Drug Czar: Medical marijuana a “gateway for legalization”

http://stash.norml.org/drug-czar-medical-marijuana-a-gateway-for-legalization

By "Radical" Russ Belville on February 11, 2011

Paul Armentano does a phenomenal fashion review on the flaming pants Gil Kerlikowske, our drug czar, is wearing in the latest interview with The Daily Caller.  Gil dodges a question about the volumes of scientific reports on medical marijuana by claiming “there are over 100 groups doing marijuana research, there are several things in clinical trials right now,” when, in fact, there are exactly two clinic trials ongoing.

I want to focus on something else Gil said:

(The Daily Caller)KERLIKOWSKE: What has been made extremely clear is that the legalization community has made it patently clear that marijuana drug is a gateway for legalization. I think they’ve made that intention clear.

Besides the whole “extremely patently clear marijuana drug” syntax, think about what Gateway Gil is saying here.

The legalization community thinks medical marijuana is a gateway to legalization of marijuana.

Medical marijuana is legalization of marijuana, just for a tightly-defined demographic.  It’s a second-class, Jim Crow,quasi-legalization, but essentially, it is what those of us in the legalization community consider the bare minimum of legalization: don’t throw me in jail, leave me alone, let me grow and use and maybe even buy and sell cannabis.

Just how do we make this supposed gateway work?  We pass medical marijuana laws and suddenly 50%+1 voters in the state vote to legalize for everyone?  You got us, Gateway Gil, that’s kind of the plan. We know when cannabis isn’t completely forbidden, when people learn the truth about it, that it is safer than alcohol, that it is not carcinogenic like tobacco, that it isn’t chemically addictive like hard drugs, they begin to realize legalization is a reasonable alternative to breaking down people’s doors, shooting their dogs, and ruining their lives over a weed.

That’s the problem of medical marijuana for Gateway Gil: it provides living breathing visible examples of what legalization could be like.  It’s harder to demonize the reefers when you happen to know someone whose cannabis use calms the tremors of their multiple sclerosis enough for them to hold down a graphic design job.  It’s difficult to castigate the “black market drug dealers” when you can tour a professionally-run dispensary that pays sales taxes and tests product for impurities and cannabinoid levels.  Those police overtime weeding operations you call “drug seizures” sound a lot less frightening when people are regularly exposed to regular-looking people tending beautiful green gardens.

However, there is quite certainly a difference between medical users who need cannabis and social users who want cannabis.  Even if marijuana prohibition remains for social use, that in no way changes the need to fight for medical use or the fact that cannabis is a beneficial medicine.  Gateway Gil can’t accept that and believes medical marijuana is all a bunch of smoke and mirrors…

KERLIKOWSKE: I think it hides the debate. If you call it medicine, if you call the people using it patients and the people distributing it caregivers, it completely masks the debate. I think that sends a bad message to young people, and I’ve heard that from high-school students we’ve done focus groups with.

Gil thinks this woman, Donna Lambert, and hundreds of thousands of others are faking it to get high.

No, it completely illuminates the debate, considering there arevolumes of study on the issue that have settled beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is medical utility in cannabis.  Even the American Medical Association admits “smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.”

If high school students are reporting they believe that cannabis is medicine and smoking marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, it is because that’s a fact.  When is telling our children the truth ever a “bad message”?

KERLIKOWSKE: I think it came back to hurt them in the legalization push in California, where dispensaries are more ubiquitous than Starbucks. They’re on every corner. They’re outside waving signs. I think people got pretty tired of having it jammed down their throats. And it isn’t a constitutional right, the last time I checked.

Well, you’ve just confirmed why you needn’t fear medical marijuana, then, haven’t you?  California’s got the most liberal medical marijuana law and you’re saying the ubiquity of it all turned off voters who then rejected legalization.  So how can you be afraid that we’re using medical marijuana as a gateway to legalization when it’s been proven to not work?  You should be secretly championing us so the public will see for themselves how awful medical marijuana is!

Terence McKenna said, “If the words ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ don’t include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn’t worth the hemp it was written on.”  As for the Constitution, the Tenth Amendment says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”  I looked all through that constitution and could not find any power delegated to the United States to monitor and control what The People ingest.  In fact, when it comes to The People, the Fourth Amendment says we have the right “to be secure in their persons… against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

The only reason the right to plant seeds, harvest crops, and ingest herbs wasn’t placed in the Constitution is that even the best educated hemp farmers couldn’t envision a time when it would be necessary to enumerate that right.

 

Technorati Tags: Director Gil Kerlikowske,Drug Czar,gil kerlikowske,ONDCP,The Daily Caller,refer madness,marijuana,cannabis

Mexican drug war now includes 6 victims of grenade attack at nightclub

http://stash.norml.org/mexican-drug-war-now-includes-6-victims-of-grenade-attack-at-nightclub

By "Radical" Russ Belville on February 13, 2011

Apparently the lesson our policymakers learned from Al Capone and the Alcohol Prohibition era isn’t that prohibition always causes violence, never stops drug use, greatly enriches sociopaths, frequently corrupts police, and indiscriminately kills innocents, so like alcohol, we should realize we can’t successfully prohibit drugs.

Nope.  The lesson they seemed to have learned is to make sure that all happens somewhere else.  Outsourcing.

The problem for the prohibitionists with the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude is that Mexico is, in fact, our back yard.  As we respond with more “assistance” (guns and ammo and armor and surveillance) for Mexico, we will not defeat the drug suppliers.  Like overuse of antibiotics, we’ll just ensure the ones that survive are smarter, faster, stronger, and increasingly more violent.

And they will spread.  It won’t be grenades in go-go bars in Guadalajara.  It will be Glendale.  It will be American young people dancing at a disco.  Will Americans finally give up this addiction to prohibition when it’s six dead and thirty-seven wounded Arizona State students blown up by a drug soldier?

We’ve been calling it a War on Drugs for so long that Drugs went and got themselves an army, as well-armed as any army out there.  Ending prohibition – signing the peace accords in the War on Drugs – is the only real solution.

(Huffington Post) GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Armed men opened fire and hurled a grenade into a crowded nightclub early Saturday, killing six people and wounding at least 37 in a western city whose former tranquility has been shattered by escalating battles among drug cartels.

The attack in Mexico’s second-largest municipality took place just hours after a shootout between soldiers and presumed cartel gunmen left eight people, including an innocent driver, dead in the northeastern city of Monterrey. Monterrey is Mexico’s third-largest city.

In the Guadalajara attack, assailants in a Jeep Cherokee and a taxi drove up to the Butter Club, located in a bar and restaurant district popular with young people, and sprayed it with bullets.

Some of the men then got out of the taxi and threw a grenade into the nightclub entrance, said a police official, who spoke to news media at the scene and left without giving his name. The gunmen fled after the pre-dawn attack, he said.

Technorati Tags: Guadalajara,Mexico,NIMBY,Drug War,War on Drugs,World,Drug war victims,marijuana,cannabis

Manteca Police, copper wiring thieves & 2,300 marijuana plants

Angie Theycall Mehippie’s Rant:

First of all “we” (pro-legalizers and those who believe police resources should be used for better things) do not claim that the police are picking on cannabis consumers over the more dangerous drug alcohol and its consumers, we compare them. There’s a huge difference in doing comparisons than accusing. This is not to mention the cash incentives that police receive when they find cannabis or cannabis related items on or near a person enough that they can press charges! It doesn’t pay to catch a drunk driver or a murderer, etc. We do say that because it is true. Do the research yourself and find out. To be equally fair here in my words and assessment of this article and views of the author we do state in our rebuttals, as I am doing now, that police in every state and county set up checkpoints to catch both drunk drivers and cannabis consumers (or those they think are cannabis consumers or “holders” – the drug dogs are only around 40-48% accurate!). They catch them equally at checkpoints (which I think are unlawful and a violation of the 4th Amendment) but do receive those cash incentives for cannabis users. Make up your own mind if some police officers would be biased toward cannabis users or not.

The author correctly points out that the laws and law enforcement for those who buy alcohol under 21 and those who buy it for people under 21 are very harshly punished as they should be. The thing is drug dealers don’t I.D. Any illegal drug is easier to get than a controlled one such as alcohol so if you really want it out of kid’s hands then control and tax it! This is common sense.

I, myself, and other pro-legalization people do take up for the police on the fact that they do not make the laws and will be fired for not enforcing them or for speaking out against the laws such as the Arizona man involved in law enforcement who was recently fired for proclaiming his views on cannabis legalization and signing a petition for it. (See LEAP Action Alert in this blog.) If I were against the police for doing their job, why would I post (and other pro-legalization people) a petition to get him his job back? Again, common sense. We are not against the police doing their jobs!

The author states that California is for medical marijuana only and that they have made that clear. I assume he’s speaking of Prop 19 which only failed by a narrow margin and if the public was a little more informed Prop 19 would have passed and there are facts to show the reasons for the failures. Look that up yourself, also, to confirm my point here. The vote percentage was a win even though it didn’t pass making it the highest support rate in the country in history and that support is growing widely not only in California but across the country since Prop 19 in November of 2010. The author kindly forgets or omits to point this little factoid out.

2,300 marijuana plants for medical use only – Well, if it was for a collective then I can see that number being needed if it is a large enough collective. However, if no collective existed, then it probably wasn’t medical. Still that does not change the fact that a growing majority of Americans and people of the world are seeing the lies and deception behind the War on Drugs and that growing majority are wanting the DEA and law enforcement to leave peaceful cannabis consumers alone. It does not change the facts versus the lies of “Refer Madness”, either. Now that the truth is stepping into light through science “some folks” actually have a receptive mind to that and care enough to speak out.

Police are spending their limited resources, period. No matter what the branch or division of law enforcement from the DEA to local law enforcement the resources are strained at best across the board. This is not only in the case of cannabis arrests and raids. The limited resources are felt and seen throughout the whole of law enforcement in a strapped economy. That is a fact. No words can erase that fact as the facts about cannabis are coming to light and can no longer be erased or ignored.

I can see why these citizens are irate! Copper pipe? Really? Here is another factoid. While the legal process is ongoing with a cannabis case pending with time limits upon prosecution, rape kits and other vital forensics are set back in the lab for a very long time period. It is long enough that some victims have to wait from 1-5 years to get their rape kit tested and the person found guilty or not guilty for rape. The cash incentives for the police officers performing their duty on cannabis growers is not present for that rape suspect. Am I making a point yet? Rhetorical question, just as unnecessary as the time spent in this copper pipe stake out in my opinion. Alright, I would agree that the copper pipe stake out was a massive waste of time and resources in comparison to my little question. Not to mention the lives of the people involved are forever ruined because of a “drug record” they will incur for the span of their life. Even murderers have a chance of clearing their police record. I’ve seen habitual thieves clear their record with some community service. Lives are ruined with an arrest for cannabis, this does not include any prison time!

We’re living in a world now that begs the question what makes sense and what doesn’t? I’m not sure about you but copper thieves doesn’t scare me. They could be costly but not as costly as a legal record for drug use, possession, or distribution. In the United States it is still possible to get the death penalty for cannabis. It is on the books still and one man recently found that out because he was sentenced to death for it according to MSNBC. (I am still looking for that news clip to post.) My point is copper thieves, while bad and damaging, are not nearly as damaging as our laws against cannabis users and growers who would otherwise be peaceful, law-abiding citizens.

Copper theft is not a victimless crime, the author writes, and I would agree. Cannabis in all the “crime” formats that laws dictate is not a victimless crime, either, but the victim is usually the one arrested. It is true that major growers in an illegal market have guns and do kill people but this can be remedied as can the harsh penalties for life through one arrest by making cannabis legal for everyone to enjoy whether recreationally or medically.

Budget cuts – the author mentions this. What he does not see is the fact he just contradicted himself in saying that the police force didn’t use limited resources. The budget cuts he mentions says that they did and that the resources of police are very much limited.

“Second guessing police is a full-time vocation for some folks.” This statement is undoubtedly the opinion of the author because I haven’t found any paying job or volunteers that work full-time just to second guess police at all. If you find one, show me. If I am to take the sentence in context with the definitions of the words used, that is. I find this to be a blatant overstatement and one to mislead the public into thinking another lie in a feeble attempt to discredit the work of the people trying to get legislation passed for legalization or even medical cannabis. It is not working with most of the people of America. The sooner this author realizes this the better off we all will be. Most pro-legalization groups are supporting and working with both legislators (state and federal) and police officers and law enforcement in general. As for the police officers in particular we are striking up conversations. They, too, are speaking out against the Drug War at their own peril. This fact should wake a lot of people up. Those that cannot speak out now, we hope they will one day, for or against what legalization is aiming to do.

Cannabis users and growers want to be law-abiding citizens and would otherwise be that if it were not for laws propped up by propaganda (hence the name “prop”aganda) that are nothing but lies told to the people to gain our support. It is my faith in the intelligence of the American people and people of the world that they see through misleading statements such as in this article.

 

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/20957/

Technorati Tags: War On Drugs,victims,marijuana,cannabis,laws,drug raid,Manteca Industrial Park,Manteca Police,California

Report Of A Bleeding Man Leads Police To $1MIL In Marijuana

http://laist.com/2011/02/13/report_of_a_bleeding_man_leads_poli.php

Photo by jorizaga via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

L.A. County sheriff's deputies found over 200 pounds of marijuana with an estimated value of $1 million after responding to a call from witnesses who saw two men running down a residential street in La Habra Heights, "one of them bleeding from the upper torso and the other carrying a rifle," notes an LASD press release.

Deputies arriving to the 1900 block of Skyline Vista Drive on Wednesday Feb. 9 found no indication of a crime nor anyone injured, however a short time later were notified of a hospitalized gunshot wound victim that was determined to be the man described in the call. The Skyline Vista Drive resident was later discovered to be the suspect wanted in the shooting.

With a search warrant obtained detectives located a handgun, U.S. currency, about a million dollars worth of marijuana packaged for sale, a digital scale, plastic baggies, and other paraphernalia inside the residence. 53-year-old Edward Smetak was arrested "for felony Possession for Sales of Marijuana and ex-felon in possession of a firearm., with bail set at $100,000," reports the LASD press release.

 

Technorati Tags: drug war,war on drugs,L.A. County,marijuana,cannabis

Delaware Lawmakers Submit Medical Marijuana Bill Again

http://www.necn.com/02/13/11/Del-lawmakers-submit-medical-marijuana-b/landing_health.html?&blockID=3&apID=4caae47b8fbc4d329dab7877b3088145

Feb 13, 2011 2:30pm

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Medical marijuana proponents have filed another bill in the Delaware legislature to legalize medical use of the drug.

This is the third straight year Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry has introduced medical marijuana legislation and Henry says she is optimistic.

Rep. Helene Keeley, the House co-sponsor, says unlike California and 13 other states, the bill would not permit people to grow their own marijuana.

Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson, R-Milford, says he is undecided, and concerned that marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to the use of more dangerous drugs.

The bill would allow possession of up to six ounces and Delaware's health department would issue identification cards for patients and providers.

___

Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com

 

Technorati Tags: Delaware,medical marijuana,cannabis,legislation,medical marijuana bill

Federal Judge confirms Walmart can fire legal marijuana users

http://www.examiner.com/human-capital-in-detroit/federal-judge-confirms-walmart-can-fire-legal-marijuana-users

Walmart has won a suit alleging they violated Michigan's Medical Marijuana law by firing a legal user under the act.

Photo: Impact Press/Rick Weaver

United States District Judge Robert Jonker ruled Friday that the state's new medical marijuana law may protect those using the drug from arrest, but it does not alleviate employers from their duty to ensure a safe workplace for employees and customers.

The ruling vindicates Walmart from responsibility for wrongful firing

One key factor is that Walmart discovered the drug use in a drug test prescribes by a company policy that is consistently enforced.

The discounter fired Joseph Casias from their Battle Creek store after Casias, who has an inoperable brain tumor, failed a drug test. Walmart contended they needed to foster a safe drug-free workplace and their policies existed to do so. Their attorneys contended that the medical marijuana law was not intended to regulate businesses.

Jonker agreed with Walmart saying the law is designed to provide “a potential defense to criminal prosecution or other adverse action by the state.”  However the act does not address employment law, according to Jonker.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Casias' attorneys, say they will appeal the decision.

Most human capital professionals in Michigan are anxious for resolution of this case, particularly due to its impact on how companies can use drug testing and ensure that employees in certain positions are drug free.

 

Technorati Tags: medical marijuana laws,cannabis,Wal-Mart,Walmart,Judge Robert Jonker,lawsuit,win

Holder's Latest Comment About Medical Marijuana

http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/2011/feb/10/holders_latest_comment_about_med

by Scott Morgan, February 10, 2011, 01:00am

The Attorney General seldom discusses federal policy regarding medical marijuana, so even a brief remark is enough to get my attention. His latest comments at an event in Missoula were hardly groundbreaking, but interesting nonetheless.

Holder said he made a decision early on that the scarce federal resources would not be used in going after the people who used marijuana according to their state's laws.
"To treat chronic illnesses, to alive pain from live-ending illnesses, but made clear that we were not going to allow those laws to be used in a way to cover activity that was criminal in nature," Holder said.  [KPAX News]

We're all pretty familiar by now with Holder's lead talking point that targeting legitimate medical marijuana patients and providers is a poor use of "scarce federal resources" that could be spent jailing other people instead. It's a barely-tolerable position that carries with it the tragic implication that we would perhaps resume such persecutions if only our budget would allow it.

Fortunately, here we find a rare concession from the Attorney General that medical marijuana is actually used "to treat chronic illnesses." This isn't a particularly startling revelation to anyone who hasn't struggled to remain willfully ignorant on the subject, but it certainly exposes the absurdity of marijuana's placement in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, which requires that the drug have no accepted medical use. When the CSA's primary enforcer is acknowledging legitimate medical applications and declining to exercise prosecutorial authority, that sets a rather remarkable precedent.

I'm not suggesting that we be naïve about the threat of federal harassment that the patient community continues to face. The fight isn't over and won't be until medical cannabis users are no longer considered criminals anywhere in America. But winning that battle requires that we take seriously even the most subtle rhetorical shifts in the debate we started decades ago. When the top law enforcement official in the nation acknowledges that marijuana is medicine, that's a victory for us, and one that seemed all but impossible in the very recent past. Though it may seem like a minor concession in the face of overwhelming evidence and continued drug war excesses, Holder's remark reflects the gradual maturation of the medical marijuana debate and we're lost if we fail to notice it.

 

Technorati Tags: medical marijuana,cannabis,drug war,Attorney General Holder

H.R.2835 - Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2835/show

Sponsor

Representative

Barney Frank

D-MA

OpenCongress Summary

This bill would prohibit federal interference in state-run medical marijuana programs. It would also move marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug, recognizing marijuana's medical value and making it possible for the FDA to begin setting up a regulatory framework for its use.

Technorati Tags: H.R2835,medical marijuana,cannabis,US House,Representative Barney Frank D-MA

American Facing Death Penalty in Egypt for Hemp Oil

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/feb/07/american_facing_death_penalty_eg

by Phillip Smith, February 07, 2011, 11:36am, (Issue #670)

A US citizen jailed as a drug trafficker in Egypt in December after importing a shipment of non-drug hemp oil there was freed from jail late last month when mobs of protestors overran prisons across Cairo, but remains in legal limbo. Mostafa Soliman, who operates a company called Health Harvest, has so far been refused a new passport by the US Embassy in Cairo, which means he cannot leave the country. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted of drug trafficking.

Mostafa Soliman

According to the Death Penalty Project of the International Harm Reduction Association, Egypt is one of 32 countries that have laws mandating the death penalty for some drug offenses on the books. While Egypt is not among the leading drug offender executioner countries, such as Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia, drug offenders do get executed there, the first one in 1989.

Soliman, 62, was born in Egypt and has retained Egyptian citizenship, but the dual citizen has resided in the US for the past 40 years. He had returned to Egypt to oversee the arrival of the hemp oil shipment.

When the shipment of bottled hemp oil arrived at Egyptian customs in December, authorities translated "hemp oil" as "hash oil," and that's when Soliman's life took a Kafkaesque turn. (Arabic does not have a distinct word for "hemp": any concoction from the cannabis plant, whether high THC or low THC, is simply called cannabis.

"Even the Egyptian drug enforcement people told me they knew it wasn't hash oil," Soliman said by phone from Cairo Friday night. "But they said they had to follow procedure."

That procedure resulted in a December 30 raid by drug enforcers on Soliman's storage facility and Soliman's arrest on drug trafficking charges. He was jailed pending trial, first at a neighborhood police station, and then, after the local police commander grew irritated by consular visits, transferred to one of Cairo's maximum security prisons.

"I was in an eight by eight cell that held as many as 30 people," said Soliman. "There were killers waiting to be hanged, thieves, rapists. That really upset me."

protests in Tahrir Square

]After Soliman had spent several weeks in prison, his Egyptian attorney managed to arrange bail, which would have allowed him to legally leave prison pending trial. But in a bizarre twist of fate, before he could be released, the current protests exploded in Cairo, and the city's prisons were besieged by mobs of uncertain provenance determined to free the prisoners. The prison guards fled the assault even as the prison caught on fire, leaving prisoners locked in their cells.
"I hid under the window," when the prison came under attack, Soliman said. "I was afraid of the Molotov Cocktails. Then the protestors came and broke the locks on the cells and freed us. It was all planned out. They knew all the military was being moved to the square for the protests and there would be little security at the prisons."
Soliman said he thought the Moslem Brotherhood was behind the attacks on the prisons, but like much else in the current crisis, the truth about that is obscure.
After fleeing the prison, Soliman went into hiding in Cairo, and contacted the US Embassy for help. He sought help in translating research reports on hemp and on obtaining a new passport -- Egyptian authorities had seized his, which meant he was effectively unable to leave the country.
But not much help was forthcoming, said both Soliman and members of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) andVote Hemp, leading industry advocacy groups in the US that have taken up Soliman's cause.
"I face a death penalty for selling drugs," Soliman said. "I was hoping for the embassy to help me translate some analyses and reports from the States to help me prove my case, but they don't want to do anything. I did it myself, and spent $3,000 to get it done."

organic hemp seed oil label, from Soliman's company, Health Harvest

Nor would the embassy issue him a new passport. "I went to the embassy and a representative came out and said he would try to help me," recalled Soliman. "After I waited outside for three hours, he came back out and said a photo would expedite the process. I came back with the photo the next day, and he took it and again I waited outside for two hours. Then he came out and said he could not help me," he said.

"I don't know what's going on with these people; the embassy has not been very helpful at all. They're not cooperating," he said.

"The US Embassy has not treated this US citizen with any respect," said Vote Hemp spokesman Adam Eidinger. "Our attorneys sent them a letter, and they acknowledged receipt of it and said they are looking into it, but the embassy has not been sympathetic."

Vote Hemp and the HIA launched an action alert Friday afternoon in a bid to raise the profile of the case. The alert calls on people to write Secretary of State Clinton and urge her to ensure that Soliman is issued a new passport.
"We hope the action alert will generate thousands of letters to the secretary of state," said Eidinger. "We want them to take up his cause and give him a passport. Right now, he's in legal limbo. If he goes to the airport in Cairo, he will be arrested. The only reason we can tell they won't give him a passport is these drug charges. This man's life is on the line. If he's convicted, they could kill him. Egypt does have the death penalty for drug smuggling," he emphasized.

Soliman's arrest and the US Embassy's failure to assist have aroused the ire of others in the US hemp industry. "The Egyptian authorities are just following the lead of their DEA counterparts in this ridiculous conflation of healthy, nutritious, non-drug hemp seed oil with the drug marijuana," said David Bronner, head of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and a major player in the US hemp industry. "It's even more ridiculous when you consider that they are accusing someone of smuggling hash into Egypt in a hemp bottle. That is so clearly absurd."

"This is a tragic mistake that could be solved with a simple drug test. Mr. Soliman is being falsely accused of importing ‘hash oil’ when in fact it was healthy hemp food," said HIA executive director Eric Steenstra. "Our campaign to free Mostafa Soliman will hopefully jump-start action at the US State Department. We recognize that the unrest in Egypt will make it more difficult for US authorities to act, but this terrible mistake by Egyptian authorities was made well before the recent protests began and in many ways symbolizes the corruption the protestors are resisting," he added.

Until something happens, Soliman is stuck in Cairo and facing the dire prospect of being tried as a drug trafficker for importing a healthy food product. He said he hoped to be able to clear matters up, but that the ongoing political turmoil made his prospects unclear.

"If this situation gets worse, I'm not going to stick around," he said. "If it clears up, then maybe my attorney can clear up my legal situation. But I still need a passport."

Cairo

Egypt

 

Technorati Tags: death penalty,hemp,industrial hemp,hemp seed oil,Egypt,American imprisoned,sentenced,Cairo

The deadly failure of drug policy in the Americas

http://colombiareports.com/opinion/157-guests/14009-the-deadly-failure-of-drug-policy-in-the-americas.html

MONDAY, 31 JANUARY 2011 08:31 JEFFREY HAIRE

 

On March 22, 1921, Stafford E. Beckett, 31, an agent with the United States Department of the Treasury, Border Division, and his partner, Federal Prohibition Agent Charles A. Wood, 35, were shot to death as they attempted to serve a search warrant on whiskey smugglers at a ranch in El Paso, Texas, near the U.S. / Mexican border. The agents were following a tip that 35 cases of Mexican whiskey were being sent across the border into the United States.

At that time, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which had come into force in January 1920, prohibited the manufacture, sale, and importation of liquor. Thus, Agent Beckett and Agent Wood became two of the first law enforcement casualties of America’s Federal attempts at prohibiting psychoactive substances. Opiates had been locally outlawed in San Francisco in 1875. Despite subsequently being federally prohibited, heroin remains today a popular and dangerous drug on the street in most American cities.

Prohibition reduced liquor consumption but created underground and widespread criminal activity -- organized crime -- which used firearm violence to avoid arrest and prosecution. Prohibition, ended in 1933, was difficult to enforce, bloody, and a complete failure and Americans should have learned from the experience.

I joined the Torrance Police Department in 1986. The Torrance Police Department was a professional, progressive (and aggressive) agency with the blessing of a stable tax base and an educated, involved citizenry that trusted the police department to do the right thing. It was the mid-eighties, and drugs were viewed as the destruction to life and community.

I was a true believer. I knew from my university education that drugs were illegal due to the psychoactive effects they had on people, and that people under the influence were dangerous and a threat to civilized society. Drug addiction was a character issue. Drug enforcement made sense to me as a policy and social issue.

I made hundreds of arrests of persons for simply being under the influence of a controlled substance, and this charge guaranteed the arrestee 90 days in Los Angeles County jail.  Possession of even a small amount of powdered coke was a felony according to the California Health and Safety code, and thousands of people actually went to state prison for cocaine possession in the 80s and into the 90s. The federal crack cocaine sentencing disparity sent thousands of young men, mostly black, to federal prisons for lifetimes. That policy has since been revised, but it remains as one of the most destructive policies of the drug war.

The first Colombians arrived in Torrance, Ca. in the late 1970s. The Colombians had shipped kilos of cocaine to the Los Angeles area around 1977 and it had really taken off. Southern California was a lucrative marketplace. The Colombians made millions from selling kilos through middlemen first in the suburbs, and then in the urban core of Los Angeles.

The Colombians enjoyed the year-round spring climate of the Los Angeles area, similar to that inMedellin. The distributors would rent apartments along Anza Avenue in South Torrance and maintain low profiles, while coordinating large cocaine deliveries throughout the state. The mules of the distribution networks generally settled in the suburbs of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, because the mountains that surrounded the valley reminded them of Bogota. The Colombians felt at home.

Municipal police departments picked up on the trend and, in the 80s and 90s,  sought and received federal funding to form and militarize anti-narcotics teams. Soon the evening news channels were cluttered with local, state and federal agencies serving "high risk" drug warrants. There were billions of dollars of resources being allotted for equipment and overtime, yet there was relatively little dedicated to treatment for users. In my patrol beat of four square miles, I found myself arresting the same 20 drug addicts over and over.

In addition to that, residential burglaries and "commercial boosting" or professional shoplifting were constant in my residential neighborhoods and malls. The cost of the drugs was kept relatively high by interdiction, resulting in frequent burglaries, check fraud, and many business and street robberies committed by those who had reached the desperation point in their addiction.

I came to realize 70% of my city’s crime was driven by addiction. Then there were the constant social consequences of addiction: domestic violence, divorce, abandonment and abuse of children, severe health issues, depression and suicide. Much of it came back to the all-consuming nature of drug addiction -- and incarceration without treatment was the standard response from the criminal justice system.

There is recent hope in this area, at least in California. The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, also known as Proposition 36, was passed by 61% of California voters on November 7, 2000. This vote permanently changed state law to allow first- and second-time non-violent, simple drug possession offenders the opportunity to receive substance abuse treatment instead of incarceration. Proposition 36 went into effect on July 1, 2001, with $120 million for treatment services allocated annually for five years. California, however, is near insolvency.

The above problems are the social pathologies that are spun off the prohibition of controlled substances. It was clear to me that the drug war was being lost, and that without radical public policy changes, things would deteriorate. It became clear to me the issue was always going to be about demand for drugs, and that the medical model of addiction was the appropriate strategy to employ.

From the U.S. cocaine trade, billions in cash was laundered, sent home and reinvested in hotels and casinos. Cartagena actually started looking like "little Miami Beach." Domestically, the violence and murder in places like Detroit, Los Angeles, and Oakland skyrocketed over the competition among gangs to secure, dominate, and maintain rock cocaine sales. Cities like Omaha, Nebraska and Anchorage, Alaska had significant street drug problems. Dozens of American law enforcement officers lost their lives in domestic drug battles during the 1990s.

It should be noted that President Santos of Colombia claimed recently that 240 Colombian police officers were assassinated by illegal armed groups in 2010. As reported recently by Colombia Reports, Jorge Restrepo, conflict analyst for the Resource Center for Conflict Analysis (Cerac)estimated that by the end of the year "about a thousand" policemen and soldiers will have been killed by guerrillas.

I don’t believe any cop, from any country, should die for drug enforcement. I can say that the terrible social pathologies and law enforcement deaths here and in Colombia and Mexico have completely changed my mind about American public policy concerning narcotics.

To demonstrate the deadly southern exposure to the Mexican drug madness, 6,000 people have been reported murdered in 2008 as Mexican drug violence pushes into Guatemala. As reported in La Plaza,Mexican researcher Albert Ochoa, using an artificial-intelligence model, projected that 5,000 people will die from the violence in the city of Ciudad Juarez during 2011. Many of these people will probably be murdered in the process of securing drugs for predominantly foreign customers.

The coordinated U.S. and Colombian anti-smuggling plan of the early 1990s that succeeded in forcing a change in drug routes from the Caribbean to the Pacific, and caused the cartels to decrease their exposure to losses and extradition, had immense consequences. It was cheaper (and safer) to pay the Mexicans in cash or product to move the product north to market through the tougher (and more profitable) corridors of Mexico.

Tragically, this tactical decision set the stage for the subsequent wars among the six Mexican cartels.

Stratfor, an Austin, TX based global intelligence company that monitors Mexican drug violence, estimates that 27,240 people died in Mexico in drug-related killings from 2006 through December 13, 2010. This period would correspond with the time in which Mexican President Calderon began and prosecuted his war on the Mexican cartels.

So, will the raging worldwide demand for drugs ever end? This is doubtful. As long as there is psychological (and physiological) craving for altered states, then there will be a vigorous drug trade.

You see, the war on drugs begins in our minds.

According to Ronald K. Siegel, a UCLA psychopharmacologist, the need to get high, to alter our current state, is our "fourth drive," a biological drive equivalent to our drives for food, sleep and sex. Siegel believes that throughout history people have always sought out plants, alcohol, and other mind-altering substances to get high. The fourth drive is a natural part of our biology, "creating the irrepressible demand for intoxicating substances"

Because of this natural need to reach altered states, I believe that public drug policy should be focused on state-sponsored pharmacies, much like the state-run liquor stores that exist in states like Idaho. America has the pharmacological know-how to grow, produce, and synthesize marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other psycho-active drugs people crave.

The "law enforcement-industrial complex" is already up and running and could handle any enforcement issues related to minors using adult substances or people operating vehicles while under influence or acting out in public. We have the expertise and the economic savvy to remove the profit from the drug cartels and produce substances that are safe for recreational use. The key though, is to produce substances cheaply enough, and tax them reasonably so that their price still falls below what a black market producer, a cartel, could afford to market.

Removing the profit from cartels will effectively destroy them.

 

Technorati Tags: war on durgs,drug law,prohibition,failures,cannabis,marijuana,drug war

INDIANAPOLIS - State senator: Should Indiana legalize marijuana?

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/604978fe95284f7e9051ea1963c14085/IN-XGR-Legalizing-Marijuana/

 

• DEANNA MARTIN  Associated Press
• First Posted: January 25, 2011 - 10:57 am
  Last Updated: January 25, 2011 - 3:55 pm

INDIANAPOLIS — A state senator is asking a question she hopes will spur debate over sentencing laws and possibly save Indiana millions of dollars: Should the state legalize marijuana?

Sen. Karen Tallian, D- Portage, is sponsoring a bill that would direct the criminal law and sentencing study committee to examine Indiana's marijuana laws next summer and come up with recommendations. Other states have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana or created programs to allow medical marijuana, and Tallian said it's time for conservative Indiana to start the discussion.

"We need to think about this," Tallian said. "We're cutting essential services out of the budget now, and it may not make sense to spend millions of dollars prosecuting marijuana cases."

Democrats are far outnumbered in the Senate, but Senate Corrections Committee Chairman Brent Steele, R-Bedford, said he would give Tallian's proposal a legislative hearing. He said the study committee could help lawmakers determine whether they should explore the issue further — but noted that even in California, a proposal to legalize marijuana for adults over 21 failed.

"Quite frankly, in a more conservative state like Indiana I can't imagine it passing," Steele said.

Tallian's bill would direct the summer study committee to examine the issue and determine:

— Marijuana's effects on Indiana's criminal justice system.

— Whether possession and use of marijuana should continue to be illegal in Indiana and, if so, what penalties are appropriate.

— Whether Indiana should create a medical marijuana program.

— Whether marijuana should be completely legalized and treated like a controlled substance such as alcohol, with regulated sales and special taxes.

Tallian believes current sentencing is not proportionate to the crime. For possession of less than 30 grams — about an ounce — of marijuana, an offender faces up to a year in jail. Those possessing over an ounce can be sentenced to up to three years.

Tallian says there are about 10,000 to 13,000 marijuana cases each year, and that about 85 percent of those deal with possession. She had no estimates of how much the state pays to prosecute and house nonviolent marijuana offenders, but guessed Indiana could save millions.

"I'm tired of seeing people thrown in jail for what I think is something that's the equivalent of alcohol," Tallian said.

A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels said the governor's response to Tallian's proposal was that "legislators can study whatever they choose to study. It's their decision."

More than a dozen states have decriminalized possessing small amounts marijuana by eliminating prison time or reducing penalties to a civil fine, similar to a traffic violation, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The group says 15 states and Washington, D.C. have medical marijuana programs.

Tallian said the public's attitude toward marijuana is changing, but she acknowledged it can take years for controversial proposals to gain traction in the Legislature. She said her bill creating the study would simply explore the issue. Any legislation to change marijuana laws would have to wait until next year — at the earliest.

"It's just a study committee," she said.

 

Technorati Tags: INDIANAPOLIS,marijuana,cannabis,legalization,debate,drug laws,war on drugs

Massachusetts State Legislator Files Marijuana Legislation

http://www.wickedlocal.com/marblehead/news/x286169782/State-legislator-files-marijuana-legislation

By Staff reports

Marblehead Reporter

Posted Jan 27, 2011 @ 09:49 PM

Ellen Story, D-Amherst, responding to the 69 percent of the voters in her district who instructed her to vote “in favor of legislation that would allow the state to regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol” on Nov. 2, 2010, is sponsoring “An Act to Regulate and Tax the Cannabis Industry.” Assigned House Docket Number 01091, it will receive a bill number in the near future.

If enacted, the state’s current prohibition upon adults having or growing a personal supply will be repealed, analogous to alcohol-control laws for home winemaking. Economist Jeffrey Miron estimated in a 2003 paper that this provision would reallocate scores of millions in law enforcement, judicial and corrections resources to other crimes and criminals. However, the system of regulation and taxation for a commercial cannabis industry, also similar to the alcohol-control laws, would not go into effect until legal under federal law.

In addition to Representative Story, Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, is on record as agreeing with her constituents to support regulation and taxation. Seven other members of the House were also instructed. Representatives John Keenan, D-Salem; Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead; Kate Hogan, D-Stow; Denise Garlick, D-Needham; Timothy Madden, D-Nantucket; Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington; and Thomas Conroy, D-Wayland, also were instructed by their constituents to vote in favor of such legislation.

Similar legislation was filed as a citizen petition last session by Northampton Attorney Richard Evan and received hearings before the Revenue Committee and the Judiciary Committee.

“As the Commonwealth faces a $2 billion budget deficit, the Legislature cannot afford to continue the unjust, unwise and unreasonable prohibition of cannabis to adults, nor ignore the savings, revenue and jobs that would come from regulating and taxing the commercial cannabis industry, including hemp,” said Mass Cann spokesperson, attorney Steven Epstein of Georgetown. “Massachusetts should lead the nation to finally ending ‘reefer madness.’”

 

Technorati Tags: marijuana,cannabis,legalization,Massachusetts

Arizona - Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Introduced by GOP State Rep John Fillmore

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/02/marijuana_decriminalization_bi.php

By Ray Stern, Tue., Feb. 1 2011 @ 1:43PM

​The voter-approved medical marijuana system doesn't go far enough for one Republican lawmaker.

Under a bill introduced by Representative John Fillmoreof Apache Junction, possession of two ounces or less of marijuana -- by anyone -- would become a petty offense and carry a fine of only $100.

Fillmore says that pot isn't a gateway drug, as critics claim, and all the money and time wasted by law enforcement on marijuana prohibition enforcement would be better spent elsewhere. Fillmore's legislative District 23 covers most of Pinal County and parts of Maricopa.

He says he's currently researching how much money his bill would save the state.

We figure it must cost Arizona courts and law enforcement tens of millions of dollars each year, easy, to prosecute thousands of pot users. (The vast majority are charged with misdemeanors.)

Fillmore also worries about the "young people" who get busted for experimenting with pot, often ending up with arrest and conviction records.

"This would protect them from having that blemish," he says.

He hasn't begun pushing the bill very hard yet, and so far the reception among his GOP colleagues has been "a lot of smiles and laughs," he says.

The successful passage of HB 2228 would be a major change for Arizona, which is one of the few states in which simple possession could be charged as a felony.

As we pointed out in our 2007 article about the U.S. Border Patrol's drug-sniffing dogs on Interstate 8, even a single pot seed may be enough to trigger an arrest. Fines range in the hundreds of dollars even with a misdemeanor conviction, and that's if you don't hire a lawyer to help. The conviction will show up on background checks for years, potentially screwing up a search for a job or rental home.

It's friggin' insane. Why shouldn't pot be as legal as 190-proof Everclear or assault rifles with banana clips?

Fillmore's bill takes an important step toward ending this legal farce. Obviously, though, it's a long shot.

The bill's been assigned the Rules Committee; Fillmore's not sure if it'll get a hearing, much less if it'll end up signed by the governor. He's new to the State Legislature as of this year and still learning the ropes. A couple of weeks ago, Fillmore made national news with a bill to legalize casino games at horse and dog tracks. But he hadn't even contacted racetrack owners about it. Republican leaders quickly shot down the idea.

Maybe he'll find success with this one.

 

Technorati Tags: cost,john fillmore,law enforcement,marijuana,pot,prohibition,racinos,cannabis,drug law reform,drug war,war on drugs,decriminalization,Arizona

Bill aims to legalize pot, make Washington pioneer state

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/115604624.html

Story Published: Feb 8, 2011 at 4:14 PM PST

Story Updated: Feb 9, 2011 at 7:08 AM PST

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Sponsors of marijuana legalization bill predict Washington will lead the nation in getting rid of the prohibition on pot.

If bill sponsors get their way, Washington residents will be able to go to the state liquor store and legally buy marijuana. The same laws against selling to minors and driving while impaired would apply, however.

At the state capitol on Tuesday, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes joined other officials in calling for the end of that prohibition.

"And I'm here in support of the principal of legalization and regulation of marijuana for adult recreational use," he said.

Also in favor of the bill is a group of current and former law enforcement officers, including former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper.

The officials say they're supporting the bill not because they favor smoking pot, but because the law banning marijuana costs too much to enforce and it fills the jails.

"There is never enough space for the genuinely evil people in society," said former probation officer Matthew McCally.

Opponents say smoking pot is illegal for a reason. They fear kids will have more access, and pot smokers will endanger everyone else by driving impaired.

"Alcohol can be consumed responsibly. For example, you can have a glass of wine, enjoy the glass of wine with dinner and not become immediately impaired. When you smoke marijuana, you become immediately impaired. That's the point of smoking," said Mercer Island Police Chief Ed Holmes.

And even if Washington legalized marijuana, it would still remain a federal crime.

"Any employee in a liquor store who sold marijuana would be arrested and go to prison for five years," said Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw.

Supporters of the bill agree it would take a change in federal law. But they believe, just like with alcohol prohibition, the states can call on Congress for that change; all it takes is one state to lead the way.

"It probably wouldn't be legalized tomorrow. We would be the pioneer state," said Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, who sponsored the bill. "The law would essentially be on hold until it was decided at the federal level."

A committee vote is set for Friday.

Technorati Tags: Washington State,Washington,Legalization,marijuana,cannabis,drug law reform

Ex-South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel Says Legalize Drugs; Prohibition Is a Destructive, Costly and Futile Strategy

Tuesday, Feb. 08, 2011

Thomas Ravenel: Legalize drugs

Ex-S.C. treasurer tells newspaper prohibition is destructive, costly and futile strategy

By SCHUYLER KROPF - The (Charleston) Post and Courier

Ravenel's comments – detailed in an opinion column running on today's Post and Courier Commentary page – come as he is still under three years of federal probation for the cocaine conspiracy charge that ended his political career and led to a 10-month prison sentence.

In a separate telephone interview from South Florida, where he is visiting, Ravenel said he opted to go public with his stance now because he has been studying the drug war extensively, determining that after billions of dollars spent over decades prohibition is a fruitless strategy.

"We can't afford it anymore," he said Friday.

He also hopes the celebrity of being a former rising star in the Republican Party who went to prison will help advance his position -- namely, that the prohibition of drugs helps perpetuate violent street gangs and other factors that keep people trapped in the criminal cycle.

"They're not making anybody safer with all this," he said of law enforcement's tactics. Related stories

Regulating marijuana and cocaine for adults are among his advocacy points. "Every drug dealer will be out of business in America" if such narcotics were legalized, he said.

Ravenel's position – voiced similarly by others in liberal, conservative and libertarian circles – is nothing new but comes from the perspective of someone who has seen the drug war from the perspective of both a politician and a user who has spent time behind bars.

"All I want to do is open up a debate," he said. "I want people to start asking their politicians questions."

Some say Ravenel's prohibition position is unrealistic given the continuing criminal nature tied to street narcotics, along with the dependency and misery that go with them.

"The simple truth is that legalizing narcotics will not make life better for our citizens, ease the level of crime and violence in our communities nor reduce the threat faced by law enforcement officers," the International Association of Chiefs of Police says. "To suggest otherwise ignores reality."

A spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy also said the government's combined anti-drug efforts are paying off without resorting to widespread legalization.

"Today, drug use in America is half of what it was thirty years ago, cocaine production in Colombia has dropped by almost two-thirds, and we're successfully diverting thousands of non-violent offenders into treatment instead of jail by supporting alternatives to incarceration," said Rafael Lemaitre, associate director for public affairs.

Ravenel, of Charleston, was elected treasurer of South Carolina in 2006 but resigned his post in July 2007 following an undercover probe of cocaine use. He eventually served 10 months in federal custody after pleading guilty to conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine. Prosecutors contend Ravenel shared the drug with friends, including at parties in his South of Broad home, but did not peddle it.

During the phone interview Friday, Ravenel repeated statistics from numerous sources and experts he said back up his argument. Many of those stats are included in his column, as is his underlying argument that making drugs legal would take away the worst of the violence that has sprouted around them.

"How often do Anheuser Busch and Jack Daniel Distilleries have shootouts with innocent children being killed in the crossfire?" he wrote. "Of course it never happens, because these companies deal in legal commerce and resolve conflicts through the courts, not through shootouts."

Ravenel declined to get into details of his case but did say what happened to him is reflective of the drug war as a whole, saying it is a crime without a complaining witness, pursued by authorities who are tasked by politicians to get results.

He also spoke of meeting drug dealers in prison who were spending multiyear sentences, saying those extended terms were out of whack when measured against other crimes, such as murder.

He singled out marijuana as a drug that's been overly criminalized. "An overdose of marijuana will drive someone to sleep," he said.

Another point he raised is that while whites use drugs at a greater rate than blacks, blacks are bearing the brunt of the thrust in prosecutions.

"I think we're going to see a day and time in the not too distant future when we're going to repeal drug prohibition," he predicted.

Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/02/08/1684798/thomas-ravenel-legalize-drugs.html#ixzz1DoGG7ZOD

 

Technorati Tags: Thomas Ravenel,South Carolina,Drug Policy,Drug Laws,Prohibition,Law Reform,SC,marijuana,cannabis

Marijuana Backers To GOPers: Why Not Cut The DEA Budget?

http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2011/02/03/Marijuana-Backers-GOPers-Why-Not-Cut-DEA-Budget?utm_source=web&utm_medium=twitter

By Ryan J. Reilly, Talking Points Memo - Thursday, February 3 2011

With Republicans in the House looking to cut down on spending in the next fiscal year, supporters of legalizing marijuana have a suggestion for where they should start -- the Drug Enforcement Agency's budget.

Sure, they know it's a long shot. But the Marijuana Policy Project's Steve Fox told TPM it makes a lot of sense.

"In the grand scheme of things, the entire federal budget dedicated to keeping marijuana illegal and carrying out all the enforcement measures to do so is really something that is long past its prime," Fox said.

"I'm not naive enough to think there would be such a major step, but you can just pick it apart and look at the marijuana seizures -- the amount of time and energy put into those seizures -- is really doing essentially nothing except maybe having a marginal effect on the price of marijuana," Fox said. "So all they're really doing is giving those involved in illegal marijuana dealing a little bit of price support."

Attorney General Eric Holder, whose Justice Department oversees the DEA, issued a memo last monthtelling the agency (as well as the FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service) to freeze hiring and curb non-personnel spending.

That came around the same side as conservative Republicans in the House said they planned deep budget cuts -- which, according to Democrats, would require the DOJ to fire 4,000 FBI agents and 1,500 DEA agents if applied across the board.

The Office of Management and Budget could also take the budget ax to the National Drug Intelligence Center reports the Wall Street Journal's Devlin Barrett. That center was championed by the late Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), but conservatives have long said is a waste of taxpayer money which hasn't provided the high-quality analysis of drug networks that it promised.

As reported last year, DEA's budget proposal for fiscal year 2011 noted that marijuana seizures had nearly doubled in fiscal year 2009. The budget request spoke dismissively about the benefits of medical marijuana.

"DEA does not investigate or target individual 'patients' who use cannabis, but instead the drug trafficking organizations involved in marijuana trafficking," the budget stated.

The MPP's Fox said it was a waste for the DEA to be expending resources raiding facilities in states where medical marijuana is legal. But he was someone encouraged by the fact that President Barack Obama told YouTube users that the legalization of some drugs was a "entirely legitimate topic for debate" -- even those Obama said he wasn't in favor of legalization.

- Article from Talking Points Memo.

 

Technorati Tags: drug laws,DEA,budget,cuts,marijuana,cannabis,Obama Administration

Which Dangerous Toxins Are in Your Marijuana?

http://www.cannabisnews.org/united-states-cannabis-news/which-dangerous-toxins-are-in-your-marijuana/?utm_source=web&utm_medium=twitter

Grown Under the Radar of Legal Authorities, Even “Medical” Cannabis Can Be Covered in Toxic Mold or Coated in Commercial-Grade Synthetic Fertilizers and Insecticides.

In 2004, California organic farm inspector Chris Van Hook submitted an unusual request to the US Department of Agriculture: He wanted permission to certify a medical marijuana farm as organic.

He’d already inspected three pot farms, he says, before word came back that weed couldn’t be organic because it wasn’t a federally recognized crop.

So Van Hook founded Clean Green, a certification program for medical marijuana farmers that’s nearly identical to the USDA’s organics program–except that it can’t legally use the term “organic.” Since launching in 2004, Clean Green has certified 80 medical marijuana growers who last year produced 8,000 pounds of cannabis valued at as much as $33 million.

It’s the only inspection service aimed at pot smokers who want their ganja to be farmed as safely and ethically as their organic salad greens.

In practice, medical marijuana is typically greener than pot from your curbside drug dealer, which is often sourced through Mexican cartels or illegal grows in national forests.

But the distinction pretty much stops there.  Grown under the radar of state and federal agricultural authorities, even “medical” cannabis can be covered in toxic mold, raised in rooms filled with shedding pit bulls, or coated in commercial-grade synthetic fertilizers and insecticides such as phosphate and Diazinon, which can be especially toxic if improperly applied.  “Under our program a huge advantage is the patient can be assured that their cannabis is being grown in a legally compliant manner,” says Van Hook.  Well, at least “legally compliant” enough for any eco-conscious stoner.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, I accompanied Van Hook, a balding, soft-spoken, 54-year-old, on an inspection of an indoor cannabis growing operation in a house deep in a Northern California redwood forest.

He’d asked that I not reveal the name and location of the grower, a fit, clean-cut young father whose day job involves corporate leadership training.  It had been about a year since Van Hook had certified his grow-op; just as USDA organic standards require, it was now up for its annual re-inspection.

“I just want to do something I believe in,” explained the grower, who I’ll call Jack, as we stood outside his modest bungalow, “and do it as ethically and environmentally consciously as possible.”

Though medical marijuana is legal in 15 states, most of them don’t inspect pot farms for compliance with agricultural laws.  Which where Van Hook’s status as an accredited “apples-to-zucchini” USDA-certified organic farm inspector comes in: He’s denied some pot growers Clean Green certification for infractions such a using composted human feces to fertilize plants, growing plants near livestock pens that coat buds in manure dust, or setting off a bug bomb in a grow room shortly before harvesting.

In the front of a detached garage, Jack deactivated a security alarm system and welcomed us inside.

Van Hook was already scribbling notes; he doesn’t certify grow-ops in houses with children, who can ingest buds or be killed in electrical fires, unless the plants are in “detached, locked facilities.” Jack unlocked another door leading to a sealed-off grow room that filled the garage nearly wall-to-wall.  The pungent smell of 40 thriving marijuana plants ( most of them a variety known as Sour Diesel ) mixed with the earthy aroma of a bubbling brew of compost tea, a mix of nutrients and beneficial bacteria that is used as a fertilizer and disease suppressant.

Along a wall full of organic gardening products–a molasses-and-yucca-based soil supplement, an oil from Indian neem trees to control pests–Van Hook spotted an unfamiliar-looking bottle of “natural” fertilizer from a company called Humboldt Nutrients.  Like many products marketed to pot growers, its psychedelic label looked like the cover of a Grateful Dead album.  “Forget about the Buddhas and the spaceships; I look at the ingredients,” Van Hook said as he picked up the bottle.

A USDA-certified input reviewer on Van’ Hook’s seven-person staff would later vet its contents.

A lack of approved products isn’t the only obstacle to growing organic ganja.  Compost teas and guano-based fertilizers contain too much sediment to pass through the tubes used in soil-free hydroponics systems, so indoor growers like Jack rely instead on standard potting soil and watering by hand.  Powerful grow lamps suck down large amounts of electricity–a criticism often raised by certified outdoor farmers, whose weed fetches about 50 percent less on the dispensary market because it isn’t as powerful or visually striking as indoor buds.

Though Van Hook doesn’t penalize people who use lamps, he refuses to certify indoor grow-ops powered by dirty diesel generators, which are common in California’s remote northern counties.

As Van Hook continued his inspection, Jack flipped a switch and triggered a white nova of grow lamps.

Van Hook crouched beneath them with a microscope in search of signs of pesticide residue and spider mites on marijuana leaves; a few insects are actually desirable as signs of pesticide-free growing.

He went on to check that Jack complied with local pot-cultivation laws, electrical codes, and agricultural sanitation standards.

He’s applied a similar checklist to the nine medical marijuana dispensaries that are certified as “processor/handlers,” giving them the right to package Clean Green pot–just as the USDA authorizes Whole Foods to package organic granola.

According to Van Hook, Clean Green marijuana doesn’t necessarily sell for more than uncertified medical pot; the trick is knowing where to find it.  About 10 California dispensaries offer Clean Green-approved product, including Harborside Health Center in Oakland and Herbal Cure Collective in Los Angeles.  Van Hook, who charges an average of $1,800 per certification, pitches his services to farmers and dispensary owners primarily as a tool for product differentiation and marketing.

Despite those benefits, many pot growers and sellers are nervous about letting a third-party inspector take notes that could be used against them by federal law enforcement.  Which is why the inside of Van Hook’s van displays a framed copy of his law degree from Concord Law Law School; being a lawyer enables him to keep his notes confidential under attorney-client privilege.

The final stop on Van Hook’s inspection was in a shed where Jack unlocked a metal chest beneath a futon to reveal several plastic “turkey bags” brimming with buds.  Some dispensaries commission independent testing on their purchases to check for harmful chemical residues.

Van Hook’s field tests are more basic.

He pulled out a microscope and searched for signs of hair or mold.  “They are beautiful buds; they are immaculate,” he proclaimed, marveling at their gemlike THC crystals.  Jack smiled.  “You are a medical cannabis patient, aren’t you, Chris? Why don’t you try a little bit?”

Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright: 2011 Independent Media Institute
Website: http://www.alternet.org/
Author: Josh Harkinson

 

Technorati Tags: marijuana,cannabis,toxins,medical,health

Fearless Campaign

 

http://www.fearlesscampaign.com/pages/about-drug-policy

Fair Drug Policy

Every comprehensive, objective government commission that has studied the issue over the past four decades has recommended that adults should not be criminalized for using marijuana.

All drugs are potentially harmful; marijuana is no exception. But by any reasonable health standard, marijuana is comparable to alcohol: It’s less addictive, far less toxic, and unlike alcohol, marijuana does not make users aggressive and violent.

Marijuana prohibition has caused far more harm than marijuana use itself: draining precious criminal justice resources from our communities, making it difficult to keep marijuana from our children, and destroying the lives and families of otherwise law-abiding citizens.

We've been down the prohibition path with alcohol, and it failed miserably. Drinking declined a bit, but any benefits were swamped by a huge increase in crime and violence generated when prohibition handed the liquor market over to gangsters. Crime bosses got rich, the murder rate skyrocketed, the prisons filled and deaths from tainted booze soared (after all, you can't enforce purity standards on a banned product). We're seeing the same results from marijuana prohibition today.

Prohibition has never stopped people from using marijuana, which is the largest cash crop in the country and in many places is more widely available than alcohol. It just gives criminals and violent gangs an exclusive franchise on marijuana sales contributing to border violence, unsafe products, and exploitation of children.

Taxing and regulating marijuana would make our communities safer: Removing marijuana from the criminal market would free up police time so officers could focus on violent crimes, property crimes, and people who drive under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or any other substance. Tax dollars would be used to incarcerate real criminals who threaten public safety.

Taxing and regulating marijuana would save taxpayer dollars and generate revenue: Each year, the government spends $7-8 billion to arrest and lock up nonviolent marijuana users. Taxing marijuana would generate billions in government revenue instead of profits for drug dealers. Marijuana prohibition is even having a negative impact on our national parks and forests. We now have Mexican drug cartels growing millions of plants on federal land. This wouldn’t be happening if marijuana were sold in a legal, regulated market. A regulated system of producing marijuana would help American farmers rather than criminal cartels.

Each year, more arrests are made for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined. Marijuana arrests in the U.S. now average close to 850,000 a year – that's one arrest every 37 seconds. And 89% of these arrests are for possession, not sale or manufacture.

A recent Gallup poll showed 46% of Americans in favor of making marijuana legal for adults, an all-time record. Yet the support in Congress to end this failed policy is almost nil. As we see time and time again the public is ahead of the politicians in realizing that prohibition is a failed and harmful policy, but together we can change that.

 

Technorati Tags: US Congress,US House,US Senate,law reform,drug laws,marijuana,cannabis,industry,job creation,legislature