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Thread: Hardrock69's Reefhead Madness Thread

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    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/31/wo...-legalization/


    Uruguay's lower house votes to legalize marijuana


    By Eloisa Capurro. Dario Klein and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
    August 1, 2013 -- Updated 0246 GMT (1046 HKT)

    Montevideo, Uruguay (CNN) -- Uruguay's lower house passed a marijuana legalization bill Wednesday, bringing the South American nation one step closer to becoming the first to legally regulate production, distribution and sale of the drug.

    After more than 12 hours of debate, the bill garnered the 50 votes it needed to pass in the House of Representatives. Forty-six lawmakers voted against the bill. The country's senate is expected to take up the measure in October.

    President Jose Mujica has said he backs the bill, which would allow marijuana to be sold in pharmacies and create a registry of those who buy it. Only those 18 and older would be allowed to purchase the drug.

    He told CNN en Español last year that he supported legalizing marijuana.

    "If we legalize it, we think that we will spoil the market (for drug traffickers) because we are going to sell it for cheaper than it is sold on the black market," he said. "And we are going to have people identified."

    Conservative critics of the measure have said it promotes drug addiction and have suggested that Mujica's comments were uninformed.

    Supporters of the measure, including the Broad Front coalition of left-wing political parties, have said it will fight criminal drug trafficking and marks a turning point and could influence other Latin American nations to take a similar approach.

    "This implies the materialization of a new paradigm in terms of drug policies," said Lisa Sanchez, director for Latin America of Transform Drug Policy Foundation. "Uruguay will be the first country to establish effective state controls on the production, processing, distribution, storage and sale of marijuana, abandoning the prohibitionism and the punitive strategies. It is a turning point."

    A letter sent by Mujica's government to lawmakers last year presented the bill.

    The goal, according to the letter, is to create a government-run market that would "contribute to the reduction of risks and potential dangers that people who use marijuana for recreation or medical reasons face."

    Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in Uruguay, and drug traffickers net $30 million to $40 million annually from the black market, the government has said.

    Marijuana use is legal in Uruguay, but production and sale of the drug is not.

    Supporters of the country's legalization measure call that a paradox.

    "The consumption of marijuana has been allowed for 40 years, but it can only be accessed through the narcos, and requires the commission of a crime, in addition to the exposure to other drugs," the Broad Front said in a statement on its website. "We have created a great business for drug trafficking, and that is what we want to start to fight."

    In recent years, legalization measures have gained growing traction among some Latin America leaders amid rising violence many tie to the drug war.

    But drug legalization still has fierce critics. Obama administration officials have repeatedly stressed their opposition to such proposals when they've been floated in other countries.

    Last year, John Walters, who directed the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy from 2001 to 2009, told CNN that decriminalization is "utterly self-defeating" and would cause more crime.

    Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has become an outspoken supporter of marijuana legalization.

    Using military force to fight cartels doesn't work, he argues, but legalization would.

    "With this, we will avoid the violence," Fox told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in May. "We will control the criminals and reduce their income, and at the same time, it would become a transparent, accountable business in the hands of businessmen."


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    http://www.theguardian.com/society/2...rijuana-market

    Uruguay votes to create world's first national legal marijuana market

    Proposals likely to become law, leading to innovative policies at odds with the 'war on drugs' philosophy

    Associated Press in Montevideo
    theguardian.com, Thursday 1 August 2013 00.07 EDT




    Uruguay's unprecedented plan to create a legal marijuana market has taken its critical first step in the lower house of Congress.

    All 50 members of the ruling Broad Front coalition approved the proposal just before midnight on Wednesday in a party line vote, keeping a narrow majority of the 96 MPs present after more than 13 hours of passionate debate.

    The measure now goes to the Senate, where passage is expected to make Uruguay the first country in the world to license and enforce rules for the production, distribution and sale of marijuana for adult consumers.

    Legislators in the ruling coalition said putting the government at the centre of a legal marijuana industry is worth trying because the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure, and displacing illegal dealers through licensed marijuana sales could save money and lives.

    They also hope to eliminate a legal contradiction in Uruguay, where it has been legal to use marijuana but against the law to sell it, buy it, produce it or possess even one plant.

    "Uruguay appears poised, in the weeks ahead, to become the first nation in modern times to create a legal, regulated framework for marijuana," said John Walsh, a drug policy expert at the Washington Office on Latin America. "In doing so, Uruguay will be bravely taking a leading role in establishing and testing a compelling alternative to the prohibitionist paradigm."

    Opponents of the proposal warned that marijuana use led to harder drugs and said fostering the bad habits of users was playing with fire.

    President José Mujica had postponed voting for six months to give supporters more time to rally public opinion. However, recent polls said two-thirds of Uruguayans remained opposed despite a "responsible regulation" campaign for the bill.

    National Party deputy Gerardo Amarilla said the government was underestimating the risk of marijuana, which he called a "gateway drug" for other chemical addictions that foster violent crimes.

    "Ninety-eight percent of those who are today destroying themselves with base cocaine began with marijuana," Amarilla said. "I believe that we're risking too much. I have the sensation that we're playing with fire."

    Dozens of pro-marijuana activists followed the debate from balconies overlooking the house floor, while others outside held signs and danced to reggae music.

    "This law consecrates a reality that already exists: The marijuana sales market has existed for a long time, but illegally, buying it from traffickers, and in having plants in your house for which you can be thrown in jail," said Camilo Collazo, a 25-year-old anthropology student. "We want to put an end to this, to clean up and normalise the situation."

    Mujica said he never consumed marijuana, but that the regulations were necessary because many other people did. "Never in my life did I try it, nor do I have any idea what it is," he told the local radio station Carve.

    The secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, José Miguel Inzulza, told Mujica last week his members had no objections. But Pope Francis said during his visit to Brazil that the "liberalisation of drugs, which is being discussed in several Latin American countries, is not what will reduce the spread of chemical substances".

    Under the legislation, Uruguay's government would license growers, sellers and consumers, and update a confidential registry to keep people from buying more than 40g a month.

    Carrying, growing or selling marijuana without a licence could bring prison terms, but licensed consumers could grow up to six plants at a time at home.

    Growing clubs with up to 45 members each would be encouraged, fostering enough marijuana production to drive out unlicensed dealers and draw a line between marijuana smokers and users of harder drugs.

    The latest proposal "has some adjustments, aimed at strengthening the educational issue and prohibiting driving under the effects of cannabis", ruling coalition deputy Sebastian Sabini said. "There will be self-growing clubs, and it will also be possible to buy marijuana in pharmacies" that is mass-produced by private companies.

    An Institute for Regulation and Control of Cannabis would be created, with the power to grant licences for all aspects of a legal industry to produce marijuana for recreational, medicinal or industrial use.



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    http://www.realfarmacy.com/spain-stu...-side-effects/

    Spain Study Confirms Cannabis Oil Cures Cancer Without Side Effects


    By Mark Sircus Ac., OMD

    The medical science is strongly in favor of THC laden hemp oil as a primary cancer therapy, not just in a supportive role to control the side effects of chemotherapy. The International Medical Verities Association is putting hemp oil on its cancer protocol. It is a prioritized protocol list whose top five items are magnesium chloride, iodine, selenium, Alpha Lipoic Acid and sodium bicarbonate. It makes perfect sense to drop hemp oil right into the middle of this nutritional crossfire of anti cancer medicines, which are all available without prescription.

    Hemp oil has long been recognized as one of the most versatile and beneficial substances known to man. Derived from hemp seeds (a member of the achene family of fruits) it has been regarded as a superfood due to its high essential fatty acid content and the unique ratio of omega3 to omega6 and gamma linolenic acid (GLA) – 2:5:1. Hemp oil, is known to contain up to 5% of pure GLA, a much higher concentration than any other plant, even higher than spirulina. For thousands of years, the hemp plant has been used in elixirs and medicinal teas because of its healing properties and now medical science is zeroing in on the properties of its active substances.

    Both the commercial legal type of hemp oil and the illegal THC laden hemp oil are one of the most power-packed protein sources available in the plant kingdom. Its oil can be used in many nutritional and trans-dermal applications. In other chapters in my Winning the War on Cancer book we will discuss in-depth about GLA and cancer and also the interesting work of Dr. Johanna Budwig. She uses flax seed oil instead of hemp oil to cure cancer – through effecting changes in cell walls – using these omega3 and omega6 laden medicinal oils.

    Actually there is another way to use medical marijuana without smoking the leaf. According to Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya, “The usual irritating and toxic breakdown products of burning utilized with smoking are totally avoided with vaporization. Extraction and inhaling cannabinoid essential oils below ignition temperature of both crude and refined cannabis products affords significant mitigation of irritation to the oral cavity, and tracheobronchial tree from pyrollytic breakdown products.[iii]

    Dr. Mikuriya continues saying “The usual irritating and toxic breakdown products of burning utilized with smoking are totally avoided with vaporization. Extraction and inhaling cannabinoid essential oils below ignition temperature of both crude and refined cannabis products affords significant mitigation of irritation to the oral cavity, and tracheobronchial tree from pyrollytic breakdown products.”

    Rick Simpson, the man in the above mentioned videos, has been making hemp oil and sharing it with friends and neighbors without charging for it. In small doses, he says, it makes you well without getting you high. “Well you can’t deny your own eyes can you?” Simpson asks. “Here’s someone dying of cancer and they’re not dying anymore. I don’t care if the medicine comes from a tomato plant, potato plant or a hemp plant, if the medicine is safe and helps and works, why not use it?” he asks.

    When a person has cancer and is dying this question reaches a critical point. The bravery of Rick Simpson from Canada in showing us how to make hemp oil for ourselves offers many people a hope that should be increasingly appreciated as money dries up for expensive cancer treatments. We are going to need inexpensive medicines in the future and there is nothing better than the ones we can make reasonably cheaply ourselves.

    For most people in the world it is illegal so the choice could come down to breaking the law or dying. There is no research to indicate what advantages oral use of hemp oil vs. vaporization but we can assume that advantage would be nutritional with oral intake. Dr. Budwig Below work would sustain this point of view especially for cancer patients.

    The Science

    According to Dr. Robert Ramer and Dr. Burkhard Hinz of the University of Rostock in Germany medical marijuana can be an effective treatment for cancer.[v] Their research was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access on December 25th of 2007 in a paper entitled Inhibition of Cancer Cell Invasion by Cannabinoids via Increased Expression of Tissue Inhibitor of Matrix Metalloproteinases-1.

    The biggest contribution of this breakthrough discovery, is that the expression of TIMP-1 was shown to be stimulated by cannabinoid receptor activation and to mediate the anti-invasive effect of cannabinoids. Prior to now the cellular mechanisms underlying this effect were unclear and the relevance of the findings to the behavior of tumor cells in vivo remains to be determined.

    Marijuana cuts lung cancer tumor growth in half, a 2007 Harvard Medical School study shows. The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.

    This is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy. THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors.

    “The beauty of this study is that we are showing that a substance of abuse, if used prudently, may offer a new road to therapy against lung cancer,” said Anju Preet, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine. Acting through cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, endocannabinoids (as well as THC) are thought to play a role in variety of biological functions, including pain and anxiety control, and inflammation.

    Researchers reported in the August 15, 2004 issue of Cancer Research, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, that marijuana’s constituents inhibited the spread of brain cancer in human tumor biopsies.[vii] In a related development, a research team from the University of South Florida further noted that THC can also selectively inhibit the activation and replication of gamma herpes viruses. The viruses, which can lie dormant for years within white blood cells before becoming active and spreading to other cells, are thought to increase one’s chances of developing cancers such as Kaposi’s Sarcoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease.

    In 1998, a research team at Madrid’s Complutense University discovered that THC can selectively induce programmed cell death in brain tumor cells without negatively impacting surrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by six weeks.

    Led by Dr. Manuel Guzman the Spanish team announced they had destroyed incurable brain cancer tumors in rats by injecting them with THC. They reported in the March 2002 issue of “Nature Medicine” that they injected the brains of 45 rats with cancer cells, producing tumors whose presence they confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On the 12th day they injected 15 of the rats with THC and 15 with Win-55,212-2 a synthetic compound similar to THC.

    Researchers at the University of Milan in Naples, Italy, reported in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics that non-psychoactive compounds in marijuana inhibited the growth of glioma cells in a dose-dependent manner, and selectively targeted and killed malignant cells through apoptosis. “Non-psychoactive CBD produce[s] a significant anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo, thus suggesting a possible application of CBD as an antineoplastic agent.”

    The first experiment documenting pot’s anti-tumor effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at the behest of the U.S. government. The results of that study, reported in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, were that marijuana’s psychoactive component, THC, “slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”

    Funded by the National Institute of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice — lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia. The DEA quickly shut down the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research even though the researchers “found that THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”

    “Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids,” an article in a 1975 Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports, “Lewis lung adenocarcinoma growth was retarded by the oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinol (CBN)” — two types of cannabinoids, a family of active components in marijuana. “Mice treated for 20 consecutive days with THC and CBN had reduced primary tumor size.”

    Marijuana relieves pain that narcotics like morphine and OxyContin have hardly any effect on, and could help ease suffering from illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes and cancer.

    According to Devra Davis in her book Secret History of the War on Cancer, 1.5 million lives have been lost because Americans failed to act on existing knowledge about the environmental causes of cancer. It is impossible to calculate the added deaths from suppressed ‘cancer cures’ but we do know of the terrible suffering of hundreds of thousands of people who have been jailed for marijuana use.

    Hemp oil with THC included has the making of a primary cancer treatment, which even alone seems to have a great chance of turning the tide against cancer tumors. It has the added advantage of safety, ease of use, lack of side effects and low cost if one makes it oneself. Surrounded by other medicinal anti-cancer substances in a full protocol it’s hard to imagine anyone failing and falling in their war on cancer.

    THC should be included in every cancer protocol.

    Sodium bicarbonate is another excellent anti tumor substance that reduces tumors but is much more difficult to administer than THC hemp oil. Cannabinoids are able to pass through all barriers in the body like Alpha Lipoic Acid so simple oral intake is sufficient. With bicarbonate we need intravenous applications and often even this is not sufficient, often we have to use catheters and few doctors in the world are willing to administer this way.

    In the end all cancer treatments that are not promoted by mainstream oncology are illegal. No licensed doctor is going to claim that are curing cancer with sodium bicarbonate though they will treat people with cancer explaining they are balancing pH or some other metabolic profile with this common emergency room medicine found also most kitchens of the world. More than several states have passed laws making medical marijuana legal but the federal government will not relax and let people be free to choose their treatments even if their lives depend on it.

    Davis notes that the cowardice of research scientists, who publish thoroughly referenced reports but pull their punches at the end, by claiming that more research needs to be done before action can be taken. Statements like these are exploited by industry that buys time to make much more money. It is a deliberate attempt that creates wholesale public doubt from small data gaps and remaining scientific uncertainties.

    They have done that with everything right up to and including sunlight. Everything is thought to be dangerous except the pharmaceutical drugs which are the most dangerous substances of all. Stomach wrenching chemotherapy and the death principle of radiation are legal yet safe THC laden hemp oil is not.

    It is legal for doctors to attack people with their poisons but you can go to jail for trying to save yourself or a loved one from cancer with the oil of a simple garden weed. Our civilization has put up with this insanity but there is a great price being paid. In a mad medical world people die that need not and this is a terrible sadness that has destroyed the integrity and ethics of modern medicine.

    The science for the use of hemp oil is credible, specific fact-based, and is documented in detail. There is absolutely no reason to not legalize medical marijuana and create an immediate production and distribution of THC hemp oil to cancer patients. Unfortunately we live in a world populated with governments and medical henchmen who would rather see people die cruel deaths then have access to a safe and effect cancer drug.

    Meanwhile the Food and Drug Administration approved Genentech’s best-selling drug, Avastin, as a treatment for breast cancer, in a decision, according to the New York Times, “that appeared to lower the threshold somewhat for approval of certain cancer drugs. The big question was whether it was enough for a drug temporarily to stop cancer from worsening — as Avastin had done in a clinical trial — or was it necessary for a drug to enable patients to live longer, which Avastin had failed to do. Oncologists and patient advocates were divided, in part because of the drug’s sometimes severe side effects.”

    The differences between Avastin and hemp oil are huge. First Avastin will earn Genentech hundreds of millions where THC hemp oil will earn no one anything. Second there are no severe or even mild side effects to taking hemp oil and lastly it is not a temporary answer but a real solution. Certainly hemp oil will ensure a longer life.

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    http://www.realfarmacy.com/marijuana...i5ix82WQG3.99o

    Marijuana cannabinoids slow brain degradation and aging, reverse dementia


    The human brain contains an extensive network of special receptor sites that modulate nervous system function only when activated by the appropriate cannabinoid compounds, many of which are found in abundance in the marijuana plant. And emerging research continues to uncover the unique role these cannabinoids play in protecting brain function, which in turn helps deter the aging process and even reverse the damaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia and cognitive abnormality.

    One of the latest discoveries concerning cannabinoids involves their ability to act as antioxidants in the brain. Researchers from Germany found that the brain’s cannabinoid system is fully capable of not only cleansing damaged brain cells from the brain, but also triggering the production of new brain cells within the brain, a concept that contradicts years of conventional thinking about how the brain works. Cannabinoids also supercharge mitochondria in the brain, which are the powerhouses of energy that maintain proper cell function.

    Published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, these discoveries shed new insight on how natural marijuana cannabinoids hold the capacity to literally quell the brain inflammation responsible for causing cognitive decline, neural failure, and brain degeneration. By supplying these receptor sites with cannabinoids, patients may be able to overcome brain conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and many other conditions, not to mention premature brain aging, all conditions for which modern science has failed to find real solutions.

    “I’ve been trying to find a drug that will reduce brain inflammation and restore cognitive function in rats for over 25 years; cannabinoids are the first and only class of drugs that have ever been effective,” said Gary Wenk, a professor of neuroscience, immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State University (OSU) who helped with the research. “I think that the perception about this drug is changing and in the future people will be less fearful,” he added, referencing the fact that marijuana is still viewed mostly negatively by many people.


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    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...97409R20130805


    Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans

    (Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

    Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges.

    The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to "recreate" the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence - information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses.

    "I have never heard of anything like this at all," said Nancy Gertner, a Harvard Law School professor who served as a federal judge from 1994 to 2011. Gertner and other legal experts said the program sounds more troubling than recent disclosures that the National Security Agency has been collecting domestic phone records. The NSA effort is geared toward stopping terrorists; the DEA program targets common criminals, primarily drug dealers.

    "It is one thing to create special rules for national security," Gertner said. "Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations."

    THE SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION

    The unit of the DEA that distributes the information is called the Special Operations Division, or SOD. Two dozen partner agencies comprise the unit, including the FBI, CIA, NSA, Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security. It was created in 1994 to combat Latin American drug cartels and has grown from several dozen employees to several hundred.

    Today, much of the SOD's work is classified, and officials asked that its precise location in Virginia not be revealed. The documents reviewed by Reuters are marked "Law Enforcement Sensitive," a government categorization that is meant to keep them confidential.

    "Remember that the utilization of SOD cannot be revealed or discussed in any investigative function," a document presented to agents reads. The document specifically directs agents to omit the SOD's involvement from investigative reports, affidavits, discussions with prosecutors and courtroom testimony. Agents are instructed to then use "normal investigative techniques to recreate the information provided by SOD."

    A spokesman with the Department of Justice, which oversees the DEA, declined to comment.

    But two senior DEA officials defended the program, and said trying to "recreate" an investigative trail is not only legal but a technique that is used almost daily.

    A former federal agent in the northeastern United States who received such tips from SOD described the process. "You'd be told only, ‘Be at a certain truck stop at a certain time and look for a certain vehicle.' And so we'd alert the state police to find an excuse to stop that vehicle, and then have a drug dog search it," the agent said.

    "PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION"

    After an arrest was made, agents then pretended that their investigation began with the traffic stop, not with the SOD tip, the former agent said. The training document reviewed by Reuters refers to this process as "parallel construction."

    The two senior DEA officials, who spoke on behalf of the agency but only on condition of anonymity, said the process is kept secret to protect sources and investigative methods. "Parallel construction is a law enforcement technique we use every day," one official said. "It's decades old, a bedrock concept."

    A dozen current or former federal agents interviewed by Reuters confirmed they had used parallel construction during their careers. Most defended the practice; some said they understood why those outside law enforcement might be concerned.

    "It's just like laundering money - you work it backwards to make it clean," said Finn Selander, a DEA agent from 1991 to 2008 and now a member of a group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which advocates legalizing and regulating narcotics.

    Some defense lawyers and former prosecutors said that using "parallel construction" may be legal to establish probable cause for an arrest. But they said employing the practice as a means of disguising how an investigation began may violate pretrial discovery rules by burying evidence that could prove useful to criminal defendants.

    A QUESTION OF CONSTITUTIONALITY

    "That's outrageous," said Tampa attorney James Felman, a vice chairman of the criminal justice section of the American Bar Association. "It strikes me as indefensible."

    Lawrence Lustberg, a New Jersey defense lawyer, said any systematic government effort to conceal the circumstances under which cases begin "would not only be alarming but pretty blatantly unconstitutional."

    Lustberg and others said the government's use of the SOD program skirts established court procedures by which judges privately examine sensitive information, such as an informant's identity or classified evidence, to determine whether the information is relevant to the defense.

    "You can't game the system," said former federal prosecutor Henry E. Hockeimer Jr. "You can't create this subterfuge. These are drug crimes, not national security cases. If you don't draw the line here, where do you draw it?"

    Some lawyers say there can be legitimate reasons for not revealing sources. Robert Spelke, a former prosecutor who spent seven years as a senior DEA lawyer, said some sources are classified. But he also said there are few reasons why unclassified evidence should be concealed at trial.

    "It's a balancing act, and they've doing it this way for years," Spelke said. "Do I think it's a good way to do it? No, because now that I'm a defense lawyer, I see how difficult it is to challenge."

    CONCEALING A TIP

    One current federal prosecutor learned how agents were using SOD tips after a drug agent misled him, the prosecutor told Reuters. In a Florida drug case he was handling, the prosecutor said, a DEA agent told him the investigation of a U.S. citizen began with a tip from an informant. When the prosecutor pressed for more information, he said, a DEA supervisor intervened and revealed that the tip had actually come through the SOD and from an NSA intercept.

    "I was pissed," the prosecutor said. "Lying about where the information came from is a bad start if you're trying to comply with the law because it can lead to all kinds of problems with discovery and candor to the court." The prosecutor never filed charges in the case because he lost confidence in the investigation, he said.

    A senior DEA official said he was not aware of the case but said the agent should not have misled the prosecutor. How often such misdirection occurs is unknown, even to the government; the DEA official said the agency does not track what happens with tips after the SOD sends them to agents in the field.

    The SOD's role providing information to agents isn't itself a secret. It is briefly mentioned by the DEA in budget documents, albeit without any reference to how that information is used or represented when cases go to court.

    The DEA has long publicly touted the SOD's role in multi-jurisdictional and international investigations, connecting agents in separate cities who may be unwittingly investigating the same target and making sure undercover agents don't accidentally try to arrest each other.

    SOD'S BIG SUCCESSES

    The unit also played a major role in a 2008 DEA sting in Thailand against Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; he was sentenced in 2011 to 25 years in prison on charges of conspiring to sell weapons to the Colombian rebel group FARC. The SOD also recently coordinated Project Synergy, a crackdown against manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of synthetic designer drugs that spanned 35 states and resulted in 227 arrests.

    Since its inception, the SOD's mandate has expanded to include narco-terrorism, organized crime and gangs. A DEA spokesman declined to comment on the unit's annual budget. A recent LinkedIn posting on the personal page of a senior SOD official estimated it to be $125 million.

    Today, the SOD offers at least three services to federal, state and local law enforcement agents: coordinating international investigations such as the Bout case; distributing tips from overseas NSA intercepts, informants, foreign law enforcement partners and domestic wiretaps; and circulating tips from a massive database known as DICE.

    The DICE database contains about 1 billion records, the senior DEA officials said. The majority of the records consist of phone log and Internet data gathered legally by the DEA through subpoenas, arrests and search warrants nationwide. Records are kept for about a year and then purged, the DEA officials said.

    About 10,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agents have access to the DICE database, records show. They can query it to try to link otherwise disparate clues. Recently, one of the DEA officials said, DICE linked a man who tried to smuggle $100,000 over the U.S. southwest border to a major drug case on the East Coast.

    "We use it to connect the dots," the official said.

    "AN AMAZING TOOL"

    Wiretap tips forwarded by the SOD usually come from foreign governments, U.S. intelligence agencies or court-authorized domestic phone recordings. Because warrantless eavesdropping on Americans is illegal, tips from intelligence agencies are generally not forwarded to the SOD until a caller's citizenship can be verified, according to one senior law enforcement official and one former U.S. military intelligence analyst.

    "They do a pretty good job of screening, but it can be a struggle to know for sure whether the person on a wiretap is American," the senior law enforcement official said.

    Tips from domestic wiretaps typically occur when agents use information gleaned from a court-ordered wiretap in one case to start a second investigation.

    As a practical matter, law enforcement agents said they usually don't worry that SOD's involvement will be exposed in court. That's because most drug-trafficking defendants plead guilty before trial and therefore never request to see the evidence against them. If cases did go to trial, current and former agents said, charges were sometimes dropped to avoid the risk of exposing SOD involvement.

    Current and former federal agents said SOD tips aren't always helpful - one estimated their accuracy at 60 percent. But current and former agents said tips have enabled them to catch drug smugglers who might have gotten away.

    "It was an amazing tool," said one recently retired federal agent. "Our big fear was that it wouldn't stay secret."

    DEA officials said that the SOD process has been reviewed internally. They declined to provide Reuters with a copy of their most recent review.


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    34 Sourced, Peer-Reviewed Medical Studies Proving Marijuana Cures Cancer


    Cures Brain Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11479216

    http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v9.../6603236a.html

    http://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/17/6475.abstract

    http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/conten...3/838.abstract

    http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/10/1/90.abstract

    Cures Mouth and Throat Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20516734

    Cures Breast Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20859676

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18025276

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21915267

    http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/conten....full.pdf+html

    http://www.molecular-cancer.com/content/9/1/196

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22776349

    http://www.pnas.org/content/95/14/8375.full.pdf+html

    Cures Lung Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...?dopt=Abstract

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...?dopt=Abstract

    http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/v2.../1210641a.html

    Cures Uterine, Testicular, and Pancreatic Cancers

    http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/p...essional/page4

    http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/co.../6748.abstract

    Cures Prostate Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...?dopt=Abstract

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...5/?tool=pubmed

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22594963

    Cures Colorectal Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22231745

    Cures Ovarian Cancer

    http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/...ct/2006/1/1084

    Cures Blood Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12091357

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16908594

    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...23584/abstract

    http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/co.../1612.abstract

    Cures Skin Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12511587

    Cures Liver Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475304

    Cures Biliary Tract Cancer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19916793

    Cures Bladder Cancer

    http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/803983 (Sign-up required to view study)

    Cures Cancer in General

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12514108

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15313899

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15313899

    About the Author

    MICHAEL TAILLARD, professional economist, published author and board member of NORML Nebraska.

    Source:

    http://beforeitsnews.com/health/2013...r-2500078.html

  7. #287
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    What's the proper delivery source on the cures Hardrock?
    Some say orally, some say with oil, do any say by smoking?
    These reports are everywhere these days and it's almost like diet books, they all seem to contradict each other.
    I believe there's something to it after seeing it repeatedly, but it would be better if all these sources were on the same page, because who's being helped if they aren't?
    Hey Jackass! You need to [Register] or log in to view signatures on ROTHARMY.COM!

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    Hey Jackass! You need to [Register] or log in to view signatures on ROTHARMY.COM!

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    I could not say what the delivery method is for every case. But bear in mind that smoking it only gives you a max of 10 to 20 % of the THC in the plant. Eating pot gives you much more of the full percentage, as it is not being burned up by fire.

    That is awesome about the seizures. Big Pharma could not do fucking shit, but some THC oil extract reduced her seizure count from 300 a week to ONE.
    Last edited by Hardrock69; 08-15-2013 at 10:12 PM.

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    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/15...abis-medicine/


    Ireland To Legalize Cannabis Medicine
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 15, 2013

    Ireland will join a number of other EU countries by allowing cannabis medicine to be prescribed by doctors, reports The Irish Times.

    The new regulations are expected to be introduced later this year.

    Alex White, Minister of State at the Department of Health, submitted the proposals, which would amend current restrictions on cannabis to allow “a newly authorised medicinal product containing cannabis extract to be prescribed, supplied and used by patients”

    The proposal refers to an oral spray made by the British company GW Pharmaceuticals.

    “The product Sativex (nabiximols) has been authorised in other EU member states for the relief of symptoms of spasticity in multiple sclerosis.”

    Sativex is already approved in over 20 countries worldwide.

    In a surprising turn of events, the proposals also impose harsher restrictions on certain prescription drugs, including tranquilizers like benzodiazepines. These dangerous, legal pharmaceuticals have become increasingly popular on the black market.

    The Department of Health is asking for the public’s opinion on the new plans.

    Earlier this year, the Irish Medicines Board voiced its support for the approval of Sativex.

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    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/14...emp-in-mexico/

    Push For Legal Marijuana, Hemp In Mexico
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 14, 2013

    Next month, Mexican officials will debate the benefits of legalizing marijuana in the capital city.

    The conversation will include a bill introduced in June by the leftwing party of Mexico City’s mayor Miguel Mancera to allow possession of up to 25 grams of marijuana as well as personal cultivation.

    Although mainly aimed at legalizing medical use, it would also benefit recreational users and allow private cannabis clubs to be established.

    Possession of up to 5 grams is currently permitted under a 2009 amendment to Mexican law, but production and distribution are not.

    Mexico City Deputy Vidal Llerenas Morales told Sin Embargo that he supports the reform.

    “Most marijuana consumers aren’t addicts. They aren’t criminals. They are functional people.”
    However, the laws would violate international drug treaties set out by the United Nations which strictly prohibit marijuana, Fernando Gomez-Mont, former interior minister of President Felipe Calderón, told IPS News.

    “Several countries have questioned the drug control treaties for health reasons. This creates tension for the operation of the U.N. conventions.”
    According to IPS News, at least eight initiatives presented to Mexico’s Congress and state legislatures since 2007 have outlined plans to decriminalize marijuana. Three of them included industrial hemp.

    Interested investors like agricultural businessman Guillermo Torreslanda believe thousands of jobs could be created in new industries if Mexico were to join the more than 30 countries that currently produce hemp.

    “We must legalise it. We could copy what has been done elsewhere and adapt it to conditions here.”
    Hemp is not restricted by U.N. treaties but – like the U.S. – Mexican law prohibits cultivation of the crop, although hemp is currently imported and used to make a variety of products, including rope, textiles and food.

    Worldwide hemp production has risen by more than 50% over the past decade, according to recent reports.


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    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/1...ijuana-patent/

    ‘This is hypocrisy’: Sanjay Gupta tells Anderson Cooper about the federal medical marijuana patent
    By Arturo Garcia
    Wednesday, August 14, 2013 8:14 EDT


    CNN contributor Dr. Sanjay Gupta followed up on his reversal of course regarding medical marijuana in an interview with Anderson Cooper on Tuesday by slamming federal policy regarding medical marijuana.

    “The U.S. holds a patent [on marijuana] on one hand, and on the other hand, same government says it has no medical applications,” Gupta told Cooper. “Journalists are trained to hate hypocrisy. This is hypocrisy. I’ve never seen it quite like this.”

    The Department of Health and Human Services, Gupta explained, holds a patent on medical marijuana as “a protectant for the brain, giving voice to an argument made by medical marijuana proponents. The pro-marijuana site Weedist reported in May 2013 that the patent states that, “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.”

    Gupta, who issued a public apology on Aug. 7 for taking part in medical misinformation regarding the drug, also empathized with the argument that it should be kept out of the hands of minors.

    “I don’t want kids taking this stuff,” Gupta told Cooper. “I don’t want anybody whose brain hasn’t fully developed — which usually is the mid-20s — taking this stuff. It’s not about this. But the trade-off shouldn’t be, because of those concerns, [that] we will then deny people therapy that may be the only therapy that works for them.”

    Watch Gupta renew his defense of medical marijuana, aired Tuesday on CNN, below.

    http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/vi...-drug.cnn.html


  14. #294
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    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/08...ing-marijuana/

    South Africa To Consider Legalizing Marijuana
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 8, 2013


    Could South Africa be the next country after Uruguay to legalize marijuana? It’s possible, according to iol News, which reported on Wednesday that the country’s National Drug Master Plan has called for an in-depth study on the need for decriminalizing or legalizing the substance.

    Implemented in late June by the Central Drug Authority – South Africa’s drug advisory board – the CDA describes the Master Plan as the “country’s blueprint for preventing and reducing alcohol and substance abuse and its associated social and economic consequences on South African society.” The Plan is set to run until 2017.

    Marijuana, which is called ‘dagga’ in South Africa, is “well known” to be the second most common “dependence-forming” substance in South Africa, according to the Plan.

    It also states – since the last research paper presented 3 years ago – political opinion on marijuana has loosened in South Africa and other countries worldwide, warranting another investigation on marijuana policy.

    Earlier this week, Gareth Newham, Head of crime and justice at the country’s Institute for Security Studies told iol News that harsh drug policies haven’t been working.

    “We have to change our approach… and stop doing what’s proved to fail.”
    With Uruguay leading the way, it seems like countries around the world are starting to realize that a softer approach to drugs may be the ultimate solution to the problems prohibition has failed to fix.


  15. #295
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    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/15...nual-hempfest/


    Seattle Police Will Hand Out Free Chips At Annual Hempfest
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 15, 2013

    Washington’s capital city will host the world’s largest marijuana rally this weekend. And free Doritos will be provided, courtesy of the Seattle Police Department.

    For the first time since 1991, Hempfest goers will be lighting up legally. Likewise, police officers are taking the opportunity to inform them of the details of new rules set out by I-502.

    The chips will come with labels that summarize the laws and provide a link to the department’s infamous “Marijwhatnow?” FAQ, which outlines exactly what’s legal and what’s not.

    Seattle Police Department spokesman Sergeant Sean Whitcomb told The Stranger that he expects the free Doritos will be received warmly as well as serve a good purpose.

    “Distributing salty snacks at a festival celebrating hemp, I think, is deliberately ironic enough that people will accept them in good humor… We want to make sure people learn the rules and that they respect the vote.”
    Approximately 1,000 chip bags will be ready for hand out.

    Under laws that were passed last November, Washington residents over the age of 18 can possess up to one ounce of marijuana – for personal use. Stores will require a license from the state in order to sell.


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    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/09...ize-marijuana/

    Liberal Party Launches Petition To Legalize Marijuana
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 9, 2013

    TruthOnPot.com – Three weeks after Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s comments about legalizing marijuana sparked a nationwide debate, the Party has officially launched an online petition calling for an end to marijuana prohibition.

    A link to the petition along with a simple message that states “Prohibition isn’t working” appeared on the Party’s Facebook page on Friday.

    Although the Liberals face opposition from both the NDP and the Conservatives on their progressive pot stance, they make a good case for legalization that many Canadians can relate to.

    The petition’s web page argues that keeping marijuana illegal is “costly and unsafe” and has cost taxpayers over $500 million since 2006. Stephen Harper’s war on drugs, they say, is a failure that has landed ordinary Canadians in jail.

    “Stephen Harper keeps fighting a failed war on drugs that has resulted in more than 475,000 Canadians being arrested on marijuana-related charges… Liberals believe in a smart on crime approach, targeting real criminals instead of ordinary Canadians.”

    You can sign the online petition at petition.liberal.ca


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    This is for Ash and Panamark (wherever he is):

    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/09...-use-cannabis/

    In Australia, Fun People Are More Likely To Use Cannabis
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 9, 2013

    It seems like government scientists are running out of steam in their anti-marijuana efforts, judging by the latest report from Australia’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC).

    Published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the study suggests your chance of using cannabis during your twenties can be predicted by how much fun you are.

    Specifically, researchers found that “fun seeking” young adults were more likely to use cannabis than their peers. Fun seeking was measured using the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) scale – according to which, sensation seeking and being impulsive makes you more fun.

    On the flip side, being religious offered “protection” from becoming a cannabis user, according to the authors, who drew the conclusions from a pool of over 2,000 participants.

    Interestingly, the point that seemed to draw most of the attention: Alcohol and tobacco users were more likely to end up using marijuana as well.

    Wait, which one is the gateway drug again?


  18. #298
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    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/13...d-study-finds/

    Marijuana Saves Lives On Road, Study Finds
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 13, 2013

    Are legal limits for marijuana necessary? Maybe not. Research out of the U.S. now shows that discouraging drivers from smoking pot may actually do more harm than good.

    Published in the Journal of Law and Economics, the study found that states that legalized marijuana experienced a significant drop in fatal traffic accidents after laws were passed.

    Daniel Rees, a University of Colorado economist and co-author of the new study, told the Boston Globe that providing marijuana as a legal alternative to alcohol may have had a role in saving lives. The drop in fatalities was more noticeable in one group known for drinking and driving: Young men between 20 to 40.

    “The uncomfortable conclusion is that you’d rather have young adults smoking marijuana instead of drinking alcohol… But that’s where the logic takes us.”

    Even when all groups were considered, states that passed marijuana laws still showed an 8 to 11 per cent drop in deaths within the following year. By the fourth year, the reduction in traffic fatalities reached 10 to 13 per cent.

    But whether marijuana can actually impair driving is still up for debate. The authors of the latest study warn – while marijuana seems to make drivers more cautious – it may still alter other aspects of driving.

    However, when it comes to alcohol verses marijuana, experts all agree on one important point: Alcohol is far more dangerous for drivers than pot.

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    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Leb...#axzz2aqUduuTO


    Cannabis gets tacit green light in Lebanon – for now
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 7, 2013

    BOUDAI/YAMMOUNEH, Lebanon: The special bond that residents of the long-neglected Baalbek-Hermel area have with the cannabis plant – whose female buds they transform into top-grade hashish – is no secret.

    The bond is so strong that farmers are willing to challenge the state and dominant parties or even kill to preserve their precious crops.

    “In the absence of alternatives, we will break the hands and legs of anyone who dares destroy our crops,” one of the region’s biggest cannabis cultivators, Ali Nasri Shamas, told The Daily Star.

    Defiantly, the modern-day desperado said cultivators would “kill” the Army and security forces if there was ever a crackdown on cannabis fields.

    Last year, armed to the teeth with rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, farmers warded off bulldozers employed by the state to raze the illegal plantations. The clashes stopped only after the government promised the farmers financial compensation, which was never paid after the Finance Ministry announced it lacked funds to carry out the plan.

    “We will not be gentle with them [the security forces] like we usually are,” added Shamas, who is wanted on several arrest warrants, including on a charge of attacking the Army. “It will be a full-blown war if necessary.”

    Although the topic of fighting drug cultivation was on the agenda of the Higher Defense Council earlier this week, political and security sources confirmed that the authorities would turn a blind eye to the practice over the next couple of months.

    The sources cited the fragile security situation and the government’s inability to provide decent compensation to the farmers as reasons behind a decision to postpone cannabis field destruction sprees for the time being.

    A tacit agreement to momentarily freeze the policy came after a meeting early last month between key officials in the caretaker government and a delegation of municipal officials from the Baalbek-Hermel region, the sources added. The meeting was not disclosed to the media.

    “The Army is exhausted by the roving security incidents and the farmers are poor and angry,” said a political source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Everyone wants to avoid a major confrontation with the military. No one wants carnage.”

    Once a thriving multi-billion-dollar business, cannabis cultivation was targeted by the government in the early 1990s due to international pressure. Since then state bulldozers and plows have carried out yearly eradication campaigns that often generate violent clashes with the farmers. Government promises to introduce alternative crops have yet to materialize in any serious way.

    But despite the crackdown, unyielding cultivators have not stopped growing cannabis, even devising a cunning system to conceal the plants within corn and tobacco fields.

    Some, like Shamas – a notorious member of Baalbek-Hermel’s “tuffar” movement, a group of lawless individuals who largely reject state authority – are outspoken about the issue and argue they have no reason to hide the plants.

    These days, the road linking the city of Baalbek to the villages of Boudai and Yammouneh is lined with dark green cannabis fields, a sign the sector is flourishing.

    Shamas dubbed this year’s cannabis crop, due to be harvested in October, as “wonderful.”

    “We moved from 5,000 dunums of cannabis-cultivated land to 45,000 dunums,” he disclosed, adding that there was no shortage in drug dealers who buy the hashish at good prices and smuggle it abroad to destinations such as Egypt, Turkey and Europe.

    Crop substitution programs devised by the Agriculture Ministry in coordination with the United Nations and other international organizations have failed to yield positive results and so have had little sway with farmers.

    Abu Asaad, a cannabis farmer in Yammouneh, said he was not pleased with his status as an outlaw. “But we have no other choice,” he confided. “Our region is highly poor and neglected and I prefer planting cannabis to turning into a bandit or a car thief.”

    Abu Asaad and Shamas mocked the programs implemented by the Agriculture Ministry over the years to secure alternative crops and accused the state of entrenched corruption.

    “It’s high time international donors realize that their money is not spent to devise tangible agricultural policies, but rather goes straight to the pockets of officials,” Abu Asaad said. “Eradication campaigns are carried out at our expense and used to secure more funds, which will surely be embezzled.”

    Even caretaker Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan, a member of the dominant political party in Baalbek and Hermel, Hezbollah, does not escape criticism.

    “He wants us to raise goats instead of growing cannabis,” Shamas said, in reference to one proposal by Hajj Hasan to gradually introduce cattle production to replace cannabis. “We will not go backward to being peasants.”

    Farmers also complained that their suggestions for practical substitute crops have all been neglected by Hajj Hasan and his predecessors.

    Shamas said easing restrictions on licenses to grow tobacco was a possible way to end cannabis cultivation.

    “They can spare us their [Agriculture Ministry] expertise,” said Abu Asaad. “If they offer us low-cost water for irrigation by buildings dams, we’ll be able to grow wheat and barley instead of cannabis.”

    The farmers also accused powerful groups such as Hezbollah and the Amal Movement of conspiring to keep people dependent on them. Arguing that Hezbollah and Amal were “partners in the crime,” Shamas said farmers would no longer be intimidated by the two parties.

    “When you have enough money to enroll your kids in school and ensure health care for your family, you won’t be forced to become a member of a political party to win some favors,” Shamas said. “Hezbollah and Amal don’t want us to be self-sufficient. They want to keep the people of Baalbek and Hermel at their mercy.”

    Until solutions are found, farmers and authorities appear confident that a cannabis-related drama will be dodged for at least the next couple of months.

    Shamas believes that raising the issue of cannabis eradication during the recent meeting of the Higher Defense Council was a “ploy” by the authorities to demonstrate to the international community that they were still exerting efforts in the field.

    The political source echoed Shamas’ logic, stressing that all groups were looking to avert a crisis.

    “The [police and Army] might destroy a small plot of land where cannabis is grown in the next few weeks just to demonstrate that they have not dropped the ball on the matter, but I totally rule out a large-scale campaign,” the source said.

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    http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/04...ince-80s-poll/


    Marijuana Support Grows, Despite Decline In Use Since ’80s
    By TruthOnPot.com on August 4, 2013


    Here’s some surprising news: Marijuana use isn’t more common today than it was in the 1980s, according to the latest Gallup poll. Released on Friday, the figures show despite a dramatic rise in support for marijuana legalization, use of the drug has leveled off since peaking over 20 years ago.

    Interestingly, the number of young adults who report experimenting with marijuana has “progressively declined” – dropping from 56% in 1985 to 36% in 2013.

    And while past use across all age groups showed a slight increase over the last decade, the poll found that current users make up only 7% of the entire U.S. population, which Gallup stated was “quite low” on “an absolute basis.”

    Overall, the polling group concluded the upward trend in marijuana use which began in the 1970s has “tapered off considerably” in recent years. At the same time, support for legalization has been on a steady rise.

    “Americans’ support for legalizing marijuana has grown markedly in the past two decades… While this might leave the impression that increasing numbers of Americans are using marijuana recreationally, Gallup finds no such surge in Americans’ self-reported experience with the drug.”

    Maybe it’s time we accept the fact that support for legalization has nothing to do with using the drug. In fact, there are many different explanations for why 50% of Americans now think marijuana prohibition should end. But as the latest Gallup figures show, a ‘nation of potheads’ definitely isn’t one of them.

    Over the past two decades, the rise in marijuana use among the U.S. population has leveled off significantly


    Support for marijuana legalization has trended upwards at an increasing rate since Gallup first polled the public in 1969, reaching a record-high of 50% in 2011





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    Yes, I saw that.

    Der Gestapo do not have much to do these days it seems.

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    Eric Holder Says DOJ Will Let Washington, Colorado Marijuana Laws Go Into Effect

    WASHINGTON -- The United States government took a historic step back from its long-running drug war on Thursday, when Attorney General Eric Holder informed the governors of Washington and Colorado that the Department of Justice would allow the states to create a regime that would regulate and implement the ballot initiatives that legalized the use of marijuana for adults.

    A Justice Department official said that Holder told the governors in a joint phone call early Thursday afternoon that the department would take a "trust but verify approach" to the state laws. DOJ is reserving its right to file a preemption lawsuit at a later date, since the states' regulation of marijuana is illegal under the Controlled Substances Act.

    Deputy Attorney General James Cole also issued a three-and-a-half page memo to U.S. attorneys across the country. "The Department's guidance in this memorandum rests on its expectation that states and local governments that have enacted laws authorizing marijuana-related conduct will implement strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems that will address the threat those state laws could pose to public safety, public health and other law enforcement interests," it reads. "A system adequate to that task must not only contain robust controls and procedures on paper; it must also be effective in practice."

    The memo also outlines eight priorities for federal prosecutors enforcing marijuana laws. According to the guidance, DOJ will still prosecute individuals or entities to prevent:

    the distribution of marijuana to minors;
    revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels;
    the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states;
    state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity;
    violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana
    drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use;
    growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands;
    preventing marijuana possession or use on federal property.

    The eight high-priority areas leave prosecutors bent on targeting marijuana businesses with a fair amount of leeway, especially the exception for "adverse public health consequences." And prosecutors have shown a willingness to aggressively interpret DOJ guidance in the past, as the many medical marijuana dispensary owners now behind bars can attest.

    U.S. Attorneys will individually be responsible for interpreting the guidelines and how they apply to a case they intend to prosecute. A Justice Department official said, for example, that a U.S Attorney could go after marijuana distributors who used cartoon characters in their marketing because that could be interpreted as attempting to distribute marijuana to minors.

    But the official stressed that the guidance was not optional, and that prosecutors would no longer be allowed to use the sheer volume of sales or the for-profit status of an operation as triggers for prosecution, though these factors could still affect their prosecutorial decisions.

    The Obama administration has struggled with the legalization of medical marijuana in several states. Justice Department Officials had instructed federal prosecutors across the country not to focus federal resources on individuals who were complying with state laws regarding the use of medical marijuana. But the U.S. attorneys in several states that had legalized medical marijuana rebelled, and what was known as the Ogden memo faced stiff resistance from career prosecutors.

    "That's just not what they do,” one former Justice official told HuffPost. “They prosecute people."

    As a result of the internal pushback at DOJ, a new memo was issued by Deputy Attorney General James Cole in 2011 that gave U.S. attorneys more cover to go after medical marijuana distributors. Federal prosecutors began threatening local government officials with prosecution if they went forward with legislation regulating medical cannabis.

    After recreational marijuana initiatives passed in Washington and Colorado in November, President Barack Obama said the federal government had “bigger fish to fry” and would not make going after marijuana users a priority.

    Holder said back in December that the federal response to the passage of the state ballot measures would be coming “relatively soon.”

    Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson told HuffPost his office was preparing for the “worst-case scenario” of a federal lawsuit against the law.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3837034.html

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    So it looks like the "war on weed" is over..... at least in states which passed their own laws with the people saying they want it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    So it looks like the "war on weed" is over..... at least in states which passed their own laws with the people saying they want it.
    I'm not sure. There always seems to be another shoe to drop when things go as easy as this.
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    Well.... if everybody's busy getting baked, they can't protest the new impending war in Syria. Maybe that has something to do with it?

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    I doubt it. Syria is going to get the green light for all out war. Problem with Syria is there is no resource the U.S. can exploit except for maybe cheap human slave labor. That won't be for years off.

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    This is an historic day for cannabis users.

    It is an historic day for our nation.

    The Department Of Justice (the lap dog of whoever the current administration is) is saying "If the people of your state vote to make something law....we will not interfere". That is a definite move towards tolerance, and allowing some personal freedom....in an era when our personal freedom is being stripped away....

    Happy day.

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    Nickdfresh (08-30-2013)


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    Complete memorandum issued today:



    August 29, 2013

    MEMORANDUM FOR ALL UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS

    FROM: James M. Cole
    Deputy Attorney General

    SUBJECT: Guidance Regarding Marijuana Enforcement

    In October 2009 and June 2011, the Department issued guidance to federal prosecutors concerning marijuana enforcement under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This memorandum updates that guidance in light of state ballot initiatives that legalize under state law the possession of small amounts of marijuana and provide for the regulation of marijuana production, processing, and sale. The guidance set forth herein applies to all federal enforcement activity, including civil enforcement and criminal investigations and prosecutions, concerning marijuana in all states.

    As the Department noted in its previous guidance, Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime that provides a significant source of revenue to large-scale criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels. The Department of Justice is committed to enforcement of the CSA consistent with those determinations. The Department is also committed to using its limited investigative and prosecutorial resources to address the most significant threats in the most effective, consistent, and rational way. In furtherance of those objectives, as several states enacted laws relating to the use of marijuana for medical purposes, the Department in recent years has focused its efforts on certain enforcement priorities that are particularly important to the federal government:

    Preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors;
    Preventing revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels;
    Preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states;
    Preventing state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity;
    Preventing violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana;
    Preventing drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use;
    Preventing the growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands; and
    Preventing marijuana possession or use on federal property.

    These priorities will continue to guide the Department’s enforcement of the CSA against marijuana-related conduct. Thus, this memorandum serves as guidance to Department attorneys and law enforcement to focus their enforcement resources and efforts, including prosecution, on persons or organizations whose conduct interferes with anyone or more of these priorities, regardless of state law.[1]

    Outside of these enforcement priorities, the federal government has traditionally relied on states and local law enforcement agencies to address marijuana activity through enforcement of their own narcotics laws. For example, the Department of Justice has not historically devoted resources to prosecuting individuals whose conduct is limited to possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use on private property. Instead, the Department has left such lower-level or localized activity to state and local authorities and has stepped in to enforce the CSA only when the use, possession, cultivation, or distribution of marijuana has threatened to cause one of the harms identified above.

    The enactment of state laws that endeavor to authorize marijuana production, distribution, and possession by establishing a regulatory scheme for these purposes affects this traditional joint federal-state approach to narcotics enforcement. The Department’s guidance in this memorandum rests on its expectation that states and local governments that have enacted laws authorizing marijuana-related conduct will implement strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems that will address the threat those state laws could pose to public safety, public health, and other law enforcement interests. A system adequate to that task must not only contain robust controls and procedures on paper; it must also be effective in practice. Jurisdictions that have implemented systems that provide for regulation of marijuana activity must provide the necessary resources and demonstrate the willingness to enforce their laws and regulations in a manner that ensures they do not undermine federal enforcement priorities.

    In jurisdictions that have enacted laws legalizing marijuana in some form and that have also implemented strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems to control the cultivation, distribution, sale, and possession of marijuana, conduct in compliance with those laws and regulations is less likely to threaten the federal priorities set forth above. Indeed, a robust system may affirmatively address those priorities by, for example, implementing effective measures to prevent diversion of marijuana outside of the regulated system and to other states, prohibiting access to marijuana by minors, and replacing an illicit marijuana trade that funds criminal enterprises with a tightly regulated market in which revenues are tracked and accounted for. In those circumstances, consistent with the traditional allocation of federal-state efforts in this area, enforcement of state law by state and local law enforcement and regulatory bodies should remain the primary means of addressing marijuana-related activity. If state enforcement efforts are not sufficiently robust to protect against the harms set forth above, the federal government may seek to challenge the regulatory structure itself in addition to continuing to bring individual enforcement actions, including criminal prosecutions, focused on those harms.

    The Department’s previous memoranda specifically addressed the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in states with laws authorizing marijuana cultivation and distribution for medical use. In those contexts, the Department advised that it likely was not an efficient use of federal resources to focus enforcement efforts on seriously ill individuals, or on their individual caregivers. In doing so, the previous guidance drew a distinction between the seriously ill and their caregivers, on the one hand, and large-scale, for-profit commercial enterprises, on the other, and advised that the latter continued to be appropriate targets for federal enforcement and prosecution. In drawing this distinction, the Department relied on the common-sense judgment that the size of a marijuana operation was a reasonable proxy for assessing whether marijuana trafficking implicates the federal enforcement priorities set forth above.

    As explained above, however, both the existence of a strong and effective state regulatory system, and an operation’s compliance with such a system, may allay the threat that an operation’s size poses to federal enforcement interests. Accordingly, in exercising prosecutorial discretion, prosecutors should not consider the size or commercial nature of a marijuana operation alone as a proxy for assessing whether marijuana trafficking implicates the Department’s enforcement priorities listed above. Rather, prosecutors should continue to review marijuana cases on a case-by-case basis and weigh all available information and evidence, including, but not limited to, whether the operation is demonstrably in compliance with a strong and effective state regulatory system. A marijuana operation’s large scale or for-profit nature may be a relevant consideration for assessing the extent to which it undermines a particular federal enforcement priority. The primary question in all cases – and in all jurisdictions – should be whether the conduct at issue implicates one or more of the enforcement priorities listed above.

    As with the Department’s previous statements on this subject, this memorandum is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion. This memorandum does not alter in any way the Department’s authority to enforce federal law, including federal laws relating to marijuana, regardless of state law. Neither the guidance herein nor any state or local law provides a legal defense to a violation of federal law, including any civil or criminal violation of the CSA. Even in jurisdictions with strong and effective regulatory systems, evidence that particular conduct threatens federal priorities will subject that person or entity to federal enforcement action, based on the circumstances. This memorandum is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any party in any matter civil or criminal. It applies prospectively to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in future cases and does not provide defendants or subjects of enforcement action with a basis for reconsideration of any pending civil action or criminal prosecution. Finally, nothing herein precludes investigation or prosecution, even in the absence of anyone of the factors listed above, in particular circumstances where investigation and prosecution otherwise serves an important federal interest.

    [1] These enforcement priorities are listed in general terms; each encompasses a variety of conduct that may merit civil or criminal enforcement of the CSA. By way of example only, the Department’s interest in preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors would call for enforcement not just when an individual or entity sells or transfers marijuana to a minor, but also when marijuana trafficking takes place near an area associated with minors; when marijuana or marijuana-infused products are marketed in a manner to appeal to minors; or when marijuana is being diverted, directly or indirectly, and purposefully or otherwise, to minors.

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    This thread rocks ...
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    I'm not okay with the filthy hippies

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    http://thejointblog.com/updated-stat...-across-u-s/3/

    There are a lot of links to relevant documents and web pages, so if you wanna go deeper on this list, click the link above.

    An Updated, State-By-State Look at Cannabis Reform Across the U.S.

    A lot has changed since we last published an overview of cannabis law reform in the U.S., as activists all across the country continue to push the conversation, and policies forward.

    As we continue onward in a year which has been historic for cannabis reform, here’s an examination of reform occurring across the United States; take note of the fact that the Obama Administration announced today that they won’t overturn cannabis legalization in states that decide to take that approach, such as Colorado and Washington.


    Alabama:

    Ron Crumpton, Executive Director of the Alabama Safe Access Project (ASAP), tells us that State Representative Patricia Todd – in collaboration with ASAP – will be filing multiple cannabis reform measures in the upcoming legislative session, including a measure to decriminalize cannabis, a proposal to legalize it entirely, and two proposals to bring protection for medical cannabis patients; one would legalize medical cannabis entirely, and one would provide an affirmative defense for qualified patients

    Alaska

    In June the State of Alaska officially certified an initiative to legalize cannabis, passing it through its initial hurdle towards becoming law. Advocates will now need to collect 30,169 valid signatures by next summer to place the proposal – which would legalize cannabis possession, and retail outlets – on next November’s general election ballot.

    Arizona

    In May, a Behavior Research Center poll – which shocked the political world in Arizona – found that 56% in the state support the legalization of recreational cannabis (4% above the national average). The next month, an initiative was filed which would do just that; legalize cannabis for those 18 and older, including state-licensed retail outlets.

    Advocates of the initiative – which, like Colorado’s Amendment 64, is a constitutional amendment – will need to gather roughly 260,000 signatures to put the proposal to a vote of the people in 2014, though they have until Jul 3rd to do so.

    In July, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that police must return cannabis seized from an authorized patient from California, setting legal precedent across the state which forces police to abide by the portion of Arizona’s medical cannabis law which recognizes valid patients from other medical cannabis states.

    Arkansas

    Earlier this month the state’s attorney general gave approval to a medical cannabis legalization initiative which was filed by Arkansas for Responsible Medicine, giving them the go-ahead to begin collecting signatures to put their proposal to a vote in 2014. Another group has filed a separate initiative, a constitutional amendment which would legalize cannabis possession, cultivation and distribution centers; the proposal awaits approval by the state.

    Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the proponents of last year’s Issue 5 which would have legalized medical cannabis in Arkansas, but failed narrowly in the election, have also filed a new medical cannabis initiative after being rejected by the attorney general several times in recent weeks, based on “ambiguities” in the language.

    California

    Last month California’s Democratic Party – the largest state Democratic Party in the country – approved two cannabis related resolutions, one calling for President Obama to respect state marijuana laws, and one urging state lawmakers to pass legislation protecting medical cannabis safe access. Both are now official platforms of the party.

    On October 1st activists will begin gathering signatures for the California Cannabis Hemp Act of 2014 (also known as the Jack Herer Initiative), aiming to put it to a vote in 2014; the proposal would fully legalize cannabis possession (12 pounds), private cultivation (99 plants), industrial hemp and cannabis retail outlets.

    Colorado

    In May, the state’s governor signed multiple cannabis proposals which made the state the first in history to approve regulations for recreational cannabis. A couple days later, the governor signed a proposal explicitly legalizing hemp in the state.

    Last week a poll was released which found that 54% of those in Colorado support the legalization of cannabis, showing that support has remained steady since the passage of Amendment 64 in November.

    Recreational retail outlets are expected to begin opening early next year.

    Connecticut

    On August 27th Connecticut’s regulations review committee approved a set of regulations which would allow the state to move forward with its medical cannabis program, which was approved in 2011. Under these new regulations, the state’s first dispensary is expected to open by the spring.

    Delaware

    Earlier this month Delaware Governor Jack Markell announced that he would be moving forward with the state’s 2011-approved medical cannabis law (though in scaled-back form, with 1 dispensary rather than 4), which he halted over fears of the federal government prosecuting state employees. This will lead to the state’s first medical cannabis dispensary opening, likely by next year.

    District of Columbia (U.S. Capital)

    Last month a proposal was filed in the city’s council which would decriminalize cannabis possession in the district. The proposal – which will be formally voted on next month – is sponsored by a majority of the council, indicating that it will be up to the mayor to decide whether or not the measure passes into law.

    A few weeks ago Washington D.C.’s first medical cannabis dispensary opened its doors, located just blocks from the White House, with a view of the U.S. Capitol Building.

    Florida

    Earlier this month the group United for Care submitted over 100,000 signatures (after only a month of collecting) on their initiative to legalize medical cannabis in the state; the group needed to submit 70,000 to have it reviewed by the state’s supreme court. Once given approval, the group will need to collect roughly 685,000 signatures to put the proposal to a vote in 2014.

    The leader of the group, attorney and former Obama fundraiser John Morgan, has pledged to do “whatever it takes” to get the initiative passed into law, and plans to spend over $20 million to do so.

    Georgia

    Although nothing new has come forward in terms of specific legislation, the nonprofit, pro-legalization group Georgia Campaign for Access, Reform and Education (Georgia C.A.R.E. Project) continues to educate the public in Georgia on the necessity of reforming their state’s failed cannabis policies

    Hawaii

    Although the state’s Senate unanimously approved marijuana decriminalization this year, the proposal eventually stalled in the House. However, lawmakers and advocates behind the bill plan to continue to fight for its passage in 2014, and are optimistic about its chances.

    Idaho

    The organization Compassionate Idaho – which is now officially a subchapter of Americans for Safe Access – in continuing to work on an initiative aimed at legalizing medical cannabis.



    Illinois

    On the first day of this month, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a proposal into law which legalized medical cannabis, including up to 60 state-licensed dispensaries. Although the passage of this law is a giant step forward, advocates continue to fight for further reform, as the restrictive law is only a 4-year starter program.

    Indiana

    Senate Bill 0580 – which would have decriminalized the possession of 2 ounces of cannabis – was filed earlier this year by Senator Karen Tallian, though unfortunately no significant progress was made on it in the Senate. However, Senator Tallian plans to refile the proposal next session, and advocates will continue to push for its passage.

    Iowa

    H.F. 22, introduced this session, would have legalized the possession and state-licensed sale of medical marijuana to qualified patients, though it was eventually voted down in committee. Regardless of the vote, the bill started a conversation in the state which was much-needed.

    Kansas

    Earlier this month a bill to legalize medical cannabis was filed in the Kansas Senate, titled the Cannabis Compassion and Care Act. The measure has been referred to the Public Health and Welfare Committee.

    Kentucky

    Last month State Senator Perry Clark introduced a medical cannabis legalization proposal, which had a public hearing on August 21st. This legislation, according to polling released this month, is supported by an overwhelming 78% of Kentucky residents.

    Louisiana

    A measure designed to drastically reduce the penalties – and remove mandatory minimums – for cannabis charges was approved in May by the state’s full House, but unfortunately ended up being narrowly rejected by the full Senate the following month. The fight, however, is far from over, as those behind the proposal plan to continue working towards its passage in the upcoming legislative session.

    Maine

    In June, legislation to add post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of qualifying medical cannabis conditions officially became law in Maine.

    Last month, an initiative to legalize cannabis was officially sent to the November ballot in Portland, Maine, giving voters the opportunity to reform their city’s marijuana laws

    Maryland

    In May the state’s governor signed legislation to allow medical cannabis distribution to occur at certain authorized academic medical centers that become licensed with the state. The passage of the proposal drew mixed reactions, with some calling it a step forward, and others calling it a farce.

    Massachusetts

    The State of Massachusetts is moving forward with implementation of its 2012-approved medical cannabis law, and has recently begun accepting applications from those interested in receiving a license to open a medical cannabis dispensary.

    Michigan

    In May, the Michigan Supreme Court made an important ruling which protects medical cannabis patients from the state’s zero-tolerance THC driving policy.

    In June, the nonprofit medical cannabis organization Michigan Compassion became the first cannabis-related organization to receive a Google Grant; the group will be awarded $240,000 in free advertising. Also in June, activists in the cities of Ferndale and Jackson submitted the required number of signatures to put their cannabis decriminalization proposals to a vote this November.

    In August, a medical cannabis review panel gave preliminary approval to the addition of PTSD as a qualifying medical cannabis condition; a public hearing will be held before a final vote occurs.

    Earlier this week an initiative to legalize cannabis possession was officially verified for this November’s ballot in Lansing, Michigan’s capital.

    Minnesota

    In may legislation was introduced in Minnesota to legalize medical cannabis. The proposal is sponsored by over 40 lawmakers, and although it was filed too late to be approved in 2013, proponents are preparing for a huge push in 2014.

    Missouri

    In St. Louis a proposal decriminalizing small amounts of cannabis officially became law on June 1st.

    In July, a state lawmaker announced that he will be filing two cannabis-related bills in the 2014 session; one to decriminalize up to 35 grams, and one to legalize cannabis similar to Colorado’s Amendment 64.

    Nebraska

    Nebraska NORML is currently running an an initiative to legalize cannabis, with the hopes of putting the proposal to a vote in 2014. Those interested in getting involved should e-mail norml@normlne.org.

    Nevada

    In June Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed a proposal into law which legalizes medical cannabis dispensaries throughout the state, fixing a huge hole in the law; up until the passage of this proposal, dispensaries were entirely illegal, despite medical cannabis being a constitutional right since 2000, leading most patients to rely on the black-market to obtain their medicine.

    New Hampshire

    Last Month New Hampshire officially became the 20th state to legalize medical cannabis, after the governor signed legislation into law.

    New Mexico

    Earlier this year the state’s House of Representatives approved a measure which would decriminalize up to a quarter pound of cannabis, making it a simple $100 ticket. Although the measure has stalled in the Senate, it has been an inspiration to activists, and lawmakers will continue to discuss the issue in the next session.

    New York

    In June New York’s Assembly approved a measure legalizing medical cannabis; the approval now sits in the Senate, where, according to the bill’s primary sponsor, it has enough support to pass.

    Earlier this month a federal judge ruled that New York City’s ‘stop-and-frisk’ policy is “unconstitutional”.

    North Carolina

    House Bill 637, which would make the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis a simple ticket rather than a criminal misdemeanor, passed its first reading in the house, though stalled in subcommittee. Advocates in the state should contact their lawmakers, urging them to support this common-sense proposal to free-up police resources to focus on serious offenses.

    Ohio

    In May the Ohio Ballot Board unanimously approved an initiative to legalize medical cannabis (as well as hemp), sending it through the initial hurdle towards putting it to a vote; advocates will now need to collect roughly 385,000 valid signatures to place the initiative on the 2014 ballot.

    North Dakota

    Although there’s not much new to report on, Oklahoma State Senator Constance Johnson continues to consider running an initiative to legalize medical marijuana in the state.

    Oklahoma

    Although there’s not much new to report on, Oklahoma State Senator Constance Johnson continues to consider running an initiative to legalize medical marijuana in the state.

    Oregon

    In July, Oregon’s governor signed a measure drastically reducing the penalties for most cannabis-related charges, including making the possession of up to an ounce a ticket, rather than a misdemeanor.

    Just a couple weeks ago the governor signed a proposal legalizing medical cannabis dispensaries, a move which remedies a problem which found medical cannabis legal for qualified patients, despite access points being entirely illegal. Under the regulations set forth in the initiative, over 200 dispensaries are expected to open.

    Last week advocates of last year’s Measure 80 to legalize cannabis announced that, starting next month, they’ll begin to collect signatures on two new initiatives aiming for the 2014 ballot; one a state-law change, one a constitutional amendment.


    Pennsylvania

    In June the NCAAP officially endorsed a proposal in the state’s Senate which would legalize the possession, private home cultivation and state-licensed retail sale of cannabis for adults.

    Polling released in May found that over 80% in the state support medical cannabis legalization.


    Rhode Island

    On April 1st the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis became decriminalized in Rhode Island. In just 4 months – from April 1st to August 1st – nearly 1,000 misdemeanors were avoided because of this new law.

    South Carolina

    Members of Columbia NORML are actively lobbying lawmakers in the state in an attempt to bring forth the legalization of cannabis.

    South Dakota

    Earlier this year a piece of legislation was introduced and discussed in South Carolina which would have added legal protections to those using cannabis for medical purposes. The bill didn’t advance out of committee, but will be filed again in 2014.

    Tennessee

    Tennessee State Senator Frank Nicely is considering drafting legislation to legalize hemp in the state.

    Texas

    A few months back Texas lawmakers held a public hearing on House Bill 594, which would have added an “affirmative defense” for patients who possess and use marijuana. The law never advanced beyond that, but began a conversation which is vital to the eventual passage of such measures. Advocates in the state should be constantly communicating with their lawmakers, urging them towards cannabis law reform.

    Utah

    A poll released this week found that a large majority in Utah support medical cannabis legalization; 61% to 28%.

    Vermont

    On June 6th Vermont’s governor signed a proposal decriminalizing cannabis possession – the law took effect on July 1st. Also in July, the state’s first medical cannabis dispensary opened its doors for qualifying patients.

    Washington

    The state’s Liquor Control Board continues to finalize regulations for the newly-legal recreational cannabis industry, with retail outlets to be licensed by the end of the year.

    In the meantime, the nonprofit organization Sensible Washington is working on legislation that they plan to have filed in the upcoming legislative session which would defelonize the possession of all drugs (when not intended for distribution), making the charges misdemeanors rather than felonies (in Washington State the possession of any amount of a controlled substance, or over 40 grams of cannabis a felony with a maximum sentence of 5 years in prisons). So far the effort has at least 4 legislative cosponsors.

    West Virginia

    House Bill 2961, sponsored by 10 state legislators, would allow qualifying patients in the state (as well as their caregiver) to purchase, grow and possess cannabis. The measure would allow patients to grow up to 12 plants, and would also legalize dispensaries. Although the proposal stalled in committee, advocates plan to continue building support for the proposal.

    Wisconsin

    Several lawmakers in Wisconsin are in the process of drafting legislation to legalize medical cannabis, which they plan to introduce in the upcoming session.

    Wyoming

    Earlier this month the newly-formed Wyoming NORML announced an initiative campaign to put a cannabis legalization initiative on the 2016 ballot. The group will need to collect roughly 37,000 signatures to do so.


  36. #315
    Fuck this and fuck that
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  37. #316
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    You can buy anything with a credit card now so Big Brother can "track" what you buy. It's all part of the cashless New World Order - has watching Alex Jone$ not taught you anything?

  38. Thanked Kristy for this KICKASS post:

    envy_me (08-31-2013)


  39. #317
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    I'd actually be less concerned about "Big Brother" knowing I get high than I would having another round of spam filling my email box with ads for vaporizers, bongs, and other weed related accessories.

  40. #318
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    Spam is a small price to pay for getting high legally.

  41. #319
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    Yeah.. just imagine what the Nigerian spammers will do with this......

  42. #320
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    The answer is to exist on a cash-only basis.

    Why give away 28% to some fucking credit card company just because you use their specially-colored plastic?

    Just fucking pay cash for the shit!

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