamphetamine abuse, the government reported Wednesday.

Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, called the 9 percent increase in drug use disappointing but said he was not surprised given “eroding attitudes” about the perception of harm from illegal drugs and the growing number of states approving medicinal marijuana.

“I think all of the attention and the focus of calling marijuana medicine has sent the absolute wrong message to our young people,” Kerlikowske said in an interview.

Full Story: Drug use higher than in nearly a decade, report says – Health – Addictions – msnbc.com.

Former Police Chief: Legalize Pot, Now

As San Jose’s retired chief of police and a cop with 35 years experience on the front lines in the war on marijuana, I’m voting yes on Prop. 19.

California voters have a chance on this November’s ballot to bring common sense to law enforcement by legalizing marijuana for adults. As San Jose’s retired chief of police and a cop with 35 years experience on the front lines in the war on marijuana, I’m voting yes.

I’ve seen the prohibition’s terrible impact at close range.

Like an increasing number of law enforcers, I have learned that most bad things about marijuana — especially the violence made inevitable by an obscenely profitable black market — are caused by the prohibition, not by the plant. Legal marijuana is long overdue, but leading up to November, wrongheaded opponents will implore Californians with the same old mistaken arguments to stay the course. Prohibition advocates will promote fear, and they will ignore the vast bulk of law enforcement and medical experience on marijuana. People should not be fooled by cannabis opponents’ appeal to prejudices and emotions when they argue:

Full Story: Former Police Chief: Legalize Pot, Now | Drugs | AlterNet.

Cenk In Funny Pot Ad!

Cenk Uygur (host of The Young Turks) filling in for Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC stars in a funny pot ad spoof after the first medical marijuana commercial in the US airs.

Note to Jay Leno: Marijuana Is Not “Essentially Legal” — More Than 800,000 People a Year Are Arrested for It

Leno demonstrates his lack of familiarity with the enormous number arrests in this country tied to marijuana.

Rep. Barney Frank appeared on “The Tonight Show” Tuesday night and, among other issues, strongly reiterated his support for reforming our failed marijuana laws. Jay Leno countered that “Smoking marijuana is essentially legal now. You can get it anywhere, and if you get caught, it’s the most minimum [consequences]…”

Leno articulated a common misperception about marijuana enforcement in the United States, that it may be technically illegal, but as he put it, “Anyone that wants to smoke can smoke.” In fact, enforcement of marijuana laws is at an all-time high in this country, especially in California.

Full Story: Note to Jay Leno: Marijuana Is Not “Essentially Legal” — More Than 800,000 People a Year Are Arrested for It | Drugs | AlterNet.

5 Things the Corporate Media and Government Don’t Want You to Know About Marijuana

News outlets continue to ignore research that belies government anti-pot propaganda.

Last September I penned an essay for Alternet entitled Five Things the Corporate Media Don’t Want You to Know About Cannabis. In it I proposed, “[N]ews outlets continue to, at best, underreport the publication of scientific studies that undermine the federal government’s longstanding pot propaganda and, at worst, ignore them all together.” Nearly one year later little has changed.

Here are five additional stories the mainstream media doesn’t want you to know about cannabis.

1. Long-term marijuana use is associated with lower risks of certain cancers, including head and neck cancer.

Full Story: 5 Things the Corporate Media and Government Don’t Want You to Know About Marijuana | Drugs | AlterNet.

Wow — the Eyewear Industry Is an Incredible Ripoff, But There Are Alternatives | Economy | AlterNet

What makes glasses so expensive? Oblong plastic lenses? Plastic and metal frames? We’re getting screwed.

Those of us who need prescription eyewear need prescription eyewear. Are you wearing yours to read this? Imagine if you weren’t. Imagine life without your glasses for a year, a week, an hour. Yet many health insurance plans, especially for the unemployed or self-employed, don’t cover them.

Mine doesn’t.

Last year, I went shopping for no-line progressive bifocals in small oval metal frames. Name brands mean nothing to me. Price does. My high astigmatism and need for bifocals disqualify me from those buy-one-get-one-free deals, which almost always involve only single-vision specs.

In store after store, megachains and optical boutiques alike, small oval metal frames fitted with lenses matching my prescription started at $300. One popular shop quoted me $582 for the lenses alone.

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l Story: Wow — the Eyewear Industry Is an Incredible Ripoff, But There Are Alternatives | Economy | AlterNet.

Rolling Stone: “Just Say Now” to Legalize Marijuana

Rolling Stone has a big new article in this month’s issue about the push to legalize marijuana in California and across the country. The title of the article may sound familiar: it’s called “Just Say Now.” And our campaign gets an impressive plug:

This law-and-order approach plays well with soccer moms in Los Angeles, who often provide the swing vote in California politics. “Like most things in politics these days, it’s going to come down to the conflicted baby boomers,” says Bill Carrick, a prominent Democratic consultant based in Los Angeles. But leading Democrats are still shying away from the measure, fearing that legalization will be used against them as a wedge issue. At recent meetings, both the California Democratic Party and the California Labor Federation voted to remain neutral on Prop 19. “The Democratic point of view, which is understandable, is that we don’t want to be seen as the party of drugs and dope,” says Carrick.

In fact, advocates argue, the campaign to legalize pot could actually have the opposite effect, sparking a “burnout turnout” that will boost Democrats in November. When asked how the party can get first-time Obama voters to show up this fall, the 78-year-old chairman of the California Democratic Party, John Burton, gave a one-word answer: “Pot.” Indeed, polls indicate that legalization could lure Obama voters to the polls like no other issue. The progressive blog Firedoglake and Students for Sensible Drug Policy recently launched a “Just Say Now” campaign, both online and through college campuses, to turn out young voters.

Full Story: Rolling Stone: “Just Say Now” to Legalize Marijuana | FDL Action.

California Endures Another Summer of Pointless Marijuana Raids

For nearly 30 years, the Campaign Against Planting has waged a quixotic battle to eradicate California’s outdoor marijuana industry. It’s at it again this year.

For nearly 30 years, the Campaign Against Planting has waged a quixotic battle to eradicate California’s outdoor marijuana industry. It’s at it again this year.

It’s August in California, and that means the state’s multi-billion outdoor marijuana crop is ripening in the fields. It also means that the nearly 30-year-old effort to uproot those plants, the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), is once taking up its Sisyphean task of wiping out the crop. The choppers are flying, the SWAT teams are deploying, and the federal funds that largely feed CAMP are being burned through.

The raids are nearly a daily event in the Golden State at this time of year. CAMP spokesperson Michelle Gregory told the Chronicle Wednesday that the campaign had uprooted 2.27 million pot plants as of this week, slightly behind the 2.4 million uprooted by this time last year. Last year was a CAMP record, with 4.4 million plants seized by year’s end.

“It’s about the same this year,” said Gregory.

Full Story: California Endures Another Summer of Pointless Marijuana Raids | Drugs | AlterNet.

Will California Legalize Pot?

With only a few months to go until the election, the campaign to legalize marijuana in California has only $50,000 in cash on hand. The question now is: How can it win?

Today, at least a third of Americans say they’ve tried smoking weed. Is it possible that after half a century of increasingly mainstreamed pot use the public is ready for marijuana to be legal? We may soon find out.

California has long been on the front lines of marijuana policy. In 1996, it became the first state to legalize medical cannabis. This year, the Tax Cannabis initiative — now officially baptized Proposition 19 — may very well be the best chance any state has ever had at legalizing the consumption, possession and cultivation of marijuana for anyone over 21.

Drug reformers are particularly excited about Prop. 19′s prospects because the pot reform stars seem to be as aligned as ever here. Consider the current state of marijuana in California. For one, medical cannabis has normalized the idea of pot as a legitimate industry to many of the state’s residents. At least 300,000 and as many as 400,000 Californians are card-carrying medical marijuana patients, and the medical pot industry brings in around $100 million in sales tax revenue each year, according to Americans for Safe Access

Full Story: Will California Legalize Pot? | Drugs | AlterNet.

Watch: What a Legal Pot Economy Would Look Like

How everyone stands to benefit from ending the war on weed.

This fall Californians will go the polls with a chance to make history. They will be able to cast a vote to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol or cigarettes. California’s Proposition 19 is one of many similar initiatives cropping up on state ballots across the country.

Whether it’s calls for decriminalization or medical marijuana the end of cannabis prohibition has never seemed closer. In this short animated parable, “The Flower,” award winning artist Haik Hoisington contrasts a legal marijuana economy with an illegal one, to show how everyone stands to benefit from ending the war on weed.

“The Flower” contrasts a utopian society that freely farms and consumes a pleasure giving flower with a society where the same flower is illegal and its consumption is prohibited. The animation is a meditation on the social and economic costs of marijuana prohibition.

Full Story: Watch: What a Legal Pot Economy Would Look Like | Drugs | AlterNet.

Oakland Authorizes Large-Scale Pot Farms, First Major City To Do So

The City Council gave final approval Tuesday to a plan that makes Oakland the first city in the country to authorize large-scale industrial pot cultivation.

The city intends to license four production plants where marijuana would be grown, packaged and processed for medical use.

Under the plan, which would take effect in January, license recipients would be heavily taxed and regulated. They would have to pay the city $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million in liability insurance and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes.

The measure also would require bidders to meet certain labor, environmental and product safety standards.

However, there would be no size restrictions on the facilities.

Two of the eight City Council members abstained from the vote.

Full Story: Oakland Authorizes Large-Scale Pot Farms, First Major City To Do So.

Retired Top Cops Slam Arguments Against Legalizing Pot

This fall, California will consider repealing marijuana prohibition by way of a voter-sponsored ballot initiative called Proposition 19. If passed, it would stand as a direct affront to federal law, representing the most significant change in a state’s drug policy since cannabis was first outlawed in 1937.

Though marijuana legalization is largely a liberal and progressive cause célèbre, it may be fair to say that the state’s elected Democrats aren’t exactly cuckoo for these coco-puffs.

Prominent California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein has declared her opposition to Prop. 19, signing a ballot argument against legalization put forward by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Sen. Barbara Boxer and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown were quick to adopt Feinstein’s position, and the state’s Democratic party, while apparently torn on the issue, officially elected to stay neutral fearing their support could damage state-wide candidates.

Full Story: Retired Top Cops Slam Arguments Against Legalizing Pot – Stephen C. Webster – Brave New Hooks – True/Slant.

The growing buzz on ‘spice’ — the marijuana alternative

In the small backroom of Capitol Hemp, a head shop in Adams Morgan, a worker dutifully arranges an array of ceramic pipes displayed in a well-lit glass case. Another clerk helps a couple of customers as they peruse a selection of bongs and vaporizers.

Stored behind the counter is another amply stocked product whose popularity is booming: “spice,” the generic name for a legal “synthetic marijuana.” Capitol Hemp owner Adam Eidinger said that in the 18 months since he began stocking spice, demand has doubled each month, and its sales now represent a third of his revenue. On some Fridays, he said, his two District stores can bring in $10,000 from the sale of spice alone.

In the District and most states across the country, it is legal to buy and sell spice, whose crushed green leaves are sprayed with various man-made chemicals. When smoked, the treated leaves can produce a marijuana-like high.

Full Story: The growing buzz on ‘spice’ — the marijuana alternative.

Marijuana Can Stimulate California’s Economy

It is funny how a so called “illegal dug” is in position to potentially help ease California’s $20 billion budget deficit. Democratic state assemblyman Tom Ammiano is pushing for the legalization of marijuana and the marijuana industry, through which the state could potentially earn billions of much needed dollars in tax revenue. As of today, around $200 million in medical marijuana is subject to sales tax. If Ammiano’s bill is passed, the Marijuana Control Regulation and Education Act (AB 2254) would legalize and hand over the control of marijuana taxation to California.

In 2000, Colorado legalized medical marijuana and by 2007 over 60,000 medical marijuana dispensaries were paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes to the state. When the global economic meltdown hit the U.S., the state of Colorado got by with a little help from these old friends.

Full Story: Campaigns That Matter – Marijuana Can Stimulate California’s Economy.

Exclusive: ‘Politics of pot’ endangering state medical marijuana laws | Raw Story

Mark Zeitlin manages Harmony House, a medical marijuana dispensary in North Hollywood, California.

His product is popular and his services — providing medicinal marijuana — are in demand. But Mark has a problem. L.A. County prosecutors want to put him out of business.

“I have AIDS patients, cancer patients, people with all sorts of illness to treat, but the government is trying to shut me down,” he told Raw Story.

One of 439 facilities ordered to be shuttered last week by the L.A. County prosecutors as part of a crackdown on medical marijuana, Zeitlin said the booming business of medicinal healing through cannabis is under siege.

Full Story: Exclusive: ‘Politics of pot’ endangering state medical marijuana laws | Raw Story.

Feature: Medical Marijuana Madness in Montana

With the number of medical marijuana patients expanding dramatically in the Big Sky State, with storefront operations springing up around the state, and with at least one group of medical marijuana advocates/entrepreneurs touring the state in a medical marijuana caravan complete with pot smoke-filled vans and doctors issuing instant recommendations via web cam, opposition to the way Montana’s medical marijuana law is playing out is on the increase.

In 2004, 62% of Montana voters approved a medical marijuana ballot initiative. The number of registered patients and caregivers remained relatively low until last year, when the Obama administration announced that it would not prosecute medical marijuana users and providers in states where it is legal. At the beginning of last year, the number of registered medical marijuana cardholders was about 3,000. Now it is closing in on 15,000. And alongside the increase in registered patients has been a boom in “dispensaries,” or caregiver storefront operations.

While growing concern is evident across the state, it has burned red hot in Billings, a city of about 100,000 people on I-90 in southeastern Montana, where Western conservatism is strong. There, things have turned ugly, with fire bomb attacks on two medical marijuana businesses a month ago as the city council approved a moratorium on new medical marijuana business licenses. Accompanying those attacks was graffiti painted across windows: “Not in our town,” it said.

Full Story: Feature: Medical Marijuana Madness in Montana | StoptheDrugWar.org.

Contaminated Cocaine Can Cause Flesh to Rot

Cocaine abusers — already at risk for an abnormal heartbeat, blood pressure problems, hallucinations, convulsions and stroke — can add another potential health complication to the list: rotting flesh.

“If you are a user of cocaine, you should be aware that some of the cocaine is not clean and can have other agents that can cause you to have a low white-cell count or skin tissue death,” said Dr. Ghinwa Dumyati, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester and an epidemiologist for the Monroe County Health Department in New York.

In a report in the June 1 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, Dumyati and doctors from the University of Rochester Medical Center discuss two cases involving women with a history of cocaine use who came to the hospital for help when they noticed purplish plaques on their cheeks, earlobes, legs, thighs and buttocks.

Full Story: Contaminated Cocaine Can Cause Flesh to Rot – Yahoo! News.

San Jose union begins organizing pot workers

A major California labor union is organizing medical cannabis workers in Oakland, a move that analysts say will help efforts to legalize marijuana and open the door for the union to organize thousands more workers if state voters pass a measure in November to allow recreational marijuana use by adults.

The 26,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 in San Jose is believed to be the first union in the country to organize workers in a marijuana-related business. It is considering new job classifications including “bud tender” – a sommelier of sorts who helps medical marijuana users choose the right strain for their ailment.

“Union bud tender,” said Carl Anderson, executive director of AMCD, an Oakland nonprofit medical cannabis dispensary that is going through the city’s permitting process. The dispensary has 15 freshly minted union employees as it readies for an expected opening in December. “With full union health benefits and a pension,” Anderson said.

Full Story: San Jose union begins organizing pot workers.

Oakland looks to become first US city to tax, license commercial marijuana production

Local governments in California and other Western states have tried to clamp down on medical marijuana, but Oakland has taken a different approach.

If you can’t beat ‘em, tax ‘em.

After becoming the first U.S. city to impose a special tax on medical marijuana dispensaries, Oakland soon could become the first to sanction and tax commercial pot growing operations. Selling and growing marijuana remain illegal under federal law.

Two City Council members are preparing legislation, expected to be introduced next month, that would allow at least three industrial-scale growing operations.

Full Story: Oakland looks to become first US city to tax, license commercial marijuana production | Raw Story.

OPS: Unfortunately, State law won’t supersede Federal Law.

With Majorities Supporting CA’s Marijuana Legalization Initiative, Victory Is in Grasp

Less than six months from election day, the CA initiative to legalize marijuana has the support of half the voters, according to two polls.

According to two different polls released last Wednesday, the Tax Cannabis California marijuana legalization initiative is ahead but not by much, making the path to victory in November a rough one. Both polls show the initiative winning, but just barely, and both polls show the initiative hovering around 50% support. On the other hand, polling also shows remarkably high support for the concept of marijuana legalization in some form — especially when the word legalization is not used.

In an internal campaign poll, when voters read either the ballot measure’s title or the attorney general’s summary of it — all voters will see when they cast their votes — the initiative garners 51% and 52%, respectively, with opposition at 40%. In a Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll, 49% approved of the initiative, while 48% opposed it.

The standard wisdom among initiative veterans is that campaigns should begin with support around 60%. They argue that once a campaign begins, opponents will find ways to shave off percentage points, and if you are starting with only half the voters on your side, losing any support means you lose.

Full Story: With Majorities Supporting CA’s Marijuana Legalization Initiative, Victory Is in Grasp | Drugs | AlterNet.

How LSD Destroyed God’s (and Dad’s) Rigid Authority and Ended the Dull 1950s

One can make a non-ludicrous case that the most important event in the cultural history of America since the 1860s was the introduction of LSD.

The following is adapted from the Foreword to Birth of a Psychedelic Culture: Conversations about Leary, the Harvard Experiments, Millbrook and the Sixties, by Ram Dass and Ralph Metzner with Gary Bravo, from Synergetic Press.

LSD is a drug that produces fear in people who don’t take it. –Timothy Leary

It’s now almost half a century since that day in September 1961 when a mysterious fellow named Michael Hollingshead made an appointment to meet Professor Timothy Leary over lunch at the Harvard Faculty Club. When they met in the foyer, Hollingshead was carrying with him a quart jar of sugar paste into which he had infused a gram of Sandoz LSD. He had smeared this goo all over his own increasingly abstract consciousness and it still contained, by his own reckoning, 4,975 strong (200 mcg) doses of LSD. The mouth of that jar became perhaps the most significant of the fumaroles from which the ‘60s blew forth.

Full Story: How LSD Destroyed God’s (and Dad’s) Rigid Authority and Ended the Dull 1950s | Drugs | AlterNet.

U.S. Drug Czar Required to Lie – video

Earlier this week, the Obama administration released their National Strategy for Drug Control. And it turned out that their rhetoric, of switching from enforcement to treatment and prevention, didn't match

the figures of how much funding was allotted to each. Now, U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske has come out and publicly admitted that the drug war can be seen as a failure. So just more rhetoric? Alyona discusses

with Michael Whitney from FireDogLake.

Drug Policy Disconnect: Is Obama Serious About Ending the War on Drugs?

Obama has promised to do away with the war on drugs. So far, policy is lagging.

The rhetoric has changed. According to new U.S. “drug czar” Gil Kerlikowske, who heads the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Obama administration doesn’t use the term “drug war” because the government shouldn’t be waging war against its own citizens. In March 2009, U.S. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke described the opium poppy eradication effort in Afghanistan as “the most wasteful and ineffective program that I have seen in 40 years.” He bluntly stated that the U.S. government had wasted millions of dollars on a counterproductive program that generates political support for the Taliban and undermines nation-building efforts. And in his trip to Peru this past April, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela noted that the fundamental problem is not coca cultivation itself, but poverty and inequality.

Yet the indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups along the Naya River on Colombia’s Pacific coast tell a different story. For the past three months, coca fumigation operations have taken place in one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world. Despite myriad concerns – from its ineffectiveness to the damage done to human health and the environment – the Obama administration remains committed to this fumigation strategy as well as to the overall Plan Colombia. The rhetoric may have changed for the better, but the reality of the how the U.S. “war on drugs” is waged on the ground in Latin America has not.

Full Story: Foreign Policy In Focus | Drug Policy Disconnect.

Obama drug plan ‘firmly opposes’ legalization as California vote looms

The Obama administration said Tuesday that it “firmly opposes” the legalization of any illicit drugs as California voters head to the polls to consider legalizing marijuana this fall.

The president and his drug czar re-emphasized their opposition to legalizing drugs in the first release of its National Drug Control Strategy this morning.

“Keeping drugs illegal reduces their availability and lessens willingness to use them,” the document, prepared by Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, says. “That is why this Administration firmly opposes the legalization of marijuana or any other illicit drug.”

President Barack Obama has repeatedly expressed opposition to legalizing illicit drugs, though California voters could buck the federal government when it comes to legalize pot.

Full Story: Obama drug plan ‘firmly opposes’ legalization as California vote looms – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room.

Ron Paul hopes Hemp History Week will reap more co-sponsors for legalization bill

Groups hope to collect 50,000 signed post cards urging Obama and Holder to put end to industrial hemp ban

Jack Herer, “the self-described Emperor of Hemp”, passed away nearly a month ago, but that doesn’t mean his dream died with him.

Roll Call reports, “Hemp History Week might not earn anyone time off work, but Rep. Ron Paul still thinks it’s worth celebrating.”

The Texas Republican and erstwhile presidential candidate on Thursday submitted a statement to the Congressional Record recognizing next week, May 17-23, as Hemp History Week and urging his colleagues to pass legislation legalizing hemp farming. In the statement, which hemp advocates are touting as a big endorsement for their cause, Paul notes that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington both grew the leafy crop.

Full Story: Ron Paul hopes Hemp History Week will reap more co-sponsors for legalization bill | Raw Story.

Legalize Pot? : Going for the Ballot in Washington

Sensible Washington heads petition drive:

Washington state initative to legalize pot

[California may not be the only place where legalization of marijuana is on the ballot this November. Our Vernell Pratt reports on a similar initiative in the state of Washington.]

SEATTLE — Washington state residents could be growing and smoking marijuana legally by this time next year if a statewide initiative wins approval in November.

On the heels of a legislative session that saw two legalization bills die in committee, an organization called Sensible Washington filed Initiative I-1068 in January. It removes state civil and criminal penalties for the cultivation, possession, sale, transportation, or use of marijuana by persons 18 years or older.

Full Story: The Rag Blog: Legalize Pot? : Going for the Ballot in Washington.

Legal weed could cause economic turmoil in pot-rich N. California

Below the perpetual fog that shrouds the redwood groves, green hills and rocky coastline of remote Humboldt County thrives a lucrative but hush-hush industry — marijuana.

Pot pays the bills in this Northern California enclave, home to hippies and good old boys alike who espouse the weed’s curative and economic benefits. The expensive trucks, bustling restaurants, escalating rents and plentiful wads of cash all point to profitable pot cultivation in Humboldt.

Now, a state voter initiative on the November ballot that would make California the first U.S. state to legalize and tax this cash crop has locals jittery about losing their dominant market position.

“We’ve always had a cannabis tinge to our culture,” said Kevin Hoover, editor of weekly newspaper The Arcata Eye. “What we have now is a very entrenched industry that’s making a lot of money off the fact that it’s illegal.”

Full Story: Legal weed could cause economic turmoil in pot-rich N. California | Raw Story.

Don’t Just Smoke a Joint on 4/20 — Take Action Against Marijuana Prohibition

Stand up today with other Americans and get the word out there. This war will end; how soon depends, in part, on you.

April 20th (4/20) has long been associated with marijuana, both marijuana use and marijuana activism. Thousands of Americans will gather on that day at rallies in Boston, Boulder, New York, Santa Cruz, Seattle and other cities. For people who prefer to relax with a joint instead of a beer or martini it’s a time to celebrate. For those who don’t use marijuana it’s a time to stand up in support of their friends, family, and fellow citizens who face arrest for nothing more than what they put into their body. For the Drug Policy Alliance and the drug policy reform movement 4/20 represents something even bigger.

The movement to end marijuana prohibition is very broad, composed of people who love marijuana, people who hate marijuana, and people who don’t have strong feelings about marijuana use one way or the other. We all agree on one thing though – marijuana prohibition is doing more harm than good. It’s wasting taxpayer dollars and police resources, filling our jails and prisons with hundreds of thousands of nonviolent people, and increasing crime and violence in the same way alcohol Prohibition did. Police made more than 750,000 arrests for marijuana possession in 2008 alone. Those arrested were separated from their loved ones, branded criminals, denied jobs, and in many cases prohibited from accessing student loans, public housing and other public assistance.

Full Story: Don’t Just Smoke a Joint on 4/20 — Take Action Against Marijuana Prohibition | Drugs | AlterNet.

Medical Marijuana Bill Moves Through Maryland Senate In Landslide

The Maryland Senate voted on Saturday to allow patients access to medical marijuana at state-licensed dispensaries. The bill now moves to the state’s lower chamber.

The bill was approved overwhelmingly, with bipartisan support and without objections or discussion, by a 35-12 margin.

Maryland would join 14 other states in legalizing medical marijuana. The neighboring District of Columbia legalized it in a 1998 referendum that was only recently allowed by Congress to go into effect. The District’s city council is writing rules to establish the city’s medical marijuana policy.

Current Maryland law allows defendants charged with pot possession to cite a medical necessity defense. If a judge deems the drug to be beneficial, a maximum hundred dollar civil fine is imposed.

Full Story: Medical Marijuana Bill Moves Through Maryland Senate In Landslide.

Let’s End the War on Drugs

Sting -

Whether it’s music, activism or daily life, the one ideal to which I have always aspired is constant challenge — taking risks, stepping out of my comfort zone, exploring new ideas.

I am writing because I believe the United States must do precisely that — and so, therefore, must all of us — in the case of what has been the most unsuccessful, unjust yet untouchable issue in politics: the War on Drugs.

The War on Drugs has failed — but it’s worse than that. It is actively harming our society. Violent crime is thriving in the shadows to which the drug trade has been consigned. People who genuinely need help can’t get it. Neither can people who need medical marijuana to treat terrible diseases. We are spending billions, filling up our prisons with non-violent offenders and sacrificing our liberties.

Full Story: Sting: Let’s End the War on Drugs.

Calif. voters to decide whether to legalize pot

California voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults, after the secretary of state on Wednesday certified the initiative for the November ballot.

It would become the first state to legalize recreational marijuana use if the proposition is approved. Marijuana use is legal for medicinal purposes in California and 14 other states, but the drug is illegal under federal law.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified that the petitions seeking to place the question on the ballot had more than 433,971 valid voter signatures, the minimum number needed to qualify.

If approved, the initiative would allow those 21 years and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, enough to roll several marijuana cigarettes. Residents also could cultivate the plant in limited quantities.

Full Story: Calif. voters to decide whether to legalize pot | Top AP Stories | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Not Feeling Well? Perhaps You’re ‘Marijuana Deficient’

Scientists have begun speculating that the root cause of disease conditions such as migraines and irritable bowel syndrome may be endocannabinoid deficiency.

For several years I have postulated that marijuana is not, in the strict sense of the word, an intoxicant.

As I wrote in the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009), the word ‘intoxicant’ is derived from the Latin noun toxicum (poison). It’s an appropriate term for alcohol, as ethanol (the psychoactive ingredient in booze) in moderate to high doses is toxic (read: poisonous) to healthy cells and organs.

Of course, booze is hardly the only commonly ingested intoxicant. Take the over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen (Tylenol). According to the Merck online medical library, acetaminophen poisoning and overdose is “common,” and can result in gastroenteritis (inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract) “within hours” and hepatotoxicity (liver damage) “within one to three days after ingestion.” In fact, less than one year ago the U.S. Food and Drug Administration called for tougher standards and warnings governing the drug’s use because “recent studies indicate that unintentional and intentional overdoses leading to severe hepatotoxicity continue to occur.”

Full Story: Not Feeling Well? Perhaps You’re ‘Marijuana Deficient’ | Economy | AlterNet.

Move to Legalize Marijuana in California Sparks Fears About Drop in Prices

A proposal to put the legalization of marijuana in California to a vote this November is causing some growers of the plant in the state to worry about a sharp drop in the value of their crop if the measure succeeds.

As The Los Angeles Times explained in January, when supporters of the proposed Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 turned in more than enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot, the initiative “would make it legal for anyone 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and grow plants in an area no larger than 25 square feet for personal use. It would also allow cities and counties to permit marijuana to be grown and sold, and to impose taxes on marijuana production and sales.”

On Monday, The Times-Standard newspaper in Humboldt County, a part of Northern California known as the “Emerald Triangle” for the density of its marijuana crop, reported:

Full Story: Move to Legalize Marijuana in California Sparks Fears About Drop in Prices – The Lede Blog – NYTimes.com.

The Future of Drug Reform Is Bright

The Students for a Sensible Drug Policy conference in San Francisco was a major demonstration of youthful, activist energy to change the drug paradigm.

In mid-March, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy organized a conference attended by 470 campus activists in San Francisco to network, strategize, party and share updates on the War on Drugs and the widening range of youth resistance efforts.

SSDP was founded in 1998 in response to a provision in the Higher Education Act that cut off loans and grants to students with drug convictions–even misdemeanors dating back to high school. Some 200,000 students have lost their financial aid in the years since. In 2007 SSDP pushed Congress to limit the Act’s applicability to students whose convictions occurred after they sought financial aid. “Now our effort,” says SSDP acting executive director Matt Palevsky, “is to limit [applicability of] the Act to students convicted of felonies.”

SSDP now has chapters on almost 200 campuses and is receiving 40 inquiries a month from students interested in starting chapters at their schools. There are 10 overseas chapters and this year’s conference –which was billed as “international”–included speakers from the UK, Canada, Nigeria, Colombia and the Mexican border (El Paso, Texas). A satellite meeting held simultaneously in Lagos, Nigeria, drew 70 students from universities, teachers’ colleges and high schools. (A planned video feed of select panels from S.F. was canceled due to technical problems.)

Full Story: The Future of Drug Reform Is Bright | Drugs | AlterNet.

Crackdown Fails: There’s Still Hash In Copenhagen

Six years later, an expensive and brutal crackdown has only produced one real change in the hash district: Now the dealers use tables instead of booths.

It was six years ago this week that Danish police held their first full-scale raid on Pusher Street, the world famous road in Copenhagen’s hippie district, Christiania, where people openly buy hashish.

The hash raids were the result of the government’s decision to crack down hard on the area’s hash trade. But today, both police and politicians admit the trade still thrives on the street, if in a slightly more discreet way.

Full Story: Crackdown Fails: There’s Still Hash In Copenhagen | NEWS JUNKIE POST.

U.S. Turns a Blind Eye to Opium in Afghan Town

KABUL, Afghanistan — The effort to win over Afghans on former Taliban turf in Marja has put American and NATO commanders in the unusual position of arguing against opium eradication, pitting them against some Afghan officials who are pushing to destroy the harvest.

From Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal on down, the military’s position is clear: “U.S. forces no longer eradicate,” as one NATO official put it. Opium is the main livelihood of 60 to 70 percent of the farmers in Marja, which was seized from Taliban rebels in a major offensive last month. American Marines occupying the area are under orders to leave the farmers’ fields alone.

“Marja is a special case right now,” said Cmdr. Jeffrey Eggers, a member of the general’s Strategic Advisory Group, his top advisory body. “We don’t trample the livelihood of those we’re trying to win over.”

Full Story: U.S. Turns a Blind Eye to Opium in Afghan Town – NYTimes.com.

My Experience with a Psychedelic Plant That Thousands Have Used for Release from Severe Addictions

“The first sign that ibogaine is working is generally a loud buzzing or ringing in the ears … Soon after that I begin to feel warm and things take on a light golden glow.”

Before Clare gives me the ibogaine she has me write out my intention for my journey, what I hope to get from the experience, and whatever questions I may want to ask the iboga spirits. She takes my intention and places it on a small altar she has built with candles and feathers. She runs my body over with burning sage and then spreads the smoke around the room, clearing spiritual energy and opening up the space for the iboga spirits to enter and do their work.

She has me lie down on the bed. Next to me on the pillow are a set of headphones hooked up to an ipod, and a special kind of visor allegedly designed by famedd psychedelic and spiritual artist Alex Grey that improves psychedelic visions. Clare takes my hand into hers.

“As part of the treatment plan here, I make a life contract with all of my clients. Sometimes the medicine will open a door to the other side and it will tell you you can go into it if you want. I make my clients promise me they’ll stay here in this life. They came here to live, and that’s exactly what they’re going to do. I know you’re not in that place, but I gotta say it anyway. Who knows what you may want to do once you’re up there.”

Full Story: My Experience with a Psychedelic Plant That Thousands Have Used for Release from Severe Addictions | Drugs | AlterNet.

How Many Mexican Drug War Deaths Can We Attribute to U.S. Pot Laws?

It’s time to remove the production and distribution of marijuana out of the hands of violent criminal enterprises and into the hands of licensed businesses.

It was less than one year ago when acting U.S. DEA administrator Michelle Leonhart publicly declared that the escalating violence on the U.S./Mexico border should be viewed as a sign of the “success” of America’s drug war strategies.

“Our view is that the violence we have been seeing is a signpost of the success our very courageous Mexican counterparts are having,” said Michele Leonhart, who was recently nominated by President Obama to be the agency’s full time director. “The cartels are acting out like caged animals, because they are caged animals.”

Well, if the DEA’s chief talking head thought that some 6,300 drug cartel-related murders in 2008 was an indication of progress, one can only imagine that she believes that this weekend’s south-of-the-border killing spree — which included the murder of a pregnant U.S. official and members of her family — must be downright victorious.

Full Story: How Many Mexican Drug War Deaths Can We Attribute to U.S. Pot Laws? | Drugs | AlterNet.

Slowly, states are lessening limits on marijuana

James Gray once saw himself as a drug warrior, a former federal prosecutor and county judge who sent people to prison for dealing pot and other drug offenses. Gradually, though, he became convinced that the ban on marijuana was making it more accessible to young people, not less.

“I ask kids all the time, and they’ll tell you it is easier to get marijuana than a six-pack of beer because that is controlled by the government,” he said, noting that drug dealers don’t ask for IDs or honor minimum age requirements.

So Gray — who spent two decades as a superior court judge in Orange County, Calif., and once ran for Congress as a Republican— switched sides in the war on drugs, becoming an advocate for legalizing marijuana

Full Story: Slowly, states are lessening limits on marijuana – USATODAY.com.

A Generational Moment for Drug Policy Reformers

John Lennon’s voice is echoing somewhere over Texas tonight.

That’s because a moment has arrived — a very special moment, the likes of which drug policy reformers have not seen in a generation.

It all centers around a man named Henry Walter Wooten, a 54-year-old Texas resident who will likely be spending the rest of his life behind bars. That’s because a jury in Tyler sentenced him to 35 years in jail after he was caught in possession of just over a quarter pound of marijuana. The prosecutor originally sought 99 years, due to the man’s prior felony convictions in the 80s and his proximity to a day care center, deep within one of the dreaded “drug free zones” where legal penalties become much more stiff.

Thirty-five years. That’s 420 months. This jury, this court and this prosecutor are sending a message directly to marijuana consumers the nation over.

Full Story: A Generational Moment for Drug Policy Reformers – Stephen C. Webster – Brave New Hooks – True/Slant.

Let’s Be Smart and Regulate Synthetic Marijiuana ‘K2,’ and Drop the Prohibitionist Attitude

Lawmakers have a chance to learn from the failures of marijuana prohibition and respond to K2 with enlightened policy.

The recent emergence in the United States of “K2,” sometimes called synthetic marijuana, is testing lawmakers to see if they’ve been paying attention to the failures of marijuana prohibition and will respond to K2 with enlightened policy.

The first stories on K2, or “Spice,” broke out with headlines labeling the mixture of herbs and spices, which are treated with a synthetic compound, as “fake pot.” K2 was virtually unknown until the media hyped up its presence at tobacco and novelty shops.

Under U.S. law, and in all 50 states, the herbal product is legal, and also unregulated. People who have tried K2 often report psychoactive effects that are comparable to marijuana, but notably less pleasurable.

Full Story: Let’s Be Smart and Regulate Synthetic Marijiuana ‘K2,’ and Drop the Prohibitionist Attitude | Drugs | AlterNet.

Anti-Pot Propaganda As Stupid As Ever — Yet Our Alarmist Media Continues to Hype It

Once again mainstream media are running wild with the absurd notion that marijuana use causes psychological problems, despite much evidence to the contrary.

Once again members of the mainstream media are running wild with the notion that marijuana use causes schizophrenia and psychosis.

To add insult to injury, this latest dose of reefer rhetoric comes only days after investigators in the United Kingdom reported in the prestigious scientific journal Addiction that the available evidence in support of this theory is “neither very new, nor by normal criteria, particularly compelling.” (Predictably, the conclusions of that study went all together unnoticed by the mainstream press.)

Yet today’s latest alarmist report, like those studies touting similar claims before it, fails to account for the following: If, as the authors of this latest study suggest, cannabis use is a cause of mental illness (and schizophrenia in particular), then why have diagnosed incidences of schizophrenia not paralleled rising trends in cannabis use over time?

Full Story: Anti-Pot Propaganda As Stupid As Ever — Yet Our Alarmist Media Continues to Hype It | | AlterNet.

How the DEA Scrubbed Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Poppy Garden from Public Memory

Visitors to Monticello don’t learn how Jefferson cultivated poppies, and his personal opium use may as well never have happened.

The following is an excerpt from Jim Hogshire’s “Opium for the Masses: Harvesting Nature’s Best Pain Medication” (Feral House, 2009).

Thomas Jefferson was a drug criminal. But he managed to escape the terrible sword of justice by dying a century before the DEA was created. In 1987 agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency showed up at Monticello, Jefferson’s famous estate.

Jefferson had planted opium poppies in his medicinal garden, and opium poppies are now deemed illegal. Now, the trouble was the folks at the Monticello Foundation, which preserves and maintains the historic site, were discovered flagrantly continuing Jefferson’s crimes. The agents were blunt: The poppies had to be immediately uprooted and destroyed or else they were going to start making arrests, and Monticello Foundation personnel would perhaps face lengthy stretches in prison.

The story sounds stupid now, but it scared the hell out of the people at Monticello, who immediately started yanking the forbidden plants. A DEA man noticed the store was selling packets of “Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Poppies.” The seeds had to go, too. While poppy seeds might be legal, it is never legal to plant them. Not for any reason.

Employees even gathered the store’s souvenir T-shirts — with silkscreened photos of Monticello poppies on the chest — and burned them. Nobody told them to do this, but, under the circumstances, no one dared risk the threat.

Full Story: How the DEA Scrubbed Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Poppy Garden from Public Memory | Drugs | AlterNet.

Mexican drug gangs increasingly target US public lands

Not far from Yosemite’s waterfalls and in the middle of California’s redwood forests, Mexican drug gangs are quietly commandeering U.S. public land to grow millions of marijuana plants and using smuggled immigrants to cultivate them.

Pot has been grown on public lands for decades, but Mexican traffickers have taken it to a whole new level: using armed guards and trip wires to safeguard sprawling plots that in some cases contain tens of thousands of plants offering a potential yield of more than 30 tons of pot a year.

“Just like the Mexicans took over the methamphetamine trade, they’ve gone to mega, monster gardens,” said Brent Wood, a supervisor for the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. He said Mexican traffickers have “supersized” the marijuana trade.

Full Story: Mexican drug gangs increasingly target US public lands | Raw Story.

Pot scare of the week: “may cause psychosis”

Here’s your alarmist marijuana headline for the week (from Businessweek): “Marijuana Use Can Up Psychosis Risk”

What researchers found, actually, was an association between tokers who start blazing heavily at a young age, and an increased likelihood they will develop a serious mental illness.

And, of course, we’ve known about the comorbidity of substance abuse and psychoses for many years.

But you can’t blame the media for going overboard, this time: The Australian scientists who found the association between heavy, early use of pot and psychotic symptoms (such as hallucinations), themselves suggest a causal link:

Full Story: Pot scare of the week: “may cause psychosis” | The Sci-Tech Heretic.

Pot use among seniors rises

In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana.

Long a fixture among young people, use of the country's most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and '70s grows older.

The number of people aged 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Full Story: Pot use among seniors rises | Raw Story.

Marijuana Provides Pain Relief, New Study Says

The first U.S. clinical trials in more than two decades on the medical benefits of marijuana confirm pot is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses, according to a report issued Wednesday.

Igor Grant, a psychiatrist who directs the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego, said five studies funded by the state involved volunteers who were randomly given real marijuana or placebos to determine if the herb provided relief not seen from traditional medicines.

“There is good evidence now that cannabinoids may be either an adjunct or a first-line treatment,” Grant said at a news conference where he presented the findings.

Full Story Marijuana Provides Pain Relief, New Study Says.

Hypocritical Obama and Corporate Media Are Agressively Undermining Pot Normalization

While marijuana is more mainstream than ever, legalization still faces backlash from the powers that be.

Fourteen states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes; 13 more have medical marijuana ballot or legislative measures on the horizon. And medical pot has paved the way for all-out legalization; for the first time ever, polls consistently show that a majority of Americans — albeit a slim one — believe marijuana should be legalized for adults over 18.

Drug reform observers and activists are excitedly awaiting the results of the Tax Cannabis ballot initiative in California this November. While it is not the first time electorates will vote on marijuana legalization (Nevada and Colorado rejected similar measures in 2006; the city of Breckenridge, Colo. legalized it late last year), experts believe California is the first statewide initiative that stands a fighting chance, as AlterNet has reported.

Yet in spite of the positive trend, there are some ominous harbingers indicating that common-sense drug reform relating to marijuana still has a ways to go. Here are five signs that pot legalization faces government and corporate backlash (which may affect public opinion as well), in no particular order:

Full Story Hypocritical Obama and Corporate Media Are Agressively Undermining Pot Normalization | Drugs | AlterNet.

The Marijuana Conspiracy – The Real Reason Hemp is Illegal

Pot is NOT harmful to the human body or mind. Marijuana does NOT pose a threat to the general public. Marijuana is very much a danger to the oil companies, alcohol, tobacco industries and a large number of chemical corporations. Various big businesses, with plenty of dollars and influence, have suppressed the truth from the people. The truth is if marijuana was utilized for its vast array of commercial products, it would create an industrial atomic bomb! Entrepreneurs have not been educated on the product potential of pot. The super rich have conspired to spread misinformation about an extremely versatile plant that, if used properly, would ruin their companies.

Where did the word ‘marijuana’ come from? In the mid 1930s, the M-word was created to tarnish the good image and phenomenal history of the hemp plant…as you will read. The facts cited here, with references, are generally verifiable in the Encyclopedia Britannica which was printed on hemp paper for 150 years:

Full Story Make A History.

Colorado Medical Marijuana Lawyer Filing Complaint Over DEA Raid

A medical marijuana lawyer wants the U.S. Department of Justice to discipline agents who raided a the home of a marijuana grower in suburban Denver.

Rob Corry filed a complaint against the Drug Enforcement Administration on Saturday.

He says the Highlands Ranch raid Friday violated the agency's new policy on enforcing drug laws in the 14 states that allow medical marijuana.

The policy says authorities shouldn't target those who are in clear compliance with their state laws.

Full Story Colorado Medical Marijuana Lawyer Filing Complaint Over DEA Raid.

Despite Obama admin’s promise, DEA continues raids on medical marijuana growers

On Thursday, a Denver news station interviewed Chris Bartkowicz about his medical-marijuana operation in the basement of his home. Bartkowicz, confident of his compliance with state laws, boasted of its size and profitability.

“I’m definitely living the dream now,” he told 9News.

The following day, the dream was over.

Drug-enforcement agents raided his home, placed him under arrest, and carried off dozens of black bags of marijuana plants and growing lights.

The Obama administration promised in October that the federal government would respect state laws allowing the growing and selling of marijuana for medicinal use, but the Drug Enforcement Agency sent a loud message with the arrest of Bartkowicz.

Full Story Despite Obama admin’s promise, DEA continues raids on medical marijuana growers | Raw Story.

Obama’s Drug War Budget Looks a Lot Like Bush’s

Obama has taken significant steps to treat drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue. But he’s failed to change the drug war budget in a meaningful way.

President Obama’s newly released drug war budget is essentially the same as Bush’s, with roughly twice as much money going to the criminal justice system as to treatment and prevention. This despite Obama’s statements on the campaign trail that drug use should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue. And despite his drug czar telling the Wall Street Journal last year the war on drugs should be ended.

While the president appears unwilling to change how taxpayer money is misspent, he can still seek reform. The White House’s forthcoming 2010 drug strategy is the best opportunity to do that. The administration has already directed federal law enforcement to stop arresting medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. The White House also worked with Congress to repeal the provision blocking states from using their share of prevention money on syringe exchange programs to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. The administration has also urged Congress to repeal the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity, a policy that creates enormous racial disparities and causes law enforcement agencies to waste resources on low-level offenders instead of dismantling violent crime syndicates.

Full Story Obama’s Drug War Budget Looks a Lot Like Bush’s | | AlterNet.

CBS Corporation Bans Ad Calling for Marijuana Legalization Over ‘Morals’

The fifteen-second ad, asserting that taxing and regulating the adult use and sale of marijuana would raise ‘billions of dollars in national revenue,’ was rejected out of hand

Representatives from the CBS Corporation and Neutron Media Screen Marketing have rejected a paid advertisement from the NORML Foundation, the educational arm of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), that was intended to appear on the CBS Super Screen billboard in New York City’s Times Square.

The fifteen-second ad, which asserts that taxing and regulating the adult use and sale of marijuana would raise ‘billions of dollars in national revenue, was scheduled to appear on CBS’s 42nd Street digital billboard beginning on Monday, February 1, 2010.

Representatives from Neutron Media approached NORML in mid-January about placing the ad, which was scheduled to air 18 times per day for a two-month period. The NORML Foundation entered into a contractual agreement with Neutron Media to air two separate NORML advertisements, and produced an initial ad exclusively for broadcast on the CBS digital billboard.

Full Story CBS Corporation Bans Ad Calling for Marijuana Legalization Over ‘Morals’ | Drugs | AlterNet.

Is pot legalization push in California a trend that will spread?

It’s almost a cliche these days that San Francisco and its sister to the east, Oakland, stand as the primary incubators of some of California’s infamously wacky but later transformational social and political ideas.

From the Silicon Valley to Oakland and Berkeley to the Napa Valley — if it was at first weird, untested, illegal and/or controversial, it probably got its start right here.

Now a small but determined coalition of Bay Area activists and politicos are on a mission to have California be the first state in the union to fully legalize, regulate and tax the use of marijuana – and they’re approaching that goal from several different angles.

Full Story Is pot legalization push in California a trend that will spread? | McClatchy.

Marijuana growing superstore opens in California

Dutch crack down on marijuana tourism

And what's more, Dutch youth aren’t even interested in smoking weed.

In the back street cannabis den, a French-speaking Arab youth with a pierced lower lip and a rhinestone encrusted baseball cap leans across the bar to order his fix of choice.

“Hot chocolate, please,” he intones in heavily accentuated English.

“With whipped cream?” asks the fresh-faced young barrista in the 420 Cafe.

“Yes, please.”

A group of teenage English boys, their polite manners contrasting with the hair-raising heavy metal designs on their T-shirts, is also drinking the warm, frothy brew. Above them a large flat screen TV is showing a documentary about Antarctic bird life.

Full Story Marijuana Laws | Cannabis | Amsterdam | Dutch Pot.

Obama grows the drug war, with enforcement a clear priority

It was not long ago when President Barack Obama’s new drug czar, former Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske, swept into Washington, D.C. and declared the “drug war” a public policy relic.

The Obama administration, he said, would move toward handling drug addiction as a medical problem, moving away from the brash enforcement tactics that hallmarked prior administrations.

“We’re not at war with people in this country,” Kerlikowske told The Wall Street Journal in May.

However, if the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) budget for fiscal year 2011 is to be believed, Kerlikowske was full of hot air.

According to 2011 funding “highlights” released by the ONDCP (PDF link), the Obama administration is growing the drug war and tilting its funds heavily toward law enforcement over treatment.

Full Story Obama grows the drug war, with enforcement a clear priority | Raw Story.

Pot legalization petitions filed in California

California appears headed for a rollicking November ballot fight over whether to legalize and tax marijuana cultivation and use for adults 21 years and older.

Proponents of the “Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010″ said Thursday that they had submitted to the state nearly 700,000 petition signatures – more than enough, if valid, to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen has until June 24 to certify the measure, which needs 433,000 valid voter signatures to qualify.

Full Story Pot legalization petitions filed in California – Sacramento Politics – California Politics | Sacramento Bee.

Will Pot Go Corporate and Spoil It for Everybody?

Marijuana is at a crossroads.

In the warm, luminescent glow of the dust encrusted light fixture, the carpeted and dank hallway disappears into unvacuumed recesses. Darren grabs an unobtrusive handle along the wall’s flimsy wood paneling, pulls, and a crack of light pierces the gloom. Pushing aside a black screen of Hefty bags intended to block light and trap heat, he reveals his miniature grow closet. A heavy, supple branch tumbles out. It brushes my hand, leaving a telltale streak of sticky, stinky moistness. The resin goes away with a bit of water. The smell stays.

A ventilator and wooden door couldn’t dilute the pungent odor of the maturing female plants. When I point this out, Darren offers me only a mischievous smile. He’s proud of this little closet-conversion. Six plants in all, two to a shelf, a 150-watt lamp substituting for sunlight in this hallway cupboard. “You can hide it no problem, but the smell is crazy. Next week my whole house is going to reek! Clipping and all that,” he tells me. Ten days away from “pulling” the plants, Darren’s “babies” are reaching their most odorous phase.

On this trip, Darren is very ill, a result of his 24-year battle with HIV and his many years as a homeless addict. But he meets with me anyway. He closes the cupboard and I follow the trailing ties of his plaid terrycloth bathrobe to his bedroom where he unceremoniously plops himself on a frameless mattress.

Full Story Will Pot Go Corporate and Spoil It for Everybody? | Drugs | AlterNet.

CRACK THE CIA

Proves beyond a shadow of a doubt how the war on drugs is a farce just like everything else the government has a war on!!!

Do Employers Really Need to Give Drug Tests for Pot?

Many former police officers, city officials, even corrections officers now favor a new drug paradigm. Surely it is time to revisit a system that protects few and harms many.

Some months back, at the behest of a former boss, I attempted to register with a work agency. The work was data cleaning at the hospital where previously I was a well-regarded employee. During the physical exam, I had a mandatory drug screen. It came up positive for marijuana and I am now banned from this agency. What is it about my story that is important or germane? I cooked my own goose, deserve no pity, but the experience has had the exemplary effect of clarifying my thoughts regarding the whole subject.

I admit to smoking marijuana. Smoking makes me a calmer, more balanced person. I’m also a fool for getting caught. Time was when I was both a frequent and enthusiastic user; I am now an infrequent, but no less enthusiastic, user. I believe that responsible marijuana use is a benign activity; drug use needs to be distinguished from drug abuse. Consciousness-altering techniques range from prayer and wine to music and dance; evidence shows that humans have used these methods as far back in the history of our species as we can see. (Please note that I am not defending those who would indulge in any substance and then risk harm to others.)

I have a Master’s in Public Health (GPA 3.54). I am the mother of three bright, well-adjusted children. I am considered polite, articulate and generous. My house is relatively clean; meals are tasty and nutritious; laundry is dealt with in a timely fashion. My failing, according to some misplaced rules of law, is that I enjoy smoking marijuana a few nights a week after the kids are asleep. I do not drive or go to work after using even minimal amounts of marijuana. I can, however, tell my children about using Prozac, I can drink alcohol in front of them, I could even neglect them to play computer solitaire, but hike or play chess with marijuana in my system and I’m open to criminal prosecution.

Full Story Do Employers Really Need to Give Drug Tests for Pot? | DrugReporter | AlterNet.

California’s medical marijuana possession limits are dropped

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state cannot impose legal limits on the amount of pot that medical marijuana users can grow or possess.

In a ruling certain to exacerbate debate over the governance of medical marijuana in California, the court threw out legislation that limited medical pot users to 8 ounces of dried marijuana and six mature or 12 immature marijuana plants.

The court ruled that the Legislature violated the state constitution when it passed Senate Bill 420 in 2003. The judges found that the plant limits set by the legislation improperly amended the Compassionate Use Act voters passed in 1996 legalizing marijuana for medical use in California.

Full Story California’s medical marijuana possession limits are dropped | McClatchy.

High Support (81%) for Medical Marijuana (ABC News/Washington Post Poll)

High Support (81%) for Medical Marijuana (ABC News/Washington Post Poll)

Eight in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use and nearly half favor decriminalizing the drug more generally, both far higher than a decade ago.
High Support for Medical Marijuana ABC News/Washington Post Poll: 81 Percent Support Legalizing Marijuana for Medical Use

With New Jersey this week poised to become the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana, 81 percent in this national ABC News/Washington Post poll support the idea, up from an already substantial 69 percent in 1997. Indeed the main complaint is with restrictions on access, as in the New Jersey law.

Full Story High Support (81%) for Medical Marijuana (ABC News/Washington Post Poll) – Democratic Underground.

Committee advances bill to legalize, tax pot

California lawmakers on Tuesday endorsed an overhaul of the state's marijuana laws by pushing forward a bill to legalize adult recreational use and taxation of the drug.

The 4-3 vote by the Assembly Public Safety Committee was the first in the nation by a legislative body supporting recreational use of the drug. But several of the lawmakers who voted for the plan said they did so only to extend debate.

“I do not support marijuana. I don’t use it, I don’t want my kids to use it, I don’t want anyone’s kids to use it,” said Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, who voted in favor. But he said he supported the plan because he wants “a more rational approach to … a failed criminalization policy.”

Full Story Committee advances bill to legalize, tax pot.

Book Review: “Dorm Room Dealers: Drugs and the Privileges of Race and Class,”

Whom do you picture when you read the phrase “drug dealer”? It’s probably not the subjects of this book. They’re white, upper-middle class and beyond, upwardly mobile college students blithely enmeshed in a web of criminality — drug use and sales — that, for them at least, goes unnoticed, and even when noticed, largely unpunished.

And that really irks Mohamed and Fritsvold, a pair of Southern California sociologists who gained entrée into a network of drug sellers and users centered on a private college in San Diego and then spent six years interviewing and observing them as they partied hearty, gobbled and swapped pills, and peddled dope with reckless abandon. It’s not, as the authors make clear, that they wish their student subjects were punished with the same heavy hand awaiting a poor black kid slinging crack in on an inner city street corner.

In fact, Mohamed and Fritsvold make equally clear that they view US drug policies as harsh and counterproductive, in no small part because of the race and class biases they so inarguably exhibit. Healthy chunks of “Dorm Room Dealers” are devoted to delineating in detail just how racially skewed and cleaved by class the application of American drug laws are. That’s what really irks the authors.

And that partially answers the questions the authors posed at the beginning of the book. Why do privileged college students — who have everything to lose and little to gain — choose to sell drugs? Well, because they can do so with almost total impunity. They are not the target of the drug war. They’re the wrong color and the wrong class. They essentially get a free pass — from police, who ignore them; from college administrators, who don’t want to upset their parents; from doctors, who are happy to prescribe them whatever pills they desire… because they are the children of “good people,” i.e. white and wealthy people.

Full Story Drug War Chronicle Book Review: “Dorm Room Dealers: Drugs and the Privileges of Race and Class,” by A. Rafik Mohamed and Erik D. Fritsvold (2010, Lynne Reinner Publishers, 197 pp., $49.95 HB) | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet).

Genetic key to cocaine addiction: study

US scientists have found a key mechanism in the brain that helps explain why cocaine is so addictive and could pave the way towards a potential cure, a study showed Thursday.

Researchers revealed how the highly-addictive drug brings on changes in the brain through a process which influences the expression of genes without changing the brain’s gene sequence.

These changes in the brain’s pleasure circuits, which are also the first to be influenced by chronic cocaine exposure, appear to promote cravings for cocaine, said the study published in Science.

“This fundamental discovery advances our understanding of how cocaine addiction works,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

“Although more research will be required, these findings have identified a key new player in the molecular cascade triggered by repeated cocaine exposure, and thus a potential novel target for the development of addiction medications.”

Full Story Genetic key to cocaine addiction: study | Raw Story.

The Best Chance Yet for Legalizing Marijuana

Tax Cannabis 2010 faces hurdles as it prepares for its test on the California ballot next November.

It’s Dec. 14 and news that the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 has qualified for the California ballot next year has just exploded in time for the evening news cycle. I am sitting on a sofa in a nearly empty room at Oaksterdam University, filing an update to my scoop for AlterNet and waiting for a chance to speak more at length with Richard Lee, the man behind the measure.

For the better part of an afternoon I’ve observed — and waited for — Lee and his staff as they ably handle a flurry of calls from the media before disappearing into a campaign strategy meeting. It’s now dark out over downtown Oakland, as Oaksterdam students gather on the sidewalk after class.

The door opens and Lee parks his wheelchair, softly lands on the couch, and starts breaking up a bit of weed for a toke. After lucrative years in the advertising and marketing industry, he has reestablished himself as a pot entrepreneur and transformed a large sliver of downtown Oakland into Oaksterdam. As a major proponent of professionalizing the marijuana industry — Oaksterdam University is probably his biggest project in this effort — today is a big day for Lee. “It’s not a petition anymore, it’s an initiative,” he says with a grin, as he lights his joint.

Full Story The Best Chance Yet for Legalizing Marijuana | DrugReporter | AlterNet.

Are America’s Mercenary Armies Really Drug Cartels?

Did Bush/Cheney rebuild Reagan’s “Iran Contra” drug gang?

News out of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India reports massive corruption at the highest levels of government, corruption that could only be financed with drug money. In Afghanistan, the president’s brother is known to be one of the biggest drug runners in the world.

In Pakistan, President Zardani is found with 60 million in a Swiss Bank and his Interior Minister is suspected of ties to American groups involved in paramilitary operations, totally illegal that could involve nothing but drugs, there is no other possibility.

Testimony in the US that our government has used “rendition” flights to transport massive amounts of narcotics to Western Europe and the United States has been taken in sworn deposition.

American mercenaries in Pakistan are hundreds of miles away from areas believed to be hiding terrorists, involved in “operations” that can’t have anything whatsoever to do with any CIA contract. These mercenaries aren’t in Quetta, Waziristan or FATA supporting our troops, they are in Karachi and Islamabad playing with police and government officials and living the life of the fatted calf.

The accusations made are that Americans in partnership with corrupt officials, perhaps in all 3 countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, are involved in assassinations, “unknown” criminal activities and are functioning like criminal gangs.

There is no oil. There is nothing to draw people into the area other than one product, one that nobody is talking about. Drugs.

Full Story Are America’s Mercenary Armies Really Drug Cartels? — Signs of the Times News.

The Year In Pot: Top 10 Events That Will Change the Way We Think About Marijuana

There has been a tidal shift in politics and on Marijuana laws in America, from Obama lightening up on pot prosecutions to the recognition of cancer prevention properties.

1. Obama Administration: Don’t Focus On Medical Marijuana Prosecutions
   United States Deputy Attorney General David Ogden issued a memorandum to federal prosecutors in October directing them to not “focus federal resources … on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.” The directive upheld a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, who had previously pledged that he was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue.” Read the full story here.
2. Public Support For Legalizing Pot Hits All-Time High
   A majority of U.S. voters now support legalizing marijuana, according to a national poll of 1,004 likely voters published in December by Angus Reid. The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll results echo those of separate national polls conducted this year by Gallup, Zogby, ABC News, CBS News, Rasmussen Reports, and the California Field Poll, each of which reported greater public support for marijuana legalization than ever before. Read the full story here.
3. Lifetime Marijuana Use Associated With Reduced Cancer Risk
   The moderate long-term use of cannabis is associated with a reduced risk of head and neck cancer, according to the results of a population-based control study published in August by the journal Cancer Prevention Research. Authors reported, “After adjusting for potential confounders (including smoking and alcohol drinking), 10 to 20 years of marijuana use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.” Read the full story here.

more…..

Full Story The Year In Pot: Top 10 Events That Will Change the Way We Think About Marijuana | DrugReporter | AlterNet.

Over two dozen states weighing marijuana reforms

Washington is one of four states where measures to legalize and regulate marijuana have been introduced, and about two dozen other states are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the herb.

“In terms of state legislatures, this is far and away the most active year that we've ever seen,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, which supports reforming marijuana laws.

Nadelmann said that while legalization efforts are not likely to get much traction in state capitals anytime soon, the fact that there is such an increase of activity “is elevating the level of public discourse on this issue and legitimizing it.”

Full Story Over two dozen states weighing marijuana reforms | Raw Story.

10 Reasons the U.S. Military Should (Officially) Use Pot

Medical marijuana may have a host of advantages over other treatments for traumatized vets, but the VA won’t even study its efficacy.

“There’s a lot of things I’m passionate about, but getting a prescription for my marijuana from the VA is probably at the top of my list. I’d be like a kid waiting up for Santa if I thought he might be bringing me one of those. Haha!”

On top of a 100 percent disability rating with PTSD, “Charlie” — who asked that his real name not be used — came home from Afghanistan with a traumatic brain injury, a back injury and gastrointestinal problems. The VA pulled every magic trick out of its bag to treat him. But nothing worked.

What did work was marijuana.

Shirak-e-Mazar, the milk of Mazar, is what got Charlie through his deployment in Afghanistan. Shirak-e-Mazar is what Afghanis call the paper-thin sheets of hashish that sell for about $1.50 an ounce. It’s a 5000-year-old recipe, perfected in the Mazar-e-Sharif region, for preparing the compressed resin glands of the marijuana plant, and unless things have changed since Charlie left Afghanistan in 2004, it’s available, well, just about everywhere.

Full Story 10 Reasons the U.S. Military Should (Officially) Use Pot | World | AlterNet.