US NJ: OPED: Compromise Needed On Medical Marijuana

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1064/a06.html?102

COMPROMISE NEEDED ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

THE LEGISLATURE recently invoked a rarely used constitutional power to require the Christie administration to go back to the drawing board to rewrite the rules governing the state's medical marijuana law.  We are now on the verge of an unprecedented move to overturn the regulations, with agreement by both houses that the governor has overstepped his constitutional bounds.

As sponsor of the law, it was an extraordinarily difficult decision to move forward with this, as I knew it would further delay a program that has already been held up for far too long.  But it was critical to ensuring that people with debilitating conditions and patients dying of cancer, HIV and AIDS receive proper care.

The Department of Health and Senior Services' guidelines sought to alter key areas of the law, limiting the number of growers and distributors and requiring that conventional methods of treatment be exhausted for every patient before they were prescribed the drug.
They limited marijuana to 10 percent THC, a product that would be half as potent as the marijuana sold on the street, and prevented the treatment of new conditions for at least two years.

This virtual overhaul of the law posed significant barriers to the program, setting up a scheme that would make it impossible for chronic and terminal patients to get relief.  And the regulations flat-out ignored the Legislature's intent.

We challenged the rules with a formal resolution in both houses, and the governor decided to relent on the first two points.  But the regulations - even as revised - still would not work.
Limiting marijuana to an arbitrary 10 percent THC all but ensures that some patients won't get adequate relief and others will get their medicine from the streets, where the THC level is upwards of 15 percent to 20 percent.  Paired with the low cost of illegally sold marijuana, it is inevitable that patients will retreat to the black market.

This is unfortunate, and I know the governor would agree that we should do everything possible to keep chronic and terminal patients from resorting to such means for relief.
Undue Restrictions

With regard to the marijuana product, the state rules would also impose a restriction on the number of strains to be sold and, by doing so, patients will be limited in their ability to find the most effective medicine for the treatment of their condition.  This is a matter that must be addressed.

Further, the governor recently eliminated a critical part of the program, removing the home delivery system, which is the only way some of the sickest patients would be able to access the drug.

These are some of the problems I've identified with the regulations - but I've also spoken with patients, advocates and potential investors who have expressed concerns about other aspects of the program that are worthy of consideration before the final rules are approved.
The Board of Medical Examiners' regulations, for example, require doctors to counsel patients on the so-called addictive qualities of marijuana and to make an attempt every three months to wean them off the drug.  No other drug - not morphine nor oxycodone, both with more severe side effects than marijuana - is treated this way.

Doctors should have the ability to prescribe marijuana and counsel patients as they see fit, just as they do other medications.

This counseling requirement is extremely burdensome and, quite frankly, interferes with patient-doctor relationships.

The additional obligation that doctors treating minors obtain confirmation from a pediatrician and from a psychiatrist - in addition to getting parental permission - that the child is likely to benefit from the medical use of marijuana is unconscionable.

Heaven forbid that a child has a terminal illness; ushering him around to additional doctors for unnecessary approvals will further erode his quality of life.

Some of the requirements for businesses also seem onerous, and run the risk of limiting interest in the program, which is good for no one - not the patients, nor the state.

 
There are other areas of the rules that I disagree with, but I am not looking for a political fight.  My focus has always been solely on ensuring we have a functioning program that actually provides patients relief.

For an Effective Program

To that end, I believe an open and honest discussion about the real-life implications of the proposed regulations is in order, before we inadvertently adopt arbitrary rules that prevent any chance of implementing an effective program in New Jersey.

I am more than willing to work with the governor.  I know we can find some middle ground, and come up with a model that addresses his concerns, but also one that is functional, so that patients who have waited out this already too lengthy process can finally get relief.
It is incumbent upon us to reach a true compromise, to ensure that our most vulnerable residents are afforded dignified care. 

Technorati Tags: New Jersey,medical marijuana,laws,restrictions,complications

US MI: Editorial: Marijuana Law Needs Clarification

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1069/a03.html?102

MARIJUANA LAW NEEDS CLARIFICATION

Whatever comes of Kimball Township's zoning dispute with Jim and Debra Amsdill, one thing is clear: Michigan lawmakers have neglected their responsibility to clarify the state's medical marijuana law.

The Amsdills own the Blue Water Compassion Center, one of an increasing number of businesses throughout Michigan that accommodate state-licensed medical marijuana patients.

The center is in a strip mall on Lapeer Road in Kimball -- nearly across the street from Landmark Academy.  Kimball officials say such a facility shouldn't be that close to a school.
Two years ago, Michigan voters approved the medical marijuana law with the best of intentions.  Those with proven medical needs for the drug ought to be able to use it without facing criminal consequences.

The law's aim, however, has been harmed by its application.  Communities throughout the state have struggled to manage marijuana clinics that emerged.  With no clear provisions as to how close the facilities should be to day-care facilities, churches and schools, municipalities have been forced to figure that out for themselves.

Unlike some communities, Kimball isn't trying to ban its marijuana center.  The zoning ordinance township officials adopted Dec.  7 prevents such facilities from operating 1,000 feet or less from parks, churches or schools.

The Amsdills' business is less than 500 feet from Landmark Academy.  Township Supervisor Rob Usakowski hopes to persuade the couple to reopen their center in another location that won't violate the ordinance.

That brings us back to the state Legislature.  Despite the need to clarify the law, Lansing has done nothing to address the questions and concerns with which local governments are coping.

The medical marijuana law doesn't address compassion care centers.  Yet the centers' advocates contend these facilities have the right to operate -- and that includes distributing marijuana and allowing buyers to smoke the drug on the centers' premises.

Marijuana is big business.  California is proof.  Since the state legalized medical marijuana use in 1996, the drug has yielded as much as $105 million a year in sales tax revenues.
California cities also are struggling to manage the law's effects.  Los Angeles tried to reduce the number marijuana dispensaries -- there were more than 600 before the city passed an ordinance this year to restrict them.

Kimball's new ordinance also prohibits the use of marijuana and the sale of drug paraphernalia at those facilities.  Whether the ordinance stands ultimately could depend on the courts.

Lansing must make the law's clarification a priority.  The disputes in Kimball and many other communities must to be resolved. 

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1069/a03.html
Newshawk: Richard Lake
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Thu, 30 Dec 2010
Source: Times Herald, The (Port Huron, MI)
Copyright: 2010 The Times Herald
Contact: http://www.thetimesherald.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.thetimesherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2570
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

 

Technorati Tags: MI,medical marijuana,laws,complications,leglistature,dispensaries

How the weed was won

http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1896825

This article was published on 12.30.10.

This stuff will make you see hippos.

Whatever your stance on Proposition 19, the history of marijuana and legalization has been a long, strange trip. A little while ago Capital Public Radio aired an interview with Julie Holland, author of the The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis.

In the interview, Holland touched on marijuana’s strange back story. For one, she said part of the initial federal crackdown on cannabis in 1937 was related to the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. According to Holland, after Prohibition, federal agents needed jobs. Also, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was looking for a political platform, and Bogarted that joint, so to speak.

So did Hollywood, making a number of hide-the-kids morality movies about cannabis in the 1930s, notably Reefer Madness, though the movies have the unintended effect of making one want narcotics.

As part of that anti-cannabis campaign, marijuana was also alleged to fuel jazz-era hedonism (particularly by black jazz musicians) and to be smoked by Mexican migrants as the supposedly crazy-making “loco weed.”

Other random marijuana facts:

� Early slang for marijuana may have been a deliberate attempt to stigmatize the drug. Holland calls the word marijuana, or marihuna, a “slur” based on its Mexican Spanish origins. Pot is also based on a Mexican Spanish word.

� George Washington, the first—ahem—POTUS, grew hemp, probably for agriculture, but given his bad teeth and spotting of hippos in the Potomac, maybe he hemped himself.

� Reflecting the knee-jerk fear marijuana can inspire, the word assassin comes from the Arabic word hashshishin, or “hash smokers,” a word first recorded by Shakespeare in Macbeth. The jury is still out on whether the Bard inhaled, though it might explain the Weird Sisters and their line: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

Compiled from Cull-de-Sac.

 

Technorati Tags: cannabis,marijuana,prohibition,history,facts,drug war

US DC: Editorial: Murder on the Border

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1073/a10.html?102

MURDER ON THE BORDER

Americans Are Dying Because of White House Inaction

Brian Terry died for President Obama's sins.  Mr.  Terry, a U.S.  Border Patrol agent, was killed during operations against bandits near the southern Arizona town of Rio Rico, approximately 15 miles inside the U.S.  border.

Here and along other infiltration routes, gangsters prey on illegal aliens and drug smugglers or serve as private security forces for gangs engaged in illegal activities.  Agent Terry was part of a four-man Border Patrol Tactical Unit sent to engage the bandits, and he was shot down in the resulting firefight.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano offered condolences to Mr.  Terry's family but met a sharp rejoinder from his father, Kent, who said, "You gotta wake your man up in the White House." Ms.  Napolitano countered that Mr.  Obama has "done more in the last two years than any other president," and when pressed by reporters on the matter said she did not "think it appropriate for the media to try to pick this as a fight." The border-security issue, however, was not invented by the press, and government functionaries are poor judges of what kind of media coverage is appropriate, especially when it deals with their own questionable performance.

The Terry family called Ms.  Napolitano's claim that Mr.  Obama has done more than any other president to deal with border security "empty words," and the notion is easily proved false.

Whatever accomplishments the Obama administration may claim, they pale against the aggressive and successful border-security policies President Eisenhower pursued in the 1950s.  Woodrow Wilson's response to cross-border activity by Mexican gangs was to send 4,800 troops over the border.

Mr.  Obama's most notable actions have been to unleash the Justice Department on Arizona for taking small steps to try to deal with the problem of illegals and to push the Dream Act, a backdoor amnesty nightmare that thankfully ended when the Senate woke up and defeated it.

Worsening conditions in the United States reflect the situation in northern Mexico, which resembles a full-scale insurgency.  There, the "war on drugs" is not just a slogan; it's a daily struggle fought with guns and machetes.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2006.  In 2010, narco killings were up 73 percent over 2009.  Mexico tied this year with Pakistan for the greatest number of journalists killed during the year ( 14 ).  The northern state of Sonora is under a literal state of siege as drug cartels struggle over access to the most lucrative smuggling routes into America.  In Juarez, Mexico, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, almost nine people are killed on average per day, making it proportionately the most violent city in the world.

Conditions there are so dangerous that college football players from Notre Dame and Miami in El Paso for the Sun Bowl have surrendered their passports to their coaches and been briefed by the FBI on the perils of crossing the border.

Northern Mexico is descending into drug-fueled chaos and soon will join the list of the world's ungovernable spaces.

It's a growing threat that reaches across the U.S.  border through smuggling, illegal immigration, secondary crime and potential terrorist infiltration.  If Mr.  Obama had done more than any other president to address the issue, it wouldn't be making more headlines.
Ms.  Napolitano says the press should not pick this issue as a fight, but we hope Mr.  Obama will, when he gets back from his vacation. 

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1073/a10.html
Newshawk: http://www.novembercoalition.org
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Wed, 29 Dec 2010
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2010 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact: yourletters@washingtontimes.com
Website: http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

 

Technorati Tags: US-Mexico Border war,drug war,drug cartels,deaths,white house,Janet Napolitano

US FL: Editorial: Addiction To Bureaucracy

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1073/a05.html?102

ADDICTION TO BUREAUCRACY
Gov.-elect Rick Scott has trimmed a cuticle on the body of Florida's state government.  But judging by the reaction it has received, you would think he had hacked off an arm.

Before Christmas, Scott announced he would abolish the Office of Drug Control and fold its duties into the departments of Health and Law Enforcement.  The loss to Florida: four staffers and $500,000.

Given the fact that the state is facing a budget shortfall of nearly $3 billion in 2011, the savings are minuscule.  But critics say the impact on drug abuse will be enormously negative.

"We've got a heck of a problem in this state with drugs.  And it's not going to be over any time soon," Office Director Bruce Grant told the Miami Herald.  "What you're saying by getting rid of this office is that's not a priority.  And that's a mistake.  Because it is a priority."

State Sen.  Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said the office was critical to his efforts to get a prescription drug monitoring bill passed.

"This state must have an entity that does nothing but focus on solving this crisis," he told the Herald.

The St.  Petersburg Times featured a mother whose 26-year-old son was severely addicted to Vicodin and Oxycontin.  Five years ago, he overdosed twice, went to jail and came out clean a year later.  Since then Lynn Locascio has worked with other parents, drug abuse agencies and the Office of Drug Control to bring awareness to the prescription drug problem.
"We are the pill capital of the U.S., and this jerk comes in and snaps his fingers and dumps the program we need?" said Locascio, who said she voted for Scott.

The reactions show the challenges elected officials at the state and federal levels face in pruning back government in the face of massive budget deficits.  Every government program, no matter how small, has a constituency that will attest to its necessity.  Every proposed cut will elicit shrieks of doom and despair.

The Office of Drug Control, created in 1999 by then-Gov.  Jeb Bush, surveys Florida school children on their drug and alcohol habits, provides guidance on drug policy, coordinates work among state agencies to address substance abuse issues and advises the governor on seaport security as it relates to drug smuggling.

Those responsibilities won't vanish.  They are simply being farmed out to other agencies.  But because there won't be a bureaucracy specifically entitled to address a problem, it shows the state doesn't "care" or take it "seriously."

Is it any wonder that government grows like Topsy?

Does Sen.  Fasano really need a bureaucratic agency to help him pass legislation? Does Ms.  Locascio really need an office in Tallahassee to help her do her admirable work of warning of the dangers of addiction? Does the public really need government to "raise awareness" of issues?

The Office of Drug Control is a vestige of the failed War on Drugs.  Florida would be wise to do more than just end a bureaucracy.  It should change its laws to decriminalize certain drugs and shift the emphasis from interdicting supply to reducing demand.  Addiction should be a medical concern, not a law-enforcement issue.  Nor should it be an excuse to prop up a government office. 

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1073/a05.html
Newshawk: http://www.novembercoalition.org
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Wed, 29 Dec 2010
Source: News Herald (Panama City, FL)
Copyright: 2010 The News Herald
Contact: http://newsherald.com/viewpoints/
Website: http://www.newsherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1018

Technorati Tags: Flordia,government funds,drug war,cutback

CN ON: Column: Where There's Smoke, There's Change

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1073/a01.html?102

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, THERE'S CHANGE

"I can't do it," the prospective juror said.  It happened in Missoula, Mont., this month and the state's case against a small-time pot dealer fell apart as prosecutors watched in dismay.  One after another, citizens told the court that marijuana was no big deal and as long as it wasn't "a pound or a truckload," it was wrong to jail a man for having it.

For once, the domino theory proved true; the collapse of one part of the system threatens the rest.  If you have to exclude a third of the population -- the ones who think pot is on a higher moral plane than coffee -- then it's hardly a jury of your peers, which brings the whole concept of jury trials into question, and thus many marijuana prosecutions.  That then takes Americans to an unfamiliar sunlit upland where jail is considered overly harsh, the three-strikes felony laws are a running sore and countless thousands of inmates convicted of minor drug crimes deserve to be released in the new year.

The legalization of marijuana is inevitable, especially in a country cursed by methamphetamine cooking and snorting.  If jurors in Illinois can acquit a Vietnam veteran who had 25 pounds of pot and 50 pounds of plants in his house and then gather round him to give him a hug, as happened this year, Americans are almost there.  As LaSalle County goes, so goes the nation.

Here in Canada, the mood is one of embarrassment.  The Conservatives long ago hitched their little wagon to George W.  Bush's tiny star and we are a decade behind the times.  Not only is Ottawa still trying to close a safe-injection drug center in downtown Vancouver, it is planning to spend $9 billion on new jails.

Canadians simply are not violent enough to fill those jails, statistics show.  We're getting progressively more peaceful.  So drug users and dealers are a big target market for Conservative tough-on-crimers.  It's an ideology thing.

But strangely, people who use the nastiest drug of all, alcohol, are home-free.  The angry old white guys who are the beating heart of the Conservative party are drinkers, and not charming ones like Rooster Cogburn in True Grit.  Regular Canadians smoke pot and smile beatifically.  As always, Conservatives get everything upside down.

I write this as New Year's Eve approaches, the biggest drinking night there is.  We drink lavishly, not with the same sense of purpose that Brits do, and not armed as Americans tend to.  ( But when we get sick on the sidewalk, it freezes and stays there till March.  This is no small drawback in this cold country, especially when it's pasta.  ) And we don't know when to stop, we are hateful, and horribly ill the next day, but that's okay because alcohol is a normalized drug and pot isn't, not yet.

How I wish Canadians who need a night off from their own head could legally smoke dope this New Year's Eve instead of drinking themselves faceless.  ( Confession: I quit smoking pot decades ago.  I miss it.  ) Wouldn't it be a pleasure to sit around with The Dude-like friends and stare at the tree quietly shedding its needles and the ornaments thumping as they slip off the drying branches.  Months pass.  And then we'd get inflamed over leftover goose skin and those President's Choice thingies, chocolate or chicken tikka, it's all the same deliciousness.  We could gaze rapt at the fireplace.  It need not have a fire in it.

 
I have a neighbor who is an alcoholic of 50 years standing and it isn't pleasant to see or hear.  Think of the physical damage of a half-century of gin, the health-care costs, the stricken children, the bad smells, a life all over but the shouting.  I'd have preferred decades of pot smoke drifting out over the lake, and probably so would she, given the choice.

Perhaps one day we'll have that choice. 

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1073/a01.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Wed, 29 Dec 2010
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2010 The Toronto Star
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.ca
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Heather Mallick

 

Technorati Tags: marijuana,cannabis,legalize,Canada

US MI: Marijuana Top 2010 Local Stories

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n001/a07.html

MARIJUANA TOP 2010 LOCAL STORIES

Medical Marijuana Raids

Oakland County Sheriff's narcotics agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in Ferndale and another in Waterford Township Aug.  25 and owners and employees were charged with violating the state's medical marijuana act.

About 16 people were arrested who were connected with the Clinical Relief dispensary in Ferndale and Everybody's Cafe in Waterford.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the defendants sold pot to people without proper ID.  County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper joined Bouchard for a news conference after the raids.

Authorities claim the state law, which allows registered patients and caregivers a limited number of marijuana plants, does not allow operating dispensaries.  The raids were seen by many as a way for county authorities to build a test case on the pot law.

Nine defendants in the Ferndale raid are awaiting a decision from Ferndale 43rd District Judge Joseph Long on whether the case will go to Oakland County Circuit Court for trial in early 2011.

Michigan's marijuana law has left cities, patients, police and even the courts locked in unresolved disputes over what the voter-approved law allows.

Adding to the confusion, marijuana possession or use of any kind is still prohibited under federal law, which supersedes state laws.  The federal Drug Enforcement Agency is currently seeking patient records of seven people in the Lansing area from the state Department of Community Health which is bound by confidentiality laws.  The feds say the records are needed as part of a DEA drug probe and the conflict is expected to end up in court. 

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n001/a07.html
Newshawk: Federal Law Does Not Supersede State Law
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Sat, 1 Jan 2011
Source: Daily Tribune, The (Royal Oak, MI)
Copyright: 2011 The Daily Tribune
Contact: editor@dailytribune.com
Website: http://www.dailytribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1579
Authors: Catherine Kavanaugh and Michael P. McConnell, Daily Tribune
Staff Writers
Note: Relevant part of a longer article.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Michael+Bouchard
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Jessica+Cooper

 

Technorati Tags: medical marijuana,raids,drug laws,Okland County MI

REGULATING POT WOULD HELP FIGHT AGAINST HARDER DRUGS

http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v10/n1073/a02.html?

by Kirk Muse, (Source:Free Times)

29 Dec 2010

South Carolina
-------
Thanks for publishing the outstanding letter from the directors of Columbia NORML ( Sound Off, "We Love Pot; You Should Too," Dec.  22 ). 

I'd like to add that I've been buying beer and wine for more than 30 years.  Yet, I've never been offered a free sample of whiskey, gin, vodka or any other hard liquor.  However, when I was a marijuana user, which was more than 15 years ago, I was frequently offered free samples of much more dangerous drugs such as cocaine and meth by my marijuana suppliers. 

If we regulate, control and tax the sale and production of marijuana and sell it in licensed business establishments like we do with tobacco products, we will close the gateway from marijuana to hard drugs. 

Speaking of taxes, it seems to me that non-marijuana users would be very much in favor of taxing a product that they don't use.  Around these parts, taxing someone else's vice is very popular. 

Kirk Muse
Mesa, Ariz. 

 

Technorati Tags: South Carolina,marijuana,cannabis,legalize,drug law reform

END MARIJUANA CONSUMPTION, CEASE VIOLENCE

Angie Theycall Mehippie’s Rant:
Ok! Again I cannot keep my mouth shut when I see a article such as this one that is full of contradictions and un-truths. I’m sure the author of the article does believe what he is saying here however if you dig deep into the numbers of what he is generalizing here you will find that the facts are far from what is written here.




It’s those damn Mexicans again?! No. It’s not the Mexicans or the cartels at the helm of this fight and the use of cannabis. In fact, this argument presented here to stop “smoking weed to prevent bloodshed” is just another spin on the old Refer Madness days when one of the first arguments for prohibition of cannabis in the United States was founded upon: it’s those Mexicans bringing it here! Before then we knew it as cannabis. With a flick of a wrist of the federal government and the first Drug Cazar being born the new “fact” was there is a new and deadly dangerous drug out there infesting our streets and that drug is marijuana! Wow, that sounded so threat-like. This was mixed in with images of the Mexican worker immigrants with joint in pocket while working our fields. The absurdity of this new “fact” is beyond comprehension, but please comprehend this. The name changed from something most American farmers knew as cannabis and had grown since the inception of this country, what our Declaration of Independence and Constitution are written upon and down to the fabric of the clothes the public wore,  now had a new name so it was not recognizable to the majority of the public: MARIJUANA! The name marijuana referring to cannabis as we knew it here in the United States is actually the Mexican name for the plant. Under a different name, the Mexican one, it sounded very scary and dangerous. Prohibition was born and racism was very ingrained into the ratification of the plant. It is just as true of the prohibitionists of today (now one author who wants to legalize the plant?) that racism plays a crucial part of the Drug War in the United States. I doubt if many people here even think of what the term marijuana implies or the facts behind what they are blaming it on. 




Only a small portion, 50-75%, of the drug cartels supply rely on cannabis. It is a ploy to get the minds of the people upon non-issues than on the basic truths that research of cannabis has shown us. This as a single argument needs a lot of work and support, which it does not have because of its racial inception during the Refer Madness days. As a stand-alone fact it won't stand! It has been studied in Universities across the country since the 70s yet we still scream we don’t have enough research! What will it take? I hear activists for legalization and medical cannabis say this, too. Stop. Think. We are being diverted from the most important thing available to us: facts already known. These facts are enough to wake a dazed public from their addiction to prohibition.




We, as activists, need to organize and get the required knowledge in order to go about getting any legislation in South Carolina into place. Lets not buy into lies and diversions. Just look at the research already available. The answer is not to play the “Mexican drug cartel” card or any other card that Refer Madness began but to gain the truth through real sources. The Mexican drug cartel card can only be played in the areas that it applies to (where the "Mexican brick weed" is actually distributed and sold). The stop smoking to stop violence thing, well it just doesn't hold water.




It’s not those Mexicans! Get past that!


http://www.mapinc.org/newsnorml/v10/n109/a13.html
by Ryan Quinn, (Source:Gamecock)
10 Feb 2009
South Carolina
-------
Americans Should Stop Smoking Weed to Prevent Mexican Bloodshed, Make Step Towards Legalization


A couple of weeks ago, The Daily Gamecock featured an editorial that stated that U.S.  demand for marijuana funds drug cartels in Mexico.  Students reacted with letters to the editor and the online version was besieged with comments.  Most of these students recognized that their use of pot fed the violence in Mexico, yet they failed to take any responsibility for it. 


Almost ubiquitous among these comments was the suggestion that the government legalize weed.  It is true that if weed were legalized, Mexican drug cartels, which mainly rely on marijuana, would be dealt a lethal blow and many U.S.  problems would evaporate.  But the responsibility for the bloodshed in Mexico can't be entirely blamed on our government.  We buy the product.  We are the consumers, and in a capitalist society, the power of the dollar is often more influential than the power of the vote. 


The argument of the aforementioned students is completely illogical at best, sadistic at worst.  They say that it's the government's fault that people are dying due to their hobby.  They fail to realize that they can put down the joint at any time.

I believe that weed should be legal.  I have smoked weed before, but I pledge to do it no longer.  I support marijuana rights, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to keep using it and contributing to the degradation of an entire country. 


This is how you should convince to government to legalize it.  Put the drug down.  Show them that it's not an addiction.  Show them that you would rather save lives than get high.  March on Washington D.C.  Assemble, protest, write to Congress. 


Don't put up a Bob Marley poster, get stoned and rant on The Daily Gamecock's Web site.  You're not helping the pot movement.  You're showing the rest of society that you would rather do something illegal and fund drug cartels than show responsibility and petition for legalization in a smart legitimate way. 


Sure, if everyone keeps on smoking pot it will no doubt be legalized.  But it will be at a high cost.  Many compare the situation in Mexico to that of the U.S.  during prohibition.  Yes, everyone kept on drinking and eventually the 18th Amendment was repealed.  But not before illegal consumption of alcohol ushered in the gangster era and tore this country apart.  If only people had put down the moonshine - thus discrediting reason for prohibition in the first place, the idea that people couldn't responsibly handle alcohol - and marched on Washington demanding their rights back.  Or simply voted in people who supported alcohol.  Bob Marley said legalize it.  He also sang about peace.  You can have both things, you just have to go about it the right way.  Put the joint down, pick up a picket sign, and we'll see legalization sooner than you think. 

Technorati Tags: South Carolina,legalization,marijuana,cannabis,arguments

CLEMSON CHEMIST SAYS HIS WORK ABUSED TO MARKET FAKE MARIJUANA

Angie Theycall Mehippie’s Rant:

I cannot help but to say something here also. First of all, legalization of cannabis (marijuana) for responsible adult use would solve so many problems that are being quoted in these articles from our Palmetto State.

1. Studies have shown in our federal government’s own polls that places who have decriminalized or legalized cannabis saw a drop or at least a steady use of cannabis. The use rate didn’t go up. It is senseless to assume if we legalize cannabis for regulated, taxed, responsible adult use and make truthful information available to the general public about cannabis that simply because it’s legal someone would change their mind about usage of cannabis. If they don’t consider it now chances are not many more would if it became legal. Human history shows us that people will do what they want to do if they want to do it badly enough. Making harmful laws doesn’t make a noticeable dent in the actions of the public.

2. Legalization of cannabis will never mean we will see a “rise” in teenage use. Again having proper knowledge and sharing that knowledge with our youth is powerful in their decision making. Keeping it illegal makes it not only more attractive but also puts it in the hands of street dealers who do not ID. It is not easy for a underage person to acquire alcohol or tobacco. It doesn’t take very long for most youth to access street cannabis.

3. Street cannabis can contain some harmful things, however it is still safer than the “product” that came from this scientist’s lab at Clemson University. What God made in the real plant is better than anything humanity can make in a lab no matter for what purpose or what intent.

4. This is a drawback to states such as South Carolina that are only trying to get a medical use only legislation passed. A harsh example is New Jersey’s new law. Though it is technically legal for medical use now the restrictions and scenarios that the future holds for NJ may come to the point that it looks a lot like what this scientist did in an effort to help sick people under harsh laws against it. The more rigid the attitude of the people of the state and the state’s legislature the more rigid a medical cannabis bill would create making it virtually impossible for a “legal” patient to get any cannabis at all even if they have the doctor’s recommendation. In Canada we see the same thing. It could be in the least 6 months to a year for a patient to receive their medication. If you’re in pain when do you need your medication? A year from now? This is the situation that prohibition is creating. This is also a start here in South Carolina to a medical bill that could reign in what patients around the country are fighting against which is a scientific dictatorship by the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies to control and monopolize the cannabis market. Today in South Carolina it is tough to get the legal prescription pain medication. How much harder will it be for a drug that all the harsh lies have been told about to acquire? We already see people dying in the United States and other countries like Canada before they can acquire their medication.

5. What God made is fairly safe and much, much safer than anything on the pharmaceutical market. The substance this scientist used is an example of how dangerous any synthetic of a natural substance can potentially be. He was studying this to give to the pharmaceutical industry to get FDA approval and this would have eventually ended up in a patient’s body anyway. Seeing the results and reading this article below, would you want this in your body? I guess 10,000 years of use as a medicine natural cannabis has acquired is just not enough research? This is what happens in a lab. Really, do you want this?

 

I will get into pros and cons later in this blog. I don’t see the sense in having natural cannabis illegal then turning to or trying to turn to the more dangerous route as to put it in the hands of science such as this for the pharmaceutical industry when in reality the little boutique growers such as we see in legal dispensaries in the country are better for any medical issue than in the hands of the government…….. or better stated still in the hands of the government.

 

FIRST I FIND OUT SC IS THE ONE HOW TOOK DOWN (or tried to) MICHAEL PHELPS NOW K2 AND “FAKE POT” ORIGINATED HERE?!?!?!?!

Please show me the rationale of the morals this state is showing?!

 

Here’s the article:

 

http://www.mapinc.org/newsnorml/v10/n177/a06.html

(Source:Greenville News)

15 Mar 2010

South Carolina
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CLEMSON - It's troubling but probably was inevitable, said Clemson University chemist John W.  Huffman, who after a lifetime of scientific research is seeing marijuana-related compounds he developed as lab tools in a quest to improve health used for a potentially dangerous high. 

Synthetic marijuana-related compounds he painstakingly developed over two decades to study their biological effects and ultimately develop medications to help AIDS, multiple sclerosis and chemotherapy patients, now are gaining popularity with recreational drug users as "fake" pot. 

He is concerned because of the potential harm these compounds may cause. 
"Evidently, some people have figured out how to make them and are putting them in products marketed as incense," said Huffman, 77, a nationally known researcher who has won the National Institutes of Health's Senior Scientist Award and whose work has been published in scientific journals. 

Huffman said he first learned through e-mails from a German blogger and some European chemists that two of his compounds were being used in some "fake marijuana" products under names such as K2 and Spice. 

"I figured once it got started in Germany it was going to spread.  I'm concerned that it could hurt people," Huffman said.  "I think this was something that was more or less inevitable.  It bothers me that people are so stupid as to use this stuff."

The compounds, developed in research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse almost continuously since 1984, aren't meant for human consumption, Huffman said.  The effects on humans haven't been studied, and the compounds should not be used as recreational drugs and could be toxic, he said. 

The products are legal and easily available over the counter and online.  No proof of age is needed, and Huffman and health officials are concerned. 

"This high-end blend is guaranteed to chill your mood," touts a product description on Amazon.com. 

"It's an emerging substance of abuse," said Jill Michels, director of the Palmetto Poison Center at the University of South Carolina's College of Pharmacy.  "Teens that are not even of legal driving or drinking age can get this substance."

Michels said the Palmetto Poison Center, which is South Carolina's poison control agency, has had no calls on the product yet.  Curtis Reece, manager of prevention at the Phoenix Center in Greenville, said counselors are aware of national concern but haven't seen evidence of local use. 

Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center has seen nothing unusual in this area, said spokeswoman Sandy Dees, though problems are beginning to crop up in emergency rooms elsewhere in the country. 

Huffman and his research team have developed more than 450 synthetic cannabinoid compounds in order to help understand diseases and provide information for development of medications. 

Cannabinoids include THC - the active ingredient in cannabis plants - but also other substances that interact with the cannabinoid receptors in the brain and other organs. 
"These receptors don't exist so that people can smoke marijuana and get high.  They play a role in regulating appetite, nausea, mood, pain and inflammation," Huffman said.  "They may be involved in the development of conditions such as osteoporosis, liver disease and some kinds of cancer."

Huffman said he gets angry when he's blamed for the harmful effects of the compounds that he developed to further scientific study that ultimately could improve the quality of life for millions of people and not for recreational use.  He holds users responsible for their own actions. 

"If you go around paying $40 for a packet of leaves that contains who knows what and smoke it, you are not a very responsible person.  This is akin to playing Russian roulette," Huffman said. 

The herbs are simply "an inert ingredient to spray the stuff on to deliver the product," said Dr.  Anthony Scalzo, professor and director of toxicology at St.  Louis University and medical director of the Missouri Poison Center at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. 
In recent months, Scalzo has seen more than 30 cases of young people, most between the ages of 14 and 21, coming into the emergency room with spiking heart rates and blood pressure after smoking K2. 

Scalzo said he started noticing scattered cases late last year and by January was seeing enough cases to call it a trend. 

Patients are agitated and very anxious, he said.  Heart rates race to 125 to 140 beats a minute and blood pressures are as high as 160 over 110. 

"This is serious blood pressure.  These patients are stimulated, and it's not a pleasant stimulation that's why they are in the emergency room," Scalzo said. 

Symptoms sometimes include hallucinations and tremors.  One 15-year-old was about to jump out of a fifth-floor window because he was hallucinating and didn't realize what he was doing.  Fortunately, said Scalzo, a friend stopped him. 

One of Scalzo's concerns is that the symptoms don't fit the typical marijuana high that lowers the heart rate. 

He's also concerned about the easy availability and has testified before Missouri lawmakers considering outlawing the product.  Patients have told him they buy the products at convenience stores and head shops.  One patient reported buying K2 at a bait and tackle shop, Scalzo said. 

 

Technorati Tags: fake pot,K2,Clemson University,South Carolina,origins,dangers

LEGALIZE IT?

http://www.mapinc.org/newsnorml/v10/n649/a06.html

by Amber Pridgen, For Weekly Surge, (Source:Sun News)

12 Aug 2010

South Carolina
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Mum's The Word When It Comes To Palmetto State Pot Reform

The seeds of change for legalizing medical marijuana are being planted from coast to coast with states such as Washington, Oregon, Vermont and New Jersey speaking out, declaring themselves official card-carrying members of the movement.  Marijuana dispensaries are dotted throughout the cities of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Colorado Springs, Colo., while the Garden State's Trenton and Newark are gearing up for their first harvest of legally grown marijuana to be distributed in dispensaries this fall.  Buying it legally is becoming a part of America's landscape, in much the same way local corner stores have.

When it comes to socio-political trends in this country, they tend to come to us like the wind, usually from the West.

"As is often the case, the state of California has been out in front of other states when it comes to policy change.  California was the first state to approve medical marijuana use in 1996," said Western Carolina University political science professor, Gibbs Knotts.

So what role is South Carolina taking in the fight for marijuana reform? Are we following in the tilled steps of our western revolutionaries by lobbying for the legalization of medical marijuana? The truth is, y'all, we haven't even looked at a piece of ground to plant an idea on.

But here on the Strand, the idea of marijuana reform will take center stage on Wednesday, when the Legalize It 2010 Tour, featuring cannabis-espousing rock and hip-hop artists Slightly Stoopid, Cypress Hill, and Collie Buddz roll into town at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach.  The tour's goal is to spread the word, the vibe, and the bong, while taking the concept of legalized marijuana to the streets in an effort to raise awareness, coupled with columns of smoke.

So far, in this election year in Horry County, there has been roughly $160,000-worth of marijuana seized in pounds, with $487,000 seized in plants, from approximately 450 people charged with violations.  With these kinds of numbers, might it get the attention of our legislation?

In a recent phone interview, S.C.  State Rep.  Tracy Edge, who represents Horry County, commented "I'm not aware of any legislation coming to the floor regarding the legalization of medical marijuana.  A legalization tour might bring awareness, but in trying to change laws you have to be smart about the process.  You have to know the arena you are going in to.  For medical marijuana to be considered you would need highly knowledgeable people lobbying for it, such as oncologists.  At this point, there isn't enough medical backing for such a law."

So where are the medical minds of South Carolina on this issue? Places like New Jersey have, by comparison to South Carolina, become radical, giving the East Coast a little smack down in changing its marijuana laws earlier this year.  As the community responds, one idea gaining momentum is to have teaching hospitals be the solitary dispensers of medical marijuana, especially considering anticipated issues with secure buildings, as well as knowledge of the needs of patients.

But in South Carolina, here it appears that if a socially acceptable leader won't drive the bandwagon, no one is going to ask for the keys and start a procession.  In our state, the truth is that our laws on this issue are being driven by a lack of collective interest.  No one, at this time, appears to be the politician or physician who will stand up for the cause and go against the grain of their contemporaries.  The bottom line is that this kind of law reform in our state is hard ball politics.  It's most everything we see on TV about coming elections, voter polls, and demographics- all pushing the politics.

The status quo

Marijuana is a state issue, which politically takes us not only onto the floor our General Assembly, but the Governor's office as well.

"States which have legalized medical marijuana have done so through the Governor and state legislature, not the federal government in Washington" explained Kevin Bishop, Communications Director for U.S.  Sen.  Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

In a recent attempt to correspond with Governor Mark Sanford on the issue of medical marijuana, his policy advisor, Susan Duncan, replied "Thank you for your correspondence to Governor Sanford regarding the legalization of marijuana for medicinal use.  We appreciate your taking the time.  However, this administration neither supports nor advocates change on this front.  Please know the Governor does support current state laws regarding the use of marijuana."

What about the state's next governor, which will be decided in November?

How do the candidates feel about marijuana reform in the Palmetto State?

We wish you could tell you, but they wouldn't tell us.

We attempted to contact Democratic candidate for governor, Vincent Sheheen, along with his Republican opponent, Nikki Haley, and got no response.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Meanwhile, the Legalize It 2010 tour has been rolling more than papers across country this summer, beginning in California, moving its way east to Virginia, back west to Missouri, north to Massachusetts, southwest to Nebraska, then back east again, with many places in between.  Everywhere it goes, the mantra is the same: Pass the Joint.  For those of you who have kept your head in the clouds throughout the year, Legalize It 2010 is the brain child of the groovy, reggae, punk rockers Slightly Stoopid; a band that's been hitting the road for years, playing to capacity crowds eager for the energy that's shared between Stoopidheads.
The tour is dedicated to the awareness of legalizing marijuana, and not solely for medicinal use, they advocate the Full Nelson: legalize marijuana, period.  Being from California, the leader of medical marijuana in our country, Slightly Stoopid and co-headliners Cypress Hill both have the insight and experience of what legalized marijuana can do for a state, and they are taking that message to the streets.

"At the venue, supporters can expect to see various organizations that usually attend and promote certain shows: The MPP ( Marijuana Policy Project ), NORML and more.  We encourage local policy supporters to attend and spread the word.  The tour's street team has contacted locals in hopes of boosting show attendance to educate people, and increase awareness on the issue," explained Slightly Stoopid drummer, Ryan "Rymo" Morgan, in a recent phone interview from the road."We knew we wanted to do something big again this summer.  We've been fans of Cypress Hill and Collie Buddz for some time.  We figured they would make an ideal bill to spread the love."

And the awareness is definitely spreading; there are 14 states that have passed state laws legalizing medical marijuana.  California in 1996; Alaska, Washington, and Oregon followed in 1998; Maine in 1999, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada in 2000; Vermont and Montana in 2004; Rhode Island in 2006; New Mexico in 2007; Michigan in 2008; and New Jersey in 2010.  "None of the 14 states with legalized medical marijuana are in the South," said WCU's Knotts.  "Of the 14 states, the West is in the lead with nine.  Four of the states are in the Northeast and one is in the Midwest.

And these are just the ones that have already passed legislature.  The organization MPP ( Marijuana Policy Project ) is presently lobbying for medical marijuana-related bills in the state legislatures of Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New York.

"States in the American South, like South Carolina, are more conservative both socially and economically," said Knotts.  "Given the political culture in South Carolina, I would be very surprised if the state moved to legalize marijuana use."

Will that climate alter the Legalize It 2010 tour's message or stance come Wednesday at the House of Blues?

"I mean as far as state to state with different laws in each one, there really isn't that much of a difference.  We do our thing no matter where we are.  We may be a bit more careful with our smoke on stage in certain places," Slightly Stoopid's Morgan said.  "We are looking forward to a high energy, crazy show.  Myrtle Beach has always been great to us in terms of good crowds and energy.  In terms of S.C.'s medical marijuana policy, and that of other states, we feel that the Western states will lead the charge, California, Oregon, Colorado, Montana, etc.  As legalization becomes more socially acceptable, other states will jump on."

Inspired by Morgan's on-stage smoking comment, we inquired with House of Blues and North Myrtle Beach officials to find out if the pro-pot event on Wednesday will garner any heightened security/police presence, and they were as mum as many of the politicians we queried on the subject, with no response received as of press time.

A small seed planted

The Palmetto State keeps the lid on the subject locked up tight.  While other states may be jumping on the bandwagon, our state doesn't seem willing to entertain the idea.  The closest there has been to discussions on a state law legalizing medical marijuana came in January 2007 when Sen.  William Mescher, R-Berkeley County, introduced S 220, a bill that would legalize marijuana and allow patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, severe pain, and other serious illnesses to use the drug with their doctor's approval.  Sadly, Mescher died of a heart attack on April 8, 2007, roughly two months after proposing the bill.

"Senator Mescher's efforts for legalization didn't gain any traction in the committee, and no one has come out since then.  It would be very difficult, politically, for a representative in South Carolina's legislation to gain any ground in attempts to legalize medical marijuana," S.C.  Sen.  Raymond E.  Cleary III, who represents Horry County, said in a recent phone interview.

Was Mescher the only politician in South Carolina with a dream of marijuana reform? LikeRep.Edge said, there needs to be a show of support from the medical community to promote medical marijuana, but where are these voices? Shouldn't physicians be speaking out on the benefits of marijuana for their patients, the prime candidates to experience the windfall? Consider how that might play out in our General Assembly: have highly intelligent, established, and respected professionals lobby for marijuana reform to help those suffering.  Isn't that what brought the concept of legalization to other states anyway?

It seems the doctors aren't talking either.

"With response to your inquiry to talk with the research department on the possibility of medical marijuana in South Carolina, MUSC ( Medical University of South Carolina ) and the Hollings Cancer Center does not have any comment.  And since it's not even on the legal or legislative horizon in South Carolina it is not something our doctors want to comment on either," replied Vicky Agnew, Director of Strategic Communications at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, when asked for an interview to gain a physician's perspective on medical marijuana.

The late Senator Mescher's motives for legalization are rooted in medicinal use: his wife was terminally ill and died years before the bill was introduced; the events of her struggle never left him, prompting him to introduce the proposed legislation 24 years after her death.
For South Carolina, the process would require our General Assembly to listen to testimony from doctors, patients, and other concerned parties, but the fact of the matter is the people of our state apparently show no drive, or intention, to change the law.  And for those who agree with medical marijuana, it appears the voices are louder at concerts rather than congress.

Preaching to the converted

Slightly Stoopid has a huge following, and regardless of the connotation of the band's name, has never been dim-witted.  The band spiraled through the music industry in much the same way TOOL has, maintaining creative control, and in charge of its musical destiny.  Slightly Stoopid has found its niche ( selling out 25,000 seats at Flavet Field in Florida earlier this year, as well as selling out the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, in November of 2009.  )
But as the Legalize It tour rolls into the buckle of the Bible Belt, what about the diehard anti-everything protesters who excitedly exercise their First Amendment right?

"We have had a few soap box preachers," said Morgan.  "One time in Virginia this guy set up across the street from our bus with his milk crate [to stand on] and bible in hand.  He was ranting and raving about hell, fire, and brimstone.  Miles [one of band's two front men] went over and started to talk to him.  He ended up leaving shortly thereafter.  Miles didn't threaten him or tell him to leave.  He just said, 'Look man, this is our job.  We bring people together to have fun, and burn off some steam from everyday life.  We aren't out to corrupt the youth or cause problems...' The guy heard him and left.  Being a 'Stoopidhead' is a way of life, a state of mind.  The band's name is kind of tongue in cheek.  It's not too serious.  We are about having fun and partying and hanging out with your friends.  Stoopidheads are some of the best and most loyal music fans out there.  The proof is in the numbers at our live shows.  We are normal guys that enjoy playing music together and don't take stuff too seriously.  I think that is part of the reason we've been able to generate a true following."

The Gateway Drug

What is it that cripples our notions and won't let our collective brains be nudged, politically, on the issue? Why is it so taboo to even talk about? What crime is marijuana responsible for? The answer is marijuana's bad reputation for being a gateway drug.  It's where everyone starts when it comes to experimenting with narcotics.

"In 25 years of working drugs, I can't recall one drug user that didn't admit starting with marijuana.  Matter a fact, some marijuana users are 'mixing' other drugs such as PCP [Angel Dust] with their marijuana as well as a large portion of crack, cocaine and heroin users still using marijuana in conjunction with their drug of choice" states Lt.  Michael Cannon, of Horry County Police Department's Narcotics division.  "People tend to think a D.U.I.  [Driving Under the Influence] charge relates to only alcohol, but that's not true.  It's driving under the influence of any drug."

But what about the hype that marijuana is the biggest cash crop in South Carolina? As the struggling economy grips our lifestyle, wouldn't that cash be helpful to the financial condition of our state?

"Tough economic times often result in creative solutions for states to generate additional revenue," said Knotts.  "Tax receipts for marijuana production and sales could be quite substantial."

Marijuana beats out tobacco as the number one crop in our state according to drugscience.org, so what of that?

"I'd like to know how one determines that.  One marijuana plant seized is considered by law enforcement to be worth approximately $3,200 on the street, the state gets nothing," responds Cannon.  "The driving factor for get-rich-quick ideas in the drug world is the concept that one person will buy large amounts of marijuana and then sell them all at the smallest quantity.  That's just not how it happens.  It's not realistic."

What to keep in mind, financially, is that in other states where legalization is taking place, the state isn't the proprietor of the marijuana; it only taxes it.  So for the diehard number pushers who say marijuana can bring in billions to our state, that's not being realistic.

  Marijuana definitely has the potential to bring in money for the state, but exactly how much is a matter of laws and ordinances that would vary from county to county.  For example, take the rounded off $600,000 in marijuana from this year so far and tax it at 10 percent ( which is what the Oakland, Calif., council is trying to do ) then take the $60,000 in taxes for half the year, double it and get $120,000, per year in taxes, for the state from Horry County.  Even though the Grand Strand is one of the most active areas in the state regarding narcotics, for good measure, still allocate all counties in S.C.  $120,000 per year in taxes for the state.  With South Carolina's 46 counties, our state could pull in an estimated $5.5 million a year in taxable marijuana, to start.  And this doesn't include licensing fees, both for county and state.  As Colorado, a state legalized since 2000, gears up for a round of yearly state fees on the 700 applications filed for new dispensaries, the state brought in roughly $7.34 million as a first step in getting the dispensaries legit, legal and loaded with product.  This is before anything is even sold.  There is no doubt about it, marijuana could bring extra revenue to our state, so what is the hold up, really?

"Well sure, a state can legalize all kinds of things to bring in extra money.  I mean, legalize prostitution while you're at it and tax that.  It will surely bring in extra money, but think about the change it will have on the culture of the community.  We have to think about the message we send the impressionable minds of our state," said Lt.  Cannon.  "And let me ask you something, out of all the arrests for simple possession and on up the line of marijuana amounts, how many of those do you think were patients seeking relief from medical conditions? Most of the cases made against an individual who may benefit from medical marijuana use are purely coincidental and usually the result of a traffic stop or some other unrelated violation.  The bottom line is: it is illegal and we pursue all the state's drug laws with the same amount of vigor.  And look, what if the "big cash crop" were turned for a profit? You'd have every 18-year-old out there buying and selling to their 14, 15, and 16 old friends to make a profit.  Then those kids will get in their car and drive around smoking pot like it's a cigarette.  And the reason they get in that car and drive is because they've been told by state laws that marijuana isn't harmful.  That it doesn't affect you.  And that's just not true.  It slows reaction time; it slows the thinking process; it clouds judgment.  They don't call it 'dope' for nothing."

Lt.  Cannon also questions the motivation of movements, such as the Legalize It tour.
"Take a look at who it is that is trying to legalize it.  I mean really look at them and their motives.  Do you have doctors knocking the doors of our legislation down?" Lt.  Cannon asked.  "What about those who are sick and might have something to gain? Where are they? Is anyone in South Carolina's legislation and hospitals even talking about it?"

Apparently not.

 

Technorati Tags: legalize,medical marijuana,South Carolina,drug laws,lawmakers,arguments,public opinion

PUB LTE: WE LOVE POT YOU SHOULD, TOO

http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v10/n1053/a07.html?

22 Dec 2010

South Carolina
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Thanks for shedding some light on the recent USC research ( "Scientists Grapple over Marijuana's Effect on Immune System," Dec.  15 ).  Unfortunately, cannabis never gets the credit it deserves.  This "drug" is a proven source of medicine for countless ailments that currently afflict our injured, disabled and elderly populations.  Moreover, it is completely safe for human use, in contrast to many commonly prescribed medicines that Big Pharma is pumping out these days.

The mere activation of the endocannabinoid system positively affects our overall health and well-being and can drastically improve the quality of life for unwell individuals.  Thanks to dedicated researchers around the world, it is finally impossible to deny the medicinal potential of the cannabis plant.

 
Still, more research needs to be done.  While other states are finally catching on, however, South Carolina is stuck in a hopeless War on Weed.  Additionally, cannabis is still federally classified as a Schedule I drug with "no medicinal value." Strangely enough, consumption of cannabis is still safer than alcohol and tobacco.  The public must unite if we want to see any progress toward cannabis legalization for responsible adults.

What does South Carolina have to gain from a marijuana economy? Additional tax revenue, prioritized law enforcement, an infinitely profitable hemp industry, and a safe remedy for ailments that afflict many South Carolinians.

Why are we ignoring the stoned elephant in the room?

Directors, Columbia NORML
Columbia

York County steps up effort to ban synthetic marijuana

Angie Theycall Mehippie’s Rant:

Indeed! I agree that synthetic marijuana and all its predecessors, as the companies have pledged to keep pumping out into public hands to spite the crack down and danger of these types of products, is dangerous when inhaled. I have two problems with this: 1. The product is NOT supposed to be inhaled and says so on the label. It was misused. 2. The “keep our kids safe” issue is being utilized to produce more legislature to enforce yet another “drug ban” upon something that is NOT intended to be a drug. It was intended as incense as the fine print on the label says. I, myself, have never and will never buy anything like this. That doesn’t mean others won’t especially kids. The companies make it appealing and the kids (and adults that don’t use sense or read the labeling), which is definitely an issue, do fall for it without reading the labeling. I disagree because I honestly think that parents should police their own kids. In the end that is what it boils down to. If parents would educate their kids on the realities of these products and drugs in general, and by this I mean having open and honest discussions about all drugs and their use without being biased or holding back truth to your kid, then it would make the kids think twice and the products would loose their power to influence kids or get them to buy based on marketing schemes.

With that said, of course I realize we need to protect our kids. The thing is if the state keeps on doing it for the parents then what is the parent’s job in this? If parents keep relying on the state to do it all for them or even part of it we are again thrown into a scenario where the state has the right (because we give it to them) to legislate our kids’ lives and following that legislate our choices as adults and their future. Here’s the point: make smart choices and make the world safer. The world and life in general are dangerous. Every step you take has some element of danger to it. We cannot Nerf the world. We take a step forward we may twist our ankle, fall, and break it. I can testify to that being possible because it happened to me Christmas Eve 2008. I took a step down my front steps and fell down three to a hard, wet and partially frozen ground. I crushed my ankle. My doctor as a kid used to tell my mom that any of us could step out of our front door and an airplane crash and hit us. I thought it an exaggeration until a few years ago I was watching CNN and saw that had happened to a man in New York. If it had been a Nerf plane falling at that speed and on fire that man would have probably still been dead.

Let’s face one fact: kids will try to “get high” legally and not face jail, their ruined future by one drug charge, and to get out of facing their parents and punishment if they can. After all they still want to be “good kids”, right? It looks as if they do to me. This is a problem that prohibition and its lies have created. It’s the domino effect of legislating things of this nature as I’m speaking about.

If parents would research the truth about the reality of the real, non-synthetic, marijuana and educate their kids on that issue instead of waiting for someone else to do it or hiding behind the lies of Refer Madness days things could turn out different for most kids and their choices with drugs. Parents: educate yourselves. I am in no way saying that the parents of this teenager were negligent nor am I judging them in any way. I do not know the circumstances behind the scenes of this news article and do not pretend to know. I am only suggesting a truthful discussion about real drugs along with dangers and good choices in life is in order in all situations. That is not unreasonable. What is unreasonable is giving the state and school systems a right to legislate health and moral issues to “protect” our kids and all of our futures. Once the ball is rolling it will grow to other things as we have seen since Nixon decided not to listen to his own commission to study marijuana and against their decision that marijuana is not as harmful as to be illegal went full steam ahead with his own desires therefore creating Refer Madness and all its avalanche of lies and injustice. Since that decision by Nixon was made we have imprisoned more people than Russia and China combined. We now have the largest prison population in the entire world right here in our country. Over half of that prison population is for non-violent crimes. Most of those numbers are for drug offenses. This is a health issue where real drug abuse and addiction exist but not a legal one.

If we have our kids understanding the truth then I suggest that perhaps they will not seek dangerous ways to “get high”. I do not know the “whys” of these types of actions by our youth. I do know that honest and open conversation with kids go much further in influencing their decisions, if the conversation is truthful no matter what that truth is, than we think and does influence our kids more than anything else. What I’m saying is parents, educate yourself and your kids truthfully.

Let’s police our own kids while educating them. Let’s not take a backseat to the state and makes the decisions ourselves. The legislation of morality is not a legislation that will protect us or our kids in any way. It is more harmful. We should also be responsible for our own safety as adults and for the safety of our kids without the state stepping in. When the state steps in, in most cases, the state oversteps its boundaries and goes much further than we dreamed. A police state can rise from these kinds of ashes.

I do know that a perfect scenario is not present at all times and sometimes parents have no control over their kid once the kid steps out of the home to go out with friends, go to school, to a party or ballgame or wherever that kid is going. That is where the intelligent education steps in. If the kid has enough information to make smart choices chances are they will do just that.

I, personally, do not think those products should exist yet at the same time I know there is a right to free market in the United States. I agree with our system of commerce where everyone has an equal right to acquire wealth and happiness for themselves. I am only asking for us to stop sitting back and allowing the state and federal government to do things for us, decide things for us, and stand up to do it ourselves. We will have more freedom that way.

This also creates a disrespect for the law. That is another important thing we need to counter. If the laws do not tell the truth, as some laws do not and many others should not exist, then that creates a tendency to not believe the law when it is telling the truth. Please wake up to this fact and realize that the future of our kids should be and is still in our hands not the hands of the state.

Make smart choices.

Here is the article:

 

 

http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/12/08/2673272/york-county-steps-up-effort-to.html

Published: Wednesday, Dec. 08, 2010 / Updated: Wednesday, Dec. 08, 2010 07:23 AM

Coalition leader: 'Kids are looking for ways to get high. It's nothing new.'

By Toya Graham - tgraham@fortmilltimes.com

YORK --

More than a month ago, a Fort Mill teen played Russian roulette with her life.

"A beautiful 17-year-old had taken two hits of "Mary Joy," York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant said Tuesday.

Those hits of Mary Joy, one of several names for synthetic marijuana, made the teen so ill she wound up in the hospital.

"She was incoherent and exhibiting extreme paranoia and anxiety, involuntary muscle jerking and elevated heart rate and blood pressure," Bryant said. "The girl could have died."

The incident is not isolated to Fort Mill, said Keith Wilks of the Rock Hill school district.

"There have been two instances (in Rock Hill schools) of possession," Wilks said about synthetic marijuana. "One was high school. One was middle school."

State and local leaders don't want to lose a young person to synthetic marijuana, a combination of spice and herbal products sprayed with "potent psychotropic drugs." It is sold legally in Rock Hill conveniences stores and neighboring Charlotte businesses, but change is on the way.

"Effective Christmas Day, DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) will make it officially banned in the United States," Winthrop University Police Chief Frank Zebedis said Tuesday during an informational breakfast at the Moss Justice Center in York. "That's at the federal level.

"We can only enforce at general sessions court level," Zebedis said. "It's very important that we get it through legislation."

The federal ban is not a permanent fix, he said.

"It will only be in effect for 12 months with the ability to be extended six months," Zebedis said.

Last week, the Fort Mill school board adopted a resolution to ban synthetic marijuana. A few days later, the South Carolina School Board Association took a stance.

"We passed a resolution encouraging state legislators to ban synthetic marijuana," said Diane Dasher, a member of Fort Mill school board and York County All On Board Coalition.

Coalition members, along with local law enforcement and community leaders, are gearing up to take their request to Columbia.

"We hope that we bring awareness and some action to do whatever we have to do locally to get this K2, Spice and other synthetic marijuana products off the streets and out of the hands of our youth," said Jane Alleva, director of All On Board Coalition.

The move is about stopping people from sniffing or otherwise digesting the drug that can smell like spices or fruit.

"This is a dangerous new trend," said Janet Martini of Keystone. "We are not only seeing K2 use in our teens but also in our adults as it is becoming widespread each day."

Using synthetic marijuana, she said, is risky business akin to Russian roulette.

"You just don't know what you're going to get," she said. Side effects could include slipping into a coma, hallucinations or death.

A move is growing to make selling and using synthetic marijuana illegal in the state.

"I think it's wonderful," said S.C. Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill. "It sends a message."

Hayes has prefiled a bill in the state Senate to ban synthetic marijuana.

"You can count on me," he said. "It's important for the community to get mobilized, stay mobilized and push legislation to do this."

Without the bill, the legal sales and abuse of synthetic marijuana will continue to be a nightmare, Bob Norwood, chairman of the coalition and the Rock Hill school board.

"Kids are looking for ways to get high. It's nothing new," Norwood said. "We would like for this to be a wake-up call for our community. We need to leave here willing to do whatever it takes to protect our youth."

USC researcher expands understanding of marijuana’s health impact

http://www.thestate.com/2010/12/02/1586676/usc-researcher-expands-understanding.html

Thursday, Dec. 02, 2010

By JOEY HOLLEMAN - jholleman@thestate.com

Chemical compounds in marijuana can suppress the body’s immune functions — potentially speeding the growth of some cancers but possibly helping in the fight against arthritis, multiple sclerosis or allergies.

The good-news, bad-news findings were published in this month’s European Journal of Immunology, based on a study led by USC researcher Prakash Nagarkatti. An immunologist who has been exploring the potential of cannabis for eight years, Nagarkatti refers to the findings as “a double-edged sword.”

Nagarkatti’s earlier studies dealt mostly with marijuana’s potential to treat leukemia. The latest report, at first glance, seems to contradict his earlier findings. But Nagarkatti says the seeming contradiction just emphasizes the complexities of both marijuana and cancer.

“Cancer is not one illness. It is a very wide range of illnesses,” said Nagarkatti, the Carolina Distinguished Professor in the department of pathology, microbiology and immunology at the USC School of Medicine. “And marijuana has over 400 different chemicals. It’s such a complex plant that we don’t know the impact of all of those chemicals.”

The latest study on lab mice opens avenues for more research on the subject. Nagarkatti hopes it’ll lead to human clinical trials.

He also knows it will stir up the medicinal marijuana debate.

“I’m getting a lot of e-mails from both sides already,” he said.

Many comments tacked onto early online reporting about the study blast Nagarkatti as anti-medicinal marijuana. Those commenting don’t realize his earlier studies showed the promise of marijuana components, or that this study indicated as much positive and negative.

The research focused on cannabinoids, compounds found in the marijuana plant, and their impact on myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Research shows those cells suppress the immune system. Nagarkatti, along with co-authors Venkatesh Hegde and Mitzi Nagarkatti, found cannabinoids trigger creation of huge amounts of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in mice.

If the findings in mice are replicated in humans, doctors might re-think the use of the one FDA-approved, marijuana-derived drug — Marinol — to battle the nausea of chemotherapy and stimulate appetite in HIV-AIDS patients.

While reducing nausea, marijuana’s cannabinoids might also speed death by suppressing the immune system critical to battling many forms of cancer and infections. Of course, since HIV-AIDS also destroys the immune system, the impact of marijuana on the system in those cases might be minimal.

Conversely, cannabinoids might be a new tool for doctors to treat arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In those auto-immune diseases, your immune system goes into overdrive, destroying healthy cells. By suppressing immune response, cannabinoids could lessen the severity of those diseases. It also could help people battle allergies and fight transplant rejection, Nagarkatti said.

While smoking medicinal marijuana has been legalized in some states, the only FDA-approved application of cannabinoids in the U.S. is Marinol. Nagarkatti is fascinated by the medical possibilities of marijuana cannabinoids, but he doesn’t recommend self-prescribing its use.

“It’s a complex mixture of chemicals that’s not something to be played with,” Nagarkatti said.

Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2010/12/02/1586676/usc-researcher-expands-understanding.html#ixzz19rKr7Nvw

 

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