Hardrock69's Reefhead Madness Thread

[Hardrock69]

http://bighealthreport.com/1407/government-study-proves-thc-from-cannabis-destroys-cancer-cells/



Medicinal marijuana oil made from cannabis buds, when ingested thrice daily, for two months, will destroy leukemia and cancer cells. Here is just one study which shows the results:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16908594

The government study was done by Jia W, Hegde VL, Singh NP, Sisco D, Grant S, Nagarkatti M,Nagarkatti PS at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Virginia Campus, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.

To quote: ”Cannabinoids including THC, induce apoptosis in leukemic cells” PMID: 16908594

[VAiN]

I'm gonna live forever!!! :stoned-smiley:

[Hardrock69]

Woot! ;)

[rocknrolldork]

Just another reason it should be legal but the government makes too much money from it being illegal.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

I'm gonna live forever!!! :stoned-smiley:

hope it doesn't have to be oil form :hee:

[kwame k]

You guys should really get into edibles or using a vaporizer.........

I've been doing an infusion with garlic, organic oil and organic butter. Great for pasta :stoned-smiley:

[FORD]

I guess my only question on this one would be..... How the Hell did Bob Marley die of cancer. The man smoked the herb religiously, every day. :(

[VAiN]

...using a vaporizer.........

+1 on this... Vapos are AMAZING. If you've never tried one, I strongly suggest you do.

[jhale667]

:stoned-smiley:
+2...on vaporizers.

[Guitar Shark]

the government makes too much money from it being illegal.

... how do you figure that?

[kwame k]

Ever see the numbers on the War on Drugs?

It's staggering how much money is wasted on it and how many nonviolent offenders are sitting in jail right now. All in an effort to legislate morality. The money generated in fines, lawyer fees and such are just insane.

In the case of pot....all for a weed that damn near anyone can grow!

Legalize it, regulate it, and be done with it.

[FORD]

Not to mention the entire privatized prison industry. THAT is what should be illegal. I don't understand how it's not. Without drug convictions - which are usually weed - those shitholes wouldn't exist.

Hell, even the state prisons profit from the slave labor of drug convictions. I've seen crews from "Correctional Industries" come into the office and build furniture. These people ain't serial killers and pedophiles.

[Guitar Shark]

Of course, kwame. What I am not understanding is the argument that the government "makes money" on it. It looks to me like it spends money -- a LOT of money -- fighting the war on drugs. Fines may be a source of income but I would expect the costs (policing, judicial resources, attorney fees, prison costs) would significantly outweigh any amounts collected in fees.

I support legalizing it, by the way. Regulate and tax the hell out of it, but don't criminalize it!

[kwame k]

Sure the Government spends a ton of money policing it but look at all the industries that pop up because of it!

Rehab, tethers, mandatory drug tests, classes and on and on. Millions are made off the system and millions are employed to enforce/feed off of it.

[kwame k]

Look at how much money is spent per second on this.

http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock

[rocknrolldork]

Of course, kwame. What I am not understanding is the argument that the government "makes money" on it. It looks to me like it spends money -- a LOT of money -- fighting the war on drugs. Fines may be a source of income but I would expect the costs (policing, judicial resources, attorney fees, prison costs) would significantly outweigh any amounts collected in fees.

I support legalizing it, by the way. Regulate and tax the hell out of it, but don't criminalize it!

Maybe I should have said lawmakers and funded systems make money from it being illegal, and not government as a whole?

Drug kingpins lobby the same as big business. Don't think they don't. People deep in the drug trade have more to lose if it becomes legal. If it's legal, they don't have a way to make money. Courts win because of court costs. Prisons win because it's another person to add to the count to request funding. Attorneies win because of lawyer fees. Police offices get spiffs for quotas. Not all of the federal funding for the war on drugs is actually spent on the war on drugs. If your state police receive a hypothetical amount, say $2,000,000 for funding the war on drugs in that state, only about 75% of that money tops actually goes to the efforts on the war on drugs. That leaves $500,000 sitting in the general pot (no pun intended). If the drug arrests go down, so does the posts funding.

I did 2 research papers on this topic. I need to dig up some of my research from school and post the references. Some of the stuff on legislative and police corruption (specifically 1967 - 1988) will blow your mind.

[Hardrock69]

Here is the deal:

It is not so much a 'profit' generator due to 'fines'.

BECAUSE it is illegal, people arrested have to go to trial, go to jail etc.

Because there are thousands and thousands of people in the court and penal system that would not otherwise be there, the governments (Local, State, Federal) have to ask for money each year in the fiscal budget to pay for that stuff.

Law Enforcement has to ask for money to pay for hiring and training of officers.

They have to pay for shit like this (from the news here in Gnashville just last night):

http://www.wkrn.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=6206657&h1=Tenn.%20continues%20fight%20against%20marijuana&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=134767&LaunchPageAdTag=Search%20Results&activePane=info&rnd=11669479

So it is not that the government uses it as a profit generator. They use it as an excuse to spend more of our tax dollars when it is not necessary.

[Sensible Shoes]

Double post

[Sensible Shoes]

Still getting over the vaporizer image!

If I had leukemia I'd be in big trouble because, much like Bill Clinton, I tried pot once, only I did inhale. And it made me sick. GOD it made me sick, I felt like I was having a small seizure. Do you think it was just bad stuff or do people really just have bad reactions?

[FORD]

Still getting over the vaporizer image!

If I had leukemia I'd be in big trouble because, much like Bill Clinton, I tried pot once, only I did inhale. And it made me sick. GOD it made me sick, I felt like I was having a small seizure. Do you think it was just bad stuff or do people really just have bad reactions?

Sounds like it was laced with something. Never heard of anybody getting seizures from ganja. Sure it wasn't that Salvia crap?

[Sensible Shoes]

Too long ago for Salvia I think. C'mon Ford, aren't you and I somewhat close in age? (Pot had seeds back then......)

[FORD]

Oh yeah, I remember seeds! I inhaled far too many burning seeds, usually from improvised beer can pipes or something else without a proper screen!:confused13:

[Sensible Shoes]

I laughed when Roth said "It was Thursday night. 1972." Yup. That was about 1 year off.

[FORD]

Well you were getting high a long time before me then. 1973? I was in second grade then. I didn't smoke dope until Reagan was in the White House.

Maybe you got some of that Mexican shit that Nixon sprayed with Paraquat poison?

[Sensible Shoes]

LOL. I have no idea.

I wonder if they make this concentrate for leukemia treatment, is there is a certain type of marijuana they'd use.

[Hardrock69]

One thing is for certain....these days the reefers are REALLY strong.

I actively seek out standard mid-grade stuff that could be compared to average Columbian back in the day.

I want to cop a light buzz.....not become a mindless, drooling zombie incapable of getting out of my chair, lol.

[ashstralia]

same here HR; we've got the horrible chemical tasting indoor shit here, but the hippies out in the hills grow the good organic natural buds.:) much better.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

same here HR; we've got the horrible chemical tasting indoor shit here,

they are not flushing their plants properly :(

[kwame k]

Yep, straight water 2 to 3 weeks before harvest.........or that's what I heard:o

[Hardrock69]

Seems after the Oaksterdam Reefer College Raid some lawmakers decided to tell the Feds to shove it up their asses....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/02/lawmakers-in-5-states-tell-feds-medical-marijuana_n_1397811.html


WASHINGTON -- Elected lawmakers in five states have a message for the federal government: Don't interfere with state medical marijuana laws.

In an open letter to the federal government, lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle called on the government to stop using scarce law enforcement resources on taking pot away from medical marijuana patients.

"States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from these states," the lawmakers explained in their letter.

"Our state medical marijuana laws differ from one another in their details, such as which patients qualify for medical use; how much marijuana patients may possess; whether patients and caregivers may grow marijuana; and whether regulated entities may grow and sell marijuana to patients. Each of our laws, however, is motivated by a desire to protect seriously ill patients from criminal penalties under state law."

The letter -- signed by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-Calif.), Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Wash.), Rep. Antonio Maestas (D-N.M.), Sen. Cisco McSorley (D-N.M.), Assemblyman Chris Norby (R-Calif.), Rep. Deborah Sanderson (R-Maine) and Sen. Pat Steadman (D-Colo.) -- comes directly on the heels of a federal raid in the heart of California's pot legalization movement: medical marijuana training school Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland, where U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials on Monday blocked off doors with yellow tape and carried off trash bags full of unknown substances to a nearby van. An IRS spokeswoman could not comment on the raid except to say the agents had a federal search warrant.

The lawmakers called on President Obama to live up to his campaign promise to leave the regulation of medical marijuana to the states, adding raids would only "force patients underground" into the illegal drug market.

The president as a candidate promised to maintain a hands-off approach toward pot clinics that adhere to state law. At a 2007 town hall meeting in Manchester, N.H., Obama said raiding patients who use marijuana for medicinal purposes "makes no sense." At another town hall in Nashua, N.H., he said the Justice Department's prosecution of medical marijuana users was "not a good use of our resources." Yet the number of Justice Department raids on marijuana dispensaries has continued to rise.

Read the full letter here:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________
Over the last two decades, 16 states and the District of Columbia have chosen to depart from federal policy and chart their own course on the issue of medical marijuana, as states are entitled to do under our federalist system of government. These states have rejected the fallacy long promoted by the federal government -- that marijuana has absolutely no accepted medical use and that seriously ill people must choose between ignoring their doctors' medical advice or risking arrest and prosecution. They have stopped using their scarce law enforcement resources to punish patients and those who care for them and have instead spent considerable resources and time crafting programs that will provide patients with safe and regulated access to medical marijuana.

States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from these states.

Our state medical marijuana laws differ from one another in their details, such as which patients qualify for medical use; how much marijuana patients may possess; whether patients and caregivers may grow marijuana; and whether regulated entities may grow and sell marijuana to patients. Each of our laws, however, is motivated by a desire to protect seriously ill patients from criminal penalties under state law; to provide a safe and reliable source of medical marijuana; and to balance and protect the needs of local communities and other residents in the state. The laws were drafted with considered thoughtfulness and care, and are thoroughly consistent with the American tradition of using the states as laboratories for public policy innovation and experimentation.

Unfortunately, these laws face a mounting level of federal hostility and confusing mixed messages from the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice, and the various United States Attorneys. In 2008, then candidate Obama stated that as President, he would not use the federal government to circumvent state laws on the issue of medical marijuana. This promise was followed up in 2009 by President Obama with a Department of Justice memo from former Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden stating that federal resources should not generally be focused "on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana." This provided welcome guidance for state legislators and administrators and encouraged us to move forward with drafting and passing responsible regulatory legislation.

Nonetheless, the United States Attorneys in several states with medical marijuana laws have chosen a different course. They have explicitly threatened that federal investigative and prosecutorial resources "will continue to be directed" towards the manufacture and distribution of medical marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law. These threats have generally been timed to influence pending legislation or encourage the abandonment of state and local regulatory programs. They contradict President Obama's campaign promise and policy his first year in office and serve to push medical marijuana activity back into the illicit market.

Most disturbing is that a few United States Attorneys warn that state employees who implement the laws and regulations of our states are not immune from criminal prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances Act. They do so notwithstanding the fact that no provision exists within the Controlled Substances Act that makes it a crime for a state employee to enforce regulations that help a state define conduct that is legal under its own state laws.

Hundreds of state and municipal employees are currently involved in the licensing and regulation of medical marijuana producers and providers in New Mexico, Colorado, Maine, and California, and have been for years. The federal government has never threatened, much less prosecuted, any of these employees. Indeed, the federal government has not, to our knowledge, prosecuted state employees for performing their ministerial duties under state law in modern history. It defies logic and precedent that the federal government would start prosecuting state employees now.

Recognizing the lack of any real harm to state employees, a number of states have moved forward. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie drew on his own experience as a former United States Attorney in deciding that New Jersey state workers were not realistically at risk of federal prosecution in his decision to move forward implementing New Jersey’s medical marijuana program. Rhode Island, Vermont, Arizona, and the District of Columbia are also in the process of implementing their state laws.

Nonetheless, the suggestion that state employees are at risk is have a destructive and chilling impact. Washington Governor Christine Gregoire vetoed legislation to regulate medical marijuana in her state and Delaware Governor Jack Markell suspended implementation of his state's regulatory program after receiving warnings from the United States Attorneys in their states about state employees. Additionally, a number of localities in California ended or suspended regulatory programs after receiving similar threats to their workers.

We, the undersigned state legislators, call on state and local officials to not be intimidated by these empty federal threats. Our state medical marijuana programs should be implemented and move forward. Our work, and the will of our voters, should see the light of day.

We call on the federal government not to interfere with our ability to control and regulate how medical marijuana is grown and distributed. Let us seek clarity rather than chaos. Don’t force patients underground, to fuel the illegal drug market.

And finally, we call on President Obama to recommit to the principles and policy on which he campaigned and asserted his first year in office. Please respect our state laws. And don't use our employees as pawns in your zealous and misguided war on medical marijuana.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-CA)

Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-WA)

Representative Antonio Maestas (D-NM)

Senator Cisco McSorley (D-NM)

Assemblymember Chris Norby (R-CA)

Representative Deborah Sanderson (R-ME)

Senator Pat Steadman (D-CO)

[Seshmeister]

I guess my only question on this one would be..... How the Hell did Bob Marley die of cancer. The man smoked the herb religiously, every day. :(


Sorry to rain on the parade a bit here but it's worth mentioning that there are also studies that show that it causes cancer. This seems like a fair summary.
http://cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-questions/does-smoking-cannabis-cause-cancer#evidence

Also I've posted a few times now that cancer is the general name for a type of disease so there can be no single cure(or cause) for it.

Here is a list of some of the more common diseases that come under the group cancer.


Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Adult
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Childhood
Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Adult
Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Childhood
Adrenocortical Carcinoma
Adrenocortical Carcinoma, Childhood
AIDS-Related Cancers
AIDS-Related Lymphoma
Anal Cancer
Astrocytoma, Childhood Cerebellar
Astrocytoma, Childhood Cerebral
Bile Duct Cancer, Extrahepatic
Bladder Cancer
Bladder Cancer, Childhood
Bone Cancer, Osteosarcoma/Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma
Brain Stem Glioma, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Adult
Brain Tumor, Brain Stem Glioma, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Cerebellar Astrocytoma, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Cerebral Astrocytoma/Malignant Glioma, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Ependymoma, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Medulloblastoma, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma, Childhood
Brain Tumor, Childhood (Other)
Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer and Pregnancy
Breast Cancer, Childhood
Breast Cancer, Male
Bronchial Adenomas/Carcinoids, Childhood
Carcinoid Tumor, Childhood
Carcinoid Tumor,Gastrointestinal
Carcinoma, Adrenocortical
Carcinoma, Islet Cell
Carcinoma of Unknown Primary
Central Nervous System Lymphoma, Primary
Cerebellar Astrocytoma, Childhood
Cerebral Astrocytoma/Malignant Glioma, Childhood
Cervical Cancer
Childhood Cancers
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
Chronic Myeloproliferative Disorders
Clear Cell Sarcoma of Tendon Sheaths
Colon Cancer
Colorectal Cancer, Childhood
Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
Endometrial Cancer
Ependymoma, Childhood
Epithelial Cancer, Ovarian
Esophageal Cancer
Esophageal Cancer, Childhood
Ewing's Family of Tumors
Extracranial Germ Cell Tumor, Childhood
Extragonadal Germ Cell Tumor
Extrahepatic Bile Duct Cancer
Eye Cancer, Intraocular Melanoma
Eye Cancer, Retinoblastoma
Gallbladder Cancer
Gastric (Stomach) Cancer
Gastric (Stomach) Cancer, Childhood
Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumor
Germ Cell Tumor, Extracranial, Childhood
Germ Cell Tumor, Extragonadal
Germ Cell Tumor, Ovarian
Gestational Trophoblastic Tumor
Glioma, Childhood Brain Stem
Glioma, Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic
Hairy Cell Leukemia
Head and Neck Cancer
Hepatocellular (Liver) Cancer, Adult (Primary)
Hepatocellular (Liver) Cancer, Childhood (Primary)
Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Adult
Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Childhood
Hodgkin's Lymphoma During Pregnancy
Hypopharyngeal Cancer
Hypothalamic and Visual Pathway Glioma, Childhood
Intraocular Melanoma
Islet Cell Carcinoma (Endocrine Pancreas)
Kaposi's Sarcoma
Kidney Cancer
Laryngeal Cancer
Laryngeal Cancer, Childhood
Leukemia, Acute Lymphoblastic, Adult
Leukemia, Acute Lymphoblastic, Childhood
Leukemia, Acute Myeloid, Adult
Leukemia, Acute Myeloid, Childhood
Leukemia, Chronic Lymphocytic
Leukemia, Chronic Myelogenous
Leukemia, Hairy Cell
Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer
Liver Cancer, Adult (Primary)
Liver Cancer, Childhood (Primary)
Lung Cancer, Non-Small Cell
Lung Cancer, Small Cell
Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Adult Acute
Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Childhood Acute
Lymphocytic Leukemia, Chronic
Lymphoma, AIDS-Related
Lymphoma, Central Nervous System (Primary)
Lymphoma, Cutaneous T-Cell
Lymphoma, Hodgkin's, Adult
Lymphoma, Hodgkin's, Childhood
Lymphoma, Hodgkin's During Pregnancy
Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin's, Adult
Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin's, Childhood
Non-Hodgkin's During Pregnancy
Lymphoma, Primary Central Nervous System
Macroglobulinemia, Waldenstr�m's
Male Breast Cancer
Malignant Mesothelioma, Adult
Malignant Mesothelioma, Childhood
Medulloblastoma, Childhood
Melanoma
Melanoma, Intraocular
Merkel Cell Carcinoma
Mesothelioma, Malignant
Metastatic Squamous Neck Cancer with Occult Primary
Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome, Childhood
Multiple Myeloma/Plasma Cell Neoplasm
Mycosis Fungoides
Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Myelodysplastic/Myeloproliferative Diseases
Myelogenous Leukemia, Chronic
Myeloid Leukemia, Adult Acute
Myeloid Leukemia, Childhood Acute
Myeloma, Multiple
Myeloproliferative Disorders, Chronic
Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinus Cancer
Nasopharyngeal Cancer
Nasopharyngeal Cancer, Childhood
Neuroblastoma
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Adult
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Childhood
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma During Pregnancy
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Oral Cancer, Childhood
Oral Cavity and Lip Cancer
Oropharyngeal Cancer
Osteosarcoma/Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma of Bone
Ovarian Cancer, Childhood
Ovarian Epithelial Cancer
Ovarian Germ Cell Tumor
Ovarian Low Malignant Potential Tumor
Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic Cancer, Childhood
Pancreatic Cancer, Islet Cell
Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer
Parathyroid Cancer
Penile Cancer
Pheochromocytoma
Pineal and Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors, Childhood
Pituitary Tumor
Plasma Cell Neoplasm/Multiple Myeloma
Pleuropulmonary Blastoma
Pregnancy and Breast Cancer
Pregnancy and Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Pregnancy and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
Primary Liver Cancer, Adult
Primary Liver Cancer, Childhood
Prostate Cancer
Rectal Cancer
Renal Cell (Kidney) Cancer
Renal Cell Cancer, Childhood
Renal Pelvis and Ureter, Transitional Cell Cancer
Retinoblastoma
Rhabdomyosarcoma, Childhood
Salivary Gland Cancer
Salivary Gland Cancer, Childhood
Sarcoma, Ewing's Family of Tumors
Sarcoma, Kaposi's
Sarcoma (Osteosarcoma)/Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma of Bone
Sarcoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Childhood
Sarcoma, Soft Tissue, Adult
Sarcoma, Soft Tissue, Childhood
Sezary Syndrome
Skin Cancer
Skin Cancer, Childhood
Skin Cancer (Melanoma)
Skin Carcinoma, Merkel Cell
Small Cell Lung Cancer
Small Intestine Cancer
Soft Tissue Sarcoma, Adult
Soft Tissue Sarcoma, Childhood
Squamous Neck Cancer with Occult Primary, Metastatic
Stomach (Gastric) Cancer
Stomach (Gastric) Cancer, Childhood
Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors, Childhood
T-Cell Lymphoma, Cutaneous
Testicular Cancer
Thymoma, Childhood
Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma Thyroid Cancer
Thyroid Cancer, Childhood
Transitional Cell Cancer of the Renal Pelvis and Ureter
Trophoblastic Tumor, Gestational
Unknown Primary Site, Carcinoma of, Adult
Unknown Primary Site, Cancer of, Childhood
Unusual Cancers of Childhood
Ureter and Renal Pelvis, Transitional Cell Cancer
Urethral Cancer
Uterine Cancer, Endometrial
Uterine Sarcoma
Vaginal Cancer
Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma, Childhood
Vulvar Cancer
Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia
Wilms' Tumor

[ELVIS]

FUCK Obama...

[Seshmeister]

Does the president have much power on drugs apart from appointing the head of the DEA?

Would Romney be better because it appears he would be much worse.

[Seshmeister]

As governor, in July of 2006 Romney vetoed a bill that would allow for the sale of hypodermic needles without a prescription. This law was intended to reduce the spread of diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV, but Romney believed that since it would "facilitate illegal drug use" and "send the wrong message to young people," the bill's medical aspects should be disregarded. His flimsy reasoning was exposed when the Massachusetts legislators overrode his veto.

Wow what a dick hole!

[Angel]

Still getting over the vaporizer image!

If I had leukemia I'd be in big trouble because, much like Bill Clinton, I tried pot once, only I did inhale. And it made me sick. GOD it made me sick, I felt like I was having a small seizure. Do you think it was just bad stuff or do people really just have bad reactions?
What year was it. Sounds like the reaction that I had to some mexican weed. We figured it was probably from the paraquat the gov was spraying at that time.

[Panamark]

+3 on Vaporizors !

Havent done it in years, but if I do decide to give my liver a break, vapor for me.
And Ash, I am in prime Hippie growing country :)
Just need some seeds, you put a stick in the ground here and its a tree in a week !
Very Mullumbimby/Byron type country...

With regards to cancer, 2 out of 3 of us will get some form of it. (If you live long enough)
Hopefully when its your turn, its one they have learned how to nuke.
If you are genetically disposed to it, not much you can do ? The good thing about the genetic
cancers is you can monitor early if you know you are likely to get it.

Been there once already, getting ready to checkout threat number 2 !
Those that have been struck down with multiple and brain tumours,
seems we still have a lot to learn. Recent advise from leading cancer specialists
is that more people will be getting cancer, but also more will be saved.
I thought by this stage of my life they would have had most cancers covered, in a way
I guess they do. Theres still those 3 deadly ones that I dont want to play with.

Anyone think city processed water and food preservatives are fucking us ?

[Panamark]

Still getting over the vaporizer image!

If I had leukemia I'd be in big trouble because, much like Bill Clinton, I tried pot once, only I did inhale. And it made me sick. GOD it made me sick, I felt like I was having a small seizure. Do you think it was just bad stuff or do people really just have bad reactions?

Its not uncommon to "OD" on your first few tries. I did.... You turn white, throw up everywhere, feel like death. I think the 3rd or 4th try, I saw the light, and it was good :)

[kwame k]

Anyone think city processed water and food preservatives are fucking us ?

It's a fact Marky!

They've linked pasteurized milk to Autism in children.

The Fluoride in water has been linked to numerous health related problems.....it's a toxic product after all!

The growth hormones in meat and poultry has been linked to many different types of health problems.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a major cause of obesity and other maladies. Your body cannot process the stuff.

GMO-modified plants have a pesticide put in them on a genetic level, reduces the need for spraying crops that way.

Look at that pink slime that was in the news lately......it's the major ingredient in McDonalds hamburger and now we find out this filler has been put in tons of other foods.

There was a study that linked obesity to food by way of nutritional value, it explains why we eat so much. It's not because we're pigs, it's because to get the daily nutrients our bodies need we have to consume twice as much food.....why, because they have over-processed and have taken out the natural nutrients in order to grow food and process it quicker and to make sure it has a longer shelf life.

It's fucking scary if you actually read what is out there in the public domain........there's numerous reports from government agencies on this subject and not just the tinfoil hat web sites.

Hell, Monsanto corn is banned in Mexico and other countries to the point where we can't even export meat, dairy, poultry and other food because it was grown with Monsanto feed.

[vandeleur]

Its not uncommon to "OD" on your first few tries. I did.... You turn white, throw up everywhere, feel like death. I think the 3rd or 4th try, I saw the light, and it was good :)

The classic .... whitey ..........every one has had them at one time or another usually when they first start ....

[ELVIS]

Anyone think city processed water and food preservatives are fucking us ?

Fuckin' A right they are...

Fluoride and other waste from sources such as coal, military industry, prescription drugs and even nuclear waste in the drinking water supply...

GMO corn and other crops including wheat...

Steroid and growth hormone pumped chicken, cattle and pigs...

Artifical sweeteners, fillers, antibiotics...

On and on and on...


It's killing us all, by design...


:elvis:

[ELVIS]

It's a fact Marky!

They've linked pasteurized milk to Autism in children.

The Fluoride in water has been linked to numerous health related problems.....it's a toxic product after all!

The growth hormones in meat and poultry has been linked to many different types of health problems.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a major cause of obesity and other maladies. Your body cannot process the stuff.

GMO-modified plants have a pesticide put in them on a genetic level, reduces the need for spraying crops that way.

Look at that pink slime that was in the news lately......it's the major ingredient in McDonalds hamburger and now we find out this filler has been put in tons of other foods.

There was a study that linked obesity to food by way of nutritional value, it explains why we eat so much. It's not because we're pigs, it's because to get the daily nutrients our bodies need we have to consume twice as much food.....why, because they have over-processed and have taken out the natural nutrients in order to grow food and process it quicker and to make sure it has a longer shelf life.

It's fucking scary if you actually read what is out there in the public domain........there's numerous reports from government agencies on this subject and not just the tinfoil hat web sites.

Hell, Monsanto corn is banned in Mexico and other countries to the point where we can't even export meat, dairy, poultry and other food because it was grown with Monsanto feed.

You beat me to it...

At least we agree on something...:biggrin:


But if anyone thinks these things are not killing us, they're delusional...

I'm sure Sesh will debunk it all with his cleverness...

But this stuff is the equivilant of soft kill weapons...


:elvis:

[Seshmeister]

Damn that cleverness.

You can prove anything with facts! :)

[ELVIS]

BTW, high quality Vodka in place of tap water probably reduces the effects of the NWO soft kill food additives, so long as your liver holds up...

But you can always get a new liver...


:biggrin:

[jhale667]

Damn that cleverness.

You can prove anything with facts! :)

Yeah, but they're so pesky... ;)

[chefcraig]

BTW, high quality Vodka in place of tap water probably reduces the effects of the NWO soft kill food additives, so long as your liver holds up...

But you can always get a new liver...


:biggrin:

Thank you. I'm going to introduce this post as support for drinking on the job as an antidote the next time one of my co-workers comes up with the brilliant idea of purchasing that ghastly Little Caesar's Pizza for a group lunch.

[ELVIS]

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/nitrousoxidesmoke671/VodkaDispenser.jpg


:elvis:

[Seshmeister]

Who are 'they' who have done the linking with autism? That silly tart from Baywatch? Oprah? Seriously that is nonsense. Autism has been studied to incredible degrees and no one knows what causes it if it even is an it. Autism rises are due to diagnosis, when we were young they were called funny kids, oddballs, weird. The kid with the banjo in Deliverance would now be diagnosed with autism giving his village a scary 100% increase hotspot. 'We never had no autism back when we were fucking that guy in the woods in the 1970s!'

Kids with autism drank pasteurised milk before developing it because all kids drink milk at that age - correlation not causation.

Also it's ok to be against GM crops but you can only be against them in rich countries. Without them billions of people would die, it's that simple.

Fluoride in the water has been tested to super fuck and found to be fine; I wish we had it in our water but some mad old bat managed to win a legal case years ago.

Some of the other stuff you said is true, some unproven.

For example I sometimes had been buying the best quality but still worrying cheap frozen chicken burgers from the store until very recently. I would have one maybe once a month in an emergency. I had been avoiding McD's chicken for years because of the sludge thing but thought these were ok because they said chicken breast.

Anyhoo I noticed that the smaller than small print actually said pure chicken breast + marinade but when you go to the marinade ingredients expecting maybe some salt, spices, maybe a little oil it turned out it's chicken fat and cornstarch. Sneaky cunts.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee43/Seshmeister/chicken.jpg

I'm sure that the occasional one of these was doing me no harm but that's another thing off the menu.

[Seshmeister]

It's killing us all, by design...



Some of the stuff is killing us but it's by a lack of design or regulation.

And do you not support politicians who are trying to get rid of the very thin line of protection you have?

I don't get that big corporations will protect us from nasty public health doctors thing at all.

[chefcraig]

In a related story, the manufacturer of the pink slime image in Sesh's post filed for bankruptcy the other day. I saw the story yesterday morning in my local paper.

Pink Slime Bankruptcy: Ground Beef Processor Files For Chapter 11 After Heated Backlash

IBT (http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/323308/20120403/pink-slime-bankruptcy-meat-ground-beef-jamie.htm)

"Pink slime" is certainly not the way to America's heart or stomach; and one ground beef processor found that out the hard way.

AFA Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, saying the backlash over the meat filler dubbed "pink slime" hurt its business.

"An orderly sale through Chapter 11 will unlock value and provide a smooth transition for employees, customers and other business partners," Ronald Allen, interim chief executive of AFA Foods, said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The Prussia, Pennsylvania, company is one of the largest ground beef processors in the U.S., processing more than 500 million pounds of ground beef products each year, it said in documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, according to Reuters. In court documents, the company said, "recent changes in the market" have forced it to sale some or all of its assets; these "changes" were related to the public backlash against pink slime.

AFA said it has $219 million in assets and $197 million in liabilities. AFA also said it has secured a commitment for $56 million in debtor-in-possession financing from its lenders GE Capital and Bank of America. AFA, which is owned by Ron Burkle's investment firm, Yucaipa Cos., employs about 850 full-time employees and had revenue of $958 million, according to Bloomberg.

"Pink slime" is a mix of meat trimmings washed in ammonium hydroxide and used in fast food burger patties. It's called "finely textured beef" by meat processors; however, when the public got wind of what they were consuming at fast food chains like McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell in January, much harsher terms were used to describe the gooey, bubble gum-colored substance.

The term "pink slime" was first used by former USDA microbiologist, Gerajd Zirnstein, who included the phrase in a 2002 email to coworkers after taking a tour of a Beef Products Inc. plant. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver made the "pink slime" term popular after using it during his show, "Food Revolution," last year. He decried the fatty, rejected meat and said that it's abhorrent for humans to eat this way.

"Basically, we're taking a product that would be sold at the cheapest form for dogs and after this process we can give it to human," Oliver said on his show.

"Why would any sensible human being want to put ammonia-filled meat into their children's mouths? The great American public needs to urgently understand what their food industry is doing," said Oliver.

"Pink slime" isn't only common in meat sold at fast food chains. Oliver said that it makes up 70 percent of the hamburger beef in America.

The backlash over "pink slime" impelled companies like BPI to half production at some of its plants in the U.S. and has led U.S. supermarket operations to say they'll stop buying the "pink slime" products. McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell also distanced themselves from the PR nightmare, stating that they would no longer accept the meat filler for their products.

"At the beginning of 2011, we made a decision to discontinue the use of ammonia-treated beef in our hamburgers," Todd Bacon, senior director of quality systems for McDonald's, said in a statement. "This product has been out of our supply chain since August of last year. This decision was a result of our efforts to align our global standards for how we source beef around the world."

AFA's bankruptcy filing is one more example of how far-reaching the "pink slime" controversy is, said Gary Acuff, director of the Center for Food Safety at Texas A&M University in College Station.

"The public view of this product is pretty damaged at this point," Acuff told Reuters. "I'm not sure they'll recover from something like this."

Jeremy Russell, of the National Meat Association, told Reuters, "This is certainly going to have an economic impact on the industry," affecting thousands of jobs, from cattle ranchers to meat processors.

[Seshmeister]

My picture came from a bunch of stories saying it was how they made McDonalds chicken nuggets.

http://www.tineye.com/search/c0c1c24dbd85ff96110c23758964ce866190f071/

McD's are shorthand in these arguments though, this is all about food being too cheap, it's not a conspiracy.

If you choose the kids meal option at Denny's or wherever and expect a main course, a drink and a sweet for ....

Hah! I went to check the latest price and it's free.

Ok so as I was saying, if you expect Denny's to feed your kids for nothing and you for a few bucks then you cannot be surprised when the free market and technology work out a way to do that using horrible bits of processed animals in such an ingenious way you don't vomit.

We need more regulation. 'But regulation pushes up prices' says Ron Paul and your answer at that point should be 'Fine, I fucking hope so'!

[chefcraig]

The whole pink slime issue has been pretty interesting to watch unravel. Do a Google search for Jamie Oliver - pink slime and you get all sorts of articles and video clips. Really, who thought that cutting beef with fucking ammonia was a good idea?

[Seshmeister]

Hollywood needs to make Pink Slime, the movie.

In 3D of course...

[chefcraig]

Hollywood needs to make Pink Slime, the movie.

In 3D of course...

Already been done about 4 times or so after Peter Sellers dropped dead, the last two of which inexplicably starred Steve Martin as Clouseau. This is pretty much as bad an idea as using ammonia as a food additive.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iaz4p6lcv3A

[kwame k]

n 1994, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH).


Bovine somatotropin (abbreviated bST and BST), or BGH, is a peptide hormone produced by the cow's pituitary gland.[1] Like other hormones, it is produced in small quantities and is used in regulating metabolic processes.[1] Since 1994 it has been possible to synthesize the hormone using recombinant DNA technology to create recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), or artificial growth hormone. Monsanto was the first to develop the technology and marketed it as "Posilac" - a brand now owned by Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company.

Posilac was banned from use in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel and all European Union countries (currently numbering 27), by 2000 or earlier. Link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_somatotropin)


Of greater concern is the fact that milk from rBGH-treated cows has higher levels of IGF-1, a hormone that normally helps some types of cells to grow. Several studies have found that IGF-1 levels at the high end of the normal range may influence the development of certain tumors. Some early studies found a relationship between blood levels of IGF-1 and the development of prostate, breast, colorectal, and other cancers, but later studies have failed to confirm these reports or have found weaker relationships. While there may be a link between IGF-1 blood levels and cancer, the exact nature of this link remains unclear.

Some studies have shown that adults who drink milk have about 10% higher levels of IGF-1 in their blood than those who drink little or no milk. But this same finding has also been reported in people who drink soymilk. This suggests that the increase in IGF-1 may not be specific to cow's milk, and may be caused by protein, minerals, or some other factors in milk unrelated to rBGH. There have been no direct comparisons of IGF-1 levels in people who drink ordinary cow's milk vs. milk stimulated by rBGH. [/URL]

This study shows how the FDA only uses data from the companies' own research and not verified by independent research......[URL="http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/general/documents/hazard.pdf"]link (http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/recombinant-bovine-growth-hormone)

Milk and Autism..


Findings from two animal studies indicate autism and schizophrenia may be linked to a person's inability to properly break down a protein found in milk. The digestive problem might actually lead to the disorders' symptoms, whose basis has long been debated. This research was done by a physiologist at the University of Florida Dr. J. Robert Cade.

When not broken down, the milk protein produces exorphins, morphine-like compounds that are then taken up by areas of the brain known to be involved in autism and schizophrenia, where they cause cells to dysfunction. The animal findings suggest an intestinal flaw, such as a malfunctioning enzyme, is to blame. Preliminary findings from that study -- which showed 95 percent of 81 autistic and schizophrenic children studied had 100 times the normal levels of the milk protein in their blood and urine -- have been presented at two international meetings in the past year but have not yet been published.Link (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/milk-linked-to-autism.aspx)

[ZahZoo]

Fuckin' A right they are...

It's killing us all, by design...

LOL no one gets out of here alive... what exactly are you worrying about..?

Humans are living 2-3 times longer than we did just 100 years ago. The longevity factor continues to grow. All this fuss over these things is wasted time and energy...

We all fucking die... what does it matter of what does us in?

The statistics for brain or mental disorders are skewed... there really isn't any significant increase per capita. We're just reproducing at extremely high rates.

[kwame k]

Some of the stuff is killing us but it's by a lack of design or regulation.

And do you not support politicians who are trying to get rid of the very thin line of protection you have?

I don't get that big corporations will protect us from nasty public health doctors thing at all.

Somehow those people think that by saying regulation you are killing free enterprise......in a way, yes you are but that's only if you look at it from the bottom line, maximum profit to the corporations and overlook that producing cheap food has horrendous health benefits.

I could make a coffee creamer out of used oil and sell it for pennies compared to other creamers.....does that mean we should?

Trusting that the markets will regulate themselves is insane......how many decades did the tobacco companies know for a scientific fact that cigarettes caused cancer but covered it up!

Asbestos companies knew for how many decades that their product caused cancer?

Sure the market corrected itself after how many thousands of people died needlessly?

The way our food is grown and processed is causing serious health problems and no one really seems to care and yet the solutions some people are suggesting is to take away regulation to solve it:pullinghair:

[jhale667]

Excellent point, Kwame...those calling for complete deregulation are morons - like any industry poisoning their customers and getting away with it (in some cases for decades) will ever suddenly develop a conscience and begin to police themselves...

[Jesus Christ]

Best dietary rule to live by- If Dad & I did not create it, then don't expect thy bodies to know what to do with it.

[kwame k]

Excellent point, Kwame...those calling for complete deregulation are morons - like any industry poisoning their customers and getting away with it (in some cases for decades) will ever suddenly develop a conscience and begin to police themselves...


Faced with the decision to retool or replace defective parts in cars.......an accountant came up with a formula that basically factored in recalls/retooling versus lawsuit payouts. The resulting formula was used to decide if it was cheaper to settle lawsuits than recall the defective problem, that the automaker should allow the defect and just settle the lawsuits as they came up.

Guess what stopped that practice?

Yep, regulation and not market correction;)

[kwame k]

Best dietary rule to live by- If Dad & I did not create it, then don't expect thy bodies to know what to do with it.

Yet, why all the restrictions on swine?

[Jesus Christ]

Yet, why all the restrictions on swine?

At the time it was a lot easier to simply say "thou shalt not eat this, because it's unclean" than to explain the concepts of adequate cooking temperature and refrigeration to people who did not have the technological capability of controlling either one.

[kwame k]

So basically it was a lie by the Man for the good of His people:biggrin:

[Jesus Christ]

No, it wasn't a lie. Since there was no way to safely eat pork, then it was actually unclean and would kill you, at that point. Even with today's technology, those who keep a Kosher diet are eating much healthier than those who do not. Compare those Hebrew National hotdogs to a competing brand, for example. Not that hotdogs in general are the best example of health food, but ye know what I mean :jesuslol:

[kwame k]

:biggrin:

I was just jerking Your chain, Your Most Holiness!

[DLR'sCock]

You beat me to it...

At least we agree on something...:biggrin:


But if anyone thinks these things are not killing us, they're delusional...

I'm sure Sesh will debunk it all with his cleverness...

But this stuff is the equivilant of soft kill weapons...


:elvis:

Yep, and I knew this stuff almost twenty years ago......

[Nitro Express]

FUCK Obama...

I don't think you would want to ride his skinny bony ass Elvis.

[ELVIS]

I suppose you're right...

[Nitro Express]

I think the government has the right to inform people of the dangers but it doesn't have to be big daddy in everything. Life is about making choices and learning from them. When every decision is made for you, life sucks. That's the way the Soviet Union was in 1978 when we went there. It was the government telling everyone what to do and they were scared to think for themselves. Government is pretty much ran by control freaks anyways. They are attracted to it. Not exactly the type of people I want dictating everything we do.

[kwame k]

I agree and it's like pulling teeth just to get them to label things properly:pullinghair:

[katina]

Ever see the numbers on the War on Drugs?

It's staggering how much money is wasted on it and how many nonviolent offenders are sitting in jail right now. All in an effort to legislate morality. The money generated in fines, lawyer fees and such are just insane.

In the case of pot....all for a weed that damn near anyone can grow!

Legalize it, regulate it, and be done with it.

Just to let you know, it´s legal here for personal consuption when a third parties are not affected. You even can grow it.
Copied fron www.druglawreform.info :

Argentina
Decriminalization

Overview of drug laws and legislative trends in Argentina

Trend

On August 25, 2009, the Supreme Court of Argentina unanimously declared unconstitutional the second paragraph of Article 14 of the national Narcotics Law (Law No. 23,737) which punishes the possession of drugs for personal consumption with imprisonment, ranging from one month to two years (replaceable with educational measures or treatment). According to the Court the unconstitutionality of the article is applicable to cases of drug possession for personal consumption, when third parties are not affected.

Although the Court's ruling does not specifically refer to one particular substance, and the case on which it ruled dealt with cannabis, it opens the door to judicial reform of drug laws in Argentina, since these arguments also apply to other drugs. A bill to decriminalize the possession of all drugs for personal consumption was expected in 2010, but will now most likely be discussed in 2012.

[Angel]

At the time it was a lot easier to simply say "thou shalt not eat this, because it's unclean" than to explain the concepts of adequate cooking temperature and refrigeration to people who did not have the technological capability of controlling either one.

Yeah, right. Admit it, you just wanted to keep all the bacon for yourselves!!

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[Hardrock69]

Well, one thing a friend and I figured out the other day....if Law Enforcement agencies are worried about their budgets for going after reefer people will be cut if pot is legalized, the answer is just to shift their efforts to meth-heads. There are armies of meth-heads out there just waiting to be busted, and currently there is not enough cash in the budgets to bust all of them. Legalize the reefer, that frees up resources to fight meth, heroin, etc.

Not cocaine though. That is how the CIA makes their money.

[Seshmeister]

At the time it was a lot easier to simply say "thou shalt not eat this, because it's unclean" than to explain the concepts of adequate cooking temperature and refrigeration to people who did not have the technological capability of controlling either one.

Yeah very good but that doesn't explain the 'Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together.'

You know what does explain that? It's the not the word of god it's the inane scribblings of clueless bronze age fucking goat herders.

[ashstralia]

jesus talking about hotdogs!

(not a curse, actually happened.)

[chefcraig]

Yeah very good but that doesn't explain the 'Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together.'

You know what does explain that? It's the not the word of god it's the inane scribblings of clueless bronze age fucking goat herders.

Yup. And when even the words of a fictional, ideological President on a tv show can blow gaping holes in a theology without really trying, you could say it (the theology) is pretty much fucked.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5zCY0DtxTQ&feature=related

[Dan]

I Feel Like Smoking A Big Fat Kiwi Bud.:D

[Panamark]

Im nearing 12 months now of living off rainwater and fresh milk.
Fresh produce and hormone/preservative free meat.

Im sure the clean air helps too, but my digestion system
seems heaps better, my skin looks better, I still knock
back the beers (as you do) but its interesting in just one year
eating fresh meat and fresh water what a difference you feel.
Theres freakin 90 year old dudes up here running several hundred head of
catlle a day ! Those buggers seem like they will live to 150... lol...

The proof is in the pudding, (hope thats an international saying)
Fresh air, water, food....

Thats why I asked the question about city water and preservatives in food.
Maybe our governments know and dont care that we will fall off the perch
earlier ?

[kwame k]

Ha!

I invested in a farm with a friend a couple years ago and we raise all organic meat!

We use no GMO feed or any growth hormones. Everything free-ranges and we rotate the animals to naturally fertilizer the fields. The cows, Belted Galloways, graze the fields first followed by the chickens and then the pigs. They spread the manure while eating the insects and root up the fields. By doing this, every animal on the farm contributes to putting nutrients back into the fields and our hay/alfalfa is amazing. We're able to get 2 cuttings a year even after allowing the animals to graze.

The trade off is it takes a bit longer for the animals to grow but the taste of the meat and poultry is amazing. Pigs are leaner but still taste better than anything store bought. The lambs, ducks, rabbit and turkeys all taste better, too! Fresh creamer in your coffee is to die for;)

The eggs we have are 1,000 times better than store bought.

This year we've finally broke even, feed costs + land development, and are on pace to make money! Not bad for only starting from scratch three years ago.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/03/feds_remove_anti-tumor_cannabis_info_after_just_5.php


Feds Remove Anti-Tumor Cannabis Info After Just Days Online


By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in Medical, News
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 7:10 pm

Just 11 days after adding a section on medical marijuana to its treatment database, the National Cancer Institute has altered the new page, removing any mention of the evidence that marijuana can diminish and even reverse tumor growth.

LINKY (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional)

In an edit appearing Monday afternoon, NCI replaced a sentence about marijuana's direct anti-tumor effect with one saying that it is prescribed mainly to control nausea, pain and insomnia for cancer patients, reports Kyle Daly at The Colorado Independent.

LINKY (http://coloradoindependent.com/81475/first-federal-agency-to-acknowledge-medical-marijuana-removes-anti-tumor-information-from-database)



The original language, published to the Web on March 17, had read:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.


After being changed Monday, it now reads:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Though no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients who prescribe medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.


Information which acknowledges that marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years was left on the site, as were statements regarding cannabinoids and their benefits in ameliorating the side-effects of conventional cancer treatments.

Was Big Pharm behind the changes? Were the pharmaceutical companies protecting their profits derived from harsh and often ineffective chemotherapy?

Do we live in a free, science-based society or one where medical research can be deleted and ignored for political reasons?

[Hardrock69]

300 Economists....some of them Nobel Laureates, say legalizing pot could save our government over 13 BILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/economists-marijuana-legalization_n_1431840.html


Your plans to celebrate 4/20 this Friday could actually make the government some money, if only such activities were legal. That’s according to a bunch of economists, and some prominent ones too.

More than 300 economists, including three nobel laureates, have signed a petition calling attention to the findings of a paper by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, which suggests that if the government legalized marijuana it would save $7.7 billion annually by not having to enforce the current prohibition on the drug. The report added that legalization would save an additional $6 billion per year if the government taxed marijuana at rates similar to alcohol and tobacco.

That's as much as $13.7 billion per year, but it's still minimal when compared to the federal deficit, which hit $1.5 trillion last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

While the economists don't directly call for pot legalization, the petition asks advocates on both sides to engage in an "open and honest debate" about the benefits of pot prohibition.

"At a minimum, this debate will force advocates of current policy to show that prohibition has benefits sufficient to justify the cost to taxpayers, foregone tax revenues, and numerous ancillary consequences that result from marijuana prohibition," the petition states.

The economic benefits of pushing pot into mainstream commerce have long been cited as a reason to make the drug legal, and the economists' petition comes as government officials at both the federal and local levels are looking for ways to raise funds. The majority of Americans say they prefer cutting programs to increasing taxes as a way to deal with the nation’s budget deficit -- marijuana legalization would seemingly give the government money without doing either.

Officials in one state have already made the economic argument for pot legalization, but to no avail. California Democratic State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano proposed legislation in 2009 to legalize marijuana in California, arguing that it would yield billions of dollars in tax revenue for a state in dire need of funds. California voters ultimately knocked down a referendum to legalize marijuana in 2010.

Economist Stephen Easton wrote in Businessweek that the financial benefits of pot legalization may be even bigger than Miron's findings estimate. Based on the amount of money he thinks it would take to produce and market legal marijuana, combined with an estimate of marijuana consumers, Eatson guesses that legalizing the drug could bring in $45 to $100 billion per year. Easton’s name doesn't appear on the petition.

Some argue that the economic argument for pot legalization is already proven by the benefits states and cities have reaped from making medical marijuana legal. Advocates for Colorado's medical marijuana industry argue that legalization has helped to jumpstart a stalled economy in cities like Boulder and Denver, according to nj.com.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/04/18/bc-marijuana-legalization.html


Marc Emery's U.S. prosecutor urges pot legalization
John McKay once prosecuted B.C.'s 'Prince of Pot' Marc Emery

CBC News
Posted: Apr 18, 2012 12:12 PM PT
Last Updated: Apr 18, 2012 3:11 PM PT

The former U.S. district attorney who prosecuted B.C. marijuana activist Marc Emery in a cross-border sting is calling for the legalization and taxation of pot in Canada and the U.S.

John McKay, a former U.S. attorney for the western district of Washington State, was joined by Emery's wife Jodie and former B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant at a lecture in Vancouver on Wednesday.

McKay said he did not regret prosecuting Emery because he broke U.S. law, but he believes the war on pot has been a complete and total failure. He said the laws keeping pot illegal no longer serve any purpose, but allow gangs and cartels to generate billions in profits.

"I want to say this just as clearly and as forthrightly as I can, marijuana prohibition, criminal prohibition of marijuana is a complete failure," McKay said.

McKay said marijuana, like alcohol, should be produced and sold to adults by the government, and that would generate at least half a billion dollars in revenue annually in Washington State alone.

More importantly, he said, ending prohibition would end the violent reign of gangs and drug cartels who are profiting from the situation. He said any prohibition in society requires broad support from the population, and that isn't the case with marijuana.

The appearance was organized by Stop the Violence BC, a coalition of high-profile academic, legal, law enforcement and health experts, which is working to reduce crime and public health problems stemming from the prohibition on marijuana.

The group includes several former B.C. attorneys general, several former Vancouver mayors, a former B.C. premier and a former RCMP superintendent for the province.

McKay, a Republican, was a U.S. Attorney from 2001 to 2007, when he resigned or was fired along with eight other U.S attorneys by President Bush.

He is now a professor in the faculty of law at Seattle University and an avid supporter of the Washington State ballot initiative for the November election to implement a regulated, taxed market for marijuana.

Marc Emery remains in prison in the U.S., serving a five-year sentence for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana through his mail-order cannabis seed business.

[Hardrock69]

Can one of you guys just rename this thread? Call it something like Hardrock69's Reefer Madness Thread or something? This is going to be an ongoing thing, as there are new developments brewing all the time.


Like THIS:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/connecticut-senate-passes-medical-marijuana-bill-after-lengthy-debate/2012/05/05/gIQAPOoy2T_story.html



Connecticut Senate passes medical marijuana bill after lengthy debate

Published: May 5

HARTFORD, Conn. — A bill legalizing marijuana for medical purposes has passed the Connecticut Senate. The state joins 16 others and the District of Columbia in enacting such legislation.

State senators voted 21-to-13 in favor of the measure early Saturday, after nearly 10 hours of debate dominated by bill opponent Republican Sen. Toni Boucher.


Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has said he supports the measure, is expected to sign the legislation into law.

The bill moves away from the largely criticized precedent set in California, proposing a complex regulated system of cultivation, dispensing and licensing.

The Connecticut bill outlines specific diseases that would be treated under the drug. It requires a recommendation from an individual’s physician and establishes a system of licensing for patients, caregivers and growers.

[Hardrock69]

Ok...latest update from US News and World Report:

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/05/17/americans-support-ending-federal-crackdown-on-medical-marijuana


Americans Support Ending Federal Crackdown on Medical Marijuana
Three-fourths of likely voters favor state-level medical marijuana laws,

By Seth Cline
May 17, 2012

A chart showing the results of a poll asking if Americans want the federal government to stop raids targeting medical marijuana.

http://www.usnews.com/pubdbimages/image/30767/potchart415x393.jpg

Americans think President Obama should leave states that have legalized medical marijuana alone, a new poll finds.

In survey of 1000 likely voters, Mason-Dixon Polling and Research found three-fourths of those polled believe President Obama should respect laws in states where growing and selling marijuana is legal for medical purposes. Fifteen percent of respondents favored enforcing federal law, under which medical marijuana use is illegal.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, most recently Connecticut. This has not kept individuals and dispensaries from being prosecuted under federal law by the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney's Offices around the country.

The poll found that respondents identifying themselves as Republican and over 65 years old were more likely to support using federal resources "to arrest and prosecute individuals who are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws." More than 80 percent of the youngest respondents, voters under 34, favored "respecting state medical marijuana laws," though this age group made up a smaller percentage of respondents.

[Hardrock69]

Connecticut becomes the 17th state in the US to Legalize Medical Marijunana:

http://www.care2.com/causes/medical-marijuana-is-now-legal-in-connecticut.html#ixzz1wkrwHANF


Medical Marijuana Is Now Legal In Connecticut

by Beth Buczynski
June 2, 2012
10:08 am

On Friday, Connecticut became the 17th state in America to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Governor Dannel Malloy signed the groundbreaking legislation that will allow licensed physicians to certify and prescribe medical marijuana for adult patients will qualifying medical conditions.

“For years, we’ve heard from so many patients with chronic diseases who undergo treatments like chemotherapy or radiation and are denied the palliative benefits that medical marijuana would provide,” Governor Malloy said. ”With careful regulation and safeguards, this law will allow a doctor and a patient to decide what is in that patient’s best interest,” he said.

Despite coming out strongly in favor of state’s rights to legalize and monitor medical marijuana when he was on the campaign trail, the Obama Administration has since waffled in his support of the plant’s medical use. In a Rolling Stone interview early this year, the President was quoted as saying “he can’t nullify congressional law.” Fortunately, states have forged ahead in their quest to provide ill citizens with a natural medication that can greatly improve their quality of life.

“By giving patients safe, legal access to medical marijuana, Connecticut joins over a third of the United States in recognizing the plant’s economic and medical value,” said Brad Burge, Director of Communications for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit pharmaceutical development company. “The new law also reminds us how far state and federal attitudes toward medical marijuana have diverged. The Obama administration continues to fight medical marijuana, and the states just don’t agree.”

Under the bill, patients and their caregivers must register with the Department of Consumer Protection. In addition, a doctor must certify there is a medical need for marijuana to be dispensed, including such debilitating conditions as cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or epilepsy. This is the same or very similar to the way medical marijuana is prescribed in other states.

What sets the Connecticut law apart, however, is that patients will only be able to obtain medical marijuana from pharmacists who are certified to dispense it. The Connecticut law also only allows for the licensing of at least three but not more than 10 marijuana producers statewide. Officials hope this model will reduce instances of abuse and black market dealing that have occurred in states that allow patients or appointed caretakers to grow their own.

Despite these restrictions, Burge says it’s a step in the right direction for patients and more states are likely to follow suit. “The federal government, through a decades-long blockade on medical marijuana research, has succeeded in preventing marijuana from becoming a federally-regulated prescription medicine. In the meantime, getting patients access to the medicine they need will depend on the continued success of state-based medical marijuana policy reform.”

[Hardrock69]

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/marijuana-initiative-could-make-or-break-obama-in-colorado


Marijuana initiative could make or break Obama in Colorado
By Samuel P. Jacobs, Reuters
Jun. 02, 2012 2:06PM PDT

DENVER (Reuters) - Throughout his presidency, Barack Obama hasn't exactly been a friend to marijuana users.

Sure, he has acknowledged smoking pot as a young man, but he has disappointed marijuana advocates by opposing its legalization, regulation and taxation like alcohol.

And the Justice Department's occasional crackdown under his administration on medical marijuana dispensaries, which 17 states and the District of Columbia allow, has angered others.

So now, with Obama facing a stiff challenge from Republican Mitt Romney in the November 6 election, it's ironic that his chances of winning the key state of Colorado could hinge on marijuana legalization, supported by a growing number of Americans.

At issue is whether Obama will get a boost from young voters expected to be among the most enthusiastic backers of a Colorado ballot initiative that would legalize possession of up to an ounce of pot for recreational use - and give the state the most liberal marijuana law in the nation.

The initiative is a reflection of Colorado's unique blend of laid-back liberalism and anti-regulation conservatism that helped make the state the birthplace of the Libertarian Party.

It's a state where people of different political stripes see marijuana laws as an example of government needlessly sticking its nose where it doesn't belong.

It's also a proving ground for advocates who see legalization as a way to ease crowding in prisons, generate much-needed tax revenues, create jobs and weaken Mexican cartels that thrive on Americans' appetite for illegal drugs.

The Rocky Mountain State already allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes such as severe pain relief, and some communities have embraced it enthusiastically.

The prevalence of medical marijuana dispensaries in Denver has moved pot into the mainstream in Colorado's capital city.

In Denver County, home to about 600,000 people, one in every 41 residents is a registered medical marijuana patient, leading to chuckles about the "Mile High City." Denver is roughly a mile above sea level.

The number of places licensed to sell medical marijuana products has reached 400 here, according to the Denver Post. That means there are more dispensaries in the capital than there are Starbucks coffee shops (375) statewide.

A similar bill is on the ballot in Washington, another state that already allows use of medical marijuana. If approved, the initiatives would put the states squarely in the crosshairs of federal law, which classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic.

PATH TO THE WHITE HOUSE

It's unclear precisely how the U.S. Justice Department - whether led by Obama or Romney - would respond if Colorado, Washington or other states legalize marijuana for recreational use. Both politicians oppose legalizing the drug.

But in a close presidential election in which Colorado could be a tipping point - and with polls showing Obama has up to a 30-point edge over Romney among voters age 30 and under - the state's marijuana initiative could be a factor if it inspires waves of young voters to cast ballots on November 6.

"This is an issue that is really meaningful to young people, people of color, disenfranchised communities," groups that typically lag in registering and showing up to vote, said Brian Vicente, 35, executive director of Sensible Colorado, a group seeking less restrictive marijuana laws.

"Democrats and Obama need these groups to win," Vicente said. "The path to the White House leads through Colorado. We feel we can motivate these groups."

Last winter, Public Policy Polling found that 49 percent of Coloradans favored legalization, while 41 percent opposed it.

As much as some Democrats feel they have the wind at their backs, they are fighting history in Colorado. Obama won the state in 2008, but he was the first Democratic presidential contender to do so in 16 years.

And even though a majority of the delegates at the Colorado Democratic Party's convention last month said they supported legalization, some party officials are skeptical the politically diverse movement will help Obama much this fall.

They note that Colorado voters rejected such a legalization measure in 2006, and that Californians blocked a similar initiative two years ago.

"If they get 40 percent" of voters supporting legalization, "they should throw themselves a party," said Matt Inzeo, spokesman for Colorado's Democratic Party.

Others see more potential in the legalization debate's impact on the presidential race.

Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling said that if the state-by-state race for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency comes down to Colorado's 9 electoral votes, marijuana "could be a difference maker."

BROADENING SUPPORT

During a recent visit to Colorado, Romney seemed irritated when a local television reporter quizzed him on his views about gay marriage, immigration reform and marijuana legalization.

"Aren't there issues of significance you'd like to talk about?" an exasperated Romney asked.

In Colorado, however, marijuana is significant. And its acceptance hasn't been limited to more liberal areas.

Colorado Springs, home to the U.S. Air Force Academy and the evangelical Christian group Focus on the Family, is one of the most conservative cities in the United States. But the city of 400,000 about 70 miles south of Denver has nearly as many marijuana dispensaries as churches, according to city records.

Supporters of Colorado's initiative point to a broadening coalition of those who support legalization, including local civil rights and union leaders.

Those opposing marijuana legalization often cite the drug's impact on youths.

Roger Sherman, a strategist for the campaign against Amendment 64, said "there's a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and a high level of concern" among those who oppose legalization. His group cites increased drug use among children and increasing cases of impaired driving.

Nationwide polling on marijuana legalization, although sparse, suggests that support now equals support for marriage equality, which just found a new backer in Obama.

In October, 50 percent of Americans said "yes" when asked by Gallup, "Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal, or not?" When Gallup asked that in 1969, 12 percent said yes.

Last week, a Rasmussen Reports survey said 56 percent of likely U.S. voters favored legalizing and regulating marijuana.

QUESTIONING OBAMA

Supporters of legalization also argue that regulating marijuana - and capturing tax revenue from its sale - could help governments, cities and towns face increasingly tight budgets.

In 2011, taxes for medical marijuana generated $5 million for Colorado. Denver-based political strategist Rick Ridder said that depending upon the cost of an ounce, legalization would likely generate $20 million to $80 million in annual tax revenue for Colorado and local communities.

As designed, Amendment 64 would designate its first $40 million in tax revenue for rebuilding public schools. As part of a bond issue, that amount could turn into a treasure chest for public education funding in Colorado.

Legalization advocates see Obama's crackdown on some medical marijuana outlets as hypocritical, noting that in his memoir "Dreams from My Father" he acknowledged smoking pot as a youth.

"It's really insulting with this president. He actually smoked pot in high school and college. The only difference is he didn't get caught. If he had gotten caught, he would not be president," said Wanda James, 48, whose business, Simply Pure, supplies 300 Colorado dispensaries with edible marijuana.

She tells community leaders that legalization is not just about pot smokers having a good time, legally. She sees it as a way to ease prison crowding, help cash-strapped governments, provide jobs and weaken drug cartels.

Legalization, of course, would mean a larger market for James' indica sesame brittle bars and sativa peppermint cups.

To James, legalizing marijuana boils down to what could be a good slogan for this year's elections: "Jobs, jobs, jobs."

[jhale667]

If Obama came out in favor a legalization now the remaining conservatard heads that DIDN'T explode when he endorsed marriage equality certainly would...:D

[Hardrock69]

There would be no going back.

Funny how such an issue at just the right moment could ensure that the Retardlicfucks would be shown once and for all as the regressive, superstitious fools that they truly are......the world is moving forward without them, no matter how much they scream and cry and throw tantrums......

And it is interesting how this issue DOES exist at this particular moment in history in THIS election year with THESE candidates.

Mittens - The man who has no plans for anything, only looks presidential, but like all other Conservafucks wants to live in the 1950s forever.......and that is the only platform he has to run on....
At least he is a Moron, which has got to bother most conservative Christians to no end....:hee:

Obama - An intellectual who has a plan for everything. Valid or not, at least he can analyze every issue and create a program to deal with it. And he wants to move FORWARD into the future.

I have no desire to live in the 1950s. The 1960s were no piece of cake either.

[Hardrock69]

Seems this year there is going to be a lot to post in this thread.

Looks like possession of less than 25 grams of pot in New York is already legal unless it is burning or in "Public view". All cops have to do is ask someone to empty their pockets, and if they have pot, doing so will put it in "public view" and cause the person to be arrested. Governero Cuomo wants to stop the practice.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/04/cuomo-targets-stop-and-frisk-marijuana-nypd-arrests_n_1567521.html


Cuomo Targets Stop-And-Frisk, Seeks To Lower Number Of Low-Level Marijuana Arrests

Posted: 06/04/2012 9:40 am Updated: 06/04/2012 1:28 pm

Entering the debate over NYPD stop-and-frisks, Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in public view.

The Governor plans to meet with state lawmakers Monday, The New York Times reports, in an attempt to amend a state law that was the basis for the arrest of over 50,000 people in New York City last year, most of whom were black or Latino.

Under the current law, possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana shouldn't result in arrest unless it's "burning or in public view." The NYPD, however, will often ask the hundreds of thousands they stop on the streets to empty their pockets, and when the marijuana comes out of the pocket, it becomes "in public view," and they can make an arrest.

There are more arrests for low-level marijuana offenses than any other crime in New York City. According to the Associated Press, marijuana arrests in New York account for one out of every seven cases in the city's criminal courts. In 2010, the city spent $75 million to put pot-smokers behind bars.

In September, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly issued a memo, telling city cops, "A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marijuana." The Times reports, however, that the effect of Kelly's order on the number of marijuana arrests has been minimal.

"This proposal will bring long overdue consistency and fairness to New York State's Penal Law and save thousands of New Yorkers, particularly minority youth, from the unnecessary and life-altering trauma of a criminal arrest, and, in some cases, prosecution," a Cuomo official told The Times.

Mayor Bloomberg disagrees with Cuomo's position on marijuana arrests. The Mayor's argued before that the arrests deter other, more serious crimes.

UPDATE: Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come out in support of Governor Cuomo's plan. Bloomberg said Cuomo's plan "strikes the right balance," by allowing cops to still arrest those who are smoking in public. “We look forward to working with legislative leaders to help pass a bill before the end of session,” the mayor said in a statement. Ray Kelly will attend Cuomo's press conference Monday in a show of support of the bill.

[Hardrock69]

Ok....latest attempt to make it possible for farmers to grow industrial hemp:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/ron-wyden-industrial-hemp-amendment_n_1578205.html?ref=tw


Ron Wyden Introduces Industrial Hemp Amendment To Farm Bill

Posted: 06/07/2012 1:46 pm Updated: 06/07/2012 1:57 pm


Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) on Thursday introduced an amendment to the farm bill that would allow farmers to grow industrial hemp.

The amendment, S.3240, would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana," thereby allowing hemp farming to be regulated by state permitting programs, bypassing the federal government's long-standing prohibition of marijuana. A sister bill, H.R. 1831, was introduced in the House earlier this session by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

"The federal prohibition on growing industrial hemp has forced companies to needlessly import raw materials from other countries," said Wyden in a statement on Thursday. "My amendment to the Farm Bill will change federal policy to allow U.S. farmers to produce hemp for these safe and legitimate products right here, helping both producers and suppliers to grow and improve Oregon's economy in the process."

Seventeen states have passed pro-hemp legislation, while eight have removed barriers to its production. Still, farmers in these states are at risk of being raided by federal agents and losing their crops.

Vote Hemp, a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting the crop, is encouraging people to write and call their senators in support of the amendment and has received hundreds of supporter emails, according to National Outreach Coordinator Tom Murphy.

The organization's president, Eric Steenstra, said he thinks current hemp prohibitions stem largely from the failure of federal policy to distinguish between oilseed and fiber varieties of cannabis.

"Senator Wyden's effort is unprecedented and totally commendable, but in my view the existing prohibition of hemp farming stems less from current law, but rather the misinterpretation of existing law by the Obama administration," he said.

[Hardrock69]

Rhode Island is poised to become the 15th state to decriminlize small amounts of marijunana:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/10/efforts-to-relax-pot-rules-gaining-momentum-in-us/




Efforts to relax pot rules gaining momentum in US

Published June 10, 2012

Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Catharine Leach is married and has two boys, age 2 and 8. She has a good job with a federal contractor and smokes pot most every day.

While she worries that her public support for marijuana decriminalization and legalization could cost her a job or bring the police to her door, the 30-year-old Warwick resident said she was tired of feeling like a criminal for using a drug that she said is far less harmful than the glass or wine or can of beer enjoyed by so many others after a long day's work. Like others around the nation working to relax penalties for possession of pot, she decided to stop hiding and speak out.

"I'm done being afraid," she said. "People in this country are finally coming around and seeing that putting someone in jail for this doesn't make sense. It's just a changing of the time."

Once consigned to the political fringe, marijuana policy is appearing on legislative agendas around the country thanks to an energized base of supporters and an increasingly open-minded public. Lawmakers from Rhode Island to Colorado are mulling medical marijuana programs, pot dispensaries, decriminalization and even legalization. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia now authorize medical marijuana and 14, including neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts, have rolled back criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of pot.

Rhode Island is poised to become the 15th state to decriminalize marijuana possession. The state's General Assembly passed legislation last week that would eliminate the threat of big fines or even jail time for the possession of an ounce or less of pot. Instead, adults caught with small amounts of marijuana would face a $150 civil fine. Police would confiscate the marijuana, but the incident would not appear on a person's criminal record.

Minors caught with pot would also have to complete a drug awareness program and community service.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee has said he is inclined to sign the legislation.

One of the bill's sponsors, state Rep. John Edwards of Tiverton, has introduced similar proposals in past years but the idea always sputtered in committee. Each year, though, he got more co-sponsors, and the bill passed the House this year 50-24. The state Senate passed it 28-6.

Some supporters of decriminalization say they'd like to go even further.

"America's 50-year war on drugs has been an abysmal failure," said Rep. John Savage, a retired school principal from East Providence. "Marijuana in this country should be legalized. It should be sold and taxed."

Opponents warned of dire consequences to the new policy.

"What kind of message are we sending to our youth? We are more worried about soda — for health reasons — than we are about marijuana," said one opponent, Rhode Island state Rep. John Carnevale a Democrat from Providence.

A survey by Rasmussen last month found that 56 percent of respondents favored legalizing and regulating marijuana. A national Gallup poll last year showed support for legalizing pot had reached 50 percent, up from 46 percent in 2010 and 25 percent in the mid-'90s.

Medical marijuana helped bring marijuana policy into the mainstream back in 1996, when California became the first state to authorize the use of cannabis for medicinal use. Other states followed suit.

"It's now politically viable to talk about these things," said Robert Capecchi, legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group that supports the reduction or elimination of penalties for medical and recreational pot use. "The public understands that there are substances that are far more harmful — alcohol, tobacco — that we regulate. People are realizing just how much money is being wasted on prohibition."

Colorado and Washington state will hold fall referendums on legalizing marijuana. A ballot question on legalization failed in California in 2010.

This month, Connecticut's governor signed legislation to allow medical marijuana there. Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed cutting the penalty for public possession of small amounts of pot.

Liberal state policies on marijuana have run into conflict with federal prohibition. Federal authorities have shut down more than 40 dispensaries this year in Colorado, even though they complied with state and local law. In Rhode Island, Gov. Lincoln Chafee blocked three dispensaries from opening last year after the state's top federal prosecutor warned they could be prosecuted. Chafee and lawmakers then rewrote the dispensary law to restrict the amount of marijuana dispensaries may have on hand.

Robert DuPont, who served as the nation's drug czar under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, said Americans should be wary of a slippery slope to legalization. While marijuana may not cause the life-threatening problems associated with heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine, it's far from harmless.

"It is a major drug of abuse," he said. "People ask me what the most dangerous drug is, and I say marijuana. Other drugs have serious consequences that are easy to recognize. Marijuana saps people's motivation, their direction. It's a drug that makes people stupid and lazy. That's in a way more dangerous."




Ha...Robert Dupont is a fucking moron. And I am GLAD they drag him out to get his side of the story, as his opinion is so removed from reality, it only serves to show intelligent people that he has no valid argument.

Marijuana is the most dangerous drug? Dangerous how? A majority of all other illegal drugs cause people to DIE!

So how is it that drugs that cause you to die are NOT more dangerous than a drug that CANNOT cause you to die?

Fucking idiot.

Standard asslicker of the Retardlican party with the standard intelligence level. An IQ that is the same as his shoe size.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/16/chicago-mayor-supports-re_0_n_1602508.html


Chicago Mayor Supports Reducing Pot Penalty

DON BABWIN 06/15/12 06:31 PM ET

CHICAGO — With the murder rate in Chicago climbing at an alarming rate, police may soon get some help keeping a lid on violent crime from an unlikely source: marijuana.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy both support an ordinance that would allow police officers to ticket anyone caught with a small amount of marijuana instead of going through the time-consuming arrest process that takes them off the street for hours at a time.

Police arrested more than 18,000 people last year for misdemeanor possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana, which "tied up more than 45,000 police hours," McCarthy said in a statement. "The new ordinance nearly cuts that time in half... freeing up cops to address more serious crime."

More significantly, the alderman who drafted the ordinance – which turns small amounts of pot into a ticketable, not jailable offense_ said it not only addresses concerns about fairness but also provides increased safety for city's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Alderman Danny Solis said most of those arrested are black and Hispanic and come from predominantly minority neighborhoods – the ones in the thick of the violence.

"The irony is that the worst crime is happening in our city is happening in the same neighborhoods where the possession (arrests) are happening," said Alderman Danny Solis. "The police officer is now going to be more in the neighborhoods that need him or her than in the district doing paperwork."

States across the country are starting to relax their laws on marijuana possession. This month alone, governors in Rhode Island and New York moved toward decriminalization of small amounts of the drug.

In Rhode Island, Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed a bill that imposes a $150 civil fine on adults caught with an ounce or less of marijuana. And New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a bill that would change possession of small amounts of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a violation with a fine up to $100.

Current marijuana laws disproportionately affect minority communities. Cuomo acknowledged, for example, that 82 percent of those arrested in New York City were either black or Hispanic. And when Solis first introduced the ordinance in November, he and others also pointed to statistics that suggest that the arrests themselves are a colossal waste of time.

Of the 8,625 misdemeanor marijuana cases between 2006 and 2010, about 87 percent were dismissed, according to statistics from the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court.

But it's a marked jump in Chicago's homicide rate that may have given Solis' proposal more steam. Murders are up by about 50 percent so far this year compared to the same period last year.

"I'm a realist," said Solis. "That has to have been an influence."

Emanuel had made it clear in November that he was open to the idea of the ordinance, even saying a member of the police department's gang unit had made the same suggestion. He then directed McCarthy to study it, with McCarthy also signaling that he would consider it because it would free up officers.

"The mayor was serious about this, but he wanted to make sure we had all the research and analysis done," Solis said. "So I told him I won't call it to a committee until your staff and the police do that work."

With that work done, Solis said he expects the full City Council to vote and pass the ordinance later this month, with it becoming the law sometime this summer.

Under the ordinance, anyone in possession of 15 grams of marijuana – roughly the equivalent of 15 marijuana cigarettes – faces a fine between $100 and $500.

[FORD]

Rahm Emanuel is actually on the logical side of an issue?

Shit, there really IS a first time for everything! :biggrin:

[Hardrock69]

AWESOME NEWS....is it news? Well CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!

URUGUAY IS APPARENTLY GOING TO LEGALIZE THE SALE AND POSSESSION OF POT!!!!

http://www.theweedblog.com/uruguay-government-to-legalize-and-sell-marijuana/


A Government Finally Embraces Reality

The local media in Uruguay, citing unnamed lawmakers, is reporting a plan to legalize and sell marijuana to registered users to combat crime, and cut off the flow of money to dangerous cartels. Hmm, seems like I’ve heard this idea before. Oh yeah, it’s what we have all been saying for years. It’s what several latin American countries have been wanting to do, but can’t because of staunch opposition from Obama. Well, it looks like the U.S. is no longer calling the shots in the western hemisphere.

The president of Uruguay has not yet confirmed the report, but did tell the The Associated Press in an email to expect a announcement soon addressing “the marijuana issue.” The program would be based on the notion that getting people off drugs is about rehabilitation, not punishment. In order to buy marijuana users must first register with the government. Any user who goes past the monthly limit of government joints will be required to undergo drug rehabilitation, but will not face prosecution. All income from the program will be used to treat hardcore addicts. Wow! Is that reason I smell in the air?

We need to send Obama to Uruguay asap for leadership training. Apparently, the idea is to reduce crime by reducing the flow of money to dangerous drug dealers, as well as by giving cannabis users an alternative source of ganja so they are not drawn into using more dangerous drugs.

“This measure should be accompanied by efforts to get young people off drugs,” said ruling party Sen. Monica Xavier.

Well, you heard it here folks: the tide is turning fast against the U.S. Drug War. Nations will no longer be bullied by Obama into accepting drug violence within their borders. The time is now to rise up against prohibition and demand legalization. Our brothers and sisters in Latin America have our backs. Let’s do this!

[Hardrock69]

ALL OUT CHICAGO BITCHES CAN REJOICE!!! Well...sort of....

http://www.theweedblog.com/chicago-city-council-committee-approves-new-chicago-marijuana-policy/


Chicago City Council Committee Approves New Chicago Marijuana Policy

Chicago City Council Committee Approves Rahm Emanuel’s Marijuana Policy

The Chicago City Council committee on Thursday voted 12 to 1 to approve a new Chicago marijuana policy. Mayor Rahm Emanuel last week indicated his support of the proposed policy that would allow Chicago Police to issue tickets instead of making arrests for possession of 15 grams of marijuana or less.

Emanuel has said the change frees up police for more serious crime and saves the department about $1 million annually. The mayor’s office finds that there were 45,000-plus police hours used for 18,298 arrests last year for possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana. Each case needed four officers to arrest and transport offenders.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told the committee, “We are not talking about decriminalization, we are talking about holding people accountable.”

Under the new policy, McCarthy said officers would have the option of issuing a ticket to someone, rather than placing them under arrest. Arrests would be mandated for anyone caught smoking marijuana in public or possessing marijuana in or near a school or in or near a park

Under the plan, anyone caught with marijuana under the age of 17 or without proper identification would still be arrested. Tickets would range from $250 to $500.

The plan goes to the full City Council next week.

[Nitro Express]

My sister and her husband lived in Peru during the days of the Shining Path terrorist group. That part of Latin America was dangerous in the early 1980's. They just recently came back from there and things are much better. In fact, a lot of US citizens are moving down to Equador and Panama to retire. John Hopkins just built a new hospital in Panama due to the demand from retired US citizens moving there. Mexicans are moving back to Mexico because parts of the economy are on the uprise.

If you get outside of the major European and north American countries the world economy is better. The reason is the banking structure in Europe is tied with the banking structure in North America. The old Euro/American power house no longer runs the world the way it used to. Brazil, China, Russia, India, and South Africa will be the rising stars on the world stage.

The IMF and World Bank no longer rape these countries like they used to. They have more money now and apparently it's being used more intelligently.

[Nitro Express]

In short, due to the skyrocketing homicide rate, the cops can't waste their resources on some reefer smokers. Yeah, Chi town sounds like it's in competition with Detroit these days.

[Hardrock69]

Congressman Jared Polis Owns DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart In Hearing - posted June 21, 2012

Congressman Jared Polis questions DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart during a hearing on the agency’s priorities. He repeatedly pressed the administrator on the relative health impacts of marijuana versus other drugs.

This woman is a TOOL. She obviously is lacking in intellect, should be more aware of the effects of ALL drugs, which ones are more severe and have more harmful effects on humans.


However, she has demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that she is an idiot. She sits there with a deer-in-the-headlights stare, as if she is incapable of comprehending the questions asked of her in her official capacity as Chief Administrator of the DEA, and when Congressman Polis dumbs down the questions to their most basic form to assist her in comprehending what is being asked in PLAIN FUCKING ENGLISH, she STILL is unable to coherently form even the most basic answer to his questions, which should be easily understandable to the most average human with average intelligence.

And she is the Chief Administrator of the DEA?

She needs to be fired.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFgrB2Wmh5s&feature=player_embedded


I know she could not have gotten the job without being smart. I also know she could not answer his questions truthfully, as that would go against the policies of the DEA, and she could lose her job.

So that leaves her open to criticism that she is an idiot...she gets asked the questions....and is suddenly realizing she needs to figure out how to answer his questions without saying anything that could cause her to be fired....and then fails to come up with a reasonable answer.

This sort of stupidity just pisses me off. She knows that reefer is WAY less dangerous than even ASPIRIN, but for her to admit it would undermine the mission of the DEA, which is to prosecute all illegal drug cases.

[Hardrock69]

On the international scene, the Columbian Constitutional Court has ruled that people cannot be jailed for possessing small amounts of pot or coke for personal use.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/colombia-court-no-jail-time-for-possession-of-cocaine-marijuana-for-personal-use/2012/06/29/gJQAUthBCW_story.html


Colombia court: No jail time for possession of cocaine, marijuana for personal use

By Associated Press,

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that people cannot be jailed for possessing cocaine and marijuana for personal use.

The decision ratifies a previous Supreme Court ruling that said people cannot be jailed for possession of a so-called personal dose. A 2009 law placed the dose at up to 20 grams of marijuana and one gram of cocaine.

Thursday’s ruling came in a challenge to a 2011 citizen’s security law that specified persons found with up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of marijuana or 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of cocaine should be punished with at least 64 months in prison.

While striking down that provision, the court did not mention a quantity acceptable for personal use.

Chief prosecutor Eduardo Montealegre said Friday that the decision does not amount to drug legalization.

[Hardrock69]

Study shows beyond a shadow of a doubt, the GATEWAY drug is ALCOHOL:


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/05/study-the-gateway-drug-is-alcohol-not-marijuana/


Study: The ‘gateway drug’ is alcohol, not marijuana

By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, July 5, 2012 13:52 EDT



A study in the August edition of The Journal of School Health finds that the generations old theory of a “gateway drug” effect is in fact accurate, but shifts the blame for escalating substance abuse away from marijuana and onto the most pervasive and socially accepted drug in American life: alcohol.

Using a nationally representative sample from the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future survey, the study blasts holes in drug war orthodoxy wide enough to drive a truck through, definitively proving that marijuana use is not the primary indicator of whether a person will move on to more dangerous substances.

“By delaying the onset of alcohol initiation, rates of both licit substance abuse like tobacco and illicit substance use like marijuana and other drugs will be positively affected, and they’ll hopefully go down,” study co-author Adam E. Barry, an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Department of Health Education & Behavior, told Raw Story in an exclusive interview.

While Barry’s study shows evidence that substance abuse behaviors can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy by examining a subject’s drug history, he believes that the persistent and misguided notion of marijuana as the primary gateway to more harmful substances went awry because its creators — who called it the “Stepping Stone Hypothesis” in the “Reefer Madness” era of the 1930s – fundamentally misread the data and failed to conduct an adequate follow-up.

“Some of these earlier iterations needed to be fleshed out,” Barry said. “That’s why we wanted to study this. The latest form of the gateway theory is that it begins with [marijuana] and moves on finally to what laypeople often call ‘harder drugs.’ As you can see from the findings of our study, it confirmed this gateway hypothesis, but it follows progression from licit substances, specifically alcohol, and moves on to illicit substances.”

“So, basically, if we know what someone says with regards to their alcohol use, then we should be able to predict what they respond to with other [drugs],” he explained. “Another way to say it is, if we know someone has done [the least prevalent drug] heroin, then we can assume they have tried all the others.”

And while that standardized progression certainly doesn’t fit every single drug user, the study took that into account too. “There were a low enough number of errors that you are able to accurately predict [future substance abuse behavior]… with about 92 percent accuracy,” Barry said.

By comparing substance abuse rates between drinkers and non-drinkers, they ultimately found that seniors in high school who had consumed alcohol at least once in their lives “were 13 times more likely to use cigarettes, 16 times more likely to use marijuana and other narcotics, and 13 times more likely to use cocaine.”

Barry also noted that the rates of tobacco and marijuana use among all 12th grade high school students were virtually the same, confirming a report the Centers for Disease Control published in June, and an analysis Raw Story published in May.

The study should give pause to anyone involved in youth drug awareness programs, as its findings suggest that making science-based alcohol education a top priority could actually turn the tide of the drug war — but only if lawmakers and leading educators decide to use that same science as a foundation for public policy and school curriculum.

“I think [these results] have to do with level of access children have to alcohol, and that alcohol is viewed as less harmful than some of these other substances,” Barry added.

That social misconception, largely driven by the sheer popularity of alcohol and the profits it generates for private industry, is diametrically opposed to the most current science available on drug harms. A study published in 2010 in the medical journal Lancet ranked alcohol as the most harmful drug of all, above heroin, crack, meth, cocaine and tobacco. Even more striking: The Lancet study found that harms to others near the user were more than double those of the second most harmful drug, heroin.

“This is a time of budget tightening,” Barry concluded. “Many social services are being cut. If you take [our findings] and apply them to a school health setting, we believe that you are going to get the best bang for your buck by focusing on alcohol.”

[Hardrock69]

Once again, PROOF that marijuana DOES have medical uses. This brought to you by a GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED STUDY, no less!

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/03/government-sponsored-study-destroys-deas-classification-of-marijuana/


Government-sponsored study destroys DEA’s classification of marijuana

By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, July 3, 2012 9:46 EDT

A government-sponsored study published recently in The Open Neurology Journal concludes that marijuana provides much-needed relief to some chronic pain sufferers and that more clinical trials are desperately needed, utterly destroying the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) classification of the drug as having no medical uses.

While numerous prior studies have shown marijuana’s usefulness for a host of medical conditions, none have ever gone directly at the DEA’s placement of marijuana atop the schedule of controlled substances. This study, sponsored by the State of California and conducted at the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, does precisely that, driving a stake into the heart of America’s continued war on marijuana users by calling the Schedule I placement simply “not accurate” and “not tenable.”

Reacting to the study, Paul Armentano, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told Raw Story that the study clearly proves U.S. drug policy “is neither based upon nor guided by science.”

“In fact, it is hostile to science,” he said. “And despite the Obama Administration’s well publicized 2009 memo stating, ‘Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration,’ there is little to no evidence indicating that the federal government’s ‘See no evil; hear no evil’ approach to cannabis policy is not changing any time soon.”

Schedule I is supposedly reserved for the most inebriating substances that the DEA believes have no medical value, including LSD, ecstasy, peyote and heroin.* As the DEA describes it: “Drugs listed in schedule I have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and, therefore, may not be prescribed, administered, or dispensed for medical use. In contrast, drugs listed in schedules II-V have some accepted medical use and may be prescribed, administered, or dispensed for medical use.”

And that’s the problem, the study’s authors portend.

“The classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug as well as the continuing controversy as to whether or not cannabis is of medical value are obstacles to medical progress in this area,” they wrote. “Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I classification is not tenable; it is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that information on safety is lacking. It is true cannabis has some abuse potential, but its profile more closely resembles drugs in Schedule III (where codeine and dronabinol are listed). The continuing conflict between scientific evidence and political ideology will hopefully be reconciled in a judicious manner.”

They add that their evidence showed marijuana reliably reduced chronic neuropathic pain and muscle spasticity due to multiple sclerosis versus trials where a placebo was used. They also specifically tested marijuana’s effects when smoked, calling the delivery method “rapid and efficient” but noting that vaporization is a better choice because it produces less carbon monoxide.

The study adds that, like all medicines, there are negative side effects associated with marijuana, such as dizziness, fatigue, lightheadedness, muscle weakness and pain and heart palpitations — all of which can pose a risk in some chronic pain patients with co-occurring conditions like cardiovascular disease or substance abuse disorders. However, they call these side effects “dose-related” and “of mild to moderate severity,” adding that they “appear to decline over time, and are reported less frequently in experienced than in naïve users.” Researchers also noted that “fatal overdose with cannabis alone has not been reported.”

Authors additionally found that marijuana does cause withdrawal symptoms within 12 hours of use, noting the symptoms are mild in experienced users and typically abate within 72 hours. They added that ingesting marijuana “can acutely impair skills required to drive motor vehicles,” but noted that the data on marijuana and traffic accidents is “inconclusive.”

Ultimately, they concluded that more clinical trials are needed to determine which individual components of the marijuana plant are causing the medicinal effects, and whether the plant can be used to treat a host of other ailments.

SEE ALSO: Study: The ‘gateway drug’ is alcohol, not marijuana

“Medical marijuana is mostly used for chronic pain, and has enabled countless patients to either reduce or eliminate their pharmaceutical drug regimen,” Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access (ASA), one of the nation’s leading medical marijuana advocacy groups, told Raw Story. “However, it can also be used for: arthritis, nausea or as an appetite stimulant for people living with HIV/AIDS or cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, and movement disorders (not just for people with multiple sclerosis). That is only a sampling of health conditions for which cannabis has been found helpful in alleviating symptoms. Other health conditions include: [post-traumatic stress disorder], [attention deficit disorder], [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] and other mental health conditions, glaucoma, and migraines.”

In hopes of forcing recognition of marijuana’s medical value, ASA sued the federal government last year after a long-running appeal for the reclassification of marijuana was shot down nearly a decade after it was filed. That case should go before the U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit later this year.

“The federal government’s strategy has been delay, delay, delay,” ASA chief counsel Joe Elford said in an advisory. “It is far past time for the government to answer our rescheduling petition, but unfortunately we’ve been forced to go to court in order to get resolution.”

“Reform advocates can and should use this study to show their congressional representatives that our country’s leading medical marijuana researchers agree that it should be reclassified,” Hermes added. “…This certainly should also have a bearing on the D.C. Circuit’s deliberations in the appeal of the rescheduling petition denial.”

[Hardrock69]

Ok, now we have a spokesman from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speaking out, and boy does he have a lot to say about the DEA! :hee:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-haase/dea-marijuana_b_1660526.html


The Fallacy of the DEA: Why the Agency Needs to Concede to Legal Marijuana

Jamie Haase, a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

There's no denying the pressure that the Drug Enforcement Administration must be feeling lately. The popularity behind the marijuana legalization movement is at an all-time high, and prohibitionists are jumping ship at record rates to support cannabis reform. The drug agency has never been without opposition in its near 40 year history, but it's hard remembering a time when there's ever been this much heat on the narc outfit. The DEA is obviously still alive and well at present, but government bureaucracies are in no way immune from having to evolve with the times for lasting survival.

Looking back, 1973 was an epic year in the United States. The Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in January, the Watergate hearings began in May, the legendary thoroughbred Secretariat won the Triple Crown in June, and then a month later in July, the world was introduced to the biggest narcotics police conglomerate ever known to man: The United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

I say conglomerate because the DEA wasn't created from thin air. Instead, several existing agencies gelled together to form the inaugural drug enforcement monopoly. The main forerunners to the Justice Department's newest play-toy were the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD), the Office for Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE), the Office for National Narcotic Intelligence, and many of the enforcement components from the U.S. Customs Service. These agencies ceased to exist entirely once the DEA came onto the scene, excluding Customs of course, which only relinquished some of its arsenal to the new kid on the block.

Coincidentally, the U.S. Customs Service was the first federal law enforcement agency I worked for, though it was several years later and towards the end of the organization's historic span when I was employed. I bring this up because the fate of U.S. Customs, as it was under the Treasury Department, is a perfect example of the government evolution I alluded to earlier. Ultimately, neither the Customs Service nor the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) could stand the test of time as standalone entities post-9/11, thus the merging of their authorities under the newly formed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003.

Going back to the DEA's similar rocky formation, President Richard Nixon's purpose for establishing the agency was to have a single and streamlined unit at the federal level to combat the nation's growing problem of drug consumption. Leading up to that point, the feds had no real teeth to combat the illicit narcotics industry. Actually, it's not that the feds didn't have the teeth, it's more that they weren't chewing and operating in sync with one another (as is still the case today with the constant red-tape and rivaling between certain agencies).

The concept of having a centralized narcotics bureau might have been admirable in the early seventies. However, we're now witnessing the long-term flaws associated with creating such a robust agency with the sole purpose of drug enforcement, especially considering one of the DEA's biggest targets is marijuana (which is obviously a commodity becoming more and more acceptable every day).

The growing tolerance towards cannabis poses a huge risk for the DEA, or at least the agency seems concerned with pot going mainstream. If this weren't the case, they wouldn't be so relentless in their fight against the medical marijuana industry. Polls consistently show that the use of cannabis via doctor recommendation is welcomed by almost eighty percent of the population. Yet, the DEA refuses to throw in the towel when it comes to this costly and unpopular crusade, even if it means trampling all over the rights of state and local governments in the process. Common sense should tell the DEA to give up on marijuana entirely at this point, including policing against recreational usage, which a majority of Americans now believe should be legally on par with alcohol consumption.

Many long-term factors were neglected when the DEA was formed in 1973. For example, what if public perception changed over time and people later determined that drug abuse and addiction should be treated as health issues rather than law enforcement ones? Or what if society came to agree that prohibition's caustic side effects weren't worth fronting a fruitless multi-billion dollar drug war each year? Or what if citizens deemed that one illicit substance in particular, the one realistically funding more of the DEA's annual enforcement budget than any other, was a plant that could generate a taxable fortune for a country in need of financial aid more than ever?

Unfortunately for the Drug Enforcement Administration, the organization is single minded for the most part, meaning there's no backup plan should Americans one day decide to do away with prohibition altogether. As a result, the agency has a vested interest in maintaining the Controlled Substances Act as it now stands. This is why the agency fights tooth and nail over losing its grip on any banned substance, let alone the most popular and abundant one.

Other agencies (i.e. FBI, ICE, ATF, etc.) have wider scopes, broader authorities, and more mission flexibility. If the threat from terrorism ended tomorrow, the FBI would certainly survive due to the agency's array of enforceable statutes. Likewise with ICE's investigative division, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), as this DHS component actually has the broadest statutory authority of all federal investigative agencies.

One factor often overlooked regarding the futility of drug policing is the fact that the relationship between drug suppliers and drug users is essentially victimless. It's not as if Chapo Guzman and company are down in Mexico with their guns drawn to the heads of Americans, forcing their products into the mouths and noses of Yankee gringos. Rather, it is Americans seeking out the services of the cartels, and ironically and unfairly for Mexico, drug traffickers south of the border have American guns drawn amongst themselves as they compete over U.S. business.

The horrific bloodshed below the Rio Grande is reason enough to legalize marijuana entirely and immediately at this point, and for Americans who still don't get it, our shared boundary with Mexico is 1,969 miles long and unsecured. It's obvious the violence can't remain isolated to only Mexico if it's allowed to foster long enough. Indeed, the Department of Justice reports that Mexican cartels have already set up shop in more than 1,000 U.S. cities.

The southwest border will never be fully secured as long as much of the trade between South and Central America crosses America's southern border. However, there's no denying we'd be much safer if it weren't for the constant criminalization of our neighbors to the south. Illicit marijuana revenues make up around sixty percent of cartel profits per the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and it's the earning potential from this substance alone that tempts and lures most recruits into the narco game. Maintaining marijuana's illegality is only producing, enriching, and weaponizing more and more psychopath killers in Mexico, while simultaneously wasting valuable and scarce resources here in the United States.

Just recently, the DEA's administrator, Michele Leonhart, only reaffirmed her agency's stubborn position on marijuana. She was questioned in front of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and it's intriguing to me that a congressman from Tennessee, Steve Cohen, was the one who grilled Leonhart the most on the DEA's outdated stance towards cannabis. Not because Tennessee ranks second to only California when it comes to the domestic production of marijuana, but mostly because I imagine the DEA feels confident hedging its bet on "indefinite marijuana prohibition" with southern conservative mindsets. However, as a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), who is tasked with giving presentations in some of the bible belt's deepest parts imaginable, I feel confident stating that I don't think the south will be the DEA's saving grace when it comes to deterring pot legalization.

Obviously the Drug Enforcement Administration is at a crossroads right now, and in no way am I implying the organization should be eliminated or disbanded. However, when it comes to marijuana the ballgame is over, and resources need to be drastically and quickly shifted. The agency needs to bow down gracefully to cannabis's legitimacy at this point, instead of continuing to prolong the inevitable. The government was set up to be run by the people for the people, and it's time for the DEA to recognize this. It might've been in 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be public enemy number one, but it's nearly half a century later today, and prohibition itself has now become a much bigger nuisance to society (especially concerning marijuana).

[Hardrock69]

This is my favorite park:

http://i49.tinypic.com/px9oh.jpg

[FORD]

Washington: Legalizing Marijuana Could Bring in $2B Over 5 years
August 11, 2012 4:02 AM

SEATTLE(AP) — The state’s latest financial analysis says legalizing and taxing marijuana could bring Washington as much as nearly $2 billion over the next five years — or as little as nothing.

The Office of Financial Management released its fiscal impact statement for Initiative 502 on Friday, and the results track closely with its earlier analysis, released in March.

I-502, which will be on the November ballot, would legalize pot under state law and allow its sale at state-licensed stores, with tax proceeds dedicated to education, health care and substance abuse prevention. Oregon and Colorado voters will also decide on marijuana legalization measures this fall.

Marijuana would remain illegal under federal law, however, and it isn’t clear how the federal government would respond if any of the states voted to legalize it. The Justice Department could prosecute employees of state-licensed pot shops, sue in federal court to block the laws from taking effect, or simply seize the tax revenue from the states as proceeds of transactions that are illegal under federal law.

Because the federal response remains unclear, Washington’s analysts said they could not determine the ultimate effect of I-502 on the state’s finances. However, they said, assuming a fully functioning marijuana market develops — and that it entirely replaces the existing illicit market — state revenue from pot sales could be more than $1.9 billion over the next five years. The state typically spends $30 billion per two-year budget cycle.

I-502 would create a system of state-licensed growers, processors and stores, and impose a 25 percent tax at each stage. People 21 and older could buy up to an ounce of dried marijuana, one pound of marijuana-infused product in solid form, such as brownies, or 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquids.

The analysis anticipates 100 state-licensed growers supplying 328 marijuana stores that would sell more than 187,000 pounds to at least 363,000 customers. Those numbers are based on federal drug-use surveys.

Consumers would pay $12 per gram — the price currently charged by many medical marijuana dispensaries — plus the 25 percent marijuana tax, 10 percent state sales tax, and any local sales tax, the analysts assumed.

The document noted that Washington would likely lose some federal money to fight drugs, such as a marijuana eradication grant from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

However, the analysis did not take into account any possible savings from no longer arresting, prosecuting and jailing people for having small amounts of marijuana, and Alison Holcomb, campaign manager for I-502, said she found that disappointing.

About 10,000 people in Washington are charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession each year.

[jhale667]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8ebjsXfCE1rpfk9qo1_500.jpg

[ELVIS]

You should try that with tacos...

[Hardrock69]

Tacos can't get you as high as reefers....

One interesting thing. They noted the Feds may cut their subsidies for drug eradication.

If that happens, nothing will happen.

All the State of Washington has to do, is reallocate the state budget for marijuana eradication to the budget for fighting heroin, crack, meth, etc.

They noted there was no mention in the study of how much money would be saved by not having to prosecute pot offenders. Well, they would not have to arrest, process, etc. anyone for pot. That would free up tremendous amounts of time in the judicial system. Free up tremendous resources in Law Enforcement, as they could focus on other crimes. The former State pot-fighting funds would make up for the Federal shortfall, and the tax revenue would definitely make up for any shortfall.

I predict if it passes, and they are able to set up a system of growers, distributors, etc. and start getting tax revenue, within 5 years there are going to be a bunch of cash-starved (or just greedy) states who will see similar measures being introduced to legalize pot.

We already have 3 states in ONE election now trying to legalize it.
So we are on the way.....

[ELVIS]

The Feds are trying hard to shut down clinics in califoreignia and killerado...

[ThrillsNSpills]

[Hardrock69]

Well now.

Looks like Arkansas has successfully gotten enough signatures to put Medical Marijuana on the ballot for November.

http://www.kait8.com/story/19344729/medical-marijuana-measure-okd-for-arkansas-ballot#.UDVOE9TFm5A.facebook


Medical marijuana measure OK'd for Arkansas ballot

Posted: Aug 22, 2012 3:56 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 22, 2012 3:56 PM CDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A proposal to legalize medical marijuana has been approved for the November ballot in Arkansas.

The secretary of state's office on Wednesday said that Arkansans for Compassionate Care had turned in enough signatures to qualify the proposed initiated act for the November ballot. The proposal needed at least 62,507 signatures from registered voters to qualify.

The group fell short in the number of signatures needed last month, but it was given additional time to circulate petitions.

The proposal would allow Arkansans with qualifying conditions to purchase marijuana from non-profit dispensaries with a doctor's recommendation. Qualifying conditions include cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.

The proposal acknowledges that marijuana is illegal under federal law.

[FORD]

This ad is now playing regularly on TV up here....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xja72pL-ZEM

[Hardrock69]

I never thought I would see the day when an ad like that was on TV.....anywhere....

Amazing...

Meantime, back in the Shire....
http://i46.tinypic.com/30tq9uf.jpg

[FORD]

Even if Frodo didn't get high in those movies, he hits the bong all the time on his TV show "Wilfred". So does his dog......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idi9EhuEGCI

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2012/08/breaking-news-springfield-missouri-city-council-votes-to-decriminalize-marijuana/

I am sure Homer Simpson is happy now. ;)


Breaking News: Springfield, Missouri, City Council Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana
by Anthony Johnson • August 27, 2012 • Blog

A Springfield, Missouri, ordinance, heavily funded by the National Cannabis Coalition, came before the Springfield City Council tonight, August 27, and have voted to pass the ordinance, instead of having the voters have their say in November. On one hand, the vote is certainly a major victory for the hardworking Show-Me Cannabis activists in Missouri. On the other hand, our work is not done, as members of the city council have vowed to “gut” the measure when they will have the opportunity to alter the measure after 30 days. Springfield Cannabis Regulation, an off-shoot of Show-Me Cannabis, did a great job on the ground, putting this measure before the city council and leading a great lobbying effort that led to its passage.

We will help Springfield activists effectively lobby their city council, so that the measure will remain one that protects personal cannabis users from arrest and criminal penalties while allowing law enforcement resources to be better utilized fighting serious and violent crime. If the city council turns the measure into one that doesn’t meet these, goals, activists will continue to fight for an ordinance that effectively decriminalizes personal amounts of cannabis.

For now, celebrate this win Missouri cannabis activists as you have achieved a major victory in forcing a conservative city council in voting for a cannabis decriminalization measure. As usual, the work of a cannabis activists won’t be completely done, but go ahead and celebrate, as you certainly deserve it.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Pot-compound-seen-as-tool-against-cancer-3875562.php#page-1


Marijuana, already shown to reduce pain and nausea in cancer patients, may be promising as a cancer-fighting agent against some of the most aggressive forms of the disease.

A growing body of early research shows a compound found in marijuana - one that does not produce the plant's psychotropic high - seems to have the ability to "turn off" the activity of a gene responsible for metastasis in breast and other types of cancers.

Two scientists at San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute first released data five years ago that showed how this compound - called cannabidiol - reduced the aggressiveness of human breast cancer cells in the lab.

Last year, they published a small study that showed it had a similar effect on mice. Now, the researchers are on the cusp of releasing data, also on animals, that expands upon these results, and hope to move forward as soon as possible with human clinical trials.

"The preclinical trial data is very strong, and there's no toxicity. There's really a lot of research to move ahead with and to get people excited," said Sean McAllister, who along with scientist Pierre Desprez, has been studying the active molecules in marijuana - called cannabinoids - as potent inhibitors of metastatic disease for the past decade.

Like many scientific endeavors, connections made between disparate elements - in this case, a plant considered a controlled substance and abnormal cells dividing out of control - involved a high degree of serendipity. The two researchers were seemingly focused on unrelated areas, but found their discoveries pointing in the same direction.

Desprez, who moved to the Bay Area from France for postdoctoral research in the 1990s, was looking at human mammary gland cells and, in particular, the role of a protein called ID-1.

The ID-1 protein is important in embryonic development, after which it essentially turns off and stays off. But when Desprez manipulated cells in the lab to artificially maintain a high level of ID-1 to see if he could stop the secretion of milk, he discovered that these cells began to look and act like cancer cells.

"These cells started to behave really crazy," Desprez said. "They started to migrate, invade other tissues, to behave like metastatic cells."

Based on that discovery, he took a look at metastatic cancer cells - not just standard cancer cells, but those responsible for aggressively spreading the disease throughout the body. He found the vast majority tended to express high levels of ID-1, leading him to conclude that ID-1 must play an important role in causing the disease to spread.
Anticancer potential

Meanwhile, McAllister was focused on studying anabolic steroids in drug abuse. McAllister, who also made his way to CPMC from Virginia in the 1990s, became fascinated with the role non-psychotropic cannabidiol, or CBD, interacts with cancer.

Marijuana's better known cannabinoid - delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC - had already shown some anticancer properties in tumors, but the non-psychotropic cannabidiol had largely gone unstudied. McAllister initial research showed CBD had anticancer potential as well.

About eight years ago McAllister heard his colleague, Desprez, give an internal seminar about his work on ID-1, the manipulated protein cells that masquerade as cancer cells, and metastases. That produced an idea: How effective would cannabidiol be on targeting metastatic cancer cells?

The pair teamed up - Desprez with his apparently cancer-causing ID-1 and McAllister with his cancer-fighting CBD - deciding to concentrate their research on metastatic cells of a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer called "triple negative." It is so named because this type of breast cancer lacks the three hormone receptors that some of the most successful therapies target. About 15 percent of breast cancers fall into this category, and these cells happen to have high levels of ID-1.
Consistent results

When McAllister and Desprez exposed the cells to cannabidiol in a petri dish, the cells not only stopped acting "crazy" but they also started to revert to a normal state. Both scientists were shocked.

"We thought we did the experiment the wrong way," McAllister said. But they got the same results each time they did it.

"I told Sean, 'Maybe your drug is working through my gene,' " Desprez said.

What they found is that the cannabinoid turns off the overexpression of ID-1, which makes the cells lose their ability to travel to distant tissues. In other words, it keeps the cells more local and blocks their ability to metastasize. Cancer kills through its ability to metastasize.

The researchers stressed cannabidiol works only on cancer cells that have these high levels of ID-1 and these do not include all cancerous tumors but, rather, aggressive, metastatic cells. But they've found such high levels in leukemia, colorectal, pancreatic, lung, ovarian, brain and other cancers.

McAllister and Desprez, who hope to publish results of their research before the end of the year, have received various grants through the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the California Breast Cancer Research Program and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Pot smoking of no help

Still, no one is suggesting that patients with metastatic cancer smoke or ingest marijuana to absorb this potentially cancer-fighting compound.

While cannabidiol, or CBD, is the second-most abundant cannabinoid within marijuana, it has largely been bred out of the plant in favor of a higher percentage of THC, the active chemical that causes the psychotropic high widely associated with the plant.
A long way to go

Martin Lee, director of Project CBD, a Sonoma County group that works to raise awareness of the scientific promise of the compound, described the cannabidiol research as potent both as a medicine and a myth buster.

"It debunks the idea that medicinal marijuana is really about people wanting to get stoned," said Lee, author of "Smoke Signals," a book published last month about the medical and social history of marijuana. "Why do they want it when it doesn't even get them high?"

Lee said the role of marijuana in cancer research is not limited to CBD and that further research needs to be done on how it interacts with THC for possibly greater effect. "While CBD is quite amazing as a molecule, it's really a way of drawing attention to the whole plant," he said.

The researchers know there's a long road ahead as they move from animal studies into human clinical trials and ultimately turning it into a pill or an infused drug that people can take. But they are already developing human trial models and hope to test the drug, probably in combination with current chemotherapies.

"They've been doing studies on mice and showing the effect in tumors. All that is wonderful, but what you don't know is whether it will make people go pea green or colorblind," said Dr. William Goodson, a breast cancer specialist at California Pacific Medical Center who is familiar with the researchers' work.
Patient intrigued

Nonetheless, Goodson said he is intrigued by the potential to inhibit the factor that makes triple-negative breast and other cancers particularly aggressive. "For people who don't have other options, I think that's an exciting possibility," he said.

Patients with triple-negative breast cancer are eager, too, about the potential of another treatment and hope the research will translate into a drug in the pipeline - sooner rather than later.

Susan Rancourt of San Carlos was just diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in July and is in the middle of chemotherapy.

"I don't have doomsday outlook. I feel like I am going to make it through this. But the trick is the next five years," said Rancourt, 59, who is being treated at Stanford. "If this research is advanced to the point of something (a drug) in the next five years, that will make a difference to me."
Sense of immediacy

As for the fact it is derived from marijuana, Rancourt said that's the least of her concerns. "I don't care if it comes from acorns," she said. "It's not the source, it's the result."

Desprez also has a timeline. The researcher learned his 41-year-old sister was recently diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer that has already spread to her lymph nodes. While her cancer is receptive to hormone therapies, he's worried about the potential of recurrence of metastatic disease - one that lacks the hormone receptors and is even more unforgiving.

"I want to be ready for that," he said. "There is a deadline."

[PETE'S BROTHER]

i was able to sample some "lucid dreams" yesterday, that shit cures everything... :headlights:

[Hardrock69]

Well....isn't this interesting. A PATENT held by the United States Government!

http://www.google.com/patents?id=0pcNAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

[QUOTE]Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants

Patent number: 6630507
Filing date: Feb 2, 2001
Issue date: Oct 7, 2003
Application number: 09/674,028

Abstract

Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia. Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention. A particular disclosed class of cannabinoids useful as neuroprotective antioxidants is formula (I) wherein the R group is independently selected from the group consisting of H, CH.sub.3, and COCH.sub.3. ##STR1##
Inventors: Hampson; Aidan J. (Irvine, CA), Axelrod; Julius (Rockville, MD), Grimaldi; Maurizio (Bethesda, MD)
Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services (Washington, DC)
Appl. No.: 09/674,028
Filed: February 2, 2001
PCT Filed: April 21, 1999
PCT No.: PCT/US99/08769
PCT Pub. No.: WO99/53917
PCT Pub. Date: October 28, 1999

Current U.S. Class: 514/454
Current International Class: A61K 31/35 (20060101); A61K 031/35 ()
Field of Search: 514/454
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Primary Examiner: Weddington; Kevin E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Klarquist Sparkman, LLP
Parent Case Text


This application is a 371 of PCT/US99/08769 filed Apr. 21, 1999, which claims benefit of No. 60/082,589 filed Apr. 21, 1998, which claims benefit of No. 60/095,993 filed Aug. 10, 1998.
Claims


We claim:

1. A method of treating diseases caused by oxidative stress, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of a cannabinoid that has substantially no binding to the NMDA receptor to a subject who has a disease caused by oxidative stress.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cannabinoid is nonpsychoactive.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the cannabinoid has a volume of distribution of 10 L/kg or more.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the cannabinoid is not an antagonist at the NMDA receptor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cannabinoid is: ##STR22##

where R is H, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, carboxyl, alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, arylalkyl, halo or amino.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein R is H, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, carboxyl or alkoxy.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the cannabinoid is: ##STR23##

where A is cyclohexyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, or ##STR24## but not a pinene; R.sub.1 is H, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, or substituted or unsubstituted carboxyl; R.sub.2 is H, lower substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, or alkoxy; R.sub.3 is of H, lower substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, or substituted or unsubstituted carboxyl; R.sub.4 is H, hydroxyl, or lower substituted or unsubstituted alkyl; and R.sub.5 is H, hydroxyl, or lower substituted or unsubstituted alkyl.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein R.sub.1 is lower alkyl, COOH or COCH.sub.3 ; R.sub.2 is unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.5 alkyl, hydroxyl, methoxy or ethoxy; R.sub.3 is H, unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl, or COCH.sub.3 ; R.sub.4 is hydroxyl, pentyl, heptyl, or diemthylheptyl; and R.sub.5 is hydroxyl or methyl.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the cannabinoid is: ##STR25##

where R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are independently H, CH.sub.3, or COCH.sub.3.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the cannabinoid is: ##STR26##

where: a) R.sub.1 =R.sub.2 =R.sub.3 =H; b) R.sub.1 =R.sub.3 =H, R.sub.2 =CH.sub.3 ; c) R.sub.1 =R.sub.2 =CH.sub.3, R.sub.3 =H; d) R.sub.1 =R.sub.2 =COCH.sub.3, R.sub.3 =H; or e) R.sub.1 =H, R.sub.2 =R.sub.3 =COCH.sub.3.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the cannabinoid is: ##STR27##

where R.sub.19 is H, lower alkyl, lower alcohol, or carboxyl; R.sub.20 is H or OH; and R.sub.21 -R.sub.25 are independently H or OH.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein R.sub.19 is H, CH.sub.3, CH.sub.2 OH, or COOH, and R.sub.20 -R.sub.24 are independently H or OH.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the cannabinoid is: ##STR28##

where R.sub.19 and R.sub.20 are H, and R.sub.26 is alkyl.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the cannabinoid is cannabidiol.

15. A method of treating an ischemic or neurodegenerative disease in the central nervous system of a subject, comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a cannabinoid, where the cannabinoid is ##STR29##

where R is H, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, carboxyl, alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, arylalkyl, halo or amino.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the cannabinoid is not a psychoactive cannabinoid.

17. The method of claim 15 where the ischemic or neurodegenerative disease is an ischemic infarct, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and human immunodeficiency virus dementia, Down's syndrome, or heart disease.

18. A method of treating a disease with a cannabinoid that has substantially no binding to the NMDA receptor, comprising determining whether the disease is caused by oxidative stress, and if the disease is caused by oxidative stress, administering the cannabinoid in a therapeutically effective antioxidant amount.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the cannabinoid has a volume of distribution of at least 1.5 L/kg and substantially no activity at the cannabinoid receptor.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the cannabinoid has a volume of distribution of at least 10 L/kg.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the cannabinoid selectively inhibits an enzyme activity of 5- and 15-lipoxygenase more than an enzyme activity of 12-lipoxygenase.

22. A method of treating a neurodegenerative or ischemic disease in the central nervous system of a subject, comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a compound selected from any of the compounds of claims 9 through 13.

23. The method of claim 22 where the compound is cannabidiol.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the ischemic or neurodegenerative disease is an ischemic infarct, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and human immunodeficiency virus dementia, Down's syndrome, or heart disease.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the disease is an ischemic infarct.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the cannabinoid is not an antagonist at the AMPA receptor.
Description


FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns pharmaceutical compounds and compositions that are useful as tissue protectants, such as neuroprotectants and cardioprotectants. The compounds and compositions may be used, for example, in the treatment of acute ischemic neurological insults or chronic neurodegenerative diseases.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Permanent injury to the central nervous system (CNS) occurs in a variety of medical conditions, and has been the subject of intense scientific scrutiny in recent years. It is known that the brain has high metabolic requirements, and that it can suffer permanent neurologic damage if deprived of sufficient oxygen (hypoxia) for even a few minutes. In the absence of oxygen (anoxia), mitochondrial production of ATP cannot meet the metabolic requirements of the brain, and tissue damage occurs. This process is exacerbated by neuronal release of the neurotransmitter glutamate, which stimulates NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate), AMPA (.alpha.-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate) and kainate receptors. Activation of these receptors initiates calcium influx into the neurons, and production of reactive oxygen species, which are potent toxins that damage important cellular structures such as membranes, DNA and enzymes.

The brain has many redundant blood supplies, which means that its tissue is seldom completely deprived of oxygen, even during acute ischemic events caused by thromboembolic events or trauma. A combination of the injury of hypoxia with the added insult of glutamate toxicity is therefore believed to be ultimately responsible for cellular death. Hence if the additive insult of glutamate toxicity can be alleviated, neurological damage could also be lessened. Anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory agents have been proposed to reduce damage, but they often have poor access to structures such as the brain (which are protected by the blood brain barrier).

Given the importance of the NMDA, AMPA and kainate receptors in the mechanism of injury, research efforts have focused on using antagonists to these receptors to interfere with the receptor mediated calcium influx that ultimately leads to cellular death and tissue necrosis. In vitro studies using cultured neurons have demonstrated that glutamate receptor antagonists reduce neurotoxicity, but NMDA and AMPA/kainate receptor antagonists have different effects. Antagonists to NMDAr prevent neurotoxicity if present during the glutamate exposure period, but are less effective if added after glutamate is removed. In contrast, AMPA/kainate receptor antagonists are not as effective as NMDA antagonists during the glutamate exposure period, but are more effective following glutamate exposure.

Some of the research on these antagonists has focused on cannabinoids, a subset of which have been found to be NMDA receptor antagonists. U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,993 (3S,4S-delta-6-tetrahydrocannabinol-7-oic acids), U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,215 (sterospecific (+) THC enantiomers), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,867 (dimethylheptyl benzopyrans) have reported that these cannabinoids are effective NMDA receptor blockers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,295 discloses that the 1,1 dimethylheptyl (DMH) homolog of [3R,4R]-7-hydroxy-.DELTA..sup.6 THC (known as HU-210) is a superpotent cannabinoid receptor agonist with cannabinomimetic activity two orders of magnitude greater than the natural .DELTA..sup.9 THC. The HU-210 dimethylheptyl cannabinoid, has severe side effects, including fatigue, thirst, headache, and hypotension. J. Pharmacol. Sci. 60:1433-1457 (1971). Subjects who received this synthetic cannabinoid with a dimethylheptyl group experienced marked psychomotor retardation, and were unwilling or incapable of assuming an erect position.

In contrast to HU-210, the (-)(3R,4R) THC-DMH enantiomer (known as HU-211) displays low affinity to the cannabinoid receptors, but retains NMDA receptor antagonist neuroprotective activity. ##STR2##

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is another of the cannabinoids that has been shown to be neuroprotective in cell cultures, but this protection was believed to be mediated by interaction at the cannabinoid receptor, and so would be accompanied by undesired psychotropic side effects. ##STR3##

Although it has been unclear whether cannabimimetic activity plays a role in neuroprotection against glutamate induced neurological injury, the teaching in this field has clearly been that a cannabinoid must at least be an antagonist at the NMDA receptor to have neuroprotective effect. Hence cannabidiol (2-[3-methyl-6-(1-methylethenyl)-2-cyclohexen-1-yl]-5-pentyl-1,3-benzenedi ol or CBD), a cannabinoid devoid of psychoactive effect (Pharm. Rev. 38:21-43, 1986), has not been considered useful as a neuroprotectant. Cannabidiol has been studied as an antiepileptic (Carlini et al., J. Clin. Pharmacol. 21:417S-427S, 1981; Karler et al., J. Clin. Pharmacol. 21:437S-448S, 1981, Consroe et al., J. Clin Phannacol. 21:428S-436S, 1981), and has been found to lower intraocular pressure (Colasanti et al, Exp. Eye Res. 39:251-259, 1984 and Gen. Pharmac. 15:479-484, 1984). ##STR4##

No signs of toxicity or serious side effects have been observed following chronic administration of cannabidiol to healthy volunteers (Cunha et al., Pharmacology 21:175-185, 1980), even in large acute doses of 700 mg/day (Consroe et al., Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 40:701-708, 1991) but cannabidiol is inactive at the NMDA receptor. Hence in spite of its potential use in treating glaucoma and seizures, cannabidiol has not been considered a neuroprotective agent that could be used to prevent glutamate induced damage in the central nervous system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a new class of antioxidant drugs, that have particular application as neuroprotectants, although they are generally useful in the treatment of many oxidation associated diseases.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a subset of such drugs that can be substantially free of psychoactive or psychotoxic effects, are substantially non-toxic even at very high doses, and have good tissue penetration, for example crossing the blood brain barrier.

It has surprisingly been found that cannabidiol and other cannabinoids can function as neuroprotectants, even though they lack NMDA receptor antagonist activity. This discovery was made possible because of the inventor's recognition of a previously unanticipated antioxidant property of the cannabinoids in general (and cannabidiol in particular) that functions completely independently of antagonism at the NMDA, AMPA and kainate receptors. Hence the present invention includes methods of preventing or treating diseases caused by oxidative stress, such as neuronal hypoxia, by administering a prophylactic or therapeutically effective amount of a cannabinoid to a subject who has a disease caused by oxidative stress.

The cannabinoid may be a cannabinoid other than THC, HU-210, or other potent cannabinoid receptor agonists. The cannabinoid may also be other than HU-211 or any other NMDA receptor antagonist that has previously been reported. A potent cannabinoid receptor agonist is one that has an EC.sub.50 at the cannabinoid receptor of 50 nM or less, but in more particular embodiments 190 nM or 250 nM or less. In disclosed embodiments the cannabinoid is not psychoactive, and is not psychotoxic even at high doses. In some particularly disclosed embodiments, the cannabinoid is selected from the group: ##STR5##

where A is aryl, and particularly ##STR6##

but not a pinene such as: ##STR7##

and the R.sub.1 -R.sub.5 groups are each independently selected from the groups of hydrogen, lower substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted carboxyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy, substituted or unsubstituted alcohol, and substituted or unsubstituted ethers, and R.sub.6 -R.sub.7 are H or methyl. In particular embodiments, there are no nitrogens in the rings, and/or no amino substitutions on the rings.

In other embodiments, the cannabinoid is one of the following: ##STR8##

where there can be 0 to 3 double bonds on the A ring, as indicated by the optional double bonds indicated by dashed lines on the A ring. The C ring is aromatic, and the B ring can be a pyran. Particular embodiments are dibenzo pyrans and cyclohexenyl benzenediols. Particular embodiments of the cannabinoids of the present invention may also be highly lipid soluble, and in particular embodiments can be dissolved in an aqueous solution only sparingly (for example 10 mg/ml or less). The octanol/water partition ratio at neutral pH in useful embodiments is 5000 or greater, for example 6000 or greater. This high lipid solubility enhances penetration of the drug into the CNS, as reflected by its volume of distribution (V.sub.d) of 1.5 L/kg or more, for example 3.5 L/kg, 7 L/kg, or ideally 10 L/kg or more, for example at least 20 L/kg. Particular embodiments may also be highly water soluble derivatives that are able to penetrate the CNS, for example carboxyl derivatives.

R.sub.7-18 are independently selected from the group of H, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, especially lower alkyl, for example unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl, hydroxyl, alkoxy, especially lower alkoxy such as methoxy or ethoxy, substituted or unsubstituted alcohol, and unsubstituted or substituted carboxyl, for example COOH or COCH.sub.3. In other embodiments R.sub.7-18 can also be substituted or unsubstituted amino, and halogen.

The cannabinoid has substantially no binding to the NMDAr (for example an IC.sub.50 greater than or equal to 5 .mu.M or 10 .mu.M), has substantially no psychoactive activity mediated by the cannabinoid receptor (for example an IC.sub.50 at the cannabinoid receptor of greater than or equal to 300 nM, for example greater than 1 .mu.M and a K.sub.i greater than 250 nM, especially 500-1000 nM, for example greater than 1000 nM), and antioxidant activity, as demonstratable by the Fenton reaction or cyclic voltametry.

In other particular embodiments, the cannabinoids are one of the following: ##STR9##

where R.sub.19 is substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, such as lower alkyl (for example methyl), lower alcohol (such as methyl alcohol) or carboxyl (such as carboxylic acid) and oxygen (as in .dbd.O); R.sub.20 is hydrogen or hydroxy; R.sub.21 is hydrogen, hydroxy, or methoxy; R.sub.22 is hydrogen or hydroxy; R.sub.23 is hydrogen or hydroxy; R.sub.24 is hydrogen or hydroxy; R.sub.25 is hydrogen or hydroxy; and R.sub.26 is substituted or unsubstituted alkyl (for example n-methyl alkyl), substituted or unsubstituted alcohol, or substituted or unsubstituted carboxy.

In yet other embodiments of the invention, the cannabinoids are ##STR10##

wherein numbering conventions for each of the ring positions are shown, and R.sub.27, R.sub.28 and R.sub.29 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, unsubstituted lower alkyl such as CH.sub.3, and carboxyl such as COCH.sub.3. Particular examples of nonpsychoactive cannabinoids that fall within this definition are cannabidiol and ##STR11##

and other structural analogs of cannabidiol.

In more particular embodiments, the cannabinoid is used to prevent or treat an ischemic or neurodegenerative disease in the central nervous system of a subject, by administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a cannabinoid to protect against oxidative injury to the central nervous system. The cannabinoid may be any of the compounds set forth above, or more specifically ##STR12##

wherein R.sub.27, R.sub.28 and R.sub.29 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, lower alkyl such as CH.sub.3, and carboxyl such as COCH.sub.3, and particularly wherein a) R.sub.27 =R.sub.28 =R.sub.29 =H b) R.sub.27 =R.sub.29 =H; R.sub.28 =CH.sub.3 c) R.sub.27 =R.sub.28 =CH.sub.3 ; R.sub.29 =H d) R.sub.27 =R.sub.28 =COCH.sub.3 ; R.sub.29 =H e) R.sub.27 =H; R.sub.28 =R.sub.29 =COCH.sub.3

When R.sub.27 =R.sub.28 =R.sub.29 =H, then the compound is cannabidiol. When R.sub.27 =R.sub.29 =H and R.sub.28 =CH.sub.3, the compound is CBD monomethyl ether. When R.sub.27 =R.sub.28 =CH.sub.3 and R.sub.29 =H, the compound is CBD dimethyl ether. When R.sub.27 =R.sub.28 =COCH.sub.3 and R.sub.29 =H, the compound is CBD diacetate. When R.sub.27 =H and R.sub.28 =R.sub.29 =COCH.sub.3, the compound is CBD monoacetate. The ischemic or neurodegenerative disease may be, for example, an ischemic infarct, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Down's syndrome, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dementia, myocardial infarction, or treatment and prevention of intraoperative or perioperative hypoxic insults that can leave persistent neurological deficits following open heart surgery requiring heart/lung bypass machines, such as coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG).

The invention also includes an assay for selecting a cannabinoid to use in treating a neurological disease by determining whether the cannabinoid is an antioxidant. Once it has been determined that the cannabinoid is an antioxidant, an antioxidant effective amount of the cannabinoid is administered to treat the neurological disease, such as a vascular ischemic event in the central nervous system, for example the type caused by a neurovascular thromboembolism. Similarly, the method of the present invention includes determining whether a disease is caused by oxidative stress, and if the disease is caused by oxidative stress, administering the cannabinoid in a therapeutically effective antioxidant amount.

The invention also includes identifying and administering antioxidant and neuroprotective compounds (such as cannabidiol) which selectively inhibit the enzyme activity of both 5- and 15-lipoxygenase more than the enzyme activity of 12-lipoxygenase. In addition, such compounds posses low NMDA antagonist activity and low cannabinoid receptor activity. Assays for selecting compounds with the desired effect on lipoxygenase enzymes, and methods for using identified compounds to treat neurological or ischemic diseases are also provided. Such diseases may include a vascular ischemic event in the central nervous system, for example a thromboembolism in the brain, or a vascular ischemic event in the myocardium. Useful administration of the compounds involves administration both during and after an ischemic injury.

These and other objects of the invention will be understood more clearly by reference to the following detailed description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A is a graph showing NMDA induced cellular damage in a neuron (as measured by LDH release) in cells that were exposed to glutamate for 10 minutes, which demonstrates that increasing concentrations of cannabidiol in the cell culture protects against cellular damage.

FIG. 1B is a graph similar to FIG. 1A, but showing that AMPA/kainate receptor mediated damage (induced by glutamate and the AMPA/kainate receptor potentiating agents cyclothiazide or concanavalin A) is also reduced in a concentration dependent manner by the presence of cannabidiol in the culture medium.

FIG. 2A is a bar graph showing cellular damage (as measured by LDH release) in the presence of glutamate alone (100 .mu.M Glu), and in the presence of glutamate and 5 .mu.M cannabidiol (CBD) or 5 .mu.M THC, and demonstrates that CBD and THC were similarly protective.

FIG. 2B is a bar graph similar to FIG. 2A, but showing the cellular damage assessed in the presence of the cannabinoid receptor antagonist SR 141716A (SR), which was not found to alter the neuroprotective effect of CBD (5 .mu.M) or THC (5 .mu.M), indicating the effect is not a typical cannabinoid effect mediated by the cannabinoid receptor.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the reduction oxidation potentials determined by cyclic voltametry for some natural and synthetic cannabinoids, the antioxidant BHT, and the non-cannabinoid anandamide (arachidonyl ethanolamide) which is a ligand for the cannabinoid receptor. The voltage at which initial peaks occur is an indication of antioxidant activity.

FIG. 4 is a graph that demonstrates the antioxidant properties of BHT, CBD and THC, by plotting the fluorescence of a fluorescent dye against concentrations of these substances, where declining fluorescence is an indication of greater antioxidant activity.

FIG. 5A is a graph illustrating decreased t-butyl peroxide induced toxicity (as measured by LDH release) in the presence of increasing concentrations of cannabidiol, demonstrating that cannabidiol is an effective antioxidant in living cells.

FIG. 5B is a bar graph comparing the antioxidant activity of several antioxidants against glutamate induced toxicity in neurons, showing that CBD has superior antioxidant activity.

FIG. 6A is a graph showing the effect of CBD (as measured by the change in absorbance at 234 nm) on the enzymatic activity of two lipoxygenase enzymes, rabbit 15-LO and porcine 12-LO, which demonstrates that CBD inhibits 15-LO, but not 12-LO enzyme.

FIG. 6B is a graph demonstrating that inhibitory effect of CBD on 15-LO is competitive.

FIG. 7A is a graph similar to FIG. 6A, but was performed in whole cells rather than purified enzyme preparations, and shows the effect of CBD (as measured by the change in absorbance at 236 nm) on the enzymatic activity of 5-LO from cultured rat basophillic leukemia cells (RBL-2H3), which demonstrates that CBD inhibits 5-LO.

FIG. 7B is a graph showing the effect of CBD (as measured by the change in absorbance at 236 nm) on the formation of 12-HETE (the product of 12-LO) by human leukocytes (12-LO type 1).

FIG. 7C is a graph similar to FIG. 7B, showing the effect of CBD (as measured by the change in absorbance at 236 nm) on the formation of 12-HETE by human platelets (12-LO type 2).

FIG. 8 is a bar graph demonstrating that 12-HETE can protect cortical neurons from NMDAr toxicity most effectively when administered during and post ischemia.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

This invention provides antioxidant compounds and compositions, such as pharmaceutical compositions, that include cannabinoids that act as free radical scavengers for use in prophylaxis and treatment of disease. The invention also includes methods for using the antioxidants in prevention and treatment of pathological conditions such as ischemia (tissue hypoxia), and in subjects who have been exposed to oxidant inducing agents such as cancer chemotherapy, toxins, radiation, or other sources of oxidative stress. The compositions and methods described herein are also used for preventing oxidative damage in transplanted organs, for inhibiting reoxygenation injury following reperfusion of ischemic tissues (for example in heart disease), and for any other condition that is mediated by oxidative or free radical mechanisms of injury. In particular embodiments of the invention, the compounds and compositions are used in the treatment of ischemic cardiovascular and neurovascular conditions, and neurodegenerative diseases. However the present invention can also be used as an antioxidant treatment in non-neurological diseases.

Molecular oxygen is essential for aerobic organisms, where it participates in many biochemical reactions, including its role as the terminal electron acceptor in oxidative phosphorylation. However excessive concentrations of various forms of reactive oxygen species and other free radicals can have serious adverse biological consequences, including the peroxidation of membrane lipids, hydroxylation of nucleic acid bases, and the oxidation of sulfhydryl groups and other protein moieties. Biological antioxidants include tocopherols and tocotrieneols, carotenoids, quinones, bilirubin, ascorbic acid, uric acid, and metal binding proteins. However these endogenous antioxidant systems are often overwhelmed by pathological processes that allow permanent oxidative damage to occur to tissue.

Free radicals are atoms, ions or molecules that contain an unpaired electron, are usually unstable, and exhibit short half-lives. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a collective term, designating the oxygen radicals (e.g. .O.sub.2.sup.- superoxide radical), which by sequential univalent reduction produces hydrogen peroxide (H.sub.2 O.sub.2) and hydroxyl radical (.OH). The hydroxyl radical sets off chain reactions and can interact with nucleic acids. Other ROS include nitric oxide (NO.) and peroxy nitrite (NOO.), and other peroxyl (RO.sub.2.) and alkoxyl (RO.) radicals. Increased production of these poisonous metabolites in certain pathological conditions is believed to cause cellular damage through the action of the highly reactive molecules on proteins, lipids and DNA. In particular, ROS are believed to accumulate when tissues are subjected to ischemia, particularly when followed by reperfusion.

The pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention have potent antioxidant and/or free radical scavenging properties, that prevent or reduce oxidative damage in biological systems, such as occurs in ischemic/reperfusion injury, or in chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, HIV dementia, and many other oxidation associated diseases.

DEFINITIONS

"Oxidative associated diseases" refers to pathological conditions that result at least in part from the production of or exposure to free radicals, particularly oxyradicals, or reactive oxygen species. It is evident to those of skill in the art that most pathological conditions are multifactorial, and that assigning or identifying the predominant causal factors for any particular condition is frequently difficult. For these reasons, the term "free radical associated disease" encompasses pathological states that are recognized as conditions in which free radicals or ROS contribute to the pathology of the disease, or wherein administration of a free radical inhibitor (e.g. desferroxamine), scavenger (e.g. tocopherol, glutathione) or catalyst (e.g. superoxide dismutase, catalase) is shown to produce detectable benefit by decreasing symptoms, increasing survival, or providing other detectable clinical benefits in treating or preventing the pathological state.

Oxidative associated diseases include, without limitation, free radical associated diseases, such as ischemia, ischemic reperfusion injury, inflammatory diseases, systemic lupus erythematosis, myocardial ischemia or infarction, cerebrovascular accidents (such as a thromboembolic or hemorrhagic stroke) that can lead to ischemia or an infarct in the brain, operative ischemia, traumatic hemorrhage (for example a hypovolemic stroke that can lead to CNS hypoxia or anoxia), spinal cord trauma, Down's syndrome, Crohn's disease, autoimmune diseases (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes), cataract formation, uveitis, emphysema, gastric ulcers, oxygen toxicity, neoplasia, undesired cellular apoptosis, radiation sickness, and others. The present invention is believed to be particularly beneficial in the treatment of oxidative associated diseases of the CNS, because of the ability of the cannabinoids to cross the blood brain barrier and exert their antioxidant effects in the brain. In particular embodiments, the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention is used for preventing, arresting, or treating neurological damage in Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and HIV dementia; autoimmune neurodegeneration of the type that can occur in encephalitis, and hypoxic or anoxic neuronal damage that can result from apnea, respiratory arrest or cardiac arrest, and anoxia caused by drowning, brain surgery or trauma (such as concussion or spinal cord shock).

As used herein, an "antioxidant" is a substance that, when present in a mixture containing an oxidizable substrate biological molecule, significantly delays or prevents oxidation of the substrate biological molecule. Antioxidants can act by scavenging biologically important reactive free radicals or other reactive oxygen species (.O.sub.2.sup.-, H.sub.2 O.sub.2, .OH, HOCl, ferryl, peroxyl, peroxynitrite, and alkoxyl), or by preventing their formation, or by catalytically converting the free radical or other reactive oxygen species to a less reactive species. Relative antioxidant activity can be measured by cyclic voltametry studies of the type disclosed in Example 5 (and FIG. 3), where the voltage (x-axis) is an index of relative antioxidant activity. The voltage at which the first peak occurs is an indication of the voltage at which an electron is donated, which in turn is an index of antioxidant activity.

"Therapeutically effective antioxidant doses" can be determined by various methods, including generating an empirical dose-response curve, predicting potency and efficacy of a congener by using quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) methods or molecular modeling, and other methods used in the pharmaceutical sciences. Since oxidative damage is generally cumulative, there is no minimum threshold level (or dose) with respect to efficacy. However, minimum doses for producing a detectable therapeutic or prophylactic effect for particular disease states can be established.

As used herein, a "cannabinoid" is a chemical compound (such as cannabinol, THC or cannabidiol) that is found in the plant species Cannabis saliva (marijuana), and metabolites and synthetic analogues thereof that may or may not have psychoactive properties. Cannabinoids therefore include (without limitation) compounds (such as THC) that have high affinity for the cannabinoid receptor (for example K.sub.i <250 nM), and compounds that do not have significant affinity for the cannabinoid receptor (such as cannabidiol, CBD). Cannabinoids also include compounds that have a characteristic dibenzopyran ring structure (of the type seen in THC) and cannabinoids which do not possess a pyran ring (such as cannabidiol). Hence a partial list of cannabinoids includes THC, CBD, dimethyl heptylpentyl cannabidiol (DMHP-CBD), 6,12-dihydro-6-hydroxy-cannabidiol (described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,537, incorporated by reference); (3S,4R)-7-hydroxy-.DELTA..sup.6 -tetrahydrocannabinol homologs and derivatives described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,276, incorporated by reference; (+)-4-[4-DMH-2,6-diacetoxy-phenyl]-2-carboxy-6,6-dimethylbicyclo[3.1. 1]hept-2-en, and other 4-phenylpinene derivatives disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,295, which is incorporated by reference; and cannabidiol (-)(CBD) analogs such as (-)CBD-monomethylether, (-)CBD dimethyl ether; (-)CBD diacetate; (-)3'-acetyl-CBD monoacetate; and .+-.AF11, all of which are disclosed in Consroe et al., J. Clin. Phannacol. 21:428S-436S, 1981, which is also incorporated by reference. Many other cannabinoids are similarly disclosed in Agurell et al., Pharmacol. Rev. 38:31-43, 1986, which is also incorporated by reference.

As referred to herein, the term "psychoactivity" means "cannabinoid receptor mediated psychoactivity." Such effects include, euphoria, lightheadedness, reduced motor coordination, and memory impairment. Psychoactivity is not meant to include non-cannabinoid receptor mediated effects such as the anxiolytic effect of CBD.

The "lipoxygenase enzyme activity" refers to the relative level of lipoxygenase enzyme activity for a particular lipoxgenase, such as 5-, 15- or 12-lipoxygenase, as measured in Example 8. A compound would be said to "selectively inhibit a lipoxgenase enzyme" if the concentration of inhibitor required to reduce enzyme activity by 50% was at least about 5 times less than the amount required to reduce activity of a second lipoxgenase enzyme by the same degree (under the same conditions, i.e. temperature, substrate concentration, etc.)

An "antagonist" is a compound that binds and occupies a receptor without activating it. In the presence of a sufficient concentration of antagonist, an agonist cannot activate its receptor. Therefore, antagonists may decrease the neurotoxicity mediated by NMDA (as described in Example 3) or AMPA and Kainate (as described in Example 4).

An "agonist" is a compound that activates a receptor. When the receptor is activated for a longer than normal period of time, this may cause neurotoxicity, as in the case of NMDA, AMPA and kainate receptors (see Examples 3 and 4).

The term "alkyl" refers to a cyclic, branched, or straight chain alkyl group containing only carbon and hydrogen, and unless otherwise mentioned contains one to twelve carbon atoms. This term is further exemplified by groups such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isobutyl, t-butyl, pentyl, pivalyl, heptyl, adamantyl, and cyclopentyl. Alkyl groups can either be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents, e.g. halogen, alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthio, trifluoromethyl, acyloxy, hydroxy, mercapto, carboxy, aryloxy, aryloxy, aryl, arylalkyl, heteroaryl, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, morpholino, piperidino, pyrrolidin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or other functionality.

The term "lower alkyl" refers to a cyclic, branched or straight chain monovalent alkyl radical of one to seven carbon atoms. This term is further exemplified by such radicals as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, n-butyl, t-butyl, i-butyl (or 2-methylpropyl), cyclopropylmethyl, i-amyl, n-amyl, hexyl and heptyl. Lower alkyl groups can also be unsubstituted or substituted, where a specific example of a substituted alkyl is 1,1-dimethyl heptyl.

"Hydroxyl" refers to --OH.

"Alcohol" refers to R--OH, wherein R is alkyl, especially lower alkyl (for example in methyl, ethyl or propyl alcohol). An alcohol may be either linear or branched, such as isopropyl alcohol.

"Carboxyl" refers to the radical --COOH, and substituted carboxyl refers to --COR where R is alkyl, lower alkyl or a carboxylic acid or ester.

The term "aryl" or "Ar" refers to a monovalent unsaturated aromatic carbocyclic group having a single ring (e.g. phenyl) or multiple condensed rings (e.g. naphthyl or anthryl), which can optionally be unsubstituted or substituted with, e.g., halogen, alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthio, trifluoromethyl, acyloxy, hydroxy, mercapto, carboxy, aryloxy, aryl, arylalkyl, heteroaryl, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, morpholino, piperidino, pyrrolidin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or other functionality.

The term "alkoxy" refers to a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy, where an alkoxy has the structure --O--R, where R is substituted or unsubstituted alkyl. In an unsubstituted alkoxy, the R is an unsubstituted alkyl. The term "substituted alkoxy" refers to a group having the structure --O--R, where R is alkyl which is substituted with a non-interfering substituent. The term "arylalkoxy" refers to a group having the structure --O--R--Ar, where R is alkyl and Ar is an aromatic substituent. Arylalkoxys are a subset of substituted alkoxys. Examples of useful substituted alkoxy groups are: benzyloxy, naphthyloxy, and chlorobenzyloxy.

The term "aryloxy" refers to a group having the structure --O--Ar, where Ar is an aromatic group. A particular aryloxy group is phenoxy.

The term "heterocycle" refers to a monovalent saturated, unsaturated, or aromatic carbocyclic group having a single ring (e.g. morpholino, pyridyl or faryl) or multiple condensed rings (e.g. indolizinyl or benzo[b]thienyl) and having at least one heteroatom, defined as N, O, P, or S, within the ring, which can optionally be unsubstituted or substituted with, e.g. halogen, alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthio, trifluoromethyl, acyloxy, hydroxy, mercapto, carboxy, aryloxy, aryl, arylakyl, heteroaryl, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, morpholino, piperidino, pyrrolidin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or other functionality.

"Arylalkyl" refers to the groups --R--Ar and --R--HetAr, where Ar is an aryl group. HetAr is a heteroaryl group, and R is a straight-chain or branched chain aliphatic group. Example of arylaklyl groups include benzyl and furfuryl. Arylalkyl groups can optionally be unsubstituted or substituted with, e.g., halogen, alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthio, trifluoromethyl, acyloxy, hydroxy, mercapto, carboxy, aryloxy, aryl, arylalkyl, heteroaryl, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, morpholino, peperidino, pyrrolidin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or other functionality.

The term "halo" or "halide" refers to fluoro, bromo, chloro and iodo substituents.

The term "amino" refers to a chemical functionality --NR'R" where R' and R" are independently hydrogen, alkyl, or aryl. The term "quaternary amine" refers to the positively charged group --N.sup.+ R'R", where R'R" and R" are independently selected and are alkyl or aryl. A particular amino group is --NH.sub.2.

A "pharmaceutical agent" or "drug" refers to a chemical compound or composition capable of inducing a desired therapeutic or prophylactic effect when properly administered to a subject.

All chemical compounds include both the (+) and (-) stereoisomers, as well as either the (+) or (-) stereoisomer.

Other chemistry terms herein are used according to conventional usage in the art, as exemplified by The McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Chemical Terms (1985) and The Condensed Chemical Dictionary (1981).

The following examples show that both nonpsychoactive cannabidiol, and psychoactive cannabinoids such as THC, can protect neurons from glutamate induced death, by a mechanism independent of cannabinoid receptors. Cannabinoids are also be shown to be potent antioxidants capable of preventing ROS toxicity in neurons.

EXAMPLE 1

Preparation of Cannabinoids and Neuronal Cultures

Cannabidiol, THC and reactants other than those specifically listed below were purchased from Sigma Chemical, Co. (St. Louis, Mo.). Cyclothiazide, glutamatergic ligands and MK-801 were obtained from Tocris Cookson (UK). Dihydrorhodamine was supplied by Molecular Probes (Eugene, Oreg.). T-butyl hydroperoxide, tetraethylammonium chloride, ferric citrate and sodium dithionite were all purchased from Aldrich (WI). All culture media were Gibco/BRL (MD) products.

Solutions of cannabinoids, cyclothiazide and other lipophiles were prepared by evaporating a 10 mM ethanolic solution (under a stream of nitrogen) in a siliconized microcentrifuge tube. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, less than 0.05% of final volume) was added to ethanol to prevent the lipophile completely drying onto the tube wall. After evaporation, 1 ml of culture media was added and the drug was dispersed using a high power sonic probe. Special attention was used to ensure the solution did not overheat or generate foam. Following dispersal, all solutions were made up to their final volume in siliconized glass tubes by mixing with an appropriate quantity of culture media.

Primary neuronal cultures were prepared according to the method of Ventra et al. (J. Neurochem. 66:1752-1761, 1996). Fetuses were extracted by Cesarian section from a 17 day pregnant Wistar rat, and the feral brains were placed into phosphate buffered saline. The cortices were then dissected out, cut into small pieces and incubated with papain for nine minutes at 37.degree. C. After this time the tissue was dissociated by passage through a fire polished Pasteur pipette, and the resultant cell suspension separated by centrifugation over a gradient consisting of 10 mg/ml bovine serum albumin and 10 mg/ml ovomucoid (a trypsin inhibitor) in Earls buffered salt solution. The pellet was then re-suspended in high glucose, phenol red free Dulbeco's modified Eagles medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 2 mM glutamine, 100 IU penicillin, and 100 .mu.g/ml streptomycin (DMEM). Cells were counted, tested for vitality using the trypan blue exclusion test and seeded onto poly-D-lysine coated 24 multiwell plates. After 96 hours, 10 .mu.M fluoro-deoxyuridine and 10 .mu.M uridine were added to block glial cell growth. This protocol resulted in a highly neuron-enriched culture.

EXAMPLE 2

Preparation of Astrocytes and Conditioned Media

Astrocyte conditioned DMEM was used throughout the AMPA/kainate toxicity procedure and following glutamate exposure in the NMDAr mediated toxicity protocol. Media was conditioned by 24 hour treatment over a confluent layer of type I astrocytes, prepared from two day old Wistar rat pups. Cortices were dissected, cut into small pieces, and enzymatically digested with 0.25% trypsin. Tissue was then dissociated by passage through a fire polished Pasteur pipette and the cell suspension plated into untreated 75 cm.sup.2 T-flasks. After 24 hours the media was replaced and unattached cells removed. Once astrocytes achieved confluence, cells were divided into four flasks. Media for experiments was conditioned by a 24 hour exposure to these astrocytes, after which time it was frozen at -20.degree. C. until use. Astrocyte cultures were used to condition DMEM for no longer than two months.

EXAMPLE 3

NMDA Mediated Toxicity Studies

Glutamate neurotoxicity can be mediated by NMDA, AMPA or kainate receptors. To examine NMDAr mediated toxicity, cultured neurons (cultured for 14-18 days) were exposed to 250 .mu.M glutamate for 10 minutes in a magnesium free saline solution. The saline was composed of 125 mM NaCl, 25 mM glucose, 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.4), 5 mM KCl, 1.8 mM calcium chloride and 5% bovine serum albumin. Following exposure, cells were washed twice with saline, and incubated for 18 hours in conditioned DMEM. The level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the media was used as an index of cell injury.

Toxicity was completely prevented by addition of the NMDAr antagonist, MK-801 (500 nM, data not shown). However, FIG. 1A shows that cannabidiol also prevented neurotoxicity (maximum protection 88.+-.9%) with an EC.sub.50 of 2-4 .mu.M (specifically about 3.5 .mu.M).

EXAMPLE 4

AMPA and Kainate Receptor Mediated Toxicity Studies

Unlike NMDA receptors, which are regulated by magnesium ions, AMPA/kainate receptors rapidly desensitize following ligand binding. To examine AMPA and kainate receptor mediated toxicity, neurons were cultured for 7-13 days, then exposed to 100 .mu.M glutamate and 50 .mu.M cyclothiazide (used to prevent AMPA receptor desensitization). Cells were incubated with glutamate in the presence of 500 nM MK-801 (an NMDAr antagonist) for 18-20 hours prior to analysis. Specific AMPA and kainate receptor ligands were also used to separately examine the effects of cannabinoids on AMPA and kainate receptor mediated events. Fluorowillardiine (1.5 .mu.M) was the AMPA agonist and 4-methyl glutamate (10 .mu.M) was the kainate agonist used to investigate receptor mediated toxicity. When specifically examining kainate receptor activity, cyclothiazide was replaced with 0.15 mg/ml Concanavalin-A.

Cannabidiol protection against AMPA/kainate mediated neurotoxicity is illustrated in FIG. 1B, where LDH in the media was used as an index of cell injury. The neuroprotective effect of cannabidiol was similar to that observed in the NMDA mediated toxicity model (FIG. 1A). Cannabidiol prevented neurotoxicity (maximum protection 80.+-.17%) with an EC.sub.50 of 2-4 .mu.M (specifically about 3.3 .mu.M). Comparable results were obtained with either the AMPA receptor ligand, fluorowillardiine or the kainate receptor specific ligand, 4-methyl-glutamate (data not shown). Hence cannabidiol protects similarly against toxicity mediated by NMDA, AMPA or kainate receptors.

Unlike cannabidiol, THC is a ligand (and agonist) for the brain cannabinoid receptor. The action of THC at the cannabinoid receptor has been proposed to explain the ability of THC to protect neurons from NMDAr toxicity in vitro. However in AMPA/kainate receptor toxicity assays, THC and cannabidiol were similarly protective (FIG. 2A), indicating that cannabinoid neuroprotection is independent of cannabinoid receptor activation. This was confirmed by inclusion of cannabinoid receptor antagonist SR-141716A in the culture media (SR in FIG. 2B). See Mansbach et al., Psychopharmacology 124:315-22, 1996, for a description of SR-141716A. Neither THC nor cannabidiol neuroprotection was affected by cannabinoid receptor antagonist (FIG. 2B).

EXAMPLE 5

Cyclic Voltametery Studies or ReDox Potentials

To investigate whether cannabinoids protect neurons against glutamate damage by reacting with ROS, the antioxidant properties of cannabidiol and other cannabinoids were assessed. Cyclic voltametry, a procedure that measures the ability of a compound to accept or donate electrons under a variable voltage potential, was used to measure the oxidation potentials of several natural and synthetic cannabinoids. These studies were performed with an EG&G Princeton Applied Research potentiostat/galvanostat (Model 273/PAR 270 software, NJ). The working electrode was a glassy carbon disk with a platinum counter electrode and silver/silver chloride reference. Tetraethylammonium chloride in acetonitrile (0.1 M) was used as an electrolyte. Cyclic voltametry scans were done from +0 to 1.8 V at scan rate of 100 mV per second. The reducing ability of cannabidiol (CBD), THC, HU-211, and BHT were measured in this fashion. Anandamide, a cannabinoid receptor ligand without a cannabinoid like structure, was used as a non-responsive control. Each experiment was repeated twice with essentially the same results.

Cannabidiol, THC and the synthetic cannabinoid HU-211 all donated electrons at a similar potential as the antioxidant BHT. Anandamide (arachidonyl ethanolamide) did not undergo oxidation at these potentials (FIG. 3). Several other natural and synthetic cannabinoids, including cannabidiol, nabilone, and levanantrodol were also tested, and they too exhibited oxidation profiles similar to cannabidiol and THC (data not shown).

EXAMPLE 6

Iron Catalyzed Dihydrorhodamine Oxidation (Fenton Reaction)

The ability of cannabinoids to be readily oxidized, as illustrated in Example 5, indicated they possess antioxidant properties comparable to BHT. The antioxidant activity of BHT was examined in a Fenton reaction, in which iron is catalyzed to produce ROS. Cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were evaluated for their ability to prevent oxidation of dihydrorhodamine to the fluorescent compound rhodamine. Oxidant was generated by ferrous catalysis (diothionite reduced ferric citrate) of t-butyl hydroperoxide in a 50:50 water:acetonitrile (v/v) solution. Dihydrorhodamine (50 .mu.M) was incubated with 300 .mu.M t-butyl hydroperoxide and 0.5 .mu.M iron for 5 minutes. After this time, oxidation was assessed by spectrofluorimetry (Excit=500 nm, Emiss=570 nm). Various concentrations of cannabinoids and BHT were included to examine their ability to prevent dihydrorhodiamine oxidation.

Cannabidiol, THC and BHT all prevented dihydrorhodamine oxidation in a similar, concentration dependent manner (FIG. 4), indicating that cannabinoids have antioxidant potency comparable to BHT.

To confirm that cannabinoids act as antioxidants in the intact cell, neurons were also incubated with the oxidant t-butyl hydroperoxide and varying concentrations of cannabidiol (FIG. 5A). The t-butyl hydroperoxide oxidant was chosen for its solubility in both aqueous and organic solvents, which facilitates oxidation in both cytosolic and membrane cell compartments. Cell toxicity was assessed 18-20 hours after insult by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release into the culture media. All experiments were conducted with triple or quadruple values at each point and all plates contained positive (glutamate alone) and baseline controls. The assay was validated by comparison with an XTT based metabolic activity assay. As shown in FIG. 5A, cannabidiol protected neurons against ROS toxicity in a dose related manner, with an EC.sub.50 of about 6 .mu.M. The maximum protection observed was 88.+-.9%.

Cannabidiol was also compared with known antioxidants in an AMPA/kainate toxicity protocol. Neurons were exposed to 100 .mu.M glutamate and equimolar (5 .mu.M) cannabidiol, .alpha.-tocopherol, BHT or ascorbate (FIG. 5B). Although all of the antioxidants attenuated glutamate toxicity, cannabidiol was significantly more protective than either .alpha.-tocopherol or ascorbate. The similar antioxidant abilities of cannabidiol and BHT in this chemical system (FIG. 4), and their comparable protection in neuronal cultures (FIG. 5B), implies that cannabidiol neuroprotection is due to an antioxidant effect.

EXAMPLE 7

In vivo Rat Studies

The middle cerebral artery of chloral hydrate anesthetized rats was occluded by insertion of suture thread into it. The animals were allowed to recover from the anesthetic and move freely for a period of two hours. After this time the suture was removed under mild anesthetic and the animals allowed to recover for 48 hours. Then the animals were tested for neurological deficits, sacrificed, and the infarct volume calculated. To examine the infarct volume, animals were anesthetized, ex-sanguinated, and a metabolically active dye (3-phenyl tetrazolium chloride) was pumped throughout the body. All living tissues were stained pink by the dye, while morbid regions of infarcted tissue remained white. Brains were then fixed for 24 hours in formaldehyde, sliced and the infarct volumes measured.

One hour prior to induction of ischemia 20 mg/kg of cannabidiol was administered by intra-peritoneal injection (ip) in a 90% saline:5% emulphor 620 (emulsifier):5% ethanol vehicle. A second ip 10 mg/kg dose of cannabidiol was administered 8 hours later using the same vehicle. Control animals received injections of vehicle without drug. IV doses would be expected to be 3-5 times less because of reduction of first pass metabolism.

The infarct size and neurological assessment of the test animals is shown Table 1.

TABLE 1 Cannabidiol protects rat brains from ischemia damage Volume of Infarct Behavioral Deficit (mm3) Score Animal Drug Control Drug Control 1 108.2 110.5 3 2 2 83.85 119.6 4 4 3 8.41 118.9 3 4 4 75.5 177.7 1 4 5 60.53 33.89 1 3 6 27.52 255.5 1 5 7 23.16 143 1 4 Mean 55.3 137.0 2.0 3.7 SEM 13.8 25.7 0.5 0.4 p = 0.016 significant p = 0.015 significant *Neurological scoring is performed on a subjective 1-5 scale of impairment. 0 = no impairment, 5 = severe (paralysis)

This data shows that infarct size was approximately halved in the animals treated with cannabidiol, which was also accompanied by a substantial improvement in the neurological status of the animal.

These studies with the nonpsychotropic marijuana constituent, cannabidiol, demonstrate that protection can be achieved against both glutamate neurotoxicity and free radical induced cell death. THC, the psychoactive principle of cannabis, also blocked glutamate neurotoxicity with a potency similar to cannabidiol. In both cases, neuroprotection is unaffected by the presence of a cannabinoid receptor antagonist. These results therefore surprisingly demonstrate that cannabinoids can have useful therapeutic effects that are not mediated by cannabinoid receptors, and therefore are not necessarily accompanied by psychoactive side effects. Cannabidiol also acts as an anti-epileptic and anxiolytic, which makes it particularly useful in the treatment of neurological diseases in which neuroanatomic defects can predispose to seizures (e.g. subarachnoid hemorrhage).

A particular advantage of the cannabinoid compounds of the present invention is that they are highly lipophilic, and have good penetration into the central nervous system. The volume of distribution of some of these compounds is at least 100 L in a 70 kg person (1.4 L/kg), more particularly at least 250 L, and most particularly 500 L or even 700 L in a 70 kg person (10 L/kg). The lipophilicity of particular compounds is also about as great as that of THC, cannabidiol or other compounds that have excellent penetration into the brain and other portions of the CNS.

Cannabinoids that lack psychoactivity or psychotoxicity are particularly useful embodiments of the present invention, because the absence of such side effects allows very high doses of the drug to be used without encountering unpleasant side effects (such as dysphoria) or dangerous complications (such as obtundation in a patient who may already have an altered mental status). For example, therapeutic antioxidant blood levels of cannabidiol can be 5-20 mg/kg, without significant toxicity, while blood levels of psychoactive cannabinoids at this level would produce obtundation, headache, conjunctival irritation, and other problems. Particular examples of the compounds of the present invention have low affinity to the cannabinoid receptor, for example a K.sub.i of greater than 250 nM, for example K.sub.i.gtoreq.500-1000 nM. A compound with a K.sub.i.gtoreq.1000 nM is particularly useful, which compound has essentially no psychoactivity mediated by the cannabinoid receptor.

Cannabidiol blocks glutamate toxicity with equal potency regardless of whether the insult is mediated by NMDA, AMPA or kainate receptors. Cannabidiol and THC have been shown to be comparable to the antioxidant BHT, both in their ability to prevent dihydrorhodamine oxidation and in their cyclic voltametric profiles. Several synthetic cannabinoids also exhibited profiles similar to the BHT, although anandamide, which is not structurally related to cannabinoids, did not. These findings indicate that cannabinoids act as antioxidants in a non-biological situation, which was confirmed in living cells by showing that cannabidiol attenuates hydroperoxide induced neurotoxicity. The potency of cannabidiol as an antioxidant was examined by comparing it on an equimolar basis with three other commonly used compounds.

In the AMPA/kainate receptor dependent neurotoxicity model, cannabidiol neuroprotection was comparable to the potent antioxidant, BHT, but significantly greater than that observed with either .alpha.-tocopherol or ascorbate. This unexpected superior antioxidant activity (in the absence of BHT tumor promoting activity) shows for the first time that cannabidiol, and other cannabinoids, can be used as antioxidant drugs in the treatment (including prophylaxis) of oxidation associated diseases, and is particularly useful as a neuroprotectant. The therapeutic potential of nonpsychoactive cannabinoids is particularly promising, because of the absence of psychotoxicity, and the ability to administer higher doses than with psychotropic cannabinoids, such as THC. Previous studies have also indicated that cannabidiol is not toxic, even when chronically administered to humans or given in large acute doses (700 mg/day).

EXAMPLE 8

Effect of Cannabidiol on Lipoxygenase Enzymes

This example describes in vitro and in vivo assays to examine the effect of cannabidiol (CBD) on three lipoxygenase (LO) enzymes: 5-LO, 12-LO and 15-LO.

In vitro Enzyme Assay

The ability of CBD to inhibit lipoxygenase was examined by measuring the time dependent change in absorption at 234 nM following addition of 5 U of each lipoxygenase (rabbit 15-LO purchased from Biomol (PA), porcine 12-LO purchased from Cayman chemicals (MI)) to a solution containing 10 .mu.M (final concentration) linoleic acid.

Enzyme studies were performed using a u.v. spectrophotometer and a 3 ml quartz cuvette containing 2.5 ml of a stirred solution of 12.5 .mu.M sodium linoleic acid (sodium salt) in solution A (25 mM Tris (pH 8.1), 1 mM EDTA 0.1% methyl cellulose). The reaction was initiated by addition of 0.5 ml enzyme solution (10 U/ml enzyme in solution A) and recorded for 60 seconds. Lipoxygenase exhibits non-Michaelis-Menten kinetics, an initial "lag" (priming) phase followed by a linear phase which is terminated by product inhibition. These complications were reduced by assessing enzyme activity (change in absorption) over the "steepest" 20 second period in a 60 second run time. Recordings examined the absorption at 234 nm minus the value at a reference wavelength of 280 nm. Linoleic acid was used as the substrate rather than arachidonic acid, because the products are less inhibitory to the enzyme, thereby providing a longer "linear phase".

Cell Purification and Separation

Human platelets and leukocytes were purified from buffy coat preparations (NIH Blood Bank) using a standard Ficoll based centrifugation method used in blood banks. Prior to use, cells were washed three times to eliminate contaminating cell types. Cultured rat basophillic leukemia cells (RBL-2H3) were used as a source of 5-lipoxygenase.

In vivo Determination of Lipoxygenase Activity

Cells were incubated with arachidonic acid and stimulated with the calcium ionophore A23187. Lipids were extracted and separated by reverse phase HPLC. Product formation was assessed as the area of a peak that co-eluted with an authentic standard, had a greater absorbance at 236 nm than at either 210 or 280 nm, and the formation of which was inhibited by a lipoxygenase inhibitor.

Cell pellets were triturated in DMEM culture media, aliquoted and pre-incubated for 15 minutes with 20 .mu.M arachidonic acid and varying concentrations of cannabidiol and/or 40 .mu.M nordihydroguaiaretic acid (a lipxygenase inhibitor). Platelets and leukocytes were also pre-incubated with 80 .mu.M manoalide (Biomol) to prevent phospholipase A2 activation. Product formation was initiated by addition of 5 .mu.M A23187 and incubation for 10 minutes at 37.degree. C. At the end of the incubation, the reaction was stopped by addition of 15% 1M HCl and 10 ng/ml prostaglandin B2 (internal standard). Lipids were extracted with 1 volume of ethyl ether, which was dried under a stream of nitrogen. Samples were reconstituted in 50% acetonitrile:50% H.sub.2 O and separated by reverse phase HPLC using a gradient running from 63% acetonitrile: 37% H.sub.2 O:0.2% acetic acid to 90% acetonitrile (0.2% acetic acid) over 13 minutes.

Measurement of NMDAr Toxicity

The ability of 12-HETE (12-(s)-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid, the product of the action of 12-lipoxygenase on arachidonic (eicosatetraenoic) acid) to protect cortical neurons from NMDAr toxicity was measured as described in Example 3. The 12-HETE (0.5 .mu.g/ml) was added either during ischemia (co-incubated with the glutamate), during post-ischemia (co-incubated with the DMEM after washing the cells), or during both ischemia and post-ischemia.

Results

Using semi-purified enzyme preparations, the effect of CBD on rabbit 15-LO and porcine 12-LO was compared. As shown in FIGS. 6A and B, CBD is a potent competitive inhibitor of 15-LO with an EC.sub.50 of 598 nM. However, CBD had no effect on the 12-LO enzyme.

Using whole cell preparations, the effect of CBD on 5- and 12-LO enzymes was investigated. As shown in FIG. 7A, CBD inhibited 5-LO in cultured rat basophillic leukemia cells (RBL-2H3) with an EC.sub.50 of 1.92 .mu.M. However, CBD had no effect on 12-LO, as monitored by the production of 12-HETE (the product of 12-LO), in either human leukocytes or platelets (FIGS. 7B and C). The leukocyte 12-LO is similar, while the platelet 12-LO is structurally and functionally different, from the porcine 12-LO used in the in vitro enzyme study.

The ability of 12-HETE to protect cortical neurons from NMDAr toxicity is shown in FIG. 8. To achieve best protection from NMDAr toxicity, 12-HETE was administered both during and post ischemia.

Therefore, CBD serves as a selective inhibitor of at least two lipoxygenase enzymes, 5-LO and 15-LO, but had no effect on 12-LO. Importantly, this is the first demonstration (FIG. 8) that the 12-LO product 12-HETE can play a significant role in protecting neurons from NMDAr mediated toxicity. Although the mechanism of this protection is unknown at the present time, 12-HETE is known to be an important neuromodulator, due to its ability to influence potassium channel activity.

EXAMPLE 9

Methods of Treatment

The present invention includes a treatment that inhibits oxidation associated diseases in a subject such as an animal, for example a rat or human. The method includes administering the antioxidant drugs of the present invention, or a combination of the antioxidant drug and one or more other pharmaceutical agents, to the subject in a pharmaceutically compatible carrier and in an effective amount to inhibit the development or progression of oxidation associated diseases. Although the treatment can be used prophylactically in any patient in a demographic group at significant risk for such diseases, subjects can also be selected using more specific criteria, such as a definitive diagnosis of the condition. The administration of any exogenous antioxidant cannabinoid would inhibit the progression of the oxidation associated disease as compared to a subject to whom the cannabinoid was not administered. The antioxidant effect, however, increases with the dose of the cannabinoid.

The vehicle in which the drug is delivered can include pharmaceutically acceptable compositions of the drugs of the present invention using methods well known to those with skill in the art. Any of the common carriers, such as sterile saline or glucose solution, can be utilized with the drugs provided by the invention. Routes of administration include but are not limited to oral, intracranial ventricular (icv), intrathecal (it), intravenous (iv), parenteral, rectal, topical ophthalmic, subconjunctival, nasal, aural, sub-lingual (under the tongue) and transdermal. The antioxidant drugs of the invention may be administered intravenously in any conventional medium for intravenous injection such as an aqueous saline medium, or in blood plasma medium. Such medium may also contain conventional pharmaceutical adjunct materials such as, for example, pharmaceutically acceptable salts to adjust the osmotic pressure, lipid carriers such as cyclodextrins, proteins such as serum albumin, hydrophilic agents such as methyl cellulose, detergents, buffers, preservatives and the like. Given the low solubility of many cannabinoids, they may be suspended in sesame oil.

Given the excellent absorption of the compounds of the present invention via an inhaled route, the compounds may also be administered as inhalants, for example in pharmaceutical aerosols utilizing solutions, suspensions, emulsions, powders and semisolid preparations of the type more fully described in Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy (19.sup.th Edition, 1995) in chapter 95. A particular inhalant form is a metered dose inhalant containing the active ingredient, in a suspension or a dispersing agent (such as sorbitan trioleate, oleyl alcohol, oleic acid, or lecithin, and a propellant such as 12/11 or 12/114).

Embodiments of the invention comprising pharmaceutical compositions can be prepared with conventional pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, adjuvants and counterions as would be known to those of skill in the art. The compositions are preferably in the form of a unit dose in solid, semi-solid and liquid dosage forms such as tablets, pills, powders, liquid solutions or suspensions, injectable and infusible solutions, for example a unit dose vial, or a metered dose inhaler. Effective oral human dosage ranges for cannabidiol are contemplated to vary from about 1-40 mg/kg, for example 5-20 mg/kg, and in particular a dose of about 20 mg/kg of body weight.

If the antioxidant drugs are to be used in the prevention of cataracts, they may be administered in the form of eye drops formulated in a pharmaceutically inert, biologically acceptable carrier, such as isotonic saline or an ointment. Conventional preservatives, such as benzalkonium chloride, can also be added to the formulation. In ophthalmic ointments, the active ingredient is admixed with a suitable base, such as white petrolatum and mineral oil, along with antimicrobial preservatives. Specific methods of compounding these dosage forms, as well as appropriate pharmaceutical carriers, are known in the art. Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, 19th Ed., Mack Publishing Co. (1995), particularly Part 7.

The compounds of the present invention are ideally administered as soon as a diagnosis is made of an ischemic event, or other oxidative insult. For example, once a myocardial infarction has been confirmed by electrocardiograph, or an elevation in enzymes characteristic of cardiac injury (e.g. CKMB), a therapeutically effective amount of the cannabinoid drug is administered. A dose can also be given following symptoms characteristic of a stroke (motor or sensory abnormalities), or radiographic confirmation of a cerebral infarct in a distribution characteristic of a neurovascular thromboembolic event. The dose can be given by frequent bolus administration, or as a continuous IV dose. In the case of cannabidiol, for example, the drug could be given in a dose of 5 mg/kg active ingredient as a continuous intravenous infusion; or hourly intramuscular injections of that dose.

EXAMPLE 10

The following table lists examples of some dibenzopyran cannabinoids that may be useful as antioxidants in the method of the present invention.

##STR13## ##STR14## Compound R.sub.19 R.sub.20 R.sub.21 R.sub.22 R.sub.23 R.sub.24 R.sub.25 R.sub.26 H 5 7-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH H H H H H H C.sub.5 H.sub.11 H 6 6.alpha.-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 .alpha.-OH H 7 6.beta.-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 .beta.-OH 8 1"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 OH H 9 2"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 OH 10 3"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 OH 11 4"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 OH H 12 6.alpha.,7-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH .alpha.-OH H 13 6v,7-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH .beta.-OH 14 1",7-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH OH H 15 2",7-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH OH H 16 3",7-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH OH H 17 4",7-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH OH 18 1",6.beta.-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 .beta.-OH OH 19 1",3"-diOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.3 OH OH 20 1",6.alpha.,7-triOH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CH.sub.2 OH .alpha.-OH OH H 21 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-6-one CH.sub.3 .dbd.O 22 Epoxyhexahydrocannabinol CH.sub.3 (EHHC)* 23 7-oxo-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC CHO H 24 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-7"-oic acid COOH H 25 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-3"-oic acid CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.4 COOH H 26 1"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-7"-oic acid COOH OH H 27 2"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-7"-oic acid COOH OH H 28 3"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-7"-oic acid COOH OH H 29 4"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-7"-oic acid COOH OH H 30 3",4",5"-trisnor-2"-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 - COOH C.sub.2 H.sub.4 OH THC-7-oic acid H 31 7-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-2"-oic acid CH.sub.2 OH CH.sub.2 COOH H 32 6.beta.-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-2"-oic acid CH.sub.3 .beta.-OH CH.sub.2 COOH H 33 7-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-3"-oic acid CH.sub.2 OH C.sub.2 H.sub.4 COOH H 34 6.beta.-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-3"-oic acid CH.sub.3 .beta.-OH C.sub.2 H.sub.4 COOH H 35 6.alpha.-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-4"-oic acid CH.sub.3 .alpha.-OH C.sub.3 H.sub.6 COOH H 36 2",3"-dehydro-6U-OH-.DELTA..sup.1 - CH.sub.3 .alpha.-OH C.sub.3 H.sub.4 COOH THC-4"-oic acid H 37 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-1",7-dioic acid COOH COOH H 38 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-2",7-dioic acid COOH CH.sub.2 COOH H 39 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-3",7-dioic acid COOH C.sub.2 H.sub.4 COOH H 40 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-4",7-dioic acid COOH C.sub.3 H.sub.6 COOH H 41 1",2"-dehydro-.DELTA..sup.1 -THC-3",7- COOH C.sub.2 H.sub.2 COOH dioic acid H 42 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-glucuronic acid CH.sub.3 gluc.sup..dagger. H 43 .DELTA..sup.1 -THC-7-oic acid COO gluc.sup..dagger. glucuronide *Epoxy group in C-1 and C-2 positions .sup..dagger. Glucuronide Note: R-group substituents are H if not indicated otherwise.

Chemical structures of some of the dibenzopyran cannabinoids are shown below. ##STR15## ##STR16## ##STR17##

EXAMPLE 11

Examples of Structural Analogs of Cannabidiol

The following table lists examples of some cannabinoids which are structural analogs of cannabidiol and that may be useful as antioxidants in the method of the present invention. A particularly useful example is compound CBD, cannabidiol.

Compound R.sub.19 R.sub.20 R.sub.21 R.sub.22 R.sub.23 R.sub.24 R.sub.25 R.sub.26 ##STR18## ##STR19## 44 CBD CH.sub.3 H H H H H H C.sub.5 H.sub.11 45 7-OH--CBD CH.sub.2 OH 46 6.alpha.- CH.sub.3 .alpha.-OH 47 6.beta.- CH.sub.3 .beta.-OH 48 1"- CH.sub.3 OH 49 2"- CH.sub.3 OH 50 3"- CH.sub.3 OH 51 4"- CH.sub.3 OH 52 5"- CH.sub.3 C.sub.4 H.sub.8 CH.sub.2 OH 53 6,7-diOH--CBD CH.sub.2 OH OH 54 3",7-diOH--CBD CH.sub.2 OH OH 55 4",7-diOH--CBD CH.sub.2 OH OH 56 CBD-7-oic acid COOH 57 CBD-3"-oic acid CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.4 COOH ##STR20## ##STR21## 58 CBN CH.sub.3 H H H H H H C.sub.5 H.sub.11 59 7-OH--CBN CH.sub.2 OH 60 1"-OH--CBN CH.sub.3 OH 61 2"-OH--CBN CH.sub.3 OH 62 3"-OH--CBN CH.sub.3 OH 63 4"-OH--CBN CH.sub.3 OH 64 5"-OH--CBN CH.sub.3 C.sub.4 H.sub.8 CH.sub.2 OH 65 2"-7-diOH--CBN CH.sub.2 OH OH 66 CBN-7-oic acid COOH 67 CBN-1"-oic acid CH.sub.3 COOH 68 CBN-3"-oic acid CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.4 COOH Note: R-group substituents are H if not indicated otherwise.

The invention being thus described, variation in the materials and methods for practicing the invention will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such variations are to be considered within the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the claims below.

[Hardrock69]

Dupe post.

[jhale667]

CBD kills cancer (more like arrests and reverses, but whatevs), there's a study that pretty much proves it, and there's a call for further testing. Unfortunately you could never get enough into your system to appreciate the effects via smoking alone, it'll need to be synthesized...

[Hardrock69]

Yes, but the point is, the government itself admitted that cannabis had many medical uses in the patent application which was filed in 2001.

And they are raiding pot dispensaries?

The government cannot have it both ways. Either they withdraw the patent, and continue with pot on Schedule 1, and continue raiding dispensaries, OR they admit they have no valid reason for pot to be on Schedule 1 and remove it, and stop raiding dispensaries. But they cannot withdraw the patent. The horse is already out of the barn and is flying high like a motherfucker.

These studies we have been seeing the results of lately are RECENT studies. The government did not publicize this patent filing when they did it. They probably hoped nobody would notice.

This is the ammo the dispensaries needed to have the cases thrown out, and to prohibit the Feds from raiding the dispensaries.

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2012/10/us-court-to-hear-arguments-to-re-classify-marijuana/

Here we go......a good solid attempt to get Cannabis off of schedule I.


US Court to Hear Arguments to Re-classify Marijuana

This week, on October 16th, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. will begin hearing oral arguments in Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration, a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s current status of cannabis alongside LSD and heroin as a Schedule I substance, which identifies cannabis has having “no medicinal value.”

The hypocrisy is egregious and obvious: on top of the countless scientific studies which have been done over the last several years showing cannabis as an effective medicine for everything from Alzheimer’s to MS to cancer, nearly three quarters of Americans recognize this truth and support the doctors and patients who feel the same. Marinol, a synthetic form of THC, which is found in the cannabis plant, is classified as Schedule III – meaning it is recognized to have medicinal value. In December, 2011, the federal government granted a patent on medical cannabis to a private firm called KannaLife In 2002, my state university college textbook in pharmacology cited “cannabis” as being the model anti-emetic drug – meaning cannabis controls nausea better than any other known compound on the planet.

For the first time in 20 years, federal courts will have to address this inconsistency, despite their blatant tactics to delay these discussions. And there’s a good chance they will be forced to put policy more in line with science. Unfortunately, there’s a good chance this change will do much meaningful for the thousands of cannabis patients and consumers in this country. If cannabis is rescheduled to Schedule II, it will come to sit alongside cocaine in its designation. Yes, doctors can prescribe cocaine. But we all know this doesn’t happen in real practice. Furthermore, rescheduling means the FDA is still in control, and they don’t let anyone but Big Pharma produce medicines.

I applaud Americans for Safe Access and the excellent work they are doing – pushing the envelope and demanding that we have the conversation and hold our policies to a scientific standard. But although I welcome our court system finally attempting to address the contradiction of our policies with science, I caution anyone from getting their hopes up or from thinking that the battle is over should marijuana be re-scheduled.

The fact is, cannabis needs to be removed from the scheduling system altogether. Period. Only then will the civil liberties aspect of this issue be resolved. Only then will opportunities open for entrepreneurship and local businesses in this emerging industry. Only then will the ugliness of the illegal market completely be addressed. And most importantly, only then will all the patients who need their medicine have access to it.

I sincerely hope that Americans for Safe Access is successful this week in their court hearings – the truth is with them. But the battle does not stop there; we need to de-schedule, not just re-schedule marijuana.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/fss/bdb11e16a8e7fae9d91fb520ce69b00a/devil+lettuce.jpg

[Hardrock69]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/oct/15/decriminalise-drug-use-say-experts



Decriminalise drug use, say experts after six-year study

Advisors say no serious rise in consumption is likely if possession of small amounts of controlled drugs is allowed




A six-year study of Britain's drug laws by leading scientists, police officers, academics and experts has concluded it is time to introduce decriminalisation.

The report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), an independent advisory body, says possession of small amounts of controlled drugs should no longer be a criminal offence and concludes the move will not lead to a significant increase in use.

The experts say the criminal sanctions imposed on the 42,000 people sentenced each year for possession of all drugs – and the 160,000 given cannabis warnings – should be replaced with simple civil penalties such as a fine, attendance at a drug awareness session or a referral to a drug treatment programme.

They also say that imposing minimal or no sanctions on those growing cannabis for personal use could go some way to undermining the burgeoning illicit cannabis factories controlled by organised crime.

But their report rejects any more radical move to legalisation, saying that allowing the legal sale of drugs such as heroin or cocaine could cause more damage than the existing drugs trade.

The commission is chaired by Dame Ruth Runciman with a membership that includes the former head of the British Medical Research Council, Prof Colin Blakemore, and the former chief inspector of constabulary, David Blakey.

The report says their analysis of the evidence shows that existing drugs policies struggle to make an impact and, in some cases, may make the problem worse.

The work of the commission is the first major independent report on drugs policy since the influential Police Foundation report 12 years ago called for an end to the jailing of those possessing cannabis.

The UKDPC's membership also includes Prof John Strang, head of the National Addictions Centre, Prof Alan Maynard, a specialist in health economics, and Lady Ilora Finlay, a past president of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The report says that although levels of illicit drug use in Britain have declined in recent years, they are still much higher than in many other countries. The UK has 2,000 drug-related deaths each year and more than 380,000 problem drug users.

The 173-page report concludes: "Taking drugs does not always cause problems, but this is rarely acknowledged by policymakers. In fact most users do not experience significant problems, and there is some evidence that drug use can have benefits in some circumstances."

The commission's radical critique says the current UK approach is simplistic in seeing all drug use as problematic, fails to recognise that entrenched drug problems are linked to inequality and social exclusion, and that separating drugs from alcohol and tobacco use makes it more difficult to tackle the full range of an individual's substance use.

It says the £3bn a year spent tackling illegal drugs is not based on any evidence of what works, with much of the money wasted on policies that are not cost-effective.

It argues that even large-scale seizures by the police often have little or no sustained impact on the supply of drugs; that Just Say No campaigns in schools sometimes actually lead to more young people using drugs; and that pushing some users to become abstinent too quickly can lead to a greater chance of relapse or overdose and death.

The commission argues a fresh approach based on the available evidence should be tested. Its main proposals include:

• Changing drug laws so that possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use would be a civil rather than criminal offence. This would start with cannabis and, if an evaluation showed no substantial negative impacts, move on to other drugs. The experience of Portugal and the Czech Republic shows that drug use would not increase and resources can be directed to treating addiction and tackling organised crime.

• Reviewing sentencing practice so that those caught growing below a specified low volume of cannabis plants faced no, or only minimal, sanctions. But the production and supply of most drugs should remain illegal.

• Reviewing the level of penalties applied against those involved in production and supply, as there is little evidence to show that the clear upward drift in the length of prison sentences in recent years has proved a deterrent or had any long-term impact on drug supply in Britain.

• Reviewing the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act so that technical decisions about the classification of individual drugs are no longer taken by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) or politicians but instead by an independent body with parliamentary oversight.

• Setting up a cross-party forum including the three main political party leaders to forge the political consensus needed to push through such a radical change in approach.

Blakemore said: "Medicine has moved past the age when we treated disease on the basis of hunches and received wisdom. The overwhelming consensus now is that it is unethical, inefficient and dangerous to use untested and unvalidated methods of treatment and prevention. It is time that policy on illicit drug use starts taking evidence seriously as well."

Blakey, who is also a former president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said the current approach of police taking action against people using drugs was expensive and did not appear to bring much benefit. "When other countries have reduced sanctions for low-level drug users, they have found it possible to keep a lid on drug use while helping people with drug problems to get into treatment," the former chief constable said. "But at the same time, we need to continue to bear down on those producing and supplying illicit drugs. This is particularly important for those spreading misery in local communities."

Runciman said government programmes had done much to reduce the damage caused by the drug problem over the past 30 years, with needle exchanges reducing HIV among injecting drug users and treatment programmes which had helped many to rebuild their lives. The commission's chair said: "Those programmes are supported by evidence, but much of the rest of drug policy does not have an adequate evidence base. We spend billions of pounds every year without being sure of what difference much of it makes."

The home secretary, Theresa May, last month ruled out any moves towards decriminalisation, saying it would lead to further problems.

She told MPs she considered cannabis a gateway drug: "People can die as a result of taking drugs, and significant mental health problems can arise as a result of taking drugs."

[Hardrock69]

Voters in Massachusetts to consider ballot measure on medical marijuana

http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/voters_in_massachusetts_to_con.html


By Dan Ring, The Republican
on October 28, 2012 at 5:00 AM, updated October 28, 2012 at 5:03 AM

Four years after Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved an initiative to decriminalize a small quantity of marijuana, advocates are promoting a measure on next month's ballot that would go a step farther by legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

If approved by voters, Question 3 on the ballot would allow people who have certain illnesses, including cancer, glaucoma and Parkinson's disease, to legally obtain marijuana as therapy for their symptoms. Eligible people would need to obtain a certificate from a physician to buy marijuana at centers that would be established for the first time in the state.

In 1996, California voters approved a ballot law, making the state the first to approve the use of medical marijuana. Since then, 16 other states and the District of Columbia have adopted medical marijuana laws, including Connecticut in June.

In 2008, about 65 percent of voters in Massachusetts approved a law that replaced criminal penalties for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana with a civil fine of $100, about the same as getting a traffic ticket.

A series of polls have shown that voters will probably approve the medical marijuana measure.

Opponents, including doctors, parents and law-enforcement officials, said they fear that legalizing medical marijuana would make it more available in general and easier for teenagers to abuse. They warned that medical marijuana is illegal under federal law and that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is leading a crackdown on medical pot stores in California, where about 1,000 operate in Los Angeles alone.

Dr. James B. Broadhurst, a Worcester doctor with a family practice who also treats people with addictions, said approval of the ballot question would be a tragedy for the state.

Broadhurst cited statistics from Colorado, which legalized medical marijuana in 2000, showing that drug violations reported by Colorado’s kindergarten to grade12 schools have increased 45% in the past four years while the combined number of all other violations has dropped.

Broadhurst said the proposed law contains a major loophole that could allow any patient to get marijuana for virtually any reason. According to the measure, a physician could prescribe a 60-day supply of marijuana to a patient with a "debilitating medical condition," including a broad category defined as "other conditions." Broadhurst said the allowance for "other conditions" is a loophole that clears the way for widespread abuse.

He said that the measure goes too far in establishing marijuana stores around the state. The law would permit up to 35 nonprofit dispensaries or treatment centers around the state, including at least one and not more than five in each county.

"I'm very concerned that this law would be bad for Massachusetts," said Broadhurst, the chairman of the Vote No on Question 3 coalition, which has created a website to educate people. "It will create many more problems than it will solve."

Supporters of the ballot question are backed by some big out-of-state money. Noted marijuana supporter Peter B. Lewis , the non-executive chairman of insurance giant Progressive Corp., has now contributed $1.022 million, including $525,000 last year, to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, the organization leading the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Massachusetts. The committee has spent about $1 million in the effort to approve the ballot question.

Jennifer Manley, spokeswoman for the committee, emphasized the benefits of marijuana for people who suffer from debilitating diseases.

She also said the proposed Massachusetts law contains some safeguards and controls that are absent in other states. She said it would be the safest marijuana law in the country.

Matthew Allen, executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, said that unlike California, a potential patient in Massachusetts would need to have a "bona fide" relationship with a physician to obtain medical marijuana.

Before people can obain medical marijuana, they would need a written recommendation from a physician and also a registration card from the state Department of Public Health, he said.

The measure, which would become law on Jan. 1, requires the public health department to write high levels of regulations for medical pot within 120 days after passage, he said.

But until those regulations are complete, the measure also allows for a doctor's written recommendation to constitute a registration card for a patient, he said. In the period before the regulations are written, a person is likely to still be arrested if possessing more than an ounce of pot, but the recommendation could be used as a defense in court.

The measure contains enough protections to prevent marijuana from becoming any more available than it already is for youths, Allen said.

The ballot question includes "other conditions," because it is needed to cover certain illnesses or diseases that are not specified in the proposed law, Allen said.

The committee has featured a video of Lorraine E. Kerz, of Greenfield, who said that marijuana helped her son deal with anxiety and the side effects of chemotherapy before he died of cancer in 2008. Her son, Silas R. Bennett, used marijuana as a medicine to ease severe nausea and pain before he died at age 29 from cancer, said Kerz, one of the original signers of the petition for the proposed ballot question.

"Marijuana not only relieved his nausea and gave him back his appetite, it also helped alleviate the anxiety and despair he was feeling at the time," Kerz said.

In another key control, Manley said the measure calls for the state Department of Public Health to register qualifying patients, caregivers and centers that dispense marijuana. People who work at dispensaries would also need to register with the state.

She said the law would not require private insurance companies or government programs to reimburse for medical marijuana.

[Hardrock69]

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/amendment-64-poll-52-perc_n_2079908.html

There are a LOT of links in the report below. IF you want to see what they are talking about in detail, just go to the original page....


Amendment 64 Poll: Colorado 'Set To Legalize Marijuana' On Election Day, PPP Survey Says

Posted: 11/05/2012 8:11 pm EST Updated: 11/05/2012 8:24 pm EST

With just hours before polling places open for Election Day, advocates for the legalization of marijuana in Colorado got some good news from Public Policy Polling about the popularity of Amendment 64, a ballot measure which seeks to regulate marijuana like alcohol, on Monday.

According to PPP, 52 percent of voters support Amendment 64 while only 44 percent are opposed to the measure leaving the state "set to legalize marijuana tomorrow," PPP's Tom Jensen writes about the results of their latest survey.

PPP also found that of the 1,096 likely Colorado voters, 56 percent favored the legalization of marijuana in general, while only 39 percent said the drug should remain illegal.

This is the highest percentage of support that PPP has found since they began surveying the issue of marijuana legalization. Back in September, PPP found 47 percent in favor of A64 and 38 percent against with 49 percent in favor of marijuana being legal, in general.

The highest support ever polled was from a June Rasmussen survey of 500 likely Colorado voters which showed 61 percent were in favor of legalizing marijuana if it is regulated the way that alcohol and cigarettes are currently regulated.

Voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington are all considering measures that would effectively end marijuana prohibition in their respective states. Marijuana legalization has become an issue that defies the stereotypes of party lines, garnering the support of key progressives and conservatives in Colorado, Washington and Oregon. And although all three states have pot initiatives on their ballots, Colorado and Washington's pot ballot measures appear to be quite popular with voters, according to recent polling.

If marijuana is legalized in Colorado under Amendment 64 it would be taxed and regulated similar to alcohol and tobacco. It would give state and local governments the ability to control and tax the sale of small amounts of marijuana to adults age 21 and older. According to the Associated Press, analysts project that that tax revenue could generate somewhere between $5 million and $22 million a year in the state. An economist whose study was funded by a pro-pot group projects as much as a $60 million boost by 2017.

However, the big unknown still is if the federal government would allow a regulated marijuana market to take shape. Attorney General Eric Holder, who was a vocal opponent of California's legalization initiative in 2010 saying he would "vigorously enforce" federal marijuana prohibition, has continued to remain silent on the issue this year.

In September, Holder was urged by by nine former heads of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to take a stand against marijuana legalization again. "To continue to remain silent conveys to the American public and the global community a tacit acceptance of these dangerous initiatives," the nine said in the letter to holder obtained by Reuters.

Earlier this month those same DEA drug warriors joined by former directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy on a teleconference call to put additional pressure on Holder to speak out against Colorado's marijuana measure as well as similar initiatives on the ballot in Washington state and Oregon.

The drug warriors say that states that legalize marijuana for recreational use will trigger a "Constitutional showdown" with the federal government.

In a report published Sunday by NBC News, President Obama's former senior drug policy advisor said that if the marijuana initiatives pass, a war will be incited between the federal government and the states that pass them. "Once these sates actually try to implement these laws, we will sen an effort by the feds to shut it down," Sabet said.

But proponents of the legislation say they don't foresee federal agents interfering in states that have legalized cannabis, citing the federal government's silence on the issue this election cycle.

With Election Day less than 24 hours away, the DOJ has yet to formally announce its enforcement intentions regarding the ballot measures that, if passed, could end marijuana prohibition in each state. The clearest statement from the DOJ came from Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who said his office's stance on the issue would be "the same as it's always been." During a recent appearance on "60 Minutes" Cole elaborated, "We're going to take a look at whether or not there are dangers to the community from the sale of marijuana and we're going to go after those dangers," Reuters reported.

[Kristy]

Hippie.

[Angel]

Time to wake and bake

Sent from my GS2, bitches

[Hardrock69]

Colorado

Amendment 64 amends the state constitution to allow the personal use and sale of recreational marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. Tax revenues go to school construction and the state's general fund.
Votes Percent
Yes 1,125,349 54%
No 964,267 46%
60% reporting


Oregon

Measure 80, endorsed by Willie Nelson, legalizes the personal use and sale of marijuana by adults. Tax proceeds go to the state's general fund and drug treatment.
Yes 549,617 45%
No 679,571 55%
56% reporting


Washington

Initiative 502 legalizes it — but only for people over the age of 21. And sorry green thumbs: personal cultivation without a license is still illegal.
Yes 1,030,005 55%
No 827,539 45%
50% reporting


Massachusetts

Question 3 follows the lead of neighboring Rhode Island, which has been bogarting all the medical marijuana in Narragansett Bay since 2006.
Yes 1,739,027 63%
No 1,005,938 37%
92% reporting


Arkansas

Issue 5 makes the state the first in the south to approve medical marijuana.
For 461,658 48%
Against 494,867 52%
89% reporting


Montana

Initiative 124 is a total buzzkill: it ratifies restrictions on medical marijuana that the state's legislature put in place in 2011.
For 108,764 57%
Against 82,213 43%
28% reporting

[Hardrock69]

Hippie.

Ahh you know you love me. ;)

[Hardrock69]

Cities are beginning to take matters into their own hands.

Several years ago, Breckenridge, CO removed criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of pot, around the same time as several other cities in CO did.

Now it seems Michigan has taken that step. Detroit is flying the friendly skies!!!!

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121107/METRO/211070412/1409/metro/Pot-laws-eased-Detroit-Grand-Rapids-Flint



November 7, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Pot laws eased in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint

By Christine MacDonald and Darren A. Nichols
The Detroit News


Detroit — Final tabulations of Tuesday's elections show that city voters overwhelmingly approved a proposal to decriminalize marijuana.

With all precincts reporting, the measure passed 65-35 percent. It will allow adults older than 21 to possess less than an ounce of marijuana on personal property without criminal prosecution.

"This is no surprise," said Tim Beck, chairman of the Coalition for a Safer Detroit. "We knew we were going to win."

"I truly believe that the city will not use its resources to prosecute small time marijuana users. There is no upside."

Sgt. Eren Stephens, the Detroit Police Department spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the department had no comment on Proposal M's passage.

"We will be guided by the city of Detroit's law department," Stephens said.

A call to a spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

The effort came the same day that ballot measures relaxing laws on marijuana won approval statewide and nationwide.

In Grand Rapids, voters made marijuana possession a civil infraction punishable by a fine — rather than a misdemeanor that carried possible jail time — 59-41 percent. In Flint, allowing possession of less than an ounce for those older than 19 was leading 57-43 percent with 95 percent of precincts reporting.

Nationally, voters in Colorado and Washington became the first states to approve recreational use of the drug, setting up a potential showdown with federal authorities.

Federal law still classifies marijuana as an illegal drug and some local officials have been reluctant to allow local law to supersede federal regulations — as backers of a 2008 medical pot initiative in Michigan know well.

Statewide voters approved that measure in 2008, but much of that law is still being fought in court. Beck said Detroit users still could be charged under state law, but those charges would have to be heard in circuit court rather than local ones.

The Detroit initiative already survived one court challenge, when a judge this spring allowed it on the ballot after city officials protested that state law makes pot illegal.

The measure was one of six to pass in Detroit.

[Nickdfresh]

The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

[Hardrock69]

Well.....just as I said somewhere in all this mess.....once CO and WA legalized pot.....the other states are going to go for it as well....and now they are not going to wait for the voters to introduce referendums in 2014:

http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/14/state-legislators-in-rhode-island-and-ma



State Legislators in Rhode Island and Maine Are Announcing Marijuana Legalization Bills Tomorrow

Nov. 14, 2012 11:20 am

State legislators in Rhode Island and Maine will announce bills tomorrow to legalize recreational marijuana, a spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project announced today.

Rhode Island Rep. Edith Ajello and Maine Rep. Diane Russell will hold a conference call tomorrow with the Marijuana Policy Project to announce the legislation.

MPP says that "similar proposals will be submitted in at least two other states — Vermont and Massachusetts." A ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana passed in Massachusetts last week with more than 60 percent of the vote. Maine voters voted to expand the state's 1999 medical marijuana law in 2009 to include dispensaries. The Rhode Island legislature decriminalized marijuana earlier this year, and has had medical marijuana since 2006.

[Hardrock69]

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019689348_aplturuguaymarijuana.html


Marijuana law introduced to Uruguay congress

Uruguay is one step closer to turning the government into the country's leading pot dealer.

BY PABLO FERNANDEZ

Associated Press
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay —

Uruguay is one step closer to turning the government into the country's leading pot dealer.

The proposal formally introduced to Congress on Thursday would create a National Cannabis Institute with the power to license people and companies to produce marijuana for recreational, medical or industrial uses.

It also would allow anyone to grow as many as to six pot plants and produce up to 480 grams (17 ounces) of marijuana in their own homes.

People could join clubs of up to 15 marijuana users who together could grow up to 90 plants and stockpile 7,200 grams of marijuana a year. The identity of buyers would remain protected by law.

Ruling party Deputy Sebastian Sabini says the proposals now in committee are likely to pass Congress by year's end.

[Blaze]

Police protecting citizens! Effective government at work!

Seattle Police Department publishes how-to guide for smoking pot legally

http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2012/11/09/marijwhatnow-a-guide-to-legal-marijuana-use-in-seattle/

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/marijuanaladies-shutterstock.jpg

[Angel]

This opens the door for us. Now we don't have to worry about pissing off the neighbours anymore. We just have to get rid of our Conservative government...

[Nitro Express]

What's interesting is we have two states that have legalized a substance that is still illegal under federal law. This really is a case of states challenging the federal government saying we are going to go our own way. More of this needs to happen. It was always intended for the states to have most the power to govern their own affairs. Now the only question is how are the feds going to behave on the matter?

Talk to anyone who works in an emergency room or law enforcement. They will tell you pot causes far less problems than alcohol does.

[Hardrock69]

When alcohol Prohibition fell, it was in the same manner. One by one, individual states stood up to the Feds and decided they were not going to enforce Prohibition anymore. That left the Feds with no choice but to cave in.

In other news, 11 years ago Portugal decriminalized ALL drugs. What happened? As of July, 2011, drug abuse was down by over half.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/



7/05/2011 @ 3:09PM
Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal

Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States. Fortunately, we have a real-world example of the actual effects of ending the violent, expensive War on Drugs and replacing it with a system of treatment for problem users and addicts.

Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs: Link (http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/drug-decriminalization-portugal-lessons-creating-fair-successful-drug-policies)
One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half: Link (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9C6x99EnFVdFuXw_B8pvDRzLqcA?docId=CNG.e740b 6d0077ba8c28f6d1dd931c6f679.5e1)


Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal’s decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked.

“There is no doubt that the phenomenon of addiction is in decline in Portugal,” said Joao Goulao, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drugs Addiction, a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the law.

The number of addicts considered “problematic” — those who repeatedly use “hard” drugs and intravenous users — had fallen by half since the early 1990s, when the figure was estimated at around 100,000 people, Goulao said.

Other factors had also played their part however, Goulao, a medical doctor added.

“This development can not only be attributed to decriminalisation but to a confluence of treatment and risk reduction policies.”

Many of these innovative treatment procedures would not have emerged if addicts had continued to be arrested and locked up rather than treated by medical experts and psychologists. Currently 40,000 people in Portugal are being treated for drug abuse. This is a far cheaper, far more humane way to tackle the problem. Rather than locking up 100,000 criminals, the Portuguese are working to cure 40,000 patients and fine-tuning a whole new canon of drug treatment knowledge at the same time.

None of this is possible when waging a war.

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2012/11/members-of-congress-urge-feds-to-respect-state-cannabis-laws/


Members of Congress Urge Feds to Respect State Cannabis Laws
by Anthony Johnson November 21, 2012

Following the historic victories by cannabis legalization proponents in both Washington State and Colorado, prominent members of Congress have signed onto a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Michele Leonhart, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, urging the federal government to respect the will of the voters and allow the states to implement their laws regulating marijuana without federal interference. Cannabis law reformers, prohibitionists, politicians and policy makers are all waiting to see how the federal government responds to the two marijuana legalization measures. How the Obama Administration reacts will have a big impact upon how activists and reform-minded politicians craft measures that will end cannabis prohibition in upcoming states in the upcoming 2014 and 2016 elections.

While drug law reformers have been disappointed with the Obama Administration the last four years, there are some reasons for optimism about positive changes for reform in President Obama’s second term. Hopefully, President Obama will revert back to his earlier political days, before he started laughing off questions about ending prohibition after getting elected president.

The Obama Administration’s silence regarding their position on state legalization measures on this year’s ballot, despite lobbying from prohibitionists that urged the federal government to strongly oppose the state measures as well as the silence since the election is a positive sign. This silence was a 180 degree turn-around from 2010 when Attorney General Eric Holder warned California about the consequences of legalizing marijuana when the Sunshine State’s voters were contemplating whether to pass Prop 19. The stance of the federal government was one of the reasons the legalization measure suffered a narrow defeat. The federal government could have issued sweeping, dire warnings, before and after November 6th, but none have occurred thus far, despite the posturing of some prohibitionists. According to the Drug Policy Alliance’s Ethan Nadelmann at the Missouri Cannabis Law Reform Conference on November, the Obama Administration had whispered at fund raisers that they would be more progressive on drug law reform in a second term. While some are calling for a positive statement from the Obama Administration, even from President Obama himself, thus far, the silence is golden.

Also, the fact that that Colorado is a swing state and cannot be taken for granted by the Democratic Party gives me hope that the Obama Administration will be much better in the second term. Marijuana legalization received 55% of the vote in the Centennial State, compared to the 51% President Obama garnered. Unlike the “blue” West Coast states of Washington, Oregon and California, Colorado is a “purple” state that could swing to the Republicans in 2016 if the Democrats are seen as violating the will of their voters. I personally believe that politics always matter and that the cannabis law reform community is fortunate that the good people in the swing state of Colorado decided they were done with the failed and harmful consequences of cannabis prohibition.

Winning creates momentum and a bandwagon effect. The fact that the St. Louis Cardinals have won 11 World Series titles compared to the lone championship by my beloved Kansas City Royals (though you can never take away the magical 1985 season from us), causes many people in my home state of Missouri to join Cardinals Nation instead of joining me as a suffering fan of the Royals. Now that two states have demonstrated that cannabis legalization can win convincingly, and even earn more votes than an incumbent president cruising to an Electoral College landslide, politicians have already been emboldened across the country. Not only have members of Congress sent a letter to the federal government urging respect of state marijuana laws, but elected officials in Maine and Rhode Island have already voiced their intention of sponsoring legalization measures in the upcoming legislative session. The brave legislators of Maine and Rhode Island will soon have company as more politicians realize that sensibly reforming our nation’s marijuana laws isn’t a political liability, but will actually benefit them politically in most areas of the country. Don’t be surprised to see legislation ending cannabis prohibition is introduced in Vermont, Massachusetts, California and Oregon as well. Republican Senator Rand Paul, not a supporter of cannabis legalization like his Congressman father Ron, has even stated that the Republican Party should be consistent of their support of states’ rights and adhere to the will of states that choose to end cannabis prohibition within their borders.

We are living in an extraordinary time for cannabis law reform. We have a huge opportunity, but we must seize upon it. We need to support organizations pushing for positive change across the country as well as politicians trusting us with their political livelihood. We won two major battles this November, but major battles are up ahead. We are the change we have been waiting for and if we keep moving forward, we shall soon be free.

Full text of the letter sent to the Attorney General and DEA Administrator:


Dear Attorney General Holder and Administrator Leonhart:

We are writing to urge federal law enforcement to consider carefully the recent decisions by the people of Colorado and Washington to legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal use by adults. Under the new laws, each state will establish a comprehensive regulatory scheme governing the production, sale and personal use of marijuana. We believe that it would be a mistake for the federal government to focus enforcement action on individuals whose actions are in compliance with state law.

We are concerned that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continue to threaten individuals and businesses acting within the scope of their states’ laws on the medicinal use of marijuana despite formal guidance on exercising prosecutorial discretion. These actions contradict assurances made by DOJ in 2009 that the Department would not prioritize criminal charges against those who act in compliance with state law. It is also a poor use of limited federal resources. We hope your agencies will not take a similar approach with regard to individuals and businesses who comply with Colorado’s and Washington’s new laws, each of which were approved with overwhelming public support.

As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once observed, states are the laboratories of democracy. The people of Colorado and Washington have decided that marijuana ought to be regulated much like alcohol, with strong and efficient regulation of production, retail sales, and distribution, coupled with strict laws against underage use and driving while intoxicated. The voters chose to eliminate the illegal marijuana market controlled by cartels and criminals and recognized the disproportionate impact that marijuana prohibition has on minorities. These states have chosen to move from drug policy that spends millions of dollars turning ordinary Americans into criminals toward one that will tightly regulate the use of marijuana while raising tax revenue to support cash-strapped state and local governments. We believe this approach embraces the goals of existing federal marijuana law: to stop international trafficking, deter domestic organized criminal organizations, stop violence associated with the drug trade and protect children.

While we recognize that other states have chosen a different path, and further understand that the federal government has an important role to play in protecting against interstate shipments of marijuana leaving Colorado or Washington, we ask that your Departments take no enforcement against anyone who acts in compliance with the laws of Colorado, Washington and any other states that choose to regulate access to marijuana for medicinal or personal use. The voters of these states chose, by a substantial margin, to forge a new and effective policy with respect to marijuana. The tide of public opinion is changing, both at the ballot box and in state legislatures across the country. We believe that the collective judgement of voters and state lawmakers must be respected. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

The letter was signed by Steve Cohen, Jared Polis, Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, Barney Frank, Earl Blumenauer, Jerrold Nadler, Adam Smith, Sam Barr, Jim Moran, Chellie Pingree, Jan Schakowsky, Barbara Lee, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Honda, Raul Grijalva, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott and John Conyers, Jr. Please be sure to support all of these legislators. I am lucky enough to be represented by Earl Blumenaur and I have let his office know that I appreciate that he stands up for sensible cannabis law reform and the will of the voters.

[Hardrock69]

http://blog.norml.org/2012/11/26/two-of-the-largest-american-newspapers-opine-in-favor-of-allowing-states-to-legalize-marijuana/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NORMLBlog+%28NORML+Blog%29



Two of the Largest American Newspapers Opine in Favor of Allowing States to Legalize Marijuana

by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director November 26, 2012

In the wake of the historic votes for marijuana law reform on November 6th, there has been a renewed focus on the topic and a shift in tone amongst the mainstream media. While previously, many outlets have either covered our efforts with a wink and a nod (or didn’t cover them at all), now that two states have called for the end of marijuana prohibition, reporters are rushing to cover the story. Along the way it seems they are also getting a crash course education in the concepts of civil liberties, federalism, and the disasters of our country’s prohibition on cannabis. Many are beginning to wake up to the reality that we have long identified: cannabis prohibition is a failed policy that has destructive effects on our society and these effects can be remedied by legalization and regulation.

Look no further for a sign of the changing times than editorials featured this weekend by two of the United States’ largest newspapers, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Both papers featured columns from their staff opining in favor of marijuana law reform. It seems the days of traditionally conservative editorial boards writing against cannabis law reforms may be coming to an end.

There is a seismic shift happening in the national consciousness on marijuana policy in response to the legalization of cannabis in Colorado and Washington, we are winning new converts by the day and those previously afraid to speak out are now doing so with passion and vigor. This recent influx of mainstream media outlets jumping on board with reform is just the beginning of the avalanche of change that is to come.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/give-pot-a-chance/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marijuanas-foot-in-the-door/2012/11/25/a1746d46-3347-11e2-bb9b-288a310849ee_story.html

[Hardrock69]

Here is the official .pdf of the Executive Order signed by the governor of Colorado legalizing reefers:

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=Content-Type&blobheadervalue1=inline%3B+filename%3D%22A64+Proc. pdf%22&blobheadervalue2=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251841374116&ssbinary=true

[Nitro Express]

If enough people want it bad enough they get it. Grassroots movements are very powerful. If potheads can organize and do it, we should be able to do it on bigger and more important things like banking reform. The problem is the average person doesn't understand or care about banking. They understand lighting up a bong though. LOL!

[Hardrock69]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/marijuana-clubs-ring-year-colorado-legalized-pot-smoking/story?id=18108083#.UON7F6zgfdR

[ThrillsNSpills]

It's a bad drug if it caused the afterschool special above to happen.
The acting's awful and it actually glorified use.
Reality tv's not so bad after seeing that, is it?

[Hardrock69]

The next 7 states most likely to legalize pot:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-next-seven-states-to-legalize-pot-20121218

Oregon
Cali
Nevada
Alaska
Maine
Vermont
Rhode Island

[Hardrock69]

U.S. Marijuana Laws Ricochet Through Latin America

http://world.time.com/2013/01/07/u-s-marijuana-laws-ricochet-through-latin-america/


President Obama has yet to deliver a clear response to the November decision by Colorado and Washington to legalize recreational marijuana use — asked whether the government would enforce Federal laws that override the verdict of those states’ referenda, he answered simply that he has “bigger fish to fry”. But leaders from across Latin America responded within days of the Colorado and Washington vote, demanding a review of drug-war policies that have mired the region in violence. Latin American decision-makers are now openly questioning why they should continue to sacrifice police andsoldiers to enforce drug laws when legal markets for marijuana now exist in the United States.

“Everyone is asking, what sense does it make to keep up such an intense confrontation, which has cost Mexico so much, by trying to keep this substance from going to a country where it’s already regulated and permitted?” says Fernando Belaunzarán, a congressman from Mexico’s opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party who introduced a marijuana legalization measure in the legislature a week after U.S. elections. The measure, Belaunzarán tells TIME, is modeled on the Washington State law, and would put the federal government in charge of marijuana production, regulation and sales. The congressman said he expects the lower house to convene public hearings on marijuana legalization by May 2013.

Belaunzarán joins a growing list of Latin American leaders calling for a change in the drug war paradigm — one that considers drug decriminalization and legalization as alternatives to the U.S.-led prohibitionist model, the enforcement of which has helped turn swaths of Latin American into the world’s most violent regions. Shortly after U.S. elections, former Mexican President Felipe Calderon, along with the presidents of Honduras, Belize and Costa Rica, said the United Nations General Assembly should hold a special session the drug prohibition by 2015. They also called on the Organization of American States to study the impact of current drug policy on the region. That OAS review, well underway, is expected in June.

A major concern centers on drug cartels. Estimates of Mexican cartel profits from marijuana sales to the U.S. vary from $2 billion to $20 billion annually. And recent studies suggest that the Colorado and Washington pot laws could dent cartel profits by up to 30% given the probable emergence of cheaper, U.S.-produced marijuana. That loss of revenue, and therefore of power, could generate more violence in the region, experts fear. But the notion that drug cartels would suffer mammoth losses remains an open question. It also underestimates the growing sophistication of Mexican criminal groups.

Mexican cartels have diversified their criminal portfolios with impressive speed since 2006, when Calderon began deploying the army against them. Besides marijuana profits, cartels generate an estimated $15 billion annually from human trafficking, preying on Central and South American migrants making their way north toward the United States. Criminal gangs are also increasingly relying on Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil behemoth, for added income. Oil theft has surged in recent years, netting cartels roughly$500 million annually, according to Mexican studies. And the methamphetamine market represents another opportunity to supplement any revenue lost to marijuana sales. Cartels have responded to a recent drop in U.S. meth production by flooding the market with the synthetic drug, producing it on mass scale in northern Guatemala.

“The (U.S.) marijuana laws will have absolutely no impact on criminal group’s balance sheets,” Edgardo Buscaglia, an organized-crime expert and senior scholar at Columbia University, tells TIME. “They have diversified their criminal activity with astounding efficiency, just like any legal enterprise.”

Whether the U.S. laws will undercut cartels at all remains to be seen, but no impact is likely to be felt any time soon. Still, the Washington and Colorado referendum results have reshaped the drug-war debate in Latin America, emboldening regional leaders to press for a global discussion on drug policy, organized through the U.N., aimed at changing drug-war tactics.

(MORE: Uruguay’s Plan to Legalize Marijuana Sales: Should the Rest of the World Follow?)
Until now, the U.N. has ignored those calls, but there are signs it may soon take up the matter, according to former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who, with the former presidents of Mexico and Colombia, launched the hemispheric debate on drug decriminalization in 2009. That year he wrote an open letter criticizing the current drug war and calling on the region to discuss alternative strategies. “Members of the U.N. agree we need to revisit the subject, but the problem is that sectors within the U.N. that deal specifically with drugs are very conservative,” Cardoso tells TIME. “In my meetings at the U.N., I noticed that the pressure to unite a U.N. assembly specifically dedicated to discussing the subject is mounting. And that’s important.”

Global drug policy is unlikely to change soon. But decriminalization advocates see encouraging signs. In just a few months, they point out, the Marijuana legalization discussion has reached levels of urgency and legitimacy never seen before. Marijuana legalization, they point out, is now a political reality throughout the hemisphere. They are also encouraged by President Obama, whorecently framed the marijuana conflict between state and federal law as one to be resolved, instead of simply dismissing state law. “It’s time the world discuss a new paradigm to confront drugs,” says Belaunzarán. “In Latin America it’s already happening. And the U.S. is applying it de facto because states are already regulating marijuana.”

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/ny-governor-cuomo-makes-passionate-call-for-marijuana-policy-reform-in-state-of-the-state-address/


NY Governor Cuomo Makes Passionate Call For Marijuana Policy Reform In State Of The State Address

Today in his State of the State address, Governor Cuomo made a passionate call for reforming New York’s marijuana possession laws in order to reduce unlawful, biased, and costly arrests. The governor noted the discrepancy in the law between public and private possession of small amounts of marijuana, and proposed standardizing penalties for possession.

In his prepared written statement, the governor referenced the original intent of the marijuana possession law from 1977: “The legislature finds that arrests, criminal prosecutions, and criminal penalties are inappropriate for people who possess small quantities of marihuana for personal use. Every year, this process needlessly scars thousands of lives and wastes millions of dollars in law enforcement resources, while detracting from the prosecution of serious crime.”

Today, marijuana possession is the number one arrest in New York City. The governor cited the harmful outcomes of these arrests – racial disparities, stigma, fiscal waste, criminalization - and called on the legislature to act: ”It’s not fair, it’s not right. It must end, and it must end now.”

A powerful statewide coalition of community groups, faith and civil rights leaders, parents and young people applauded the Governor’s strong leadership in tackling this issue.

“We cannot have the same laws applied differently to different groups of people when the dividing line is race,” said gabriel sayegh, New York state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. “The governor’s proposal is an essential step towards bringing greater fairness and equity to both our drug laws and policing practices in our state. The criminalization of our young people must end — the legislature must now act now to pass the governor’s bill.”

Last year, Governor Cuomo introduced similar legislation to reform the law, but it the Senate refused to act – despite the fact that the reform proposal was supported by law enforcement leaders throughout the state, including Commissioner Ray Kelly, all five City district attorneys, Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard, and many others.

“I hope Senator Skelos and the entire legislature heard Governor Cuomo loud and clear when he said it’s time to end marijuana arrests that ‘stigmatize and criminalize’ young people of color, which have been one of the leading consequences of stop and frisk,” said Alfredo Carrasquillo, VOCAL-NY’s Civil Rights Organizer. “Governor Cuomo’s right that these arrests mean more than a night in jail – they can have lasting effects on a person’s access to jobs, housing and a better future.”

“With stop and frisk and needless criminalization, too many of our young people are swept up in the criminal justice system. Governor Cuomo’s reform proposal is a critical step towards a brighter future for our youth,” said Kyung Ji Kate Rhee of Center for NuLeadership. “Instead of wasting money on these arrests, we should be investing in community development and resources that are far more effective at guiding our youth in the choices they make towards fulfilling their best potential.”

The need for reform is abundantly clear: In the last 15 years, over 600,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession, mostly in New York City. More than 50,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in the City in 2011 alone, far exceeding the total marijuana arrests from 1981-1995. Most of those arrested, nearly 85%, are Black and Latino, mostly young men – despite federal government data on drug use showing that whites use marijuana at higher rates. The costs of these arrests to taxpayers is at least $75 million a year. Last year, the New York City Council passed a resolution calling on Albany to act. Governor Cuomo’s proposal would end tens of thousands of racially biased and unlawful marijuana possession.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/federal-judge-says-nations-medical-cannabis-model-harborside-health-center-can-stay-open/


Federal Judge Says Nation’s Medical Cannabis Model, Harborside Health Center, Can Stay Open

U.S. District Court Denies Landlord Injunctions In Oakland And San Jose

Oakland, Calif. – On Monday, January 7, Chief Federal Magistrate Maria-Elena James ruled in favor of Harborside Health Center (HHC), and denied motions by Harborside’s landlords asking the court to order an immediate halt of cannabis sales at their properties. In a highly significant, 17-page opinion released today, Judge James also declined to grant a motion from the City of Oakland to immediately enjoin the federal government’s legal efforts to close Harborside, but scheduled a hearing later this month to hear further arguments in the City of Oakland’s lawsuit.

“We are grateful that Judge James carefully considered the facts and arguments in the Harborside case, and decided to grant us our day in court,” said HHC Executive Director Steve DeAngelo. “We have always believed that a Bay Area jury will recognize the value that Harborside brings to the community, and refuse to allow the federal government to seize the properties where we are located. We look forward to proving our case in front of a jury, and continue to believe we will prevail. In the meantime, we ask the Department of Justice to immediately freeze enforcement actions against Harborside and any other cannabis providers acting in full compliance with state law. Our nation’s law enforcement officers should concentrate on real crime.”

In addition, the court found that entering injunctions against Harborside would not be an appropriate means of preventing illegal use of the property and that “there is nothing… indicating that Harborside’s continued operation compromises the existence, value, or title of either the Oakland or San Jose Property.” The court ruling stated, “Any argument about the urgency of stopping Harborside’s activities rings hollow.”

Harborside’s lead attorney, Henry Wykowski, commented, “We are gratified that Judge James listened to and analyzed the parties’ arguments so thoroughly and has now rendered an opinion that will ensure Harborside has the right to present its case to a jury. Despite the government’s efforts to shortcut the case, Harborside will now be able to fully defend itself at trial. That is all we had asked, and the court has now agreed. The stage is now set for a jury trial on the underlying issues of the litigation, which will probably take place in about one year.”

Notably, in response to initial federal forfeiture actions, HHC attorneys cited the statute of limitations, as Harborside has been in business for over six years. All other claimants in these proceedings, including the City of Oakland, have adopted this defense.

***

About Harborside Health Center:

Harborside Health Center is the nation’s largest not-for-profit model medical cannabis dispensary with locations in Oakland and San Jose, California. The collective was co-founded in 2006 by national cannabis leader Steve DeAngelo, and serves approximately 100,000 registered patients. A landmark facility, HHC offers patients free holistic health services, lab-tested medicine, a low-income care package program, substance misuse support and education, while strictly complying with state and local laws regarding medical cannabis. For more details, visit the Oakland medical cannabis dispensary online at http://www.harborsidehealthcenter.com/.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/pennsylvania-senator-prefiles-cannabis-legalization-bill-pennsylvanians-approve/



Pennsylvania Senator Prefiles Cannabis Legalization Bill, Pennsylvanians Approve


Last week, state Senator from Montgomery County Daylin Leach announced his intentions to file legislation that would legalize the adult use of marijuana, in a way similar to the laws recently approved in Colorado and Washington.

“I acknowledge that it may take a while, but like same-sex marriage,” stated Sen. Leach, “this will inevitably happen. Demographics and exposure will in time defeat irrational fears, old wives tales and bad science. This bill furthers the discussion, which hastens the day.”

This legislation, if approved, would help halt the arrest of thousands of Pennsylvanians annually. Since 2006, 24,685 arrests were made for just marijuana possession at a cost of over 300 million dollars to the state’s taxpayers.

“It is time for Pennsylvania to be a leader in jettisoning this modern-day prohibition, and ending a policy that has been so destructive, costly, and anti-scientific,” Sen. Leach declared.

Pennsylvania has long been considered a bellwether state, so to see the issue at least being entertained in the state legislature can only be a positive sign of things to come. Let’s hope other elected officials in Pennsylvania join with state Senator Leach to support these sensible reforms.

If NORML’s Take Action Center is anything to go by, the citizens of the Keystone State want it. In just the first 24 hours of going live, Pennsylvanians sent over 900 emails and letters to their elected officials urging them to support this legislation.

If you live in Pennsylvania and want to join in the call for marijuana legalization, simply click here and you can easily send a prewritten email or letter to your elected officials telling them it is time to support legislation to legalize and regulate marijuana, not criminalize it.

PENNSYLVANIANS: Click here to contact your representatives in favor of this bill today!

Don’t live in Pennsylvania? There is already marijuana reform legislation filed in ten other states, with many more sure to follow in the coming days. Be sure to keep checking NORML’s Take Action Center to see if your state is one of them and to contact your officials!

Together, we can NORMLIZE CONGRESS. Together, we will legalize marijuana.

[Hardrock69]

LINKY (http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/investors-marijuana-remains-cloudy-bet-185220138.html;_ylt=AnFSv2iA0QeFCLD1e1d63vRHAIhG;_ ylu=X3oDMTN0MmZjamRtBG1pdANTZWN0aW9uIExpc3QEcGtnAz ZlZjkyNTFjLWI1ZTYtM2EzNy1hZGE2LTIzYjhhNzkyZjdjNARw b3MDMgRzZWMDTWVkaWFTZWN0aW9uTGlzdAR2ZXIDN2JlNTQ4Yj ItNWM0Yy0xMWUyLWI5ZTUtMjgyZDk0ZWYzOWE1;_ylg=X3oDMT JqbzdxZ2puBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDYTA5 NTNlYjItMTkyNi0zZGEyLWI5YWItZTBhNGQyNmU5NWJjBHBzdG NhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3)


For Investors, Marijuana Remains a Cloudy Bet
By Tim Sprinkle | The Exchange – Fri, Jan 11, 2013 1:52 PM EST

It’s hard to deny the appeal of investing in legal cannabis. After all, how often do you get the chance to participate in a bona fide gold rush, with an ever-shifting market, few established players and consumer demand that is all but waiting to explode?

The recent, historical approval of marijuana for recreational use in Colorado and Washington state adds a brand-new element to the business. For investors, the smell of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is in the air. And who doesn’t want to add “drug kingpin” to their resume?

“Cannabis is really already a structured and mature market, it just exists in the black market,” says Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech (TRTC), a startup that manufactures hydroponic growing systems. “It’s moving to the white market, or at least the gray market, but we still didn’t have to make the market, it already exists. We’re just taking it out of the hands of the cartels and putting it in the hands of legitimate business.”

And the upside potential is huge.

“It’s an industry that has a lot of problems, but that’s part of the opportunity,” explains Brendan Kennedy of Privateer Holdings, a Seattle-based private equity firm that’s focused on legal cannabis. “The companies are immature, the managers are unprofessional, it’s highly fragmented, there are no standards, the branding and marketing bar is very low and there are no established players. There are not even any Wall Street analysts that study this industry yet.”

Bigger than corn

Still, despite these problems, the sector has annual revenues in the neighborhood of $40 billion, which Kennedy says makes the cannabis market even bigger than corn. “How many people trade corn as a commodity?" he asks. "How many sub-industries are focused on corn? There will be a desk at Goldman where you have analysts studying cannabis. It’s going to happen and it’s going to happen faster than anyone thinks.”

Of course, the reality is that marijuana remains very much an illegal product in the eyes of the federal government, despite the rulings in Colorado and Washington and the fact that it's legal for medicinal purposes in more than a dozen other states. As an investment, it doesn’t get much riskier than that.

“The first thing I would point out to a prospective investor is that these companies are still breaking federal law,” says Irvin Rosenfeld, a South Florida-based stockbroker and author of the pro medical marijuana book, “My Medicine.”

“While Obama has said that the federal government has bigger fish to fry," Rosenfeld continues, "that hasn’t stopped the feds from going into states like California and telling dispensary owners that their tax dedications are disallowed, or the DEA from shutting down dispensaries that are near schools or parks.”

Money to Burn?

But that’s not to say there isn’t money being made in cannabis. The key, says Privateer’s Kennedy, is being very, very careful.

“We avoid all public companies in this space,” he says, “as that’s not something that interests us at all. And many of the reasons these companies are public is they couldn’t raise private money. We’re mostly interested in businesses that serve growers and dispensaries, and then consumer products -- entities that serve the legal consumer market.”

Privateer, which holds no investments in cannabis growing or distribution operations and is in the process of closing a $7 million round of funding, is focused on mainstream brands, such as the marijuana review site Leafly.com, which it bought last year when the site's revenues were effectively zero. Leafly.com finished 2012 with about $400,000 in revenues and is forecast to reach $1 million by the end of this year.

“It was the perfect company for us,” Kennedy says. “It has that mainstream look and feel. So you could be a 30-year-old professional or a 40-year-old soccer mom or a baby boomer and could embrace that brand.”

Troy Dayton, CEO of The ArcView Group, a venture-funding network for legal cannabis companies, is likewise focused on ancillary marijuana businesses such as point-of-sale systems, inventory-tracking services and even insurance. The key for him is finding a business that has mainstream counterparts that are not yet involved in the cannabis sector.

“I think staffing is an area where we’re not seeing much action but I see huge opportunity,” Dayton says. “For example, trimming has notoriously been an ad hoc sort of thing that’s time consuming and difficult. But as the industry professionalizes, it would be great to be able to outsource that kind of work to a team that’s already together and knows what it’s doing. But a lot of the regular staffing companies aren’t into the idiosyncrasies of this industry yet, and may be staying out of it for reputational reasons, so that’s an opening.”

The public option

For retail investors, however, the pickings are still slim. THCBiz.com only has 16 publicly traded companies on its list of cannabis related companies, all of which trade OTC or on the pink sheets and represent a range of ancillary industries like grow-room hardware, lighting, pharmaceuticals and general business services. Only a handful report any sort of financial information or give potential investors insights into their business prospects.

That is slowly changing, however. Terra Tech, for example, has been fully reporting since day one and is shooting for an American Exchange or Nasdaq listing in the next 24 months. And the company's CEO, who also owns Blum, a marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif., says he has been able to recently secure funding for his venture via more traditional means: investment bank Midtown Partners in New York.

Cannabis investing may still be the Wild West, but at least some law and order is starting to come to the industry.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/state-lawmakers-to-consider-regulating-marijuana-like-alcohol-in-hawaii/



House Speaker Souki Will Introduce Bill To Establish A Legal Market For Businesses To Cultivate And Sell Marijuana To Adults 21 And Older

HONOLULU - Newly elected State House Speaker Joseph Souki (D-8) is scheduled to introduce a bill today to remove penalties for private adult marijuana possession and establish a system in which the cultivation and sale of marijuana would be regulated and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol. House Bill 150, the Personal Use of Marijuana Act, is the first of several anticipated bills on marijuana legalization this legislative session.

“Regulating and taxing marijuana similarly to alcohol takes marijuana sales out of the hands of criminals and puts them behind the counter in legitimate businesses that will generate significant new revenue for Hawaii,” said Mason Tvert, director of communications at the Marijuana Policy Project. “Law enforcement resources should be focused on preventing and responding to serious crimes rather than enforcing antiquated marijuana prohibition laws.”

If passed, H.B. 150 would allow adults 21 years of age and older to privately possess up to one ounce of marijuana and to cultivate a limited number of marijuana plants in a secure and locked location. The bill would also authorize the state to license marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities, and testing facilities. Public marijuana use, driving under the influence of marijuana, and use by individuals under the age of 21 would remain illegal.

A QMark Research poll released earlier this month found 57% of Hawaii voters believe marijuana should be regulated, taxed, and legal for adults. According to an economic analysis performed by University of Hawaii economist David Nixon, the state would generate $20 million per year in new tax revenue and criminal justice savings.

“In Hawaii, as across the nation, arrests for marijuana possession are one of the most common ways that individuals get caught up in the criminal justice system, at great social and economic cost,” said ACLU of Hawaii executive director Vanessa Chong in a release announcing the poll and economic analysis. “These studies provide important, updated facts for the Hawaii community as we consider new directions.”

In November 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington approved ballot initiatives to make marijuana legal for adults and establish systems in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol. Similar proposals are expected to be introduced this year by lawmakers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

[Hardrock69]

http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/06/pot-plans-efforts-surge-in-congress-to-reform-marijuana-laws/


Driven by a groundswell of public opinion, Colorado and Washington State last November became the first states in the U.S. to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. That wave of support, it now seems clear, has echoed through the U.S. Congress, which on Tuesday formally questioned the federal government’s prohibitionist drug policy in the form of marijuana-reform bills.

Representatives Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado, and Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, introduced two separate bills that would drastically change U.S. marijuana laws by addressing what they say are the human and fiscal costs associated with marijuana-related arrests.

It’s not the first time marijuana-reform bills have been introduced in Congress, but Tuesday’s measures are considered historic in scope and give further momentum to a marijuana-legalization movement that has surged recently from Colorado to Washington to Latin America.

The Polis bill, the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, would call on the federal government to regulate marijuana much like it does alcohol. Under the measure, cannabis growers would have to obtain a federal permit in states that legalize the drug. The bill does not force any state to legalize pot, but it does allow states that approve recreational- and medical-marijuana regulatory systems to operate without the fear of crackdowns from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The measure would also transfer authority to regulate marijuana from the DEA to a renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms.

“In my short time in Congress, and certainly over the last few decades, Americans have increasingly come to the conclusion that the drug war is a failed policy,” said Polis. “While substance abuse is a real problem we need to address, we need to address it increasingly as a public-health issue more than a criminal issue.”

The Blumenauer bill, meanwhile, would create a taxation framework for pot similar to that in place for tobacco and alcohol. The Marijuana Tax Equity Act would impose an excise tax of 50% on the “first sale” of marijuana, from growers to processors or retailers. The measure would also tax pot producers $1,000 annually and other marijuana-related businesses $500. Blumenauer said imposing such a tax would help lower the national deficit while providing funds for drug-treatment centers and law-enforcement units.

“There is an opportunity for us to make, at a minimum, a $100 billion difference over the next 10 years,” said Blumenauer.

There were 1.5 million drug arrests made in the U.S. in 2011, according to the FBI. Of those arrests, over 660,000 were for possession of marijuana. The enforcement of federal marijuana laws, including incarceration, costs at least $5.5 billion annually, according to a study by the Cato Institute. In New York State alone, the estimated cost of marijuana-related arrests surpasses $75 million every year, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit that supports drug-policy reform.

Passage of the two bills remains a long shot, according to analysts, but Blumenauer said the measures are just the beginning of a congressional push to reform what he calls “antiquated, ineffective and, in some cases, nonsensical federal policies and laws.” Blumenauer pointed to a growing swell of support for marijuana-reform measures among his colleagues on Capitol Hill.

In December, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said he intends to hold hearings on the conflicts between state and federal marijuana laws. And Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California, is soon expected to introduce a measure that would allow states to establish pot policies without federal interference.

“These are the first two of what will probably be eight, 10 bills or more,” said Blumenauer, referring to Tuesday’s measures. Added Polis: “There is growing support within the Democratic caucus and also within the Republican caucus for re-examining the future of the drug war.”

The sudden flurry of federal action on cannabis comes as national polls highlight an outpouring of support for marijuana legalization in recent years. A Gallup poll in October showed that a record high 50% of Americans believe marijuana should be legal. By contrast, just over 30% of Americans held the same view in 2000. Support for medical marijuana is even stronger. A 2012 Gallup poll indicated that 70% of Americans believe it should be legal for a doctor to prescribe pot to reduce pain and suffering.

“Congress is frequently a lagging indicator for public opinion,” said Polis. “Public opinion is that it should be up to states and local governments how to deal with marijuana — it’s just a question of how we’re going to catch up, not if.”

[FORD]

The next 7 states most likely to legalize pot:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-next-seven-states-to-legalize-pot-20121218

Oregon
Cali
Nevada
Alaska
Maine
Vermont
Rhode Island

Not so sure about Nevada. They would probably have to do a major study to prove that stoners will actually gamble when they're baked before they would legalize it. Now if it were psychedelics that were up for a vote, those would probably pass easily in Nevada, because all the colored lights and bells & whistles would be something to trip on. :hippie: :confused13:

[Hardrock69]

Well, they go out of their way there to ensure you are drunk while you are playing cards, so why not add something else?

= more cash for them

[Hardrock69]

Pennsylvania Announces Legislation To Legalize Pot:

http://www.theweedblog.com/press-conference-to-announce-introduction-of-legislation-to-tax-and-regulate-marijuana-in-pennsylvania/


State Senator Daylin Leach and Law Enforcement and Medical Advocates Discuss Marijuana Legalization Efforts in Pennsylvania
Momentum Growing in States After Voters in Colorado and Washington State Legalized Marijuana in November
WHO: * PA State Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery/Delaware)
* Neill Franklin, Executive Director, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
* David Nathan, M.D., clinical associate professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, teaches psychiatry in Princeton, New Jersey
WHAT: Press conference announcing introduction of Pennsylvania legislation to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol
WHEN: Monday, February 11, 2013 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Capitol Media Center, Room 1 in the East Wing of the Capitol Building, Harrisburg
Background
In November, voters in Washington State and Colorado voted to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana. Legislators in other states have announced plans to introduce similar legislation in their states. Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach is introducing a bill to tax and regulate marijuana in Pennsylvania. Senator Leach believes that ending marijuana prohibition will raise revenue for Pennsylvania and bring an end to a failed policy of prohibition. “This past November, the people of Washington State and Colorado voted to fully legalize marijuana,” said Leach. “It is time for Pennsylvania to be a leader in jettisoning this modern-day prohibition, and ending a policy that has been destructive, costly and anti-scientific.”
Also present at the press conference will be Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. “Cops see the ineffectiveness and harms of marijuana prohibition up close, every day,” says Franklin, a retired Baltimore narcotics cop. “Keeping marijuana illegal doesn’t significantly reduce use, but it does give tax-free profits to violent gangs and cartels that control the black market. Now, thanks to Sen. Leach’s proposal, Pennsylvania has a chance to join Colorado and Washington in letting police focus on the job we signed up to do — keeping the public safe — instead of being distracted by chasing down marijuana users.”
Dr. David Nathan believes that the criminalization of marijuana does little to limit its use and is inconsistent with the public health approach taken to similar substances. “Our nation can acknowledge the dangers of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana while still permitting their use,” says Nathan. “The only logically and morally consistent argument for marijuana prohibition necessitates the criminalization of all harmful recreational drugs, including alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. We can agree that such an infringement on personal freedoms is as impractical as it is un-American. The time has come to accept that our nation’s attitude toward marijuana has been misguided for generations and that the only rational approach to cannabis is to legalize, regulate and tax it.”

[FORD]

Shit, any drink I ever had in a Nevada casino was served in a 6 ounce glass and so goddamn watered down that I would have to drink at least 12 of them in an hour to get even the slightest buzz. And considering you don't get the attention of a waitress often enough for that, good luck getting drunk. :guzzle:

[Hardrock69]

You musta been in a suckass casino. Every one I have been in (Vegas and Tunica, MS) the booze was just fine.

[Hardrock69]

Field Of Dreams

http://i45.tinypic.com/f2xiv.jpg

[Hardrock69]

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/282029-doors-swing-open-for-marijuana-advocates-on-capitol-hill



Doors swing open for advocates of marijuana legalization on Capitol Hill
By Kevin Bogardus - 02/10/13 06:00 AM ET

Advocates for the legalization of marijuana plan to step up their political giving and lobbying efforts now that members of Congress are taking an interest in changing federal drug laws.

The lobbyists say lawmakers who wouldn’t give them the time of day are suddenly interested in meeting with them and introducing legislation following the approval of ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington that legalized recreational use of the drug.

“These were folks who wouldn't take a call five years ago and now they are calling us and telling us to get up there with our PAC money and our expertise,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). “For those of us who have been at this for the past 20 years, it has been nice to see the warm turn.”

Some pro-legalization groups are increasing their fundraising as lawmakers consider drug legislation. Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), said the group is planning more aggressive fundraising through its political action committee.

“Our hope is to exceed what we have done in any previous cycle,” Fox said.

The group is aiming to get more than $150,000 in contributions to its PAC for the 2014 election cycle — topping its previous record of more than $119,000 in donations for the 2006 campaign, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.

Further, the PAC is changing its name to the Marijuana Policy Project PAC, dropping a prior reference to medical marijuana. Fox, who also lobbies for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said the name change signals that a broader reform agenda is now on the table.

“The ground has shifted and we now see members of Congress wanting to regulate marijuana like alcohol. The name change reflects that our activity on the federal level is no longer just about medical marijuana,” Fox said.

But strategists looking to reform drug policies are choosing their battles carefully at the state level.

In a Nov. 28, 2012, memo obtained by The Hill, Rob Kampia, MPP’s executive director, said Oregon should wait until 2016 to for a marijuana legalization ballot drive, when another presidential election would boost turnout among young voters.

“Given that an initiative in November 2014 would be almost certain to lose, MPP would contribute no money toward a signature drive, paid staff, or advertising during the 2013-2014 cycle,” Kampia wrote to Oregon activists.

Kampia said MPP is interested in passing an Oregon ballot initiative in 2016 and would contribute $700,000 to the effort.

“There is going to be disagreement at times. That's par for the course. It's like any other issue advocacy group. We will agree on the objectives but we might disagree on how to get there,” said Roy Kaufmann, one of the activists who received the memo and is now MPP’s Oregon representative and agrees with waiting until 2016.

Kaufmann was the campaign strategist for Measure 80 in Oregon, the marijuana legalization ballot effort that failed in 2012.

“We can't tell our funders in good faith that they should fund a 2014 initiative. We are not saying it's impossible to win. We are just saying it's a completely unnecessary risk,” Fox said. "The only thing that can keep Oregon from winning this in 2016 is a loss in 2014."

As the movement for marijuana legalization spreads, competition for fundraising dollars is likely to grow. A number of well-heeled donors have already opened their wallets for the cause.

New Approach Washington, the main group that campaigned for legalization in that state, took in more than $6 million in contributions last election cycle.

The prolific liberal donor Peter Lewis gave more than $2 million to New Approach Washington for their legalization campaign, according to state campaign finance records. Drug Policy Action — the 501(c)(4) affiliate of Drug Policy Alliance — contributed more than $1.6 million. George Soros sits on Drug Policy Alliance’s board of directors and was a major donor to Drug Policy Action in 2012.

Lobbyists say the battle that is brewing over drug laws will be far-reaching and not confined to recreational use of marijuana.

“You going to see reform on federal drug policy in general,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “It's not just about marijuana. It's about racial disparity, over-incarceration and saving money as well.”

Capitol Hill has certainly taken notice.

Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) each introduced separate bills this past week that would regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol. The two lawmakers also released a report on how to rethink federal marijuana policy.

On the other side of the Capitol, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, plans to hold a hearing on marijuana policy this Congress.

Drug laws are also getting a second look from the GOP, with Kentucky Republicans rallying behind industrial hemp. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced legislation this past week to exclude hemp from the Controlled Substances Act’s definition of marijuana.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has backed that effort, saying he became convinced that hemp production would be good for his state after long discussions with the libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Lobbyists don’t expect a marijuana legalization bill will be on President Obama’s desk this Congress, but lawmakers know they will have to reconcile federal policy at some point with the legalization movement sweeping the states.

“I often tell elected officials that if you are going to remain relevant in politics, you are going to have to move towards drug policy reform because that's where the younger voters are,” Piper said.

One Democrat said he’s made a personal appeal to Obama — who has admitted to smoking marijuana as a teenager — for changes to federal policy.

“I raised the issue myself with the president at the Democratic retreat [on Thursday]. … It should change,” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), noting thousands of people are in jail for marijuana use.

Cohen plans to introduce legislation to create a commission to study states where medical marijuana and marijuana have been legalized. Advocates believe the bill could attract White House support.

“The commission gives the president some maneuvering room by affording him time and his administration acknowledges that public attitudes about this have changed,” St. Pierre said.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/michigan-doctor-arrested-charged-for-recommending-marijuana/


Michigan Doctor Arrested, Charged For Recommending Marijuana

In the latest move to curtail medical marijuana activities, the Michigan State Police on Tuesday arrested a prominent physician in central Michigan known for specializing in recommending medical marijuana. Dr. Edward Harwell was today charged with five criminal counts- two counts of making recommendations outside of the bona fide doctor-patient relationship and three counts of falsifying a medical record.

Dr. Edward Harwell, owner of the Triple M Clinics was taken into custody by MSP officers on Tuesday, February 12 and was held overnight without bond at the Wexford County Jail. Charges were announced at his arraignment. Harwell’s bond was set at $20,000.

Revealed in Court today were the details of the charges. On February 5, 2013, Harwell certified two undercover officers for use of medical marijuana without viewing any patient records nor performing a physical examination, according to the charges. Harwell certified another undercover on Tuesday, February 12 and was promptly arrested. Harwell is also accused of listing false medical conditions on the patient’s medical records. The prosecution is being handled by the Wexford County Prosecutor’s office.

Judge Parsons read the following statements while announcing the charges: “…the defendant did unlawfully conspire combine confederate or agree together with a Rosalind K Swafford to verify severe and chronic pain as a specific diagnosis on a physician’s certification… which constituted the debilitating medical condition and did so without establishing a bona fide physician patient relationship and without establishing a factual basis to form the professional opinion that the person was likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of marijuana.”

During the bond discussion, Judge Parsons also said, “These are very severe crimes; the abuse of medical use of medicine and prescription of medicines is a danger to the public and the court is therefore going to set a bond higher than usual.” Harwell, through his attorney, entered a Not Guilty plea to all charges.

Harwell’s troubles began in June of 2010, when an article revealed he charged one price to certify patients with medical records and one price for those without them. A sting-style investigation by a local television news team documented the no-records certifications and then took it to their local legislator in November of 2010. That legislator was Republican Tonya Schuitmaker, who became a member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee in 2011 and is now the Senate’s President Pro Tempore. She is a former State Chairperson for ALEC, a think tank credited for generating some of the nation’s most conservative public policy.

On August 30, 2012, the Attorney General filed a complaint against Dr. Harwell, alleging Harwell failed to maintain records, require proper documentation and “promotion for personal gain of an unnecessary drug” and “lack of good moral character”. The Complaint cites as evidence a former business manager, referred to as S.H., who retained legal counsel against Harwell; the news story;

LARA subpoenaed the records of several patients that had received their certification from Dr. Harwell at a conference in Whitehall, Michigan, and at the Trpile M Clinics.; Harwell was unable to produce the records. He was accused of six counts: negligence, incompetence, lack of good moral character, promotion of a drug for personal gain, failure to maintain records and failure to respond to a subpoena. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs website lists Harwell as having an open formal complaint filed against him. The complaint sought sanctions against Harwell’s license to practice, not criminal charges.

Dr. Harwell is a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit and is board certified in nuclear medicine and radiology, according to an online physician’s listing service. Another report lists him as a brain surgeon and a general practitioner. Wexford County is in the northern half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, near the ski resort and vacation haven of Traverse City. His practice is based out of Cadillac. The LARA complaint states Harwell also owned the Liberty Clinic in Ann Arbor, which has been shuttered for more than a year.

Court proceedings today were recorded by Eric VanDussen, a journalist and videographer known to fight for the right to video medical marijuana court cases. VanDussen has in the past won approval from the Supreme Court of Michigan to record a very unwilling Court of Appeals. The video recording of today’s court proceedings against Dr. Harwell:


http://vimeo.com/59618851

[Hardrock69]

Baby steps. Progress is slow, but is still progress nonetheless.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/bloomberg-marijuana-arrest-nyc-ticket-not-jail_n_2687954.html


Bloomberg: Marijuana Arrests In NYC Will Mean A Desk Appearance Ticket, Not A Night In Jail

Posted: 02/14/2013 1:58 pm EST | Updated: 02/15/2013 11:20 am EST


Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday that those arrested in New York City for possessing small amounts of marijuana will no longer have to spend a night in jail.

The new measure, set to take effect next month, was announced during Bloomberg's State of the City speech. From the speech:


But we know that there’s more we can do to keep New Yorkers, particularly young men, from ending up with a criminal record. Commissioner Kelly and I support Governor Cuomo’s proposal to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a violation, rather than a misdemeanor and we’ll work to help him pass it this year. But we won’t wait for that to happen.

“Right now, those arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana are often held in custody overnight. We’re changing that. Effective next month, anyone presenting an ID and clearing a warrant check will be released directly from the precinct with a desk appearance ticket to return to court. It’s consistent with the law, it’s the right thing to do and it will allow us to target police resources where they’re needed most.



Last month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed decriminalizing the possession of under 15 grams of marijuana.

New York City is one of the highest rates of marijuana arrests in the world. From a report by the Drug Policy Alliance:

In the last decade since Michael Bloomberg became mayor, the NYPD has made 400,038 lowest level marijuana possession arrests at a cost of $600 million dollars. Nearly 350,000 of the marijuana possession arrests made under Bloomberg are of overwhelmingly young Black and Latino men, despite the fact that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young Blacks and Latinos.

In the last five years, the NYPD under Bloomberg has made more marijuana arrests (2007 to 2011 = 227,093) than in the 24 years from 1978 through 2001 under Mayor Giuliani, Mayor Dinkins, and Mayor Koch combined (1978 to 2001 = 226,861).

[Hardrock69]

http://news.yahoo.com/industrial-hemp-bill-passes-kentucky-150744491.html


Industrial hemp bill passes Kentucky Senate
Kentucky Senate passes bill allowing farmers to plant industrial hemp if federal ban lifted

By Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press | Associated Press – Fri, Feb 15, 2013

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Industrial hemp's growth from the fringes to the political mainstream in Kentucky continued Thursday, with state Senate passage of a bill to strictly regulate the crop if the federal government lifts its current ban on the one-time agricultural staple in the Bluegrass state.

The bill, which would license hemp growers if the crop gains a federal reprieve, cleared the Senate on a 31-6 vote as supporters promoted its potential to diversify Kentucky farms in an era when tobacco's influence has waned. They said hemp's comeback would create processing and manufacturing jobs in converting the plant into products that include paper, clothing, auto parts, biofuels, food and lotions.

Sen. Paul Hornback, a tobacco farmer and the bill's lead sponsor, said Kentucky needs to be at the forefront of giving the versatile crop a chance if the federal ban is lifted. The Shelbyville Republican said he had heard recently from two companies interested in capitalizing on a hemp comeback in Kentucky, including a processing company in Canada looking to expand and offer production contracts to farmers.

"Give us the opportunity," Hornback said. "Put us in a position in Kentucky to give us an opportunity to see how this works. I don't think anybody knows exactly what the economic impact's going to be in Kentucky. We don't know what the economic viability is going to be."

The bill now heads to the House, where its prospects are much less certain.

"I think it'll have a little tougher time here," House Speaker Greg Stumbo told reporters.

Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said hemp supporters haven't yet proven there's a viable market for the crop that vanished from U.S. farms decades ago.

"It's not that we're saying 'no,'" Stumbo said. "We're simply saying that the evidence doesn't show that there's enough of a market to override the concerns that the law enforcement community has."

Law enforcement skeptics, including Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer, worry that officers will be unable to detect the difference between hemp and marijuana without costly lab tests. They worry marijuana growers would infiltrate hemp fields to plant small plots of pot. Supporters have tried to debunk that claim, saying growers would avoid hemp fields because the hemp would greatly diminish the potency of the marijuana.

Republican Sen. Chris Girdler of Somerset, who opposed the bill, expressed doubts about hemp's economic potential. He said he hopes he's wrong and that hemp produces thousands of jobs if it makes a comeback, but added, "Unfortunately, I believe that growing a Chia Pet would have as much economic prosperity as the growing of hemp."

U.S. retail sales of hemp products exceed $400 million per year, advocates say. Dozens of countries produce hemp, and most imported hemp is grown in Canada and Europe. Girdler said hemp producers there are supported by government subsidies, a claim disputed by national hemp advocates.

State Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who has championed efforts to re-establish hemp, hailed the Senate vote.

"Today's bipartisan vote is the first step toward more opportunities for our farmers and jobs for Kentuckians," he said.

Last year, Comer re-convened an industrial hemp commission that had been dormant for years. Hemp support gained momentum with endorsements from many of Kentucky's most powerful politicians, including Republican U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and U.S. Reps. John Yarmuth, the state's lone Democrat in the congressional delegation, and Thomas Massie, a Republican.

Comer has cautioned that hemp will remain absent from Kentucky until the federal government legalizes the crop.

On Thursday, McConnell and Paul introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to allow the nation's farmers to grow industrial hemp. The measure, also sponsored by Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Democrats, would remove the crop from the list of controlled substances under federal law.

The Kentucky senators said hemp packs the potential to boost the state's economy and generate new jobs, especially in rural communities.

Paul made a pitch for hemp during a state Senate committee hearing on Monday. He even wore a shirt made of hemp fiber. Paul has said he would seek a federal waiver to allow for a resumption of hemp production in Kentucky if the federal legislation stalls.

If the bill in Kentucky is approved by the full Legislature, the Bluegrass state would join eight others that have taken steps to allow commercial hemp production, despite the federal ban.

Industrial hemp once thrived in Kentucky, but the leafy crop has been banned for decades since the federal government classified it as a controlled substance related to marijuana. Hemp has a negligible content of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

Under the Kentucky bill, the state agriculture department would license hemp growers and production would be subject to inspection. Growers would undergo criminal background checks. A production license would be valid for one year and a grower would be limited to 10 acres for each license.

___

The legislation is Senate Bill 50.

[FORD]

Guess I'm not all that surprised that Randtard Paul was for it, since most Libertarians are for legalization, but Bitch McTurtle being on board is a little surprising.

I just wish we could legally keep the tobacco industry's hands off of this. They don't need any more money.

[Hardrock69]

Video below has statement direct from President Obama about his views on legalization from 2004....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLOtC4CprX0&feature=player_embedded

[Hardrock69]

Drivers tested while high. Results were that they had to get 5 times higher than the legal limit (whatever that is) before they showed signs of any impairment.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0tjigqJNuU

[jhale667]

Testing Art's OG, Diablo and Monster tonight. :stoned-smiley:

[Hardrock69]

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/02/21/politics/democratic-and-republican-legislators-unite-on-bill-to-legalize-and-tax-marijuana/


Democratic and Republican legislators unite on bill to legalize and tax marijuana

AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers from opposite ends of the political spectrum unveiled a bill Thursday that would give Mainers the chance to legalize marijuana for recreational use in a statewide referendum.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, and co-sponsored by Rep. Aaron Libby, R-Waterboro, would make vast changes in Maine’s drug law, ranging from making possession of up to 2.5 ounces of pot legal to imposing a tax of $50 per ounce.

Russell and others argued during a press conference Thursday afternoon at the State House that laws against marijuana have enmeshed too many nonviolent offenders in the legal system and deprived government coffers of millions of dollars in revenue. Russell estimated that taxing and regulating marijuana could generate up to $13 million a year, three-quarters of which she proposes routing into the state’s General Fund, which supports the majority of state government including public education and most social services. The rest of the revenue would pay for implementation of the law, substance abuse treatment and prevention programs, and research on the effects of marijuana.

“We have retail establishments that grow and supply [medical] marijuana to responsible consumers,” said Russell, whose first effort to legalize marijuana failed in the Legislature two years ago. “We have proven here in Maine that this can be done for medicinal purposes and it’s now time to institute that same strict regulatory infrastructure for responsible adult recreational consumers.”

Russell proposes making it legal for individuals to grow as many as six plants if they are cultivated in a locked space. She also supports allowing the transfer of the drug from one adult to another without compensation, as long as they are at least 21 years old. The bill would make it illegal to smoke pot in public and calls on the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to license marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities and testing facilities.

Libby said his support for the bill isn’t about promoting drug use, but rather about taking government regulation out of what he called a “morality issue.”

“I believe that ending marijuana prohibition is a true part of limited government,” said Libby. “As a fiscal conservative, I see great potential in the economic growth of removing these prohibitions.”

David Boyer, who is the Maine political director for a Washington D.C.-based group called the Marijuana Policy Project, argued that in many ways marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol.

“Marijuana is objectively far less harmful than alcohol for the consumer and for the broader community,” he said. “It is irrational to punish adults who simply prefer to use the less harmful substance. Law enforcement resources should be focused on preventing and responding to serious crimes rather than enforcing the failed policy of marijuana prohibition.”

Denison Gallaudet, a former superintendent in the Richmond area, also supports the bill because of the potential revenue that could be reaped by the state. But another reason for his support of the bill is that in his experience, drug laws don’t keep marijuana out of the hands of kids.

“We were confronted with the fact that our high school kids were smoking marijuana at twice the rate of smoking cigarettes,” said Gallaudet of his time as superintedent. “This is clearly a plan that is not working.”

If passed by the Legislature, “An Act to Tax and Regulate Marijuana” would result in a statewide referendum in November 2014.

Washington and Colorado approved ballot measures last year that legalized marijuana for recreational use. Bills to regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol also are expected to be debated this year in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

[Hardrock69]

http://i45.tinypic.com/1zld6wo.jpg

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Testing Art's OG, Diablo and Monster tonight. :stoned-smiley:

this is only a test :smoke2:

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2013/02/bill-ending-cannabis-prohibition-introduced-in-oregon/


Bill Ending Cannabis Prohibition Introduced in Oregon
by Anthony Johnson • February 25, 2013

On the heels of Colorado and Washington legalizing cannabis, the Oregon House Committee on Revenue has recently introduced a bill that would end cannabis prohibition by licensing, regulating and taxing cannabis similar to alcohol. After legalization victories in two states and 47% of Oregon voters supporting a proposal that would have allowed the unlimited personal production and possession of cannabis last November, The Oregonian Editorial Board called on state lawmakers to craft a sensible legalization bill. The editorial board was rightfully concerned that Oregon would be losing out on much-needed revenue to its northern neighbor.

And if business booms at Washington’s pot shops, as expected? Our neighbor to the north will collect millions of dollars in new “sin” taxes, with much of the money coming from Oregonians who’d be happy to keep their business — and taxes — in state if given the opportunity.

Losing out on all that revenue would be a pity. However, when policies diverge so widely in adjoining states — whether they govern marijuana or taxes – people move back and forth in pursuit of their interests. Want to stop the movement? Remove the incentives by leveling the policies.

The obvious policy response for Oregon is to legalize marijuana as Washington has done. Like the idea or hate it, it wouldn’t amount to a radical change. For all intents and purposes, Oregon legalized the casual use of marijuana years ago through that giant loophole known as the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. By taking the Washington approach, the state at least would be honest about what it’s doing and, perhaps, collect some cash in the process.

Some astute Oregon legislators appear to have heard The Oregonian (and common sense) loud and clear. It is time to stop wasting hard-earned tax dollars on trying to prevent people from growing, selling and utilizing cannabis. Instead of wasting money on cannabis prohibition, House Bill 3371 would establish a licensed and regulated industry that creates thousands of jobs and generates millions of dollars through licenses fees and excise taxes.

The bill takes good parts from both the Washington and Colorado models and crafts a proposal that will regulate and tax cannabis like alcohol, implementing safeguards to better keep marijuana out of the hands of children while also generating millions of dollars in revenue for education, public safety, substance abuse treatment and mental health services. Unlike, Washington’s I-502, HB 3371 doesn’t establish a per se DUII law as it leaves the current DUII law alone. Employment and landlord-tenant law are also left alone. Like Colorado Amendment 64, the measure allows for small, personal cannabis gardens. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) will handle inspections and enforcement, tasked with ensuring that cannabis retail outlets are checking IDs and keeping marijuana out of the hands of minors.

The timing is right for Oregon to end cannabis prohibition. Colorado and Washington legalized cannabis with strong majorities and support is increasing rapidly among Oregon voters. Passing HB 3371 is a good policy for the state as it will expand individual rights; raise funds for much-needed services; save money by diverting resources currently spent on marijuana enforcement; and allow police to focus on more important priorities, like violent crime. Just like alcohol prohibition, cannabis prohibition is a failure that is robbing good citizens of their tax dollars, without accomplishing any of its intended goals. I commend the House Committee on Revenue for taking up this important issue and look forward to helping move this bill forward.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/02/28/Makeshift-marijuana-cannon-confiscated-in-Mexicali/1151362056299/

looks hard to light... :smoke2:

[Hardrock69]

Wow. That is awesome! :hee:

[PETE'S BROTHER]

9621

:hitch:

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR8wUyNyeKw

[jhale667]

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h217/jhale667/525343_570374066314046_259270005_n_zpse0b8406e.jpg

[Hardrock69]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwzs3Y9eOTA

[Hardrock69]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/07/automated-pot-dispenser-headed-san-diego/



Pot vending machines coming to SD?

http://i47.tinypic.com/f0uowi.jpg

SAN DIEGO — Could San Diegans soon be getting their medical marijuana from vending machines?

Los Angeles-based Medbox Inc. is securing leases to put its automated dispensing machines in up to 30 locations around the city in anticipation that the City Council could approve a dispensary ordinance later this month.

For $150,000, the company assists would-be operators in getting their dispensary up and running with its technology, which Medbox says provides carefully managed access and reduces theft.

More than 100 Medbox machines now operate in California, Colorado and Canada. Previous plans to bring them to San Diego were nixed when the U.S. Attorney’s Office cracked down on dispensaries here in 2011.

Now the company has received deposits to set up its shops in more than a dozen locations in San Diego in the hope that Mayor Bob Filner succeeds in getting new regulations in place.

Medbox CEO Bruce Bedrick said the company’s patented technology has turned it into a consultant for medical marijuana startups that want to run their operations securely and within the law.

“We help people get into the business of medical marijuana by taking them from a ground zero all the way up and through turnkey dispensary,” he said.

Bedrick added, “It is a detractor of crime. ... It’s a lot easier to go in and rob a dispensary that has pot all over the place and cash all over the place compared to some place that uses an 800-pound machine, or two, that’s armor-plated.”

One of the biggest criticisms facing dispensaries — especially from federal prosecutors — is that they are engaged in a for-profit drug-selling operation rather than servicing needy patients as nonprofits. Dispensaries have also been frequent targets for robberies.

Medbox facilities look much like a doctor’s office, although with armored dispensing machines located in a secure area. Medical marijuana patients must provide a state-issued ID card and a fingerprint to gain access and the machines won’t dispense more than has been prescribed by a doctor. Each transaction is recorded.

The City Council is slated to discuss the medical marijuana issue at its March 25 meeting, although council President Todd Gloria’s office said it is unclear if a proposed ordinance from Filner will be under consideration at that time.

In late January, Filner promised to deliver a new ordinance within 30 days that would allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate legally within city limits. That deadline has passed, but he continues to work with advocates on crafting it.

Filner told San Diego CityBeat that he’s considering a $10,000 permit fee for dispensaries and a 2 percent excise tax on the sale of marijuana products. A mayoral spokeswoman confirmed the ordinance would likely include those provisions but said Filner didn’t have an opinion yet on Medbox’s technology and a TV report that he supports the machines was incorrect.

Filner renewed the dispensary debate Jan. 8 when he told a group of medical marijuana advocates that he would intimidate the city attorney into backing off prosecutions. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith responded the next day by informing Filner that he could halt prosecutions by using his strong-mayor powers to direct police and code enforcement officers to stop forwarding cases to the City Attorney’s Office. Filner issued that decree the next day.

At the time, Goldsmith said about 100 prosecutions had already been completed against dispensaries and 11 were still active and would be dropped at Filner’s direction. The council later voted in closed session — with Filner’s consent — to proceed with enforcement actions until a new ordinance is enacted because of fears that dispensaries would begin opening again before rules were in place.

[jhale667]

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h217/jhale667/549319_345752602213058_475425532_n_zps2ff5303e.jpg

[Coyote]

:stoned-smiley:

[Hardrock69]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/colorados-marijuana-task-force-recommendations-report-pot_n_2871455.html?utm_hp_ref=marijuana


Colorado's Marijuana Task Force Issues 58 Recommendations For How Pot Should Be Regulated

Posted: 03/13/2013 7:33 pm EDT

Colorado's Marijuana Task Force issued its final recommendations for how the state ought to implement Amendment 64, though the actual regulations will be made by state lawmakers.

The 165-page report released Wednesday included 58 recommendations to be reviewed by the governor and state legislators.

Task Force Co-Chair Jack Finlaw, the Governor's Chief Legal Counsel, called the report "very comprehensive" and said that it laid the groundwork for regulation.

"The Task Force recommendations will now need to be perfected through the legislative process and rulemakings by various state agencies," Finlaw said in a statement.

(Click here to read the report in full)

http://www.colorado.gov/cms/forms/dor-tax/A64TaskForceFinalReport.pdf

Task force leaders agreed that legislators will have to put a "Marijuana Products Sales Tax" initiative on the November ballot, but left the taxation rate to legislators.

According to a 7News report, some in the task force recommended a 25 percent sales tax, but others were concerned that it would continue to perpetuate the underground market for cheap pot.

The task force also recommended that during the first year of licensing "only entities with valid medical marijuana licenses should be able to obtain licenses to grow, process and sell adult-use cannabis."

Smoking marijuana in bars should be banned in establishments covered by the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act as well as other places where tabacco smoke is tolerated, the report says.

Consistent with alcohol rules, the task force also recommends that the Legislature prohibit open packages of marijuana in vehicles.

"This was ground-breaking work and the Task Force process went very well," task force co-chair Barbara Brohl said. "It was supported by many committed and astute individuals who took the Governor's charge very seriously. Task force members represented differing viewpoints, they addressed all issues in a well-thought-out manner and worked hard to develop sound solutions. The Task Force did all the 'heavy lifting," but now a lot of follow up work has to be done in the coming months."

[Hardrock69]

http://tokesignals.com/marijuana-improves-mental-sharpness-in-middle-aged-men-study/


Marijuana Improves Mental Sharpness In Middle-Aged Men: Study
By Steve Elliott On March 17, 2013 at 11:07 am

Not only does smoking marijuana not “burn you out,” but it’s downright good for your brain. It actually appears to improve cognitive functioning among middle-aged men, according to a 2011 medical study.

Researchers looked at a large sample of 8,992 men who “used drugs,” mostly cannabis, at age 42 and then again at age 50, reported Dennis Romero at LA Weekly. The men were tested to measure their level of brain functioning.

Surprise, surprise — the Brits who had used illegal drugs did just as well — or slightly better! — than the chaps who had never “used drugs” at all.

When current and past drug users were lumped together as one group, their scores tended to be better than those of non-users. That advantage was small, researchers said, and might be due to the fact that people who have tried drugs tend to be better educated than those who haven’t.

“A positive association was observed between ever (past or current) illicit drug use and cognitive functioning,” the study’s authors concluded in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Marijuana was by far the most commonly used substance among participants of the study — performed by Alex Dregan of King’s College London, reported Amy Norton at Reuters.

”At the population level, it does not appear that current illicit drug use is associated with impaired cognitive functioning in early middle age,” an abstract of the study concludes.

Other drugs that were asked about included amphetamines, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine and ecstasy, but only three to eight percent of study participants said they’d ever tried those.

A small subset of participants who claimed they had been treated for their drug use — which could suggest heavy or addicted drug use, or perhaps harder drugs of choice — did not fare as well cognitively at 50, but there were so few of them, it was impossible to draw meaningful conclusions, the study’s authors said.

“In a Western population of occasional drug users, this is what you’d expect to see,” said John Halpern, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who has studied the potential cognitive effects of drugs.

“In some ways, this is not surprising,” Dr. Halpern said. “The brain is resilient.”

The study’s findings support the idea that the effects of marijuana and perhaps other drugs are only temporary, and that cognition isn’t damaged once the effects wear off.

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2013/03/bill-ending-marijuana-prohibition-in-oregon-scheduled-for-a-hearing/



Bill Ending Marijuana Prohibition in Oregon Scheduled for a Hearing
by Anthony Johnson • March 19, 2013

We recently broke the story that a bill to legalize cannabis had been introduced in the Oregon Legislature and some mainstream media outlets are now picking up the story as the bill has been scheduled for a hearing before the Oregon House Judiciary Committee. We here at NCC helped craft this bill, along with both Oregon grassroots and national activists. I am the director of a new PAC established to help promote this bill during the 2013 Oregon legislative session. If Oregon legislators won’t pass a bill this session, we will transition to a legislative referral for 2014. If the legislators ultimately fail to act, then we are preparing for a possible initiative petition drive to place the measure before Oregon voters in November of 2014.

From The Oregonian:


State lawmakers scrounging for money for schools, mental health and public safety could find the solution to their funding woes to be green.

No, not more cold, hard cash, but pot. Legalize it and tax it. That’s the plan under House Bill 3371, which is scheduled for an April 2 public hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

***

“Soon, we may have our neighbor to the north collecting tax revenue from Oregon residents, when Oregon should be collecting that revenue,” said Anthony Johnson, director of New Approach Oregon, a new political action committee formed by a coalition of groups seeking legalization of marijuana and hemp in Oregon. “Marijuana is safer than alcohol, and it makes sense to regulate it like alcohol.”





House Bill 3371, as currently written, would allow adults over 21 to grow up to 6 mature cannabis plants and posses up to 24 ounces, the current limits imposed upon Oregon medical marijuana cardholders. Only sales regulated by the state will be allowed as the bill establishes the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) as the government agency tasked with regulating commercial producers, processors and retailers. A $35 tax on each ounce will be imposed, providing the state with millions of dollars of additional revenue. Forty percent of the revenue raised will go towards schools, 20% to public safety, 20% to mental health services and 20% towards the state’s General Fund. The bill doesn’t impact the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP), driving under the influence laws or employer/employee relations. The bill will also fully legalize hemp production in Oregon as it removes federal interference as a reason for the state Department of Agriculture from issuing hemp production licenses.

The Oregonian Editorial Board has already called upon the Oregon Legislature to enact a common-sense legalization measure and House Bill 3371 provides legislators that very opportunity. Cannabis legalization is inevitable. Every arrest, prosecution and jail sentence is such a tragic waste, as is every violent crime that could be prevented if our law enforcement resources were better prioritized. Workers remain unemployed, revenue goes uncollected and our schools are underfunded, but House Bill 3371 can help. Let’s hope that the Oregon Legislature will do what is best for their constituents and join Washington and Colorado in ending the harmful policy of cannabis prohibition.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/16382/maryland-senate-votes-to-decriminalize-marijuana-possession/


Maryland Senate Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession

By Thomas H. Clarke on March 19, 2013

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Maryland Senate voted 30-16 on Tuesday on a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The bill will now be considered by the House of Delegates.

If passed, Senate Bill 297, would make the penalties for possession of less than ten grams of marijuana (approximately one-third of an ounce) a civil offense punishable by up to a $100 fine with no time in jail.

Currently, possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana in Maryland is punishable by a fine of up to $500 and 90 days in jail.

The bill was approved for passage by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee earlier this month after passing the first reading in the Senate, and passed a second reading in the Senate last week.

“We don’t want to wrap people up in the criminal jail system for this,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D- Baltimore County), said at last week’s hearing, where the bill met little resistance or opposition.

The bill now proceeds to the House, where it has been assigned to the Judiciary Committee. If it successfully passes out of committee, it would be sent a House floor vote before being sent to Gov. Martin O’Malley (D).

The House of Delagates, meanwhile, is hearing testimony today on a bill that would legalize the possession of marijuana by adults 21 or older, and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed like alcohol. The bill would remove all penalties for private possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and cultivation of up to three plants.

Maryland lawmakers are also considering three separate medical marijuana bills, which received hearings at the earlier this month.

During hearing on the medical marijuana bills, Maryland Health Secretary Joshua Sharfstein told lawmakers thatGov. Martin O’Malley’s administration supports passing medical marijuana legislation, a reversal in position from last year, when medical marijuana bills were defeated in the General Assembly.

A Democratic stronghold, Maryland has legalized same-sex marriage and abolished the death penalty. Marijuana law reform, at some level, is not far behind.

[Angel]

Meanwhile, in bass ackwards dirty vegina they're busting weed dealers like mad! Grrrr......

[jhale667]

I'm curious - what's everyone's opinions on edibles?

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h217/jhale667/Seriousyummage_zps3115ae44.jpg


As opposed to say, Xanax? Gotta be better for you, right? Eat a rice krispie treat or brownie and sleep like a baby... :biggrin:

:stoned-smiley:

[FORD]

I've never tried them, but it will be interesting to see how the new laws around here affect the sale of such materials.

Why shouldn't they sell that stuff at the local Safeway? I can buy beer there, wine. Even booze, since the corporations killed the state liquor stores. No reason why a somewhat less harmful and now just as legal substance shouldn't be there.

Of course the shelf arrangments would probably have to be called into question... they probably can't put those cookies next to the Oreos and the Keebler elves. :biggrin:

[jhale667]

I've never tried them, but it will be interesting to see how the new laws around here affect the sale of such materials.

Why shouldn't they sell that stuff at the local Safeway? I can buy beer there, wine. Even booze, since the corporations killed the state liquor stores. No reason why a somewhat less harmful and now just as legal substance shouldn't be there.

Of course the shelf arrangments would probably have to be called into question... they probably can't put those cookies next to the Oreos and the Keebler elves. :biggrin:


They're plainly marked "not for children". Personally I don't see why they couldn't/shouldn't be sold in their own section like alcohol anywhere in the US. IMO it's kind of ridiculous that it isn't. And edibles aren't at all like smoking it (unless you ate a bunch of them I guess), you're not "high" - it's more of a "body" thing, verrrrry mellow... but I'm finding they're great for relieving mild arthritic-type pain and as a sleep aid.


:guitar:

[Hardrock69]

http://mmjbusinessdaily.com/2013/03/21/us-medical-marijuana-sales-estimated-at-1-5b-in-2013-cannabis-industry-could-quadruple-by-2018/




US Medical Marijuana Sales to Hit $1.5B in 2013, Revenues Could Quadruple by 2018

By Chris Walsh

Retail medical cannabis sales in the United States could hit an estimated $1.3 billion-$1.5 billion in 2013, growing 10-15% from last year as the industry recovers from widespread turmoil, according to exclusive research data released today by MMJ Business Daily.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2wnpzea.png

The long-term future appears even brighter: The legalization of marijuana for adult use in Colorado and Washington – coupled with the emergence of several new markets and continued overall growth on the medical side – could boost overall state-legal cannabis sales to $3 billion in 2014 and $6 billion by 2018.

These forecasts appear in the Marijuana Business Factbook 2013, a 180-page industry report, with 69 exclusive table and charts, that begins shipping on Monday, March 25.

The Factbook – published by the editors of MMJ Business Daily – provides a comprehensive overview of the cannabis industry and includes state-by-state market estimates and stability/opportunity rankings as well as regulatory and investing information. It also features a wealth of financial data such as average revenues and startup costs for dispensaries, cultivation operations, edibles companies and ancillary firms. You can order it now here.

“Although plenty of information has been published elsewhere about cannabis itself, as well as the legalization movement, until now there’s been a near-complete dearth of financial, market and other business-related data,” said Cassandra Farrington, publisher of MMJ Business Daily. “These are all facts that entrepreneurs, investors and expanding businesses need at their fingertips.”

The industry revenue estimates include sales of medical cannabis and infused products at dispensaries in states that have marijuana laws on the books, but not wholesale revenues or dollars tied to ancillary products and services. Projections for 2014-2018 include sales of marijuana for recreational use in states where it’s legal.

[Hardrock69]

One thing I love about getting high......it helps me sleep......good solid deep sleep.

And the side effect is, I have very vivid and bizarre dreams......waking up going WTF? is not uncommon. :hee:

[Nitro Express]

Just don't end up like Towlie.

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8NbJI3L2Rw

[Nitro Express]

The country is going to pot.

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3aINALajvw

[Hardrock69]

Cannabis Smoking Associated With ‘Significantly Better’ Health Outcomes Than Tobacco Smoking


http://www.theweedblog.com/cannabis-smoking-associated-with-significantly-better-health-outcomes-than-tobacco-smoking/



Randwick, Australia: Adults who inhale cannabis report significantly better health outcomes than do those who smoke tobacco or a combination of both substances, according to exploratory survey data to be published in the journalAddictive Behaviors.

Investigators at the University of New South Wales assessed the relationship between cannabis, tobacco, and combined cannabis-tobacco use and various health outcomes in 350 subjects age 40 and older.

Authors reported that the cannabis-only subjects reported “significantly better” general health and fewer smoking-related health concerns compared to the tobacco-only group. Specifically, both tobacco-smoking groups experienced significantly more mucous/sputum than the other two groups (the cannabis-only group and controls). Cannabis-only subjects were less likely to report diagnoses of cancer and diabetes compared to all other groups, including controls; however, these differences did not achieve statistical significance. Overall, researchers reported, “General health measures demonstrated a pattern in which the control and cannabis-only groups tended to report the best health, with the two tobacco-smoking groups faring worse.”

They concluded, “Cannabis-only users report better health than tobacco and cannabis-tobacco users. Mixing cannabis with tobacco may synergistically compromise health.”

A separate clinical trial published in 2012 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that subjects exposed to moderate doses of cannabis smoke long-term did not suffer from deficits in pulmonary function, but that subjects exposed to tobacco smoke did so.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, “Health outcomes associated with long-term regular cannabis and tobacco smoking,” will appear in Addictive Behaviors.

[Nitro Express]

The difference is pot doesn't have nicotine which is a deadly poison. One drop of pure nicotine can kill you. That's probably the difference. Still. Burning something and holding smoke in your lungs is not good for you. It kind of cracks me up that the same people who want clean air smoke pot. LOL! It still is a bunch of people who want to get high hassle free and have more choices justifying why their hobby should be legal. I don't give a damn. Alcohol fucks people up more than pot and kills more people and you can buy it at the gas station. Cigarettes are as addictive as heroin and they are legal. If they legalized pot the negative affect of society would be nill. It would make no difference.



If people want it. They are going to get it. These kids bought their chewing tobacco at Wal-Mart. They don't look 18 to me. Day's O Work plug. That shit is loaded with nicotine. It originally was the first energy bar. It helped the men work longer and harder. Those kids are going to get addicted if they already aren't now. Smoke pot instead kids. It won't rot your teeth out or give you gum disease.

[Hardrock69]

The latest attempt on the National Level:

House Dems propose changing ‘out of date’ federal marijuana laws

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/dems-propose-updating-federal-pot-laws-article-1.1256994#ixzz2P9U4dpct

http://i45.tinypic.com/2e1xeg6.jpg



States are starting to legalize pot, and some in Congress want the feds to catch up.

Two Democrats in the House are pushing legislation to nix the federal law prohibiting marijuana, now that it's in conflict with a growing number of states that have decriminalized it for medical purposes or even legalized it for recreational use. Colorado and Washingston state passed the most permissive pot laws through voter referendums in November.

“We’re in a situation now where our current federal policies regarding marijuana are hopelessly out-of-date,” Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer told Politico. “It’s a Schedule 1 drug. Who today thinks its more dangerous than cocaine or meth?”

The bills being introduced by Blumenauer and fellow Democratic Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado would end the federal ban on marijuana, allow it to be regulated and taxed by the states like alcohol, and allow states to directly offer patients medical mariju Such efforts are surely going nowhere in the Republican-controlled House, but backers say the public is on their side.

“Public opinion is there on this issue,” Polis said on a conference call with reporters. “Public opinion is leading. It’s just a matter of Congress catching up.”

[Hardrock69]

Marijuana Decriminalization Law Takes Effect Monday In Rhode Island

http://www.theweedblog.com/marijuana-decriminalization-law-takes-effect-monday-in-rhode-island/



By Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

Legislation signed into law last year decriminalizing minor marijuana possession offenses takes effect on Monday, April 1.

Presently, possessing cannabis in the Ocean State is classified as a criminal misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail and a $500 maximum fine. Starting Monday, the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by an individual 18 years or older is a non-arrestable civil offense, punishable by a maximum fine of $150 but no jail time, and no criminal record.

Fifteen states have enacted similar decriminalization laws. Three states — Alaska, Colorado, and Washington — impose no criminal or civil penalty for the private possession of small amounts of marijuana. (Colorado had previously decriminalized cannabis possession decades earlier, while Alaska’s legal protections were imposed by the state Supreme Court.)

Similar decriminalization legislation is pending this year in nearly a dozen additional states, including Hawaii, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, and Vermont.

Lawmakers in several other states, including Maine, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, are considering separate legislation to legalize the adult consumption of cannabis and regulate its retail production and sale.

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2013/04/marijuana-legalization-bill-passes-oregon-house-judiciary-committee/



Marijuana Legalization Bill Passes Oregon House Judiciary Committee
by Anthony Johnson • April 2, 2013

History was made at the Oregon Legislature today, when House Bill 3371 became the first Oregon cannabis legalization measure to have a hearing and pass out of a committee. The bill passed out of the committee 6-3, with one Republican, Wayne Krieger, joining the committee’s 5 Democrats. The bill now moves onto the House Committee on Revenue.

I am honored to have testified on HB 3371, a proposal to regulate and tax marijuana similar to how the state handles alcohol today. I was joined by the bill’s primary drafter, David Kopilak, an attorney for Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt; and John Horvick, a pollster for DHM Research. Also, written testimony in support was submitted by David Lesh, a former Multnomah County Prosecutor; Shelley Fox-Loken, a former corrections officer and current member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; and US Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Only one representative for the Oregon Sheriff’s Association spoke in opposition.

From the Statesman Journal:

“Marijuana legalization is coming to Oregon sooner rather than later,” said Anthony Johnson of Portland, an activist who leads New Approach Oregon. “It makes sense to regulate marijuana like alcohol and for the Legislature to take the lead on the issue and make sure sensible regulations are in place.”

But Sheriff Pat Garrett of Washington County spoke for the Oregon State Sheriffs Association, which opposes House Bill 3371.

“This act will not make the problems of marijuana abuse go away,” he told the House Judiciary Committee.

Most voters, politicians and policy makers understand that cannabis legalization is coming to Oregon, sooner than later. The Oregon Legislature can take the opportunity to lead on the issue and craft a measure that contains their preferred regulations and tax structure. If the Oregon Legislature doesn’t take the lead, then activists will put a different legalization measure on the ballot with fewer regulations and less tax revenue. Hopefully, Oregon legislators will pass House Bill 3371 or refer the measure to the voters in November 2014. We shall keep you posted here at NCC.

My complete written testimony in support of HB 3371:

Oregon House Judiciary Committee:

I represent New Approach Oregon, a coalition of local and national activists that favor smart marijuana reform and have come together to advocate for HB 3371. Please pass House Bill 3371, a measure that will regulate and tax marijuana similar to alcohol and allow for the production of industrial hemp, onto the House Committee on Revenue. The bill will generate new revenue to help support critical public services and free up limited law enforcement resources for more important priorities, like violent crime.

Marijuana prohibition, like alcohol prohibition, costs taxpayers too much money and enriches criminal organizations. It is time to take a new approach on marijuana and replace prohibition with a sensible regulatory and taxation framework, especially since Washington recently legalized marijuana. The Oregonian Editorial Board spoke for a majority of Oregonians when it urged the legislature to take the lead on this issue, stating that, “Our neighbors to the north will collect millions of dollars in new ‘sin’ taxes, with much of the money coming from Oregonians who’d be happy to keep their business—and taxes—in state if given the opportunity.”

Under HB 3371, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) will license and regulate the state’s marijuana industry, as the agency will be empowered with the regulatory and tax-collection authority it is currently provided under the state’s alcohol model. This new industry will create much-needed jobs and generate millions of dollars in new revenue for the state, while also saving millions in law enforcement and court costs. The bill allocates 40% of revenue for education, 20% for law enforcement, 20% for the General Fund and 20% for mental health and substance abuse services.

While empowering the OLCC to effectively regulate marijuana, HB 3371, also maintains strong, sensible regulations. Usage of marijuana by minors under 21 years of age will still be illegal and the OLCC will be tasked with ensuring that retail outlets don’t provide to minors, just as the agency does with alcohol. Additionally, marijuana may not be distributed within 1,000 feet from schools, public use is prohibited, DUI laws remain and employers are still free to implement Drug Free Workplace policies. The bill also provides the OLCC the power to implement new rules and regulations as needed.

House Bill 3371 will also allow Oregon farmers to produce industrial hemp, a low-potency form of marijuana with many uses, such as paper, fiber and textile products. Ending hemp prohibition will provide our farmers with a sustainable, profitable new crop while creating jobs across multiple business sectors in Oregon.

It is inevitable that marijuana prohibition will be repealed in Oregon, likely sooner rather than later. House Bill 3371 provides the Oregon Legislature the opportunity to lead on the issue and craft a law that makes sense for Oregonians—a measure that not only generates revenue, but also better utilizes our law enforcement resources.

Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this bill,

Anthony Johnson

Executive Director, New Approach Oregon

[Zing!]

Drivers tested while high. Results were that they had to get 5 times higher than the legal limit (whatever that is) before they showed signs of any impairment.

How do you test how high someone is? Offer them a bag of Doritos when you pull them over? If they eat the entire bag they're over the legal limit?

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Marijuana Has Won The War On Drugs
Business InsiderBy Walter Hickey | Business Insider – 1 hour 40 minutes ago

[FORD]

House Bill 3371 will also allow Oregon farmers to produce industrial hemp, a low-potency form of marijuana with many uses, such as paper, fiber and textile products. Ending hemp prohibition will provide our farmers with a sustainable, profitable new crop while creating jobs across multiple business sectors in Oregon.


Good move adding that to the bill. Though the industrial hemp issue SHOULD be completely separate from weed (you cannot get stoned from hemp even if you smoked a pound of the shit) it was the same corporate forces who made both illegal at the same time, so both should be removed from prohibition in the same way.

And this was the approach that was taken with the recent ballot initiative which passed here in Washington state.

http://maryjanesgirl.com/media/I-502_Factsheet_-_Industrial_Hemp.pdf

The Colorado law also addressed industrial hemp

http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/hemp

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN94u-MiRGE

[Hardrock69]

Well, this came out of left field:


http://www.theweedblog.com/kentucky-industrial-hemp-legislation-becomes-law-without-governors-signature/


Kentucky Industrial Hemp Legislation Becomes Law Without Governor’s Signature


By Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director

On Friday, April 5th, Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky stated that he will let Kentucky’s industrial hemp measure become law without his signature. Gov. Beshear had expressed concerns that marijuana growers could hide their illegal growing operations with hemp plants. Despite his concerns, he allowed the measure to become law without his signature and did not veto the legislation.

House and Senate lawmakers passed an amended version of Senate Bill 50, “An Act relating to industrial hemp”, in March during the final hours of the 2013 legislative session. Noting that “public pressure to pass the bill helped achieve the last-minute deal.”

After the bills approval by the state legislature, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer stated that “by passing this bill, the General Assembly has signaled that Kentucky is serious about restoring industrial hemp production to the commonwealth and doing it in the right way. That will give Kentucky’s congressional delegation more leverage when they seek a federal waiver allowing Kentucky farmers to grow hemp.”

Kentucky is now the ninth state to have passed a law allowing for farmers to cultivate industrial hemp. Hemp cultivation is still prohibited by the federal government, so until the feds alter their current policy, it is unlikely that Kentucky farmers will begin to grow this crop. Of the eight states who previously approved industrial hemp legislation, only Hawaii has received a federal waiver allowing them to grow an acre of hemp for research purposes.

Federal legislation, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana is currently pending in the US Senate and House of Representatives and has been sponsored by prominent politicians such as Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell. You can click here to write your federal officials in support of this legislation.

[FORD]

The anti-hemp corporatists have often used this lame argument - that hemp fields would provide the perfect cover for growing weed.

On the surface it seems like a logical argument..... except that it would be counter-productive for the weed farmers to do so, because cross pollenization would result in weak weed, and nobody is going to be able to sell that.

[Hardrock69]

True. Those who practice Fundaligionism are afraid.

The same ignorant fear as their fear that same-sex marriage will destroy our way of life.

[Hardrock69]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2013/04/russell-simmons-star-studded-campaign-to-endthewarondrugs/





Russell Simmons’ Star-Studded Campaign to #EndTheWarOnDrugs
by Anthony Johnson • April 10, 2013 • Blog


Media mogul Russell Simmons has organized an impressive list of civil rights leaders, elected officials, celebrities, academics, athletes and religious leaders in an effort to urge President Obama to “revamp the policies of the last 30 years that have seen the prison population skyrocket.” The list includes everyone from drug policy heroes of mine, Ethan Nadelmann & Michelle Alexander; to an iconic athlete like Mike Tyson and former NBA star Allan Houston (whom I met once and he couldn’t have been nicer to me and his fans); to Cameron Diaz & Scarlett Johannson; to Chris Rock & Mad Men’s Jon Hamm (shout-out to a fellow University of Missouri alumnus); and, of course, the list would not be complete without the Kardashian sisters. Even Justin Bieber has tweeted his support and you can join this important campaign and keep this important conversation trending on Twitter with #EndTheWarOnDrugs.

The open letter and all of the signers:

Dear President Obama,

Your hard work and leadership on issues affecting the unrepresented classes of people in our nation have served as an inspiration to many of us who hope for brighter futures for all Americans. In that spirit, we believe the time is right to further the work you have done around revising our national policies on the criminal justice system and continue moving from a suppression-based model to one that focuses on intervention and rehabilitation. We are proud of your accomplishments around these issues, specifically your leadership on gun control, your investments in “problem solving courts,” your creation of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, your launching the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention and your prosecution of a record number of hate crimes in 2011 and 2012. We certainly hope that this type of leadership is appreciated by all members of Congress, regardless of political affiliation, and you are joined by members of all parties in your pursuit of a more perfected union.

Mr. President, it is evident that you have demonstrated a commitment to pursue alternatives to the enforcement-only “War on Drugs” approach and address the increased incarceration rates for non-violent crimes. Your administration has moved in the right direction by committing increased funds to drug prevention and treatment programs and supporting state and local re-entry grants. We encourage you to continue your efforts to revamp the policies of the last 30 years that have seen the prison population skyrocket.

The greatest victims of the prison industrial complex are our nation’s children. Hundreds of thousands of children have lost a parent to long prison sentences for non-violent drug offenses, leaving these children to fend for themselves. Many of these children end up in the criminal justice system, which comes as no surprise as studies have shown the link between incarceration and broken families, juvenile delinquency, violence and poverty.

Mr. President, we are a coalition of concerned advocates that is ready to support you in more innovative criminal justice reform and implementing more alternatives to incarceration. As you set in motion research and policy to combat this societal crisis, this coalition is poised to help you make the transition successful. In 2010, the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act was a tremendous step in the right direction, and we appreciate how hard you worked on getting that done. Some of the initial policies we recommend is, under the Fair Sentencing Act, extend to all inmates who were subject to 100-to-1 crack-to-powder disparity a chance to have their sentences reduced to those that are more consistent with the magnitude of the offense. We ask your support for the principles of the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, which allows judges to set aside mandatory minimum sentences when they deem appropriate.

We ask that you form a panel to review requests for clemency that come to the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Well-publicized errors and omissions by this office have caused untold misery to thousands of people. Additionally, we want to applaud your staunch commitment to re-entry programs that are necessary to ensure that those who leave the system are able to become productive members of society as well as reliable husbands, fathers, mothers and wives. We certainly would like to help you achieve an increase in the number of these transition programs. Finally, we strongly urge you to support the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education (Youth PROMISE) Act, a bill that brings much needed focus on violence and gang intervention and prevention work.

During your presidency you have made important steps and you now have the opportunity to leave a legacy by transforming our criminal justice system to an intervention and rehabilitation based model. Many of those impacted by the prison industrial complex are among your most loyal constituents. Your struggles as the child of a single mother allow you to identify with millions of children who long to be with their parents. We request the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these ideas further and empower our coalition to help you achieve your goals of reducing crime, lowering drug use, preventing juvenile incarceration and lowering recidivism rates. We stand with you, ready to do what is just for America.

Sincerely yours,

CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS & ADVOCATES

Harry Belafonte
Julian Bond
Dr. Benjamin Chavis
Major Neill Franklin, LEAP
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP
Avis Jones-Deweever, National Council of Negro Women
Maria Theresa Kumar, VotoLatino
Donna Leiberman, NYCLU
Margaret Moran, LULAC
Marc Morial, National Urban League
Ethan Nadelmann, Drug Policy Alliance
Rev. Al Sharpton, NAN
Rashad Robinson, Colors of Change
Anthony Romero, ACLU
Michael Skolnik
Julie Stewart, Families Against Mandatory Minimums
Susan Taylor
Dr. Boyce Watkins
Brent Wilkes, LULAC
Vanessa Williams, National Conference of Black Mayors
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip-Hop CaucusENTERTAINMENT
La La Anthony
Roseanne Barr
Russell Brand
Jim Carrey
Cedric The Entertainer
Margaret Cho
Affion Crockett
Rosario Dawson
Cameron Diaz
Mike Epps
Omar Epps
Jamie Foxx
Tyrese Gibson
Adrian Grenierhere u
Jon Hamm
Hill Harper
Woody Harrelson
Amber Heard
Dule Hill
Ron Howard
J Ivey
Terrence J
Eugene Jarecki
Kris Jenner
Scarlett Johannson
Kim Kardashian
Khloe Kardashian-Odom
Kourtney Kardashian
Sanaa Lathan
LL Cool J
Nia Long
Eva Longoria
AnnaLynne McCord
Demi Moore
Michael Moore
Keya Morgan
Jay Pharaoh
Dominic Purcell
Tim Robbins
Chris Rock
Susan Sarandon
Sarah Silverman
Russell Simmons
Vanessa Simmons
Jada Pinkett Smith
Will Smith
Tika Sumpter
Gabrielle Union
Denise Vasi
Mark Walhberg
Estella Warren
Kerry Washington
Pauletta Washington
Marlon Wayans
Jesse Williams
Jeffrey Wright

FAITH COMMUNITY

Bishop James Clark
Bishop Noel Jones
Bishop Clarence Laney
Bishop Edgar Vann
Dr. Iva Carruthers
Deepak Chopra
Father Michael Pfleger
Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Rabbi Nina Mandel
Rev. Jamal Bryant
Rev. Delman Coates
Rev. Leah D. Daughtry
Rev. Dr. Fredrick Haynes
Rev. Michael McBride
Rev. Dr. W Franklyn Richardson

MUSIC INDUSTRY

David Banner
Eric Benet
Andre “3000″ Benjamin
Big Boi of Outkast
Case
Charlamagne tha God
Sean “Diddy” Combs
Chuck D
DJ Envy
DJ Pauly D
Ani Difranco
Jermaine Dupri
Missy Elliot
Estelle
Jason Flom
John Forte
Ghostface Killah
Ginuwine
Keri Hilson
Jennifer Hudson
Ice-T
Luke James
Trinidad James
Lyfe Jennings
Jim Jones
Talib Kweli
John Legend
Ryan Leslie
Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Kevin Liles
Ludacris
Lil Wayne
Natalie Maines
Angie Martinez
Nicki Minaj
Mya
Q-Tip
Busta Rhymes
Steve Rifkind
Samantha Ronson
Rick Ross
RZA
Timeflies
Katrina “Trina” Taylor
Teyana Taylor
Angela Yee

BUSINESS LEADERS

Sir Richard Branson
Ron Busby, US Black Chamber of Commerce
Daymond John
Minyon Moore
Chip Rosenbloom, Owner St. Louis Rams
Bobby Shriver

ELECTED OFFICIALS

Congressman Tony Cardenas
Congressman Keith Ellison
Congresswoman Marcia Fudge
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congressman Bobby Rush
Congressman Bobby Scott

ATHLETES

Brendon Ayanbadejo
Allan Houston
Isareal Idonije
Lamar Odom
Etan Thomas
Isiah Thomas
Mike Tyson

FASHION INDUSTRY

Tyson Beckford
Selita Ebanks
Kenza Fourati
Kimora Lee Simmons
Veronika Verekova

MEDIA

Chris Broussard
Chuck Creekmur, AllHipHop.com
Ed Gordon
TJ Holmes
Cathy Hughes, Radio One
Alfred Liggins, Radio One
Dylan Ratigan
Jim Wallis, Sojourners
Dave Zirin

ACADEMIA & THOUGHT LEADERS

Michelle Alexander
Dr. Carlton Brown, Clark Atlanta Univ.
Prof. Michael Eric Dyson
Dr. Christopher Emdin
Dr. Michael Fauntroy
Dr. Eddie Glaude
Airickca Gordon-Taylor
Dream Hampton
Dr. Marc Lamont Hill
Naomi Klein
Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
Dr . Wilmer Leon
Dr. Julianne Malveaux
Dr. John E. Maupin, Jr., Morehouse School of Medicine
Kevin Powell
Dr. Stanley Pritchett, Morris Brown College
Ricky “Freeway” Ross
Dr. Tyra Seldon, Co Chair, Education Over Incarceration (EOI)
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College
Terrie Williams

[Hardrock69]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/teens-marijuana-brain-tissue-alcohol_n_2331779.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false


Teen Marijuana Use May Show No Effect On Brain Tissue, Unlike Alcohol, Study Finds

Posted: 12/21/2012 3:18 am EST | Updated: 12/23/2012 2:04 pm EST

A teen who consumes alcohol is likely to have reduced brain tissue health, but a teen who uses marijuana is not, according to a new study.

Researchers scanned the brains of 92 adolescents, ages 16 to 20, before and after an 18-month period. During that year and a half, half of the teens -- who already had extensive alcohol and marijuana-use histories -- continued to use marijuana and alcohol in varying amounts. The other half abstained or kept consumption minimal, as they had throughout adolescence.

The before-and-after brain scans of the teens consuming typically five or more drinks at least twice a week showed reduced white matter brain tissue health, study co-author Susan Tapert, neuroscientist at University of California, San Diego, told HuffPost. This may mean declines in memory, attention, and decision-making into later adolescence and adulthood, she said.

However, the level of marijuana use -- up to nine times a week during the 18 months -- was not linked to a change in brain tissue health. The researchers did not test performance; they only looked at brain scans.

The study was conducted by researchers at UC San Diego and is scheduled to be published in the April issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The damage occurs because white matter brain tissue develops throughout adolescence and into a person's 20s, Joanna Jacobus, postdoctoral fellow at the UC San Diego, and co-author of the study, told HuffPost.

Part of that still-developing brain tissue is where decision-making ability comes from, which can exacerbate substance use. "It becomes a cycle. If teens decrease their tissue health and cognitive ability to inhibit themselves, they might become more likely to engage in risky behavior like excessive substance use," Jacobus said.

While studies showing the deleterious effect of alcohol on adolescents and adults have been more consistent, studies of the effect of marijuana have not, Tapert said. "One reason is that marijuana can really vary. Different strains contain different levels of THC and other marijuana components. For example, some studies have suggested one component, cannabidiol, may actually have neuroprotective effects," she said.

The researchers are not sure why alcohol had an effect and marijuana did not. They said the study results cannot be considered definitive without more research. They also said they do not know if the reduced brain tissue health is permanent.

Still, Duncan Clark, a medical doctor who was not involved in the study and who studies teen substance abuse, said the study is valuable because similar research has only conducted a one-time test instead of tests before and after a period of substance use.

Clark, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said that because white matter brain tissue development may be the basis for greater self-control, researchers hope to be able to eventually use brain scans like those in this study to predict young individuals' likelihood of substance abuse.

Because the researchers followed the subjects for 18 months, they were able to at least partially monitor preexisting differences in the two groups. But Jacobus conceded that eliminating other factors -- such as genetics, home environment, and even minimal use of other drugs -- is very difficult.

Each teen in the study received brain imaging, a detailed substance-use assessment, and toxicology screening at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study -- as well as substance-use interviews every six months.

Tapert led another study published in 2009 that looked at people ages 12 to 14 before and after they started to drink. Tapert's team found poorer performance on tests of thinking and memory in the teens who had begun to drink. The researchers reported that alcohol particularly compromised boys' attention span, and girls' comprehension and interpretation of visual information.

While this latest study examines marijuana's effect on physical brain tissue, a Duke University study earlier this year examined the drug's effect on intelligence and performance. That study found that teens who routinely smoke marijuana before turning 18 risk a long-term drop in their IQ.

Teen use of marijuana continues to be high, while teens' perception of the drug's harmfulness is down, according to a University of Michigan study published Wednesday. Nearly 23 percent of high school seniors polled in the study said they had smoked marijuana in the month prior.

"It is clear that more research is needed into the long-term effects of marijuana on the brain," Tapert said. "Especially because use is up."

[envy_me]

http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2013/04/russell-simmons-star-studded-campaign-to-endthewarondrugs/

I absolutelly LOVE Russell Simmons. He is an activist for animals rights. Just like Bill Maher is.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/new-study-finds-thc-may-be-helpful-in-combating-hiv/


New Study Finds THC May Be Helpful In Combating HIV

Posted 7:21 AM on May 3, 2013

A new study published in The Journal of Leukocyte Biology ( http://www.jleukbio.org/content/93/5/801.abstract ) has found exciting, albeit preliminary research which indicates that THC, one of the main compounds in marijuana, may have HIV fighting capabilities. Although more research is clearly needed, this study validates past research which also found marijuana’s compounds to be helpful in treating those with HIV and AIDS.

The research team which conducted the study is from the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Researchers infected macrophages (a type of white blood cell in our body which fights certain infections) with the HIV-1 virus, before then exposing cell cultures to a synthesized THC that specifically target the CB2 receptor.

After comparing these cell cultures, after seven days, against a control group, revealed a clear decrease in the rate of HIV-1 infection. Essentially, the macrophages had become stronger at keeping the HIV-1 virus out.

Pathologist Yuri Persidsky, one of the study’s authors, stated, “The synthetic compounds we used in our study may show promise in helping the body fight HIV-1 infection. As compounds like these are improved further and made widely available, we will continue to explore their potential to fight other viral diseases that are notoriously difficult to treat.”

We look forward to more research on this issue.

[FORD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK21zOUNgFI

[Hardrock69]

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/05/colorado-house-unanimously-votes-for.html


Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Colorado House Unanimously Votes for Industrial Hemp

When Coloradoans overwhelmingly voted in favor of Amendment 64's marijuana legalization bill this past fall, they also voted to remove hemp from the state's controlled substances list. This paved the way for legislators to legalize industrial hemp which the Colorado House unanimously approved on Monday.

The Tenth Amendment Center writes:

When Coloradoans overwhelmingly voted in favor of Amendment 64's marijuana legalization bill this past fall, they also voted to remove hemp from the state's controlled substances list. This paved the way for legislators to legalize industrial hemp which the Colorado House unanimously approved on Monday.

The Tenth Amendment Center writes:

The Colorado state house today voted to approve SB13-241, a bill that would legalize the farming and production of “industrial hemp” within the state. If signed into law, the bill would effectively nullify the unconstitutional federal ban on hemp production in Colorado. The House voted unanimously on a slightly amended version of a bill already approved by the State Senate, 34-1. The legislation will now go back to the Senate, which is widely expected to send the legislation to Governor Hickenlooper for a signature.

The federal government has no constitutional authority to ban the production of this industrial plant, but has persisted in preventing its domestic production. The result? Products with hemp that are readily available at your local grocery store must be imported from another country – resulting in higher costs for you and fewer farming jobs in America. The United States is currently the world’s #1 importer of hemp, which is used in food products, clothing, oil and much more. The top exporters are China and Canada.

The United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop, according to the Congressional Resource Service. Recent congressional research indicates that the hemp market consists of over 25,000 various products. The same research found that America imports over $400 million worth of hemp from other countries. At this time of economic difficulty, 13-241 would not only expand freedom and support the Constitution, it would also be a great jobs bill.

With the passage of Amendment 64, which legalized small amounts of marijuana for adults, hemp was removed from the state’s controlled substances list, though a provision of the initiative states that that hemp cultivation is contingent on legislative action – this bill would be that required action necessary to legalize hemp and authorize the state to begin distributing hemp licenses. Under the proposal farmers would have the option of applying for a 10-acre plot in order to study the viability of various hemp varieties, or they could apply for a larger, full-scale hemp farm - one that wouldn’t be limited by the number of plants, but rather by the THC content in said plants.

Colorado's SB13-241 is more of a regulatory bill than actual legalization of hemp, because that essentially occurred in Amendment 64, but it was required to begin large-scale hemp production.

Kentucky joined Colorado last month as the second state to officially legalize industrial hemp when SB 50 was signed into law. However, Kentucky is waiting for federal approval before they move forward with cultivation.

Whereas Colorado appears to be disregarding the feds altogether and plowing forward with industrial hemp.

[ashstralia]

finally, we may be seeing the (green) light soon here, too...


http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/medicinal-cannabis-considered-in-nsw/story-fneuzlbd-1226639546414

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/new-research-finds-habitual-marijuana-consumption-not-linked-to-lung-cancer/


New Research Finds Habitual Marijuana Consumption Not Linked To Lung Cancer


A new study reported on this week at the annual meeting for the American Association of Cancer Research has found that habitual marijuana consumers have no more increased risk of lung cancer than casual consumers, or those who don’t consume at all. This was found to be true regardless of how many times a day a person consumes cannabis, and regardless of how long they’ve been a consumer.

The study included data from six case-control studies conducted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. It included a subject pool of 2,159 lung cancer cases and 2,985 controls – the studies were part of the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), an international group of lung cancer researchers.

Dr. Zhang of the University of California performed two analyses, one which compared all lung cancer cases and all controls, regardless of current or past tobacco use. Then, the analysis was restricted to those who had never smoked tobacco, which consisted of 370 cancer cases and 1,358 controls. Dr. Zhang also adjusted the models to account for age, sex, etc.. Habitual use was defined as one joint per day, per year.

When compared with cannabis smokers who also used tobacco, habitual pot smokers had no significant increase in cancer risk.

According to the Oncology Report, which posted today about the study, “In an analysis of marijuana smokers that excluded tobacco smokers, there were no significant differences in any of the comparisons, including habitual vs. nonhabitual use; number of joints smoked per day; duration of up to 20 years or duration of more than 20 years. The difference in risk is likely related to chemical additives in commercial cigarettes that aren’t present in most methods of inhaling marijuana smoke.

As a general recommendation, smoking anything isn’t good for the respiratory system, said Dr. Alberts, chief medical officer of the Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa. But for patients using medical marijuana, the benefit could outweigh the risks.”

“You can think of it as similar to a CT scan. Radiation isn’t good, but if the scan is something beneficial and the risk is low, you take it. If cannabis is indicated, and if it’s legal, and if there’s literature backing up the indication for use, then you weigh the risk of smoking and the benefit it could bring, and make the decision”, stated Dr. Zhang.

This new study validates research in 2006 by Dr. Taskin of the University of California which found that not only does marijuana consumption not lead to lung cancer, it may actually protect against it.

http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?mID=3086&sKey=3e3df4f9-a49f-40e7-a260-ccc3c54e0125&cKey=c7c6690d-3e5e-438e-9de4-d6f67a0703fb&mKey=9b2d28e7-24a0-466f-a3c9-07c21f6e9bc9

[Hardrock69]

Seems like they should just announce: "Marijuana kills ALL FORMS OF CANCER" and let it go at that.

From the When It Rains It Pours department:

http://www.theweedblog.com/study-marijuana-use-connected-with-lower-risk-of-bladder-cancer/


A new study conducted by Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in California, and presented this week at the American Urological Association annual meeting in San Diego, has found promising results indicating that marijuana use may significantly lower an individuals risk of developing bladder cancer. The research was funded by the Kaiser Permanente Research and Evaluation Center, and included an examination of over 83,000 men between the ages of 45 and 69.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/11/study-claims-marijuana-tied-to-lower-bladder-cancer-risk/2153019/

From the above link:


The men in the study, aged 45 to 69, were patients at Kaiser Permanente in California. Thomas and his team evaluated data on their lifestyle habits, including tobacco and marijuana smoking, between 2002 and 2003.

The researchers cross-referenced the study data with medical records to see who was diagnosed with bladder cancer. They omitted men with a history of bladder cancer.

Overall, 41 percent of the men reported marijuana use, 57 percent said they used tobacco and 27 percent reported using both.

During 11 years of follow-up, 279 men -- 0.3 percent -- were diagnosed with bladder cancer. Eighty-nine pot smokers (0.3 percent) developed bladder cancer compared to 190 (0.4 percent) who did not smoke pot.



The study examined those who smoke tobacco only, marijuana only, and those who consume both.

“Cannabis use only was associated with a 45 percent reduction in bladder cancer incidence, and tobacco use only was associated with a 52 percent increase in bladder cancer,” stated the study’s author, Dr. Anil A. Thomas.

According to the research, smoking both tobacco and marijuana raised the risk of bladder cancer, but drastically less so than for those who only smoked tobacco, Thomas found, indicating that marijuana may have protective capabilities against bladder cancer. The study unfortunately didn’t examine nonsmokers, leading us to hope for further studies soon.

During the study’s 11-year followup, it was found that “More frequent marijuana use — smoking pot more than 500 times — was associated with greater risk reduction than infrequent marijuana use — smoking once or twice.” This further validates the claims being made by the study’s author that marijuana use may reduce the risk of bladder cancer.

Although more research is needed, this is a promising new study that shows yet another serious diseases, ailment, etc. that marijuana can help fight against.

[Hardrock69]

Another one bites the dust......

http://digital.vpr.net/post/legislature-votes-decriminalize-marijuana


Vermont Legislature
11:46 am
Mon May 13, 2013
Legislature Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana



Lawmakers in Vermont have finalized legislation that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts marijuana. Vermont is poised to become the seventeenth state to remove criminal penalties for possessing pot.

Under the bill, it would be a civil offense rather than a crime to possess one ounce or less of pot in Vermont. Those caught carrying marijuana would receive a civil fine, similar to a traffic ticket. People under 21 caught with pot would be required to go through a diversion program for first and second offenses. A third offense would become criminal.

Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He says the bill is long overdue.

“Many state’s attorneys are already using a referral to diversion," Lippert explained. "Some arguments from some state’s attorneys has been, ‘We don’t need this because we already do this.' We believe if we already do this then let’s put it into law."

Gov. Peter Shumlin is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming weeks.

The move comes just months after Colorado and Washington State took the issue a step further and legalized pot.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/cannabis-linked-to-prevention-of-diabetes-8616314.html




Cannabis linked to prevention of diabetes

Regular users of the drug found to have lower levels of insulin after fasting, research shows




Smoking cannabis may prevent the development of diabetes, one of the most rapidly rising chronic disorders in the world.

If the link is proved, it could lead to the development of treatments based on the active ingredient of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), without its intoxicating effects.

Researchers have found that regular users of the drug had lower levels of the hormone insulin after fasting – a signal that they are protected against diabetes. They also had reduced insulin resistance. Cannabis is widely smoked in the United States with over 17 million current users of whom more than four million smoke it on a daily basis. In the UK latest figures show 2.3 million people used cannabis in the last year, but the numbers have declined in the last decade.

Two US states have recently legalised its recreational use and 19 others have legalised it for medical purposes by patients with one of several conditions including multiple sclerosis and cancer. THC has already been approved to treat the side effects of chemotherapy, nausea in cancer patients, anorexia associated with AIDS and other conditions.

The study involved almost 5,000 patients who answered a questionnaire about their drug use and were part of the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2005 and 2010. The results showed almost 2,000 had used cannabis at some point in their lives and more than one in 10 (579) were current users. Only those who had used cannabis within the past month showed evidence of protection against diabetes, suggesting that the effects wear off in time. Current users of the drug had 16 per cent lower fasting insulin than those who had never used the drug.

Murray Mittleman, of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, and lead author of the study published in The American Journal of Medicine, said previous studies had shown lower rates of obesity and diabetes in marijuana users.

Two previous surveys had also shown that although cannabis users consume more calories they have a lower body mass index. The mechanisms underlying this paradox are unknown, the authors say. Joseph Alpert, professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, and editor in chief of the journal, said: “These are remarkable observations that are supported by basic science experiments that came to similar conclusions.

“We desperately need a great deal more basic and clinical research into the short and long term effects of marijuana in a variety of clinical settings such as cancer diabetes and frailty of the elderly.”

Almost one in 20 adults in the UK has diabetes, of which 2.6 million are diagnosed and 500,000 are undiagnosed. Rates are rising in this country and around the world, driven by Western lifestyles, and the number of cases is expected to exceed 4 million in the UK by 2025. The illness increases the risk of heart failure, kidney failure, and death – and is one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK.

[Hardrock69]

Glad I got this thread to dump this stuff in......it is getting to be non-stop.....


http://news.yahoo.com/wash-set-release-draft-rules-135156245.html


Wash. set to release draft rules for pot industry
What's a legal weed industry look like? After 8 months of work, Wash. releasing draft rules

Associated PressBy Gene Johnson, Associated Press | Associated Press – 8 hrs ago



.

SEATTLE (AP) -- They've spent nearly eight months visiting marijuana grow houses, studying the science of getting high and earning nicknames like "the queen of weed." Now, officials in Washington are taking their first stab at setting rules for the state's new legal weed industry.

The state is releasing preliminary draft rules Thursday afternoon, possibly covering an array of topics ranging from how pot should be grown, labeled and tested for quality assurance to what types of security should be required at state-licensed pot businesses.

But some of the most interesting questions — such as how much marijuana will be grown and how many retail stores will be licensed — aren't likely to be answered yet. The state's official pot consultant is still working to estimate how much marijuana people here use, and those estimates will help determine how much pot gets produced.

"It's been a lot of long hours," said Brian Smith, the spokesman for the Liquor Control Board. "We are doing the groundwork. We're trying to be as thorough as we can as we go through this initial several months since the election."

Last fall voters made Washington and Colorado the first states to legalize the sale of taxed marijuana to adults over 21 at state-licensed stores.

In Colorado, devising rules for the pot industry fell to the Legislature, which has passed a series of bills laying out how marijuana should be grown, packaged and taxed. Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to sign the bills May 28.

Washington's measure directed the Liquor Control Board, led by three voting members, to set parameters for the industry. Dozens of board employees divided into 11 teams, each researching different areas — licensing, contracting, legal and policy, enforcement — to inform the board's decisions. The teams meet weekly to keep apprised of each other's progress.

The board's comptroller, Mike Steenhout, has worked with testing labs and experts from around the world to determine how the pot should be tested to ensure that it's safe and consistent when it reaches store shelves.

The board held eight public forums around the state to hear what pot growers, prospective retailers and others had to say. More than 3,000 people attended; few were shy about airing their views.

Now, the board is taking what it has learned and setting out what amounts to a draft of its draft rules for the industry. After allowing people to comment on the rules it releases Thursday, it will propose its official draft rules in about month, and take public comment on those. The final rules aren't expected to be adopted until this summer, with applications for pot growing, processing and retailing licenses accepted in September.

Marijuana sales at state-licensed stores should begin in early 2014 — unless the Justice Department has something to say about it. Pot remains illegal federally, and the DOJ could sue to try to block the licensing schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

So far, the Liquor Control Board has given few hints about what the rules will entail. Board Chairwoman Sharon Foster — who began a speech at a recent conference by saying, "My friends now call me the queen of weed" — has said that the board probably won't allow open-field marijuana grows, because they're too hard to control. There won't be any pot delivery companies to take weed from a dispensary and deliver it to customers, because the law does not provide for licensing of pot delivery companies. People who have old pot-related convictions probably won't be barred from obtaining licenses.

But many other questions remain. How does the state plan to collect taxes, when federally insured banks won't let marijuana businesses open accounts? How much pot-related advertising will be allowed, if any? Will there be caps on the numbers of growers and processors licensed to provide pot and pot products to the stores? What should be done with all the plants — stalks, roots and leaves — after harvest?

Cale Burkhart, who makes marijuana-infused topical creams under the Vita Verde brand, said he hopes the board doesn't limit the number of growers and processors.

"It's an emerging industry, and it's one that most anybody, as long as they can have their ducks in a row, can break into," he said. "It should be open to people, so that grandma, or a high school dropout, can have the opportunity to start a business and be successful. I'm excited to see if that's how they're going to do it."

[Hardrock69]

http://www.naturalblaze.com/2013/05/smoking-marijuana-effective-at-treating.html


Marijuana is an Effective Treatment for Crohn's Disease
Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A study published earlier this month on the government's website National Institutes of Health found that marijuana has "significant benefits" for treating Crohn's Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

"A short course (8 week) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 11 patients with active CD, compared to placebo, without side effects," the study concluded.

Conducted by Tel Aviv University, the study included 21 patients with Crohn's who did not previously respond to therapy with steroids, immunomodulators, or anti-tumor necrosis factor-α agents. Half of the control group were given a placebo and the other half were given 2 marijuana joints per day.


The goal of the study was to get the patients into complete remission. The placebo produced 1 person out of ten in the placebo group to experience complete remission. Whereas 5 out of 11 (45%) patients given cannabis to smoke successfully went into remission. Additionally, a beneficial clinical response, or decrease in inflammation, was observed in 10/11 cannabis patients versus only 4/10 in the placebo group.

The marijuana patients experienced "no significant side effects" and a few even weaned themselves off of steroid dependency.

Here are the official results from the study:

RESULTS:Complete remission (a CDAI score < 150) was achieved by 5/11 subjects in the cannabis group (45%) and 1/10 in the placebo group (10%). A clinical response (a decrease in CDAI score of > 100) was observed in 10/11 subjects in the cannabis group (90%) and 4/10 in the placebo group (40%). Three patients in the cannabis group were weaned from steroid dependency. Subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects.

Since smoking marijuana is considered one of the least effective forms of delivering the medicine in cannabis, the researchers recommend further studies with a non-smoking mode of intake.

CONCLUSION:Although the primary endpoint of the study (induction of remission) was not achieved, a short course (8 week) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 11 patients with active CD, compared to placebo, without side effects. Further studies, with larger patient groups and a non-smoking mode of intake, are warranted.

Link to the study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648372

[Hardrock69]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/western-leaders-game-changing-drugs-report



Western leaders study 'gamechanging' report on global drugs trade

Review by Organisation of American States on illicit drugs 'could mark beginning of the end' of prohibition



Jamie Doward
The Observer, Saturday 18 May 2013 14.32 EDT



European governments and the Obama administration are this weekend studying a "gamechanging" report on global drugs policy that is being seen in some quarters as the beginning of the end for blanket prohibition.

Publication of the Organisation of American States (OAS) review, commissioned at last year's Cartagena Summit of the Americas attended by Barack Obama, reflects growing dissatisfaction among Latin American countries with the current global policy on illicit drugs. It spells out the effects of the policy on many countries and examines what the global drugs trade will look like if the status quo continues. It notes how rapidly countries' unilateral drugs policies are evolving, while at the same time there is a growing consensus over the human costs of the trade. "Growing media attention regarding this phenomenon in many countries, including on social media, reflects a world in which there is far greater awareness of the violence and suffering associated with the drug problem," José Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the OAS, says in a foreword to the review. "We also enjoy a much better grasp of the human and social costs not only of drug use but also of the production and transit of controlled substances."

Insulza describes the report, which examines a number of ways to reform the current pro-prohibition position, as the start of "a long-awaited discussion", one that experts say puts Europe and North America on notice that the current situation will change, with or without them. Latin American leaders have complained bitterly that western countries, whose citizens consume the drugs, fail to appreciate the damage of the trade. In one scenario envisaged in the report, a number of South American countries would break with the prohibition line and decide that they will no longer deploy law enforcement and the army against drug cartels, having concluded that the human costs of the "war on drugs" is too high.

The west's responsibility to reshape global drugs policy will be emphasised in three weeks when Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, the president of Colombia, who initiated the review, arrives in Britain. His visit is part of a programme to push for changes in global policy that will lead up to a special UN general assembly in 2016 when the scenarios of the OAS are expected to have a significant influence.

Experts described the publication of the review as a historic moment. "This report represents the most high-level discussion about drug policy reform ever undertaken, and shows tremendous leadership from Latin America on the global debate," said Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the Open Society Foundation's Global Drug Policy Program, which has described its publication as a "game-changer".

"It was particularly important to hear president Santos invite the states of Europe to contribute toward envisioning a better international drug policy. These reports inspire a conversation on drug policy that has been long overdue."

The report represents the first time any significant multilateral agency has outlined serious alternatives to prohibition, including legal market regulation or reform of the UN drug conventions.

"While leaders have talked about moving from criminalisation to public health in drug policy, punitive, abstinence-only approaches have still predominated, even in the health sphere," said Daniel Wolfe, director of the Open Society Foundation's International Harm Reduction Program. "These scenarios offer a chance for leaders to replace indiscriminate detention and rights' abuses with approaches that distinguish between users and traffickers, and offer the community-based health services that work best for those in need."

In a statement, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which campaigns for changes in drug laws and is supported by the former presidents of several South American states, said that publication of the review would break "the taboo that blocked for so long the debate on more humane and efficient drug policy". The Commission said that it was "time that governments around the world are allowed to responsibly experiment with regulation models that are tailored to their realities and local need".

■ The open letter from the Global Commission on Drug Policy is signed by George P Shultz, the former US secretary of state; Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US federal reserve, and the former presidents of Mexico, Chile and Colombia

[Hardrock69]

http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2013/05/14/smoking-marijuana-cured-crohns-disease-with-no-side-effects-new-study-shows/?utm_source=feedly


Smoking Marijuana Causes ‘Complete Remission’ of Crohn’s Disease, No Side Effects, New Study Shows

Posted on May 14, 2013 at 9:38 am by David Downs

Marijuana – scientific name “cannabis” – performed like a champ in the first-ever placebo-controlled trial of the drug to treat Crohn’s Disease, also known as inflammatory bowel disease.

The disease of the digestive tract afflicts 400,000 – 600,000 people in North America alone causing abdominal pain, diarrhea (which can be bloody), severe vomiting, weight loss, as well as secondary skin rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration.

Smoking pot caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s disease compared to placebo in half the patients who lit up for eight weeks, according to clinical trial data to be published the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Researchers at Israel’s Meir Medical Center took 21 people with intractable, severe Crohn’s disease and gave 11 of them two joints a day for eight weeks. “The standardized cannabis cigarettes” contained 23 percent THC and 0.5 percent CBD (cannabidiol). (Such marijuana is available on dispensary shelves in San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities that have regulated access to the drug.) The other ten subjects smoked placebo cigarettes containing no active cannabinoids.

Investigators reported that smoking weed caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s Disease in five of the 11 subjects. Another five of the eleven test subjects saw their Crohn’s Disease symptoms cut in half. Furthermore, “subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects.”

The study is the first placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the consumption of cannabis for the treatment of Crohn’s, notes NORML. All of the patients had intractable forms of the disease and did not respond to conventional treatments. Still, the United States government claims that marijuana is as dangerous as heroin and has no medical use. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag is waging a war on safe access to medical cannabis in the Bay Area.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

pot belly pigs...

http://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-waste-helps-turn-pot-eating-pigs-tasty-184633031.html

[Nitro Express]

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/02/explosive-hog-farm-manure-foam
Maybe that's what is making the pig shit explode.

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg5MZTek47s

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/studies-show-marijuana-consumption-not-associated-with-dangerous-driving/



Studies Show Marijuana Consumption Not Associated With Dangerous Driving

Anyone who consumes cannabis on a regular basis knows that it doesn’t make you a dangerous drive. To many people, it makes them a safer, more focused driver that’s more aware of their surroundings and the dangers associated with controlling tons of gasoline-filled metal. Not only has this been an anecdotal truth for as long as cars and cannabis have been paired, science has also been clear that consuming marijuana doesn’t make you a dangerous driver, and may in fact make some people safer drivers. More research is needed, but it’s hard to deny that of the research we have, marijuana hasn’t been found to increase a person’s risk of an accident.

To back this claim up, here’s a list of studies and research conducted on this very topic, some of which were funded by national governments in hopes of different results. (Sources on the above page are hyperlinked).

“20 years of study has concluded that marijuana smokers may actually have fewer accidents than other drivers.” - 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com; Reasons why marijuana users are safe drivers, 2012



“States that legalize medical marijuana see fewer fatal car accidents, according to a new study, in part because people may be substituting marijuana smoking for drinking alcohol.” Time Magazine; Why Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Traffic Deaths, 2011



“No differences were found during the baseline driving segment (and the) collision avoidance scenarios,” - Research published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2010



“Although cognitive studies suggest that cannabis use may lead to unsafe driving, experimental studies have suggested that it can have the opposite effect.” - U.S. National Library of Medicine; The Effect Of Cannabis Compared With Alcohol On Driving, 2009



“The evidence to suggest an involvement of cannabis in road crashes is scientifically unproven.” - Research paper; Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutic Potential, 2002



“Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving.” - Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs;Cannabis: Summary Report: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy, 2002



“There is no evidence that consumption of cannabis alone increases the risk of culpability for traffic crash fatalities or injuries for which hospitalization occurs, and may reduce those risks.” - Research paper published in Epidemiologic Reviews; Role of cannabis in motor vehicle crashes, 1999



“Evidence from the present and previous studies strongly suggests that alcohol encourages risky driving whereas THC encourages greater caution” - University of Adelaide study; Marijuana’s effects on actual driving performance, 1995



“Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate when they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC’s adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small.” - U.S. Department of Transportation study; Marijuana and actual driving performance, 1993

[FORD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOW7cFrY55c

[Hardrock69]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/may-huge-month-marijuana-legalization-164334579.html


May Was A Huge Month For Marijuana Legalization And Virtually Nobody Noticed
Business InsiderBy Walter Hickey | Business Insider – 1 hour 34 minutes ago

Reuters
It has been six months since Colorado and Washington voted to legalize marijuana, and the momentum for changing the way states handle pot has never been stronger.

May was a huge month for marijuana reform supporters, with a string of significant wins and important milestones as more and more states lean toward a laissez-faire approach to marijuana.

First and foremost, the Colorado Legislature successfully navigated its first big regulatory test, inventing the legal framework for a marijuana economy.

House Bill 1317 was the law that resulted from Amendment 64, the ballot initiative that legalized pot, dictating that Coloradans can buy an ounce of pot from specially licensed stores. House Bill 1318 set up the tax infrastructure for the market, which will go up for voter referendum in November.

Gov. John Hickenlooper is set to sign both bills today, according to KDVR.

There's also been significant movement in other states in pursuing a similar system. May saw the NYPD's arrest numbers for marijuana offenses begin to decline, Christopher Robbins at Gothamist reported, with Commissioner Ray Kelly pushing pot to the back seat in favor of drugs that have dangerous effects.

New York City arrests for marijuana possession are set to drop 20% in 2013.

Upstate in Albany, State Senator Liz Krueger swore to introduce a law to decriminalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in New York State, Dana Rubenstein at Capital New York reported.

The Empire State has been floated as one which could be in the next batch of states that, like Colorado and Washington, have a legal marijuana economy.

On the West Coast, incoming Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti indicated Monday he supports legalizing marijuana for general use. This comes a month after California Lieutenant Governor — and potential 2014 gubernatorial candidate — Gavin Newsom penned an op-ed calling for California to legalize pot.

Most interesting of all is movement in Illinois to approve medical marijuana. The bill passed the state Senate earlier this month and awaits Gov. Pat Quinn's signature.

On the whole, the political success for marijuana in May is really just the implementation of American's changing views on pot.

A Reason-Rupe poll from earlier this month found that a mere 6% of Americans think marijuana possession should be punished with jail time. This, combined with a new majority of Americans supporting legalization, has dealt a devastating blow to opponents of legalization.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/federal-lawmakers-to-vote-on-industrial-hemp-amendment-to-farm-bill/


Federal Lawmakers To Vote On Industrial Hemp Amendment To Farm Bill
Posted May 29, 2013

y Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director

Senator Ron Wyden has introduced an amendment to Senate Bill 3240, the Senate version of this year’s federal farm bill, that requires the federal government to respect state laws allowing the cultivation of industrial hemp. Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa that contains only trace (less than one percent) amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis.

The amendment language mimics the “Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013,” which remains pending as stand-alone legislation in both the House and Senate but has yet to receive a legislative hearing. Senator Wyden’s provision to the Senate’s Farm Bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana. The measure grants state legislatures the authority to license and regulate the commercial production of hemp as an industrial and agricultural commodity.

“For me, what’s important is that people see, particularly in our state, there’s someone buying it at Costco in Oregon,” Senator Wyden previously stated in support of this Act, “I adopted what I think is a modest position, which is if you can buy it at a store in Oregon, our farmers ought to be able to make some money growing it.”

Eight states - Colorado, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia – have enacted statutory changes defining industrial hemp as distinct agricultural product and allowing for its regulated commercial production. Passage of this amendment would remove existing federal barriers and allow these states and others the authority to do so without running afoul of federal anti-drug laws.

Senator Wyden’s amendment is co-sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has also expressed his support for this proposal.

According to a Congressional Research Service report, “The United States is the only developed nation in which industrial hemp is not an established crop.”

[Hardrock69]

It is official in Colorado:


http://www.theweedblog.com/colorado-officially-becomes-americas-first-legal-marijuana-state/



Colorado Officially Becomes America’s First Legal Marijuana State
Posted May 29, 2013

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed off on the state’s new recreational cannabis laws, thus making Colorado the first “officially” legal state in America. Washington will soon follow suit, meaning there’s only 48 states left to go!

While it’s an exciting development and a historic day in America (and the world’s marijuana community), there are a couple hiccups in these six bills that will give some pause. Here are those six regulations, which will “seek to regulate the newly legal drug and keep it away from children, without being so strict that weed stays in the black market:”

YOU CAN COME BUY IT, BUT YOU CAN’T TAKE IT HOME: Visitors to Colorado will have purchasing limits of a quarter-ounce of marijuana in a single transaction. The law doesn’t ban adults over 21 from possessing a full ounce, residents or not. But the purchasing limits were seen as an effort to reduce interstate trafficking and help persuade the federal government not to crack down on recreational sales. (Note: Ironically, of all the 6 Measures, this will have the biggest impact, turning Colorado into a tourist stop for cannabis enthusiasts around the world. Exactly what the Governor said he did not want the state “to be known for.”)

- THE POT BUSINESS ISN’T OPEN FOR BUSINESS, YET: Colorado’s marijuana industry will for the first few months be limited to people already licensed to sell or produce medical marijuana. Even once the grandfathering period expires, licensees will need to be Colorado residents for two years, and investors will face residency requirements, too. The residency requirements were added to try to prevent Colorado from becoming a production ground for criminal drug cartels.

- THE CAMERAS BETTER BE ROLLING WHEN YOU GROW IT: Colorado tried and failed to establish constant video surveillance of medical marijuana, establishing a seed-to-sale tracking system to keep the industry honest. The vaunted system hasn’t worked out as expected because of a lack of money, but the agency that oversees pot says it has learned its lesson and will have the money to follow through with seed-to-sale tracking next year.

- NOT EVERY TOWN WILL SELL IT: Colorado’s marijuana framework gives local and county governments broad power to ban retail pot sales if they wish, though home growing will be allowed statewide. Legalization backers say the next Colorado political battle to watch will be which communities ban pot shops, prompting the possibility that marijuana sales will be largely concentrated in big cities that currently allow retail medical marijuana shops.

- MARIJUANA CLUBS AREN’T SAFE: Entrepreneurs in Colorado have been testing the new marijuana law in recent months by opening private clubs that allow communal pot smoking, but no sales, for a membership fee. The legislation tries to crack down on the spread of such cannabis clubs by stating that they’re not exempt from clean indoor air laws, unlike membership cigar clubs.

- KIDS GET NEW PROTECTIONS: Colorado’s new laws aim to prevent youth marijuana use as much as possible. The laws create a new crime of sharing marijuana with someone under 21, an analogy to current delinquency laws and alcohol. The laws also mandate child-proof packaging for marijuana sales, and bans types of marketing thought to appeal to kids, such as cartoon characters in advertisements and packaging. The new 10 percent marijuana sales tax will be used in part on educational campaigns telling people under 21 to avoid the drug.

- DON’T SMOKE AND DRIVE: After years of debate, Colorado now has as blood-level limit for marijuana and drivers. The law says that juries can presume drivers are too stoned to drive if their blood contains more than 5 nanograms per milliliter of THC, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient. Washington state adopted the same driving standard on the ballot last year, but Colorado left the question to the state Legislature. [Seattle Times via AP]

It’s a monumental moment indeed, and a mostly triumphant day for Marijuana. But, as we’ve mentioned before, it’s still not all fun and games in Colorado’s pot market. Driving after a hit off a joint can still land you in jail, weed clubs are unfortunately prohibited, and safe access in certain towns will not be guaranteed.

That said, it’s a step in the right direction and a moment worth lighting up for and celebrating. But Colorado-and the rest of our country-still have a long, long way to go.

[jhale667]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/5e9e0a168b956372e53904d81b8edf15/tumblr_mmpw859M151r7l0vxo1_500.jpg

[jhale667]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/818fe01edec7ddb77c19d09cd03ac25f/tumblr_mh48f6qfiO1qaetpoo1_500.jpg

The Shake bong.

[Hardrock69]

I dig the Silver Patron one myself.

I just have a standard 18" Plastic Straight Pipe bong at present. And a standard tobacco-looking pipe.

Does anyone here save smoking items for sentimental reasons?

I had a pair of hemostats a guitarist in a band I was with in 1984 stole from a hospital in Houston. Kept them until about 2002 or so, when I was using them to solder a pickup wire in a guitar, one side of the "jaws" just broke.
I also have a pipe that belonged to a girl I used to know who died about 8 years back in her 30s.

[Hardrock69]

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704509304578511261557343002.html

Well-written, balanced and in-depth story.



Barron's Cover
SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013
Should Pot Be Legal?

By THOMAS G. DONLAN


Legalizing marijuana will hurt drug lords, help cash-strapped states, and ease burdens on police and prisons. Yet D.C. dithers.

America's 40-year crawl toward legalization of marijuana is picking up speed. Twenty-six states have taken steps toward legalization, some quite bold. Just last week, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper made one of the biggest moves yet, signing a package of bills addressing how marijuana will be grown, sold, taxed, and used. The measures, which follow Colorado voters' approval of legalization last fall, form the cornerstone of the nation's first fully legal market for pot. Come Jan. 1, Colorado residents over 21 will be allowed to buy marijuana at retail stores and smoke it for their pleasure. The state of Washington, where voters also passed a referendum to legalize marijuana, will be next. If all goes well with those pioneering efforts, it may be only a matter of time before more states follow.

Proponents say Americans should be allowed to smoke cannabis as a matter of basic personal freedom, adding that a society that enjoys legal whiskey, beer, wine, and tobacco has no business outlawing a recreational drug like pot that has fewer unhealthy side effects. After all, tens of millions of Americans enjoy smoking marijuana, if illegally.

It's Prohibition all over again. That Gatsby-era law gave rise to the Mafia, rampant crime, and in the end, increased drinking. As Rep. Steve Cohen (D., Tenn.) put it recently, "This is the time to remedy this prohibition."

Plenty of people agree. The Pew Research Center recently found that 52% of Americans support legalized possession of small quantities of marijuana. It was the first time a national poll produced a majority against pot prohibition, although the Gallup Poll and other national polls are coming close. The Pew survey found that nearly every group in the country is part of the gradual change in public attitudes -- men, women, whites, blacks, rich, and poor.

It's not just about the right to light up. With the nation's retail marijuana market estimated at about $30 billion, legalization also would bring some important economic benefits. It could lead to sharply lower prices, striking a blow to the Mexican drug cartels and American street gangs. Pot could be produced in the U.S. for much less than Mexican pot produced illegally. By some estimates, illegality adds 50% to marijuana's prices. If both countries legalized the drug, Mexicans might grow a lot of it and sell it to American consumers, but the inexpensive legal product would not draw the attention of the ultraviolent Mexican drug traffickers any more than Mexican tomatoes do.

Legalization also could bring some relief to cash-strapped states. Marijuana taxes would join levies on liquor, tobacco, gambling, and other pursuits that once were banned. A report prepared for the libertarian Cato Institute suggests states could raise a total of about $3 billion from marijuana taxes, and other estimates are even higher. California alone could pull in $1.4 billion a year, a state tax authority has projected. That may seem minor compared with a state budget approaching $100 billion, but it would top the $1.3 billion that California now gets from alcohol and tobacco taxes combined.

Colorado may get about $100 million a year in tax revenue, and Washington could get $310 million. But there is wide disagreement on appropriate tax rates for marijuana. Colorado will be asking voters to approve two sales taxes totaling 25%, while Washington is looking to tax producers, sellers, and buyers -- for a total haul of 75%. That might be so high that it keeps the underground market alive.

Unquestionably, a loosening of marijuana laws would ease burdens on law enforcement. Some 663,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in 2011, up 32% since 1995. In New York, according to the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance, a pot bust typically requires 2.5 hours of a policeman's time. Until Mayor Michael Bloomberg changed the policy in February, the arrested automatically spent a night in the police lockup. Nationwide, some 128,000 people are in state or federal prisons for marijuana offenses. That's 8% of all U.S. prisoners.

Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department, thinks Washington's new law will be a big help. "It will give the police an opportunity to focus much more time, energy, and imagination on going after predatory criminals," he says. Legalization, he adds, also has "opened the door to a much more positive relationship between young people and police."

LITTLE WONDER that more than half of the states have loosened their marijuana rules. Starting with Oregon in 1973, 15 states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of the drug, which means it's illegal but lightly punished, typically with a $100 fine; 18 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana possession and sale for medical purposes, such as easing the pain of cancer. In all, the number of states taking at least one step to liberalize their pot laws is 26. Two more got ready to join last month: The Illinois legislature passed a medical-marijuana bill, and the Vermont legislature passed a decriminalization bill. Both bills await signing by the states' governors.




The federal government, however, has not moved toward legalization, not one bit. In fact, the states with medical-marijuana laws are defying or ignoring the federal government, which classifies marijuana as a drug with a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use, and a lack of acceptable safety, even for use under medical supervision. Efforts to persuade regulators to change the classification of marijuana have been rejected over and over, as recently as 2011.

Emboldened by a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that allows federal prohibition to trump state legalization, the feds have arrested owners of some of the medical dispensaries in California, a state that has permitted dispensaries to operate since 1996. It's entirely unclear how Uncle Sam is going to react when retail sales go into full swing in Colorado and Washington. Attorney General Eric Holder has been promising to produce a policy, but nothing has yet emerged from the Justice Department.

To eliminate the conflicts, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, last month introduced a bill to require the feds to respect state laws on marijuana. "The Herculean effort undertaken by the federal government to prevent the American people from smoking marijuana has undeniably been a colossal failure," he says. Lacking a groundswell of bipartisan support, however, Rohrabacher's bill is considered to have no chance of passage.

"It is likely that we are going to proceed state by state, and that Congress will be unlikely to touch this issue with a pole of any length," says William Galston of the Brookings Institution. "We may very well be a patchwork nation for the next generation."

OTHER STATES WILL JOIN the patchwork as more state officials take a cue from Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California and former mayor of San Francisco. "I was a coward a couple of years ago," he says, referring to the days when he opposed legalization. He switched positions after concluding that legalization would be an important step in his vision for criminal-justice reform.

Newsom, who owns a collection of bars, restaurants, and wineries, also has a more fundamental issue with pot prohibition. "When I'm watching a guy do shots of Jack Daniel's at my bar, I'm thinking, 'That's legal, but a guy at home with his wife on a weekend smoking marijuana is illegal?' It's absurd."


Though he hopes to guide California to legalization, Newsom says the state will first have to improve the regulation of its medical-marijuana dispensaries: "So many of us have had the experience where you're stuck at a traffic light, and you look across the street at a dispensary, and you see a lot of young folks running in and out, and you may even turn the corner and see folks reselling the drug." Until that problem is fixed, he says voters may not believe the state can monitor full legalization.

Another prerequisite: stronger spines in politicians. Many legislators, in California and elsewhere, are fearful of backlashes from antilegalization groups, which warn of increases in crime and harm to youths and families. But eventually, elected officials may come around. Newsom, who is up for re-election in November, hopes to set an example: "If I win and these groups don't come after me, I've got to think some other people will say, 'Hey, they didn't come after him -- maybe it's not as politically toxic as we thought.' "


PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT hurdle for the legalization movement will be the experiences in Colorado and Washington state. If other states are to move toward legalization, these two pioneers will have to demonstrate that legal pot markets can function smoothly and safely.

Though the details of the states' regulations have yet to be hammered out, the bottom line for consumers in both states is similar: If you are over 21, you'll be able to freely buy pot at licensed retail outlets. Already, you can possess as much as an ounce of marijuana, so long as you don't use it in public.

The bills signed by Colorado's governor last week included provisions for curbing drugged driving: You can't get behind the wheel if your blood contains more than five nanograms per milliliter of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, marijuana's key component. A pot smoker can get to that level with as little as one puff, but the numbers decline rapidly over the next three hours, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Colorado also took steps to prevent marijuana use among youths, making it a crime to share pot with someone under 21 and banning marketing that seems aimed at kids. It's easy to see why the state is worried. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that 2.6 million Americans had tried marijuana for the first time in 2011, and their average age was 17. The new pot smokers were more numerous than the 2.4 million Americans who smoked tobacco cigarettes for the first time in 2011, whose average age was also 17. Alcohol was still the most popular among recreational substances, with 4.7 million Americans estimated to have taken their first drink in 2011 -- 83% of them younger than age 21.

The push for marijuana legalization can't afford any slip-ups by Colorado or Washington in dealing with the youth population or anything else. "You're one tragedy away in Colorado and Washington from it not being an inevitability," says California's Newsom. On the other hand, he says, success in those states would bode well for legalization in his state and others.

Last month, the legalization movement got a lift from beyond U.S. borders. The Organization of American States, a consortium of nations in North, Central, and South America, released a report suggesting the legalization of marijuana be considered as a step in the war on drugs.


The last president of Mexico, Felip Calderón, had done something of the same. He was the first Mexican president to broach the idea of drug legalization while still in office. And he wasn't just talking about Mexico. "Our neighbor is the largest consumer of drugs in the world," Calderón said in 2011. "And everybody wants to sell him drugs though our doors and windows. If the consumption of drugs cannot be limited, then decision makers must seek more solutions -- including market alternatives -- in order to reduce the astronomical earnings of criminal organizations."

Calderón left office last year, and his successor, Enrique Peña Nieto, flatly opposes legalization of drugs. Marijuana use, he says, often leads users to harder drugs. Nieto's position is no doubt heartening to drug lords, whose money makes them very powerful in Mexican politics. Legalization in Mexico, it's fair to say, faces formidably long odds.

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, for its part, should at least move to eliminate the widespread confusion between state and federal laws over marijuana use, which has been reaching absurd proportions. Banks in California, for instance, are so unclear about where things stand that they won't let medical-marijuana dispensaries open accounts. As a result, many of the stores are run as cash businesses, inviting robberies. To pay taxes, some are showing up at the state's revenue department with bags of cash.

Whether Congress realizes it or not, a good number of citizens want the problem fixed. The same Pew study that found a majority of people favoring legalization also found that 60% of Americans think the federal government should not enforce its prohibition in states that permit marijuana use. And 72% agreed with the proposition that federal enforcement of marijuana laws is not worth the cost.

Rep. Rohrabacher's plan is as good a fix as any. It's straightforward and sensible: The federal government can help enforce antipot laws in states that want them, but it must mind its own business in states that don't want marijuana to be criminal.

Eventually, the federal government may repeal all of its laws against pot use, pot production, and pot dealing.

They could be replaced by laws no tougher than those that apply to liquor. Just as it was with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Congress could allow states to continue pot prohibition by local option, or to draft their own regulatory systems.

Given the unwillingness of many in Congress to even talk about marijuana, the day of full repeal is probably far off. But tending to the clumsy conflicts between state and federal governments is something that can and should be addressed right now.

MICHAEL D. VALLO assisted in reporting this story.

[ThrillsNSpills]

I found this too interesting to not put in the HR thread.
Like everything, there is so much conflicting information out there with regard to this use medicinally, however there is actually a commercial for it now in California.
Whether it's still airing, I have no idea but the dispensers have an ongoing threat on their hands of being shut down and having their accounts frozen.

[jhale667]

I don't think that's going to last, as the public outcry is LOUD already... saw one editorial that nailed it (paraphrasing) :

"Just so we're clear here - lawmakers would rather MMJ patients RETURN to buying meds on the black market, filling drug lords coffers rather than generate revenue for the (cash-strapped) state. M'kay."

[ThrillsNSpills]

True.
Ever catch Weed Country on Discovery?
The growers out there risk their asses having their crops confisated and the dispensers risk heat as well constantly and one of them is depicted as getting it to help a kid out with a medical problem. (I say depicted since I'm not sure how much of this is edited to project a certain outcome) But you're right much income could be generated for your state.

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/vermont-officially-decriminalizes-marijuana-possession/



Vermont Officially Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession

By Phillip Smith

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed into law Thursday a bill decriminalizing the possession of small amounts o marijuana. That makes Vermont the 17th state to decriminalize, including all o its neighboring New England states except New Hampshire.

Introduced by Rep. Christopher Pearson (P-Burlington) and passed with tripartisan support, House Bill 200 removes criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replaces them with a civil fine, similar to a traffic ticket. People under 21 will be required to undergo substance abuse screening. Under current state law, possession of up to two ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail for a first offense and up to two years in jail for a subsequent offense.

“This change just makes common sense,” Shumlin said as he signed the bill. “Our limited resources should be focused on reducing abuse and addiction of opiates like heroin and meth rather than cracking down on people for having very small amounts of marijuana.”

Earlier this week, Shumlin signed a package of bills aimed at reducing problems associated with opiate use, including measures designed to reduce opiate overdose deaths.

“We applaud Gov. Shumlin, the state’s top law enforcement officials, and the legislature for their leadership and support of this important legislation,” said Matt Simon, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbied in support of the bill. “Decriminalizing marijuana possession will allow law enforcement officials to spend more time and attention addressing serious crimes and prevent people from being branded as criminals just for using a substance that most Americans agree should be legal.”

But decriminalization is only a half-measure, Simon said.

“Removing criminal penalties for marijuana possession slows the bleeding, but it will not stop until marijuana prohibition is replaced with a more sensible policy,” he explained. “Marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol, and it is time for the state to start exploring policies that treat it that way.”

[jhale667]

True.
Ever catch Weed Country on Discovery?
The growers out there risk their asses having their crops confisated and the dispensers risk heat as well constantly and one of them is depicted as getting it to help a kid out with a medical problem. (I say depicted since I'm not sure how much of this is edited to project a certain outcome) But you're right much income could be generated for your state.


No kidding... there's plenty of empty warehouse space in L.A. that could be converted to industrial-size grow-ops. I couldn't recall the estimated bump to the state economy, but it would be substantial. So I used my google finger, but shouldn't have, because it kinda pisses me off. Never mind the state alone, look what MJ criminalization costs nationally:

Marijuana Law Enforcement Cost States An Estimated $3.6 Billion In 2010: ACLU
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/marijuana-arrests-cost-racially-biased_n_3385756.html)

States together spent somewhere around $3.6 billion enforcing marijuana possession laws in 2010, according to a new study by the American Civil Liberties Union, entitled “The War On Marijuana In Black and White.” That's the authors' "best estimate," though approximations using different methodologies put the cost as high as $6 billion and as low as $1.2 billion.

The paper grabbed headlines Tuesday with its finding that blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for possessing marijuana, despite both races using the drug at about the same rate.

Here are some most startling numbers from the ACLU’s report with regards to the cost of enforcing marijuana laws:

$20 billion: The amount states will spend enforcing marijuana laws over the next six years.

$900: The minimum per-capita cost spent by California, Nevada and Washington on criminal justice for marijuana offenders.

$750: The low-level estimate that states pay for each marijuana arrest.

$95: The national average per-diem cost of housing an inmate arrested due to a marijuana-related offense.






But no, no - apparently we don't like or need money... :rolleyes:

[jhale667]

Well, since those figures were kind of depressing, let's lighten it up a bit:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/1cfc9eba5a4f0131a2ae225b9a8d876c/tumblr_mnoxxtW3fU1ss99e5o1_500.png

http://25.media.tumblr.com/f36273751bb0fc31383be36813a48286/tumblr_mnwegrv2F01rw5xffo1_500.gif

:baaa:

[jhale667]

http://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/954727_648513928495441_1109348449_n.jpg

[Kristy]

Love it. I can "toke" on my back porch legally.

[Kristy]

Make that sitting on the back porch higher than a kite watching a erogenous sunset listening to Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell. Sucks to be you in your backwood redneck state(s).

[Nitro Express]

Make that sitting on the back porch higher than a kite watching a erogenous sunset listening to Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell. Sucks to be you in your backwood redneck state(s).

Colorado isn't a redneck backwood state?

[Nitro Express]

Reefer man.

[Kristy]

Colorado isn't a redneck backwood state?

Wow, you are a buzz kill. Maybe the eastern plains the rest is a growing yuppie-ish bullshit "hey, I'm out of grad school and want to live in historic Denver" by asshole California/east coast transplants.

Oh, and douchenozzles from Wisconsin. I wish these fucks would go back home.

[Nitro Express]

Dead yuppies make good fertilizer to grow weed with.

[Satan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suB_mmqfQrw

[Hardrock69]

You know, it is just a matter of time before federal laws against pot are irrelevant.

None of us need to worry about the FBI or DEA or other alphabet agency kicking in the door for smoking pot. As a matter of fact, even being a dealer is not going to get you on their radar unless you are importing hundreds of pounds or tons of the stuff.

The only thing any of us really have ever had to worry about was being busted by your local Johnny Law.

As the individual states get on the train that is headed inevitably down the track to legalization of pot, we will be able to get fucking high and not have to worry about it.

New Jersey is headed in the right direction, as are many other states.

Wait until the end of 2014. The mid-term elections will be in Nov. 2014, but also by then, Colorado and Washington will be publishing the incredible details of the massive cash flow they will be dealing with from pot and industrial hemp sales.

When Colorado announces they got 100 million bucks just from TAX revenue (not to mention the revenue all businesses in the state will get from the fact it will be a travel destination for the pot tourist trade, and, the money spent by pot vacationers on gas, food, lodging, etc.), all the other states are suddenly going to start clamoring to introduce legislation to legalize it in THEIR state.

Hell, Oregon is already on that path, as once Washington legalized it, Oregon realized a LOT of their peeps were going to travel across the bridge to Vancouver, WA to blow their money on pot, and the OR legislators do not want to see the citizens of Oregon sending their cash to WA.

Utah probably won't legalize it. Kansas never will, as the citizens of Kansas are mostly a bunch of narrow-minded conservative godamnable asshole fucks who wish they could go back in time and live like fucking farmers in 1885.
But due to Colorado legalizing it, New Mexico and Wyoming are probably mulling over the fact that a lot of their people are going to be blowing money in ANOTHER state.

http://www.theweedblog.com/new-jersey-voters-ready-to-legalize-marijuana-poll-finds/


New Jersey Voters Ready To Legalize Marijuana, Poll Finds
Posted by Johnny Green at 7:18 AM on June 12, 2013

By Phillip Smith

As New Jersey legislators consider a marijuana decriminalization bill, a new poll suggests strong public support for such a move — and more. The poll of likely voters conducted by Lake Research Partners for the Drug Policy Alliance found that 61% favored decriminalization and nearly as many (59%) agreed with taxing, regulating, and legalizing marijuana.

“New Jersey voters are ready for aggressive and immediate change of state marijuana laws, with strong majorities supporting decriminalizing up to two ounces of marijuana,” said Daniel Gotoff, a partner at Lake Research. “Support for this reform is remarkably broad, including majorities of Democrats, independents, and Republicans, as well as voters from every major region in the state.”

The poll comes as the legislature is considering Senate Bill 1977, which would decriminalize the possession of up to 50 grams (slightly less than two ounces) of marijuana and make possession a civil violation carrying a fine similar to a traffic ticket. The bill sponsored by Senator Nicholas Scutari (D-Middlesex, Somerset and Union), Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) and Senator Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson) is currently before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The release of the poll could be designed to prod the legislature to act on marijuana reform. SB 1977 was filed more than a year ago and still has not been scheduled for a committee hearing. Another measure, Assembly Bill 1465, which would decriminalize up to 15 grams, actually passed the Assembly last June, only to languish in the Senate Judiciary Committee ever since.

Under current New Jersey law, simple marijuana possession is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Conviction on a pot possession charges also creates a criminal record that cannot be expunged for at least five years.

Once an individual is convicted of even a minor possession offense, he or she is subject to a system of legal discrimination that makes it difficult or impossible to secure housing, employment, public assistance, federal student aid for higher education, and even a basic driver’s license.

Marijuana possession prosecutions also disproportionately target the Garden State’s black population. African-Americans are arrested for pot possession at a rate nearly three times that of whites, even though both groups use marijuana at roughly the same rate.

“More than 22,000 individuals were arrested for marijuana possession in New Jersey in 2010 at a cost of more than $125 million dollars,” said Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. ”New Jerseyans understand that current penalties for marijuana are unfair and wasteful. These laws should be changed now. ”

If legislators heed the popular will and pass the decriminalization bill, New Jersey will join 15 other states that have decriminalized pot possession in amounts ranging from half an ounce to three ounces.

[jhale667]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/5f882f0e78f45940d032853e472453f2/tumblr_moeqe6Xn4s1s7itm3o1_1280.jpg

[Hardrock69]

Wow. Cool!

[Hardrock69]

http://www.theweedblog.com/cannabis-not-associated-with-increased-lung-cancer-risk-or-other-pulmonary-complications/


By Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

A forthcoming review to be published in journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society reiterates that the ingestion of cannabis smoke poses nominal pulmonary risks compared to those associated with tobacco smoke. The author of the paper, Donald P. Tashkin, MD, emeritus professor of medicine and medical director of the Pulmonary Function Laboratory at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles performed US-government sponsored studies of marijuana and lung function for over 30 years.

A preview of Dr. Tashkin’s forthcoming review appears on the American Thoracic Society news website here.

http://news.thoracic.org/june-july-2013/annals-ats.php#.UcHhqC0hJgg.facebook


It reads:


Dr. Tashkin found that regular smoking of marijuana by itself causes visible and microscopic injury to the large airways that is consistently associated with an increased likelihood of symptoms of chronic bronchitis that subside after cessation of use. He also found that the evidence does not indicate that habitual use of marijuana leads to significant abnormalities in lung function when assessed either cross-sectionally or longitudinally, except for possible increases in lung volumes and modest increases in airway resistance of unclear clinical significance.

The author finds no clear link between marijuana use and the development of COPD or lower respiratory tract infections. In addition, “findings from a limited number of well-designed epidemiological studies do not suggest an increased risk for the development of either lung or upper airway cancer from light or moderate use, although evidence is mixed concerning possible carcinogenic risks of heavy, long-term use,” Dr. Tashkin notes. “In summary, the accumulated weight of evidence implies far lower risks for pulmonary complications of even regular heavy use of marijuana compared to the grave pulmonary consequences of tobacco.”



The full paper will be available later this month.

In May, presenters at the annual meeting of the American Academy for Cancer Research reported that subjects who regularly inhale cannabis smoke possess no greater risk of lung cancer than do those who consume it occasionally or not at all — according to an analysis of six case-control studies, conducted between 1999 and 2012, involving over 5,000 subjects (2,159 cases and 2,985 controls) from around the world.

Last year, clinical data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that subjects’ exposure to moderate levels of cannabis smoke, even over the long-term, is not associated with significant adverse effects on pulmonary function.

Vaporizers, which heat marijuana to a point where cannabinoid vapors form, but below the point of combustion, reduce subjects’ intake of potentially hazardous combustible compounds. In several clinical trials, investigators have concluded that vaporization is a “safe and effective” cannabinoid delivery mode that “does not result in exposure to combustion gases.” Researchers also report that vaporization results in higher plasma concentrations of THC compared to smoked cannabis.

[ELVIS]

The problem is unless you grow your own organic weed, there's no telling what pesticides have been sprayed on it...

[Hardrock69]

As soon as I can do so legally, I will be growing my own.