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September 2008

 

(USA) Palin's Pot Problem Why should other Alaskans be arrested for something Sarah Palin once did with impunity?

 

(USA) Marijuana Could Be a Gusher of Cash If We Treated It Like a Crop, Not a Crime One 2006 study called cannabis the top cash crop in the nation, worth more than corn and wheat combined. It was the leading crop in 12 states, outstripping grapes in California and tobacco in North Carolina, and one of the top three in 18 others, coming in just behind apples in Washington and cotton in Georgia. So with states facing massive deficits, could reefer revenues help?

 

(UK) Cannabis and the experience of getting high. The cannabis "marijuana" or hash high is different for each person, depending on the particular details of conditions, setting, timing, state of mind, and the variety of cannabis used. Although cannabis is generally pretty benign, nothing is always safe and fun for everyone in every situation. This includes cannabis. Comfortable surroundings and good judgement are advised. Smoked or vaporized cannabis is felt within seconds of being inhaled.

 

(UK) Marijuana Myth & Fact. Fact: In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana was not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated. Since then, researchers have conducted thousands of studies of humans, animals, and cell cultures. None reveal any findings dramatically different from those described by the National Commission in 1972. In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

Canada Green Party leader sorry for not smoking pot OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada's Green Party leader Elizabeth May apologized on Wednesday for never having smoked marijuana, as she unveiled her election plank, which touts legalizing and taxing pot. "I am not a fan of marijuana use," May told reporters at a campaign stop in Halifax, televised nationally. "I've never used marijuana. I apologize." The Green Party in its policy document said decades-old marijuana prohibition "has utterly failed and has not led to reduced drug use in Canada." Rather, prohibition has led to costly policing to combat its distribution, "criminalizing youth and fostering organized crime," it argues. Going further than former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien's 2002 pledge to decriminalize marijuana that was twice foiled by US protests, the Green Party says it supports cannabis sales to adults through licensed distributors. As well, the party would like to see "small, independent growers" thrive, and the government taxing the weed at the same rate as tobacco, generating an estimated one billion dollars Canadian (931 million US) annually.

 

Dutch Supreme Court allows MS patient to grow cannabis The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that a man who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS) may grow his own cannabis for medical purposes. He wants to grow his own because the type of medical cannabis sold in pharmacies does not help his symptoms. Four years ago the police came to Wim Moorlag's home and seized 43 home-grown plants. His lawyer Wim Anker says "It is really a disgrace how the law has treated this man. It is beyond comprehension that he has spent four years in the legal pipeline."

 

I'm voting Republican.... for us in Canada replace that with Conservatives (no longer Progressive)

New Cannabis-like Drugs Could Block Pain Without Affecting Brain, Says Study  A new type of drug could alleviate pain in a similar way to cannabis without affecting the brain, according to a new study. The research demonstrates for the first time that cannabinoid receptors called CB2, which can be activated by cannabis use, are present in human sensory nerves in the peripheral nervous system, but are not present in a normal human brain. Drugs which activate the CB2 receptors are able to block pain by stopping pain signals being transmitted in human sensory nerves, according to the study, led by researchers from Imperial College London. Previous studies have mainly focused on the other receptor activated by cannabis use, known as CB1, which was believed to be the primary receptor involved in pain relief. However, as CB1 receptors are found in the brain, taking drugs which activate these receptors can lead to side-effects, such as drowsiness, dependence and psychosis, and also recreational abuse.

 

(USA) Sting gone bad: Deputies lose 75 pounds of pot CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (AP) - The Pinal County Sheriff's Office says a suspect made off with a police vehicle and 75 pounds of marijuana they had used for bait in a drug sting. Deputies from the county's drug task force set up the deal to close out a monthslong investigation in Casa Grande. Court records show undercover deputies agreed to trade a Hummer vehicle for the marijuana they possessed from a prior drug seizure. But the deal went sour on Wednesday at a mall parking lot off Interstate 10 when five men showed up in the Hummer and a pickup. One got into a sedan with the pot and drove away before a SWAT team could close in. The other four were arrested. Pinal County chief deputy Jeff Kirkham says such failed stings are rare and played down the effect of losing the marijuana.

 

(USA) New Drug Survey Demolishes Drug Czar's Claims. Well, now we know why federal officials chose to release the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on a day when the Republican convention's climax and a string of hurricanes is likely to keep it out of the headlines. The survey pretty much dynamites Office of National Drug Control Policy chief John Walters' claims of success in reducing marijuana and drug use during his tenure, which he'd like us to attribute to his aggressive policies, and particularly ONDCP's near-obsession with demonizing marijuana. First, some raw numbers: The total number of Americans who have used illicit drugs is up from 108 million in 2002, the first full year of Walters' tenure, to 114 million in 2007. And the number of Americans who've used marijuana has passed the 100 million mark for the first time -- up from 95 million in 2002.

 

08-17 August 2008

 

where can people go to chat re med marijuana?

We have a chat room at http://www.treatingyourself.com   ( http://www.treatingyourself.com ) and there are plenty of Exemptees on our forums

Take Care and Peace Marco Renda Federal Exemptee Publisher & Editor in Chief Treating Yourself The Alternative Medicine Journal

 

ARRESTED: Mernajuana, Compster, Buzzworthy.. Earlier this evening I was at Vapor Central hangin out with Matt and the staff at VC. Matt and I left the Vapor Lounge together around 10pm and went our separate ways. About 20 minutes later I got an urgent call from Matt telling me to, "Call Eric!" (Compster on the CC forums) "Tell him don't go home! 50's at the door!!!" I immediatly called Ereic and relayed the message. Around 11pm I called Matt, he and Eric were together in the lobby of their building. This was the last conversation I had with Matt. Since Matt's on bail already he was going to send Eric to talk to the cops who at this point were still waiting at their front door. I told Matt tto be safe and call me back in a few miniutes as soon as they were in the apartment or if something happened. I waited and waited for their call and nothing so I called Matt's cell phone, no answer right to the machine, then called Eric's cell same thing. No answer on their house phone either! I called all 3 again soon later and all 3 were turned off by police, all 3 strait to message box. So vwe know what this means. I placed a call to Toronto Police 51 Division to ask about the where abouts of my friend and they confirmed at that point that Matt Mernagh was in custody. Soon after hanging up with police I got a call from Tracy (bud babes). She had just gotten the call from Toronto Police telling her Matt was in jail. Together we peiced together the information we knew to this point and were concern regarding the where abouts of Compster. We had no idea at this point if the cops got him or not. I called back 51 Division this time asking regarding my friend Eric Compton. Again they confirmed that my friend was in custody. They also told me tthat he will appear at Old City Hall toromrrow Sunday Aug 17th at 10am. At 2:30 am I got a call from Puff Mama apparently Eric Wood (known on the CC forums as Buzz Worthy) at the Buzz Worthy Cafe and several Bucketeers were also arrested in a seperate inncident. This is indeed a bad night for the Cannabis Community in Toronto! Bloody full moon! It's got those narco-facist cops thirsty for blood!!! I want to send all my best wishes to Eric Compton, Matt Mernagh, Eric Wood and all the other potheads who were arrested last night. I won't be gettin any sleep tonight. I'll see you all in court tomorrow. Hoping for all your safety and well being. Davin Toronto Seed Bank

 

Freedomtour in Nelson- the emotional side of activism Today I'm having a very hard time doing the job, I'm not >completely sure why. I find myself very emotional. I'm here >at the Holy Smoke and a short while ago I was speaking to a >gentleman from Spain and the conversation got around to how >the drug prohibitions hurt families and especcialy our >children who live in poverty and are so easily lured into >the drug trade and into gangs. Gangs who exist mainly to >distribute drugs that people demand and the gov'ts refuse >to allow to be regulated. > >Well I could'nt stop the tears as I tried to speak and >after a few more attempts I excused myself and now i'm at >the computer writing about it. I've never written about how >activism effects me emotionally but I constantly walk the >edge of emotions and have to hold back and use comedy and >other strategies to stay strong and not "lose it" most of >the time. > >These issues that we are addressing on the Freedomtour are >of great importance because they are very "bad" and for >sure very sad. The ruining of our world environmentally to >support corporate interests like petro-chemical companies, >the cotton and forrestry industries to name just a few. The >unsustainable cost of the war on drugs that threatens our >worlds economy for the masses while making obscene fortunes >for the criminal black market as well as for the greed >riddled corporate elite. The criminalization of non >criminal plant users that has ruined untold millions of >lives worldwide, not to mention that the suppression of >hemp has starved to death millions of people and so many >children. > >I guess it's not too surprising that I'm upset and >emotional however today it's quite ramped up. I did tell >DML just before I left that I still never wake up less >pissed-off than the day before in over 4 years now since I >learned the truth about what's wrong in our world and opened >the "Herb School" with David and my son. > >I think maybe Shambhalla might have something to do with it >as well. Spending 6 days in a love based and free >environment has made me more aware than ever about the harms >being imposed on us in this fear based and sometimes cruel >world. After being "up" like that for those 6 days made it >hard to leave and return to the reality of every day >talking about and hearing about the price we are paying for >not being free and respected. > >To be fair I also earlier today said so-long to my son and >Dove who are now heading west after we were together for >the last 10 days. I really love my son and really value my >time with him so I know I'm not happy to part ways with >him. I also for sure miss my family, my girl and so many >dear friends that are back home and there's still nearly a >hundred days left to be on the road. > >I'm sorry to whine like this I felt maybe it was important >to write about this side of what it's like for me. I'm >probably going to go and have a good cry now and then I >will re-focus, I know I will be strong enough to speak at >the upcoming rallies in Alberta with out being a blubbering >fool but I would like anyone who can send me strength and >positive vibes to please do so. > >Thanks, >Neil Magnuson, > www.freedomtour.ca  

 

20 June - 08 August 2008

 

Austria allows cannabis for medical purposes Austria's parliament has adopted a new bill allowing the cultivation of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes, under the Health Ministry's control. The bill, approved by parliament during a late-night session Wednesday, will give the health and food safety agency AGES the exclusive right in Austria to grow the plant, which is otherwise categorised as a drug. Michael Bach, president of the Austrian pain studies association OeSG, welcomed the new legislation, saying: "Any initiative that makes it possible to develop and provide new drugs for pain therapy is welcome." "Substances drawn from cannabis have been used for medical purposes more and more in the last few years," he added. Possession of or dealing in cannabis incurs a 6-month prison sentence in Austria.

 

The ideological, illogical war against cannabis I’ve introduced a bill which would allow fines to be waived for the personal cultivation and use of marijuana for people suffering designated medical conditions. This would be on the proviso that a medical practitioner has signed a palliative cannabis certificate, saying that the person is suffering from a specified illness or disease, the symptoms of which might be palliated by the smoking or consumption of cannabis or cannabis resin.

 

The Killing of Rachel Hoffman and the Tragedy That Is Pot Prohibition Under prohibition, Rachel faced up to five years in a Florida prison for possessing a small amount of marijuana. (Under state law, violators face up to a $5,000 fine and five years in prison for possession of more than 20 grams of pot.) Under prohibition, the police in Rachel's community viewed the 23-year-old recent college graduate as nothing more than a criminal and threatened her with jail time unless she cooperated with them as an untrained, unsupervised confidential informant. Her assignment: Meet with two men she'd never met and purchase a large quantity of cocaine, ecstasy and a handgun. Rachel rendezvoused with the two men; they shot and killed her.

 

Ont. restaurateur may take medical marijuana feud to court TORONTO - A Burlington Ont. restaurant owner facing a human rights complaint for refusing to allow a patron with a medical marijuana licence to smoke outside his establishment said he plans to take the dispute to court. Ted Kindos, owner of Gator Ted's Tap and Grill, said he will seek a declaration from the Ontario Superior Court that the provincial laws - prohibiting marijuana possession or consumption in licensed establishments - trump former patron Steve Gibson's right to light up.

 

Dr. Kush How medical marijuana is transforming the pot industry. The Tibetan prayer flags suspended on a string over the sleeping body of Captain Blue rose and fell in fluttering counterpoint to the wheezy rhythm of his breath. Lifted by a gentle breeze off the Pacific Ocean, each swatch of red, white, yellow, or green cotton bore a paragraph of Asian script. Every time a flag flaps in the breeze, it is thought, a prayer flies off to Heaven. Blue’s mother says that when her son was an infant he used to sleep until noon, which is still the time that he wakes up most days, on his platform bed in a one-bedroom apartment overlooking Venice Beach, a neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was now three o’clock in the afternoon, and Captain Blue was dozing after a copious inhalation of purified marijuana vapor. (His nickname is an homage to his favorite variety of bud.)

Marijuana Eases Nerve Pain Due to HIV Study Shows Smoking Pot Provides Pain Relief From HIV-Related Neuropathy Smoking the pot provided much greater pain relief than smoking the placebo. Forty-six percent of participants had clinically meaningful pain relief with pot compared to 18% with placebo. Pain relief varied from "strong" to "mild to moderate." The researchers say that medical marijuana significantly reduces HIV-related neuropathic pain when added to the patient's already-prescribed pain management regimen and may be an "effective option for pain relief" in those whose pain is not controlled with current medications. The findings, which appear online in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, add to a growing body of evidence that shows that medical marijuana can be a potent painkiller for patients with neuropathy. However, the substance can have a negative impact on certain mental skills.

 

Cannabis hope for cancer patients GIVING cancer patients cannabis could cause their tumours to shrink, scientists have claimed. In tests on mice, researchers at Texas University found sensors on cells which detect cannabinoids - the active ingredient that causes a "high" - can control the spread of the disease. In mice with cancer the sensors were switched off, but when fed a cannabinoid mix the sensors were activated and tumour growth slowed, then shrank. Experts hope cannabis-based drugs could be used to treat cancer. Raymond DuBois, who led the research team, called it "an exciting prospect".

 

Judge: Prison worker shouldn't lose job over pot LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A Nebraska judge has ruled that a prison secretary shouldn't have lost his job for smoking pot while he wasn't at work. John Ahmann was secretary to the deputy warden at the Lincoln Correctional Center. He submitted a urine sample for drug testing in May 2006, and tested positive for marijuana. Ahmann admitted he smoked marijuana off duty, and agreed to quit using the drug. Lancaster County Judge Jodi Nelson says he was fired the next month, despite an otherwise spotless employment record and above-average evaluations. She says there was no evidence his marijuana use affected his job performance or jeopardized the security of the institution. So she reversed the State Personnel Board's decision.

 

When It Comes To Medical Pot, Rats Are Smarter Than Our Politicians You can learn a lot from a rat -- especially if the subject is medical cannabis. According to a just-published study from the University of Milan -- you didn't actually think medicinal marijuana research took place in this country, did you? -- the administration of whole-plant cannabis extracts provides superior pain relief compared to the administration of the plant's isolated components (such as THC) in an animal model of neuropathic pain.

 

‘Pot 2.0’: Where Can I Get Some? So let’s review, shall we? Our federal government wants Americans to get off the pot. So they spend billions of dollars outlawing the plant and driving its producers underground where breeders clandestinely develop stronger and more sophisticated herbal strains than ever existed prior to prohibition. The Feds then go out and inadvertently give America’s pot farmers billions of dollars in free advertising by telling the world that their weed is more potent than anything Allen Ginsberg, Tommy Chong or Jerry Garcia ever smoked in their heyday. In response, tens of millions of Americans head immediately to their nearest street-corner in search of a dealer (or college student) willing to sell them a dimebag of the new, super-potent pot they’ve been hearing about on TV. And politicians wonder why we’re not "winning" the drug war?

 

Medicinal Marijuana Effective For Neuropathic Pain In HIV, Study Finds In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the impact of smoked medical cannabis, or marijuana, on the neuropathic pain associated with HIV, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that reported pain relief was greater with cannabis than with a placebo.

 

Govt. Milks Stoner Stereotypes in Anti-Pot Propaganda Film (..).In this case, cannabis consumers are portrayed, quite literally, as less than human. Rather, they are mockingly characterized as wild game -- to be hunted, tagged, and bagged by the film's 'Crocodile Hunter' inspired narrator. Once captured, the so-called 'stoners' are subjected to a myriad of mental, physical, and psychological tasks -- such a navigating a simple obstacle course and catching various objects thrown to them at close range. Naturally, the film's 'stoner' subjects fail to perform even the most rudimentary tasks competently -- including remembering one another's names ("In his current condition the stoner exhibits an inability to communicate effectively," the hosts informs us.) or bathing ("In fact, we have learned through our intensive research that both male and female stoners tend to lack the motivation to maintain proper hygiene.") The mockumentary's slanderous message: marijuana smoking turns human beings into animals -- a denigrating theme the film's host gloats about repeatedly.

 

Outlaw compassion TORONTO - On the day before opening its new location in the Church-Wellesley village, the staff of the Toronto Compassion Centre (TCC) take a break from last-minute renovation work. The air smells like paint and pot as project coordinator Tracy Curley rolls a joint for membership coordinator Chad Cooke. It seems, to this reporter, a little early in the day to spark up a blunt but, "We're medicating," explains manager Willow Bauer. TCC's mission is to help people struggling with illness to access medical marijuana. The staffers here are members themselves. "We're sick people helping sick people," says Bauer, a small slim woman with short dark hair and funky glasses. For Curley, whose red hair matches her name, weed helps her live with diabetic neuropathy. "Sometimes I can't feel my feet," she says. But by using pot, "I function better now in my 30s than I ever did when I was younger." Dominic Cramer is the entrepreneur behind TCC. The staff treat him with reverence. Dubbed "the mayor of Yongesterdam," he is the founder and owner of the Toronto Hemp Company on Yonge St. Since his start in 1994 Cramer has spun his hemp business off into a small network of shops and cafes with TCC, he says, rising out of an obvious need. "I had old ladies call up, saying pot saved their sons. He's got leukemia, AIDS, whatever, and they've seen these incredible benefits. 'Where do I get some?'" He calls TCC's move to the gay village "a homecoming." "The Toronto Hemp Company has been a sponsor of Dirty Bingo for 16 years," says host Shirley, whose dirty bingo has been a village staple for years. "They donate a bong every week." TCC also had a float in the Pride parade with its own spin on the rainbow flag. "Green was legalization, red was regulation, yellow was education, orange was medication, purple was pride and blue was compassion," says Curley. "That's what we strive for." But is it just savvy public relations by a smart businessman? Is it merely fancy window dressing for a drug den? Cooke says 42 percent of TCC members are people living with HIV/AIDS. Curley estimates that as many as a third of the members are gay men. "From a quality of life point of view anything that will help people with HIV manage their medications better and lead quality lives is a very good thing and it's something that ACT has always supported," says John Maxwell, director of special projects at the AIDS Committee of Toronto. But the government doesn't see it quite that way.

 

Nominate Emery for Order of Canada? A letter to the editor published in the Ottawa Citizen a week ago suggested that Marc Emery should be nominated to the Order of Canada "because of his stand against dumb laws prohibiting the free use of marijuana." The letter was in response to the controversy over the long overdue appointment of Henry Morgentaler to the OC. The writer went further, and recommended that there should be a law against making dumb laws, which I thought was kind of funny. However, the impression I get from Question Period is that they take themselves pretty seriously.

 

BBC - Canada's spreading cannabis crop In the first of two pieces on organised crime accompanying his Radio 4 series How crime took on the world, Misha Glenny visits British Columbia in Canada where homegrown marijuana has become big business. As we walk into John's basement, the smell is so overwhelming it almost knocks me off my feet. Man addresses rally in 2004 calling for cannabis to be legalised in Canada Calls for cannabis to be legalised have long divided opinion in Canada In front of me stand 120 marijuana plants whose thick bushy leaves cover the strong stems. John explains quite nonchalantly that this is just a small growing operation, or grow-ops as they are known throughout Canada. But he pays loving attention to the crop - adjusting temperature, light and nutrient supply - to ensure that it enjoys the best possible environment. Every two to three months, John harvests some 8lbs (3.6kg) of his crop, worth about $20,000. So even if he didn't work at other jobs, that nets him a tidy salary (untaxed of course) of about $80,000 a year.

 

20 June 2008

Synthetic Pot as a Military Weapon? Meet the Man Who Ran the Secret Program "EA 1476" -- otherwise known as "Red Oil" -- on dogs and monkeys at the behest of the U.S. Army. Made through a process of chemical extraction and distillation, Red Oil, akin to hash oil, packed a mightier punch than the natural plant. Army scientists found that this concentrated cannabis derivative produced effects unlike anything they had previously seen. "The dog gets a peculiar reaction. He crawls under the table, stays away from the dark, leaps out at imaginary objects and, as far as one can interpret, may be having hallucinations," one report stated. "It would appear even to the untrained observer that this dog is not normal. He suddenly jumps out, even without any stimulus, and barks, and then crawls back under the table."

 

08 June 2008

 

(US) Medical marijuana is needed by seriously ill patients The federal government is waging war on some of our most vulnerable citizens, who Washington voters have acted to protect. Soon, our congressional representatives will have the chance to stand up for those people -- seriously ill patients who need medical marijuana. This is an issue we both know personally. One of us is a physician and researcher specializing in rehabilitation medicine and neuromuscular diseases such as ALS ("Lou Gehrig's disease"). The other is a cancer survivor who got through the nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy with the help of marijuana, and who has again found relief with marijuana from the chronic pain caused by injuries in a car accident.

 

HIGH TIMES Bud Prices for USA for June 2008 In June, Kush resumed its customary spot as the most submitted strain of the month; however, its average price dropped nearly $50 from May. Additionally, all individual indices (Kind, Mids and Schwag) came in below their year-to-date averages. Despite the drop off, the overall index (US Price) finished slightly above its YTD average, indicating a trend toward more expensive strains and fewer submissions of cheaper pot. The top 5 submitted strains (with average price) were: Kush ($428), Skunk ($400), Train Wreck ($348), Diesel ($442) and White Rhino ($363).

US pot crusader Steve Kubby out of jail, has fond memories of Canada VANCOUVER — An American medical marijuana advocate who tried to claim refugee status in Canada is out of jail in California and says he wants to come back here - at least for a visit. Steve Kubby served a total of 40 days of a 120-day sentence for possessing drugs found in a police raid almost a decade ago. Last week, California Superior Court essentially erased the conviction under legislation that allows the move when defendants have fulfilled the terms of their probation. "This was such a tempest in a teapot," Kubby, a 61-year-old former ski magazine publisher and pot activist, said in an interview from his home in Mendocino, Calif. "This whole thing was so absurd. It's finally gotten straightened out." Kubby suffers from a rare form of adrenal cancer that he says can only be kept in check by using marijuana. Without it, he says his body over-produces adrenaline, which can spike blood pressure, causing heart attacks and strokes.

 

Human cannabis could improve skin care New research into the skincare role of cannabis-like substances suggests the belief that marijuana cleans the body and mind may be more than just a pipe dream. Taking a leaf out of the Rastafarian book, scientists have suggested that cannabis-like substances may hold the key to healthy skin. Researchers from Hungry, Germany and the UK say the human body produces compounds that resemble the active ingredient in marijuana, THC. Body produces cannabinoids for protection Not only are they similar but they also play an important role in the maintenance of good looking skin.

 

Dutch Cannabis Strength Stabilises at High Level Dutch cannabis remains among the strongest in the world. But the content of the active ingredient THC has not increased further since 2004, according to the Trimbos Institute. Working for the Health Ministry, Trimbos has been studying the strength of cannabis sold in tolerated Dutch drugs bars ('coffee shops') since 1999. Up to 2004, there was a strong increase in the THC content, the psyco-active ingredient. "Since then, there has been a stabilisation around an average THC content of 16 to 17 percent." The cannabis sold in Dutch coffee shops in 2008 had a THC content of 16.4 percent. This was 0.4 percentage point more than in 2007, and nearly twice that of cannabis of foreign origin (8.5 percent). Hashish made from Dutch cannabis is much stronger again; this contained as much as 27.6 percent THC on average in 2008. Hashish from abroad averages 16.2 percent of THC.

 

Medical Cannabis The Natural Way The change of law also makes no allowances for the tens of thousands of people who use cannabis in the treatment of one or more medical conditions ranging from depression, to terminal cancer, and on behalf of the many medical cannabis users I know in the United Kingdom, I would like to ask "Why"?

 

(US) Center in Olympia to educate on medicinal marijuana law Advocate aims to clarify system for legal users Jeremy Miller, 36, said he wants to help people navigate through the state's medical marijuana law that remains complex despite an effort last week by the state Department of Health to bring more clarity. The opening of the resource center was "semi-inspired" by the agency's action and resulting need to educate people. "It's a legitimate law just like any law that should be functional and, right now, it's not as functional as it should be," Miller said. "There's several things we can do, but I think it's going to take independent counties throughout the state and possibly independent organizations to take it upon themselves to keep patients out of harm's way."

 

Police Discover World's Most Expensive Marijuana This is really an incredible discovery and I'm surprised it hasn’t generated more attention. At $4.7 million for 104 pounds, we're talking about an ounce that's worth $2824.51! That just blows away everything listed at High Times's market quotes section, where ounces of high-grade marijuana in Ohio last month were listed at $400. It also overwhelms the STRIDE data collected by drug enforcement officers showing that U.S. marijuana prices averaged around $200 per ounce as of 2003.

 

01-03 June 2008

The World Health Organization Documents Failure of U.S. Drug Policies The United States has some of the world's most punitive drug policies and has led the cheering section for tough "war on drugs" policies worldwide, but a new international study suggests that those policies have been a crashing failure. A World Health Organization survey of 17 countries, conducted by some of the world's leading substance abuse researchers, found that we have the highest rates of marijuana and cocaine use. The numbers are startling. In the United States, 42.4 percent admitted having used marijuana. The only other nation that came close was New Zealand, another bastion of get-tough policies, at 41.9 percent. No one else was even close. The results for cocaine use were similar, with the United States leading the world by a large margin. This study is important because it's the first time a respected international group has surveyed drug use around the world, using the same questions and procedure everywhere. While many countries have their own drug use surveys, the questions and methodology vary, and comparisons between countries are difficult. This new study eliminates that problem. Some of the most striking numbers are from the Netherlands, where adults are permitted to possess a small of marijuana and purchase it from regulated businesses. Some U.S. officials have claimed that these Dutch policies have created some sort of decadent cesspool of drug abuse, but the new study demolishes such assertions: In the Netherlands, only 19.8 percent have used marijuana, less than half the U.S. figure.

 

Toronto police arrest two officers during crackdown on marijuana grow-ops TORONTO — Two Toronto police officers and three correctional officers were among almost two dozen people arrested Thursday after 63 search warrants were executed in a crackdown on marijuana grow-ops. Toronto police Chief Bill Blair said he was very disappointed to learn that two of his officers were allegedly involved in a drug trafficking operation that involved marijuana, ecstasy and steroids and money laundering. It's alleged the "elaborate" operation had been ongoing for at least two years. The police investigation lasted several months before the raids were launched, netting 23 suspects. Police seized three houses, five vehicles, $60,000 and almost eight kilograms of marijuana. The officers' alleged involvement is more than just a breach of their oath of duty, it's also a betrayal of their colleagues who strive to maintain the public's trust, said Blair. "All of us need to maintain the trust of the people we serve," Blair said. "The conduct alleged by these two individual officers, and quite frankly also by those corrections officers that are accused in today's investigation, (means) that trust is challenged and we are very disappointed," he said. The two officers - Kevin Bourne with nine years of police service and Patrick Lee with eight years on the force - are in custody. If granted bail, they will be suspended with pay. The accused were scheduled to appear in a Newmarket court Friday. Police said the investigation is continuing.

 

9-15 May 2008

 

How Pot Became Demonized: the Fine Line Between Good Medicine and 'Dangerous Drugs' For many modern critics, the concept of "medical marijuana" is a contradiction in terms. Medicine is standardized, synthetic, and pure; marijuana involves the unrefined and promiscuous coupling of more than four hundred components rooted in the dirt. Medicine -- in its most powerful and privileged forms -- rests in the hands of men, while the most potent form of marijuana is found in the female flowering plant. Medicine engages in heroic battles against death. Marijuana claims only to enhance the quality of life. Medicine presents itself as an objective science safeguarded by the ritual of the double-blind, randomized clinical trial. The therapeutic value of marijuana relies largely on the "soft science" of subjective experience and anecdotal evidence. From the perspective of its critics, then, cannabis is an effeminate interloper in the masculine world of real medicine, a dangerous drug pushed on a credulous public by illegitimate quacks. But this story is too simple. The line separating regular doctors from snake oil salesmen, good drugs from bad, is as much the product of politics as it is of science. The dominance of politics in determining the value of marijuana as a medicine was first demonstrated in the 1930s when the federal government began to restrict the medical use of marijuana, against the recommendations of the American Medical Association (AMA).

 

Job security for cops part of cannabis laws MP Larry Miller (Society Wants To Keep Drugs Out Of Schools, May 6, 2008), like many law enforcement people along with their unions, are quick to break Canada's constitution for their own gain. Society wants to keep drugs out of schools but not at the cost of ignoring the constitution. Miller's numerous "fears" are unwarranted and suspicion isn't enough reason to search citizens. Further, drug sniffing dogs' list of accomplishments mostly involve locating cannabis (marijuana) which is arguably not even a drug but rather a relatively safe God-given plant that should be re-legalized for responsible adults.

Marijuana popular among educated, middle-class Canadians: study A variety of educated, middle-class Canadians are "making a conscious but careful choice to use marijuana" to relax or focus on leisure activities, say researchers behind a new study spotlighting pot smoking behind the nation's picket fences. These people might drive minivans to their full-time jobs or run a household, but come time to unwind, it's not Dr. Phil who's calming their nerves. "It's an illegal activity, so it's still something people do in secret, usually in the privacy of their own home," says Geraint Osborne, whose study is published in the spring edition of the journal Substance Use and Misuse. "They're a little reluctant to come forward and talk about it, using the phrase that they're still 'in the closet.'"

 

CANNABIS PILL HELPED ME TO WALK AGAIN A Multiple sclerosis sufferer says he was able to step out of his wheelchair for the first time in seven years when he took part in a trial of a tablet containing cannabis. Tony Withers, 64, believes the tablet could be a breakthrough in helping the 85,000 Britons with the condition. The former RAF navigator, of Petersham Drive, Alvaston, who has used a wheelchair since 2000, took part in a 12-week trial of the tablets. He said his symptoms, which include pain, spasms, sleeplessness and having no control over his lower body, showed such an improvement that he was able to stand and give a speech to medical students for 10 minutes. Mr Withers said it was at his final assessment with doctors that the effect was most obvious. "The professor had three students with him and he asked me to talk to them about MS.

 

It wasn't like this in my day PERHAPS they are too stoned to notice, but cannabis users do not seem to pay much attention to changes in the law regarding their beloved weed. When the government last tinkered with the law in 2003, downgrading dope's seriousness, many feared an increase in consumption. Instead, the prevalence of occasional smoking among young people has since fallen, from 25% to 21%. Following that apparent success, the government has now decided to reverse the decision. On May 7th Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, announced that cannabis would be upgraded from a class C drug—the mildest type—to class B, putting it in the same company as amphetamines. Earlier that day the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), an official body of academics, social workers, policemen and other drugs experts, had recommended she leave it alone. Ms Smith said the public supported her in taking a tough line and claimed that strong new strains of cannabis presented a risk to mental health.

 

Middle Class Relaxing With Marijuana A variety of middle-class people are making a conscious but careful choice to use marijuana to enhance their leisure activities, a University of Alberta study shows. A qualitative study of 41 Canadians surveyed in 2005-06 by U of A researchers showed that there is no such thing as a 'typical' marijuana user, but that people of all ages are selectively lighting up the drug as a way to enhance activities ranging from watching television and playing sports to having sex, painting or writing. "For some of the participants, marijuana enhanced their ability to relax by taking their minds off daily stresses and pressures. Others found it helpful in focusing on the activity at hand," said Geraint Osborne, a professor of sociology at the University of Alberta's Augustana Campus in Camrose, and one of the study's authors.

 

As fighting flares up, Lebanese cannabis growers expect a bumper crop For the cannabis-growing residents of eastern Lebanon, recent internecine fighting in the country has been a blessing, albeit one covered in hash resin and dollar signs. To these villagers, gunshots and warfare are good for business, and the last three years have been far too quiet for their taste, leaving the authorities more than enough time and resources to come for their crops. Peace and quiet frees the Lebanese Army to help local law enforcement combat the drug trade, especially in the summer, when soldiers and police are deployed to cannabis fields to rip and cut the flowering stalks of marijuana set for processing and export to Israel, Europe and beyond. Advertisement The army has signaled that it could step up its involvement to bring an end to fighting that broke out last week - the country's worst internal clashes since the end of the civil war in 1990, which has left at least 54 people dead and scores more wounded. The last time the cannabis farmers of Lebanon had such a bumper crop was during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, when the security situation in the country brought anti-drug law enforcement to a halt. With fighting flaring up again in Lebanon, the farmers can expect another marijuana windfall, especially if the army is deployed in force throughout the country's cities to quell the recent bloodshed.

 

Should cannabis be reclassified? The Home Secretary omitted to mention that in the same survey, when asked what penalties should apply for cannabis possession, 68% of those polled said offenders should serve either 2 years’ imprisonment (the maximum sentence for class C) - or that there should be no penalty at all. These contradictions suggest a level of misunderstanding about the drug classification system as a whole. " One of the clear 'messages' sent out by this decision is that drug policy can be informed as much by media headlines and politics as by an objective approach to the evidence. There is no doubt that the cannabis market in the UK has changed over the last decade. The availability of cannabis resin has fallen, while that of more potent forms of herbal cannabis such as “skunk” has increased. Yet despite alarmist claims that cannabis is 20 to 30 times stronger “than it used to be”, the evidence shows that the potency of herbal “skunk” cannabis has increased by 2 to 3 times since 1995. While this does represent a clear and worrying rise in potency, it is not of the order suggested by some. Further research is needed to understand what impact this increase in potency has on the user.

 

New Federal Report on Marijuana Use is Misleading, Groups Say A new federal government report on the ill effects of marijuana on teens may be a last ditch effort to demonize the medical weed before it sees its own day of emancipation. As it stands, even the most hardcore marijuana legalization advocates do not support children using anything that causes intoxication. This new report uses scare tactics and seems to regard medical facts as a meaningless burden, and they are enlisting the help of celebrities with big money and big media ties to drive their message home.

 

3-9 May 2008

 

Cannabis Referendum Required. If this law change is meant to send a message to our young people I think its succeeded with aplomb, except the message which its delivered has done little to convince sometimes "long-term" cannabis users to stop, and the publicity has actually had the opposite effect, by hi-lighting the greater cannabis debate, introducing it into the lives of people who were not necessarily involved in it previously.

The NYPD's Secret Crusade Against Marijuana Furthers a Racist Agenda Since most of these people arrested had the pot hidden in a pocket, backpack, or purse, how did these stop-and-frisks turn into an arrest for "burning" marijuana" or having it "open to public view"? As "Marijuana Arrest Crusade" demonstrates, this is done "by tricking and intimidating" suspects to take out the concealed marijuana, so that police officers can then claim they saw it "open to public view." In fact, a longtime Legal Aid supervisor quoted in the study says that this process happens "all the time." And such routine deception by the police to set someone up for arrest on a criminal-misdemeanor charge is perfectly legal. There is much more detailed information in the report on the impact of these arrests, which—as described in last week's column— greatly and disproportionately affect black and Latino youths. Part 7, "Head Start for Unemployment and Prison," notes that these arrests "can limit the opportunity for young people to obtain employment and access to some schools, and for student aid." The report also notes something that I've pointed out in this space before: "Mayor Bloomberg and other prominent politicians [and the FBI] have urged collecting DNA from everyone arrested for anything whatsoever, including, therefore, marijuana possession." My main motivation as a reporter has never been to get "exclusives," but to get vital information out by all possible means. I hope this revelation of the NYPD's continuing disgrace will be read carefully by other reporters, legislators, and everyone else concerned with ending this racist crusade.

 

Money not well spent: Fraser In another example, the auditors discovered Health Canada is probably undercharging Canadians who are allowed to buy marijuana for medical purposes. Health Canada charges $5 for a gram of dried marijuana or $20 for a packet of 30 marijuana seeds. Some "compassion" clubs, which try to assist those who need marijuana to ease chronic pain, charge twice as much for similar amounts. Health Canada plans to recalculate its charge.

 

3 May 2008

TODAY was the Toronto Freedom March - I made a video of the march early on so there was few people... but here is the video anyways... Mark


Toronto Freedom Festival 03 May 2008 from mark on Vimeo.

 

14-30 April 2008

 

Government policy on medical cannabis 'divorced from scientific reality' The results of a clinical trial conducted by University of California have just been published online and the findings are sure to curry favour with the UK pro-cannabis reform movement, but not with the government. According to online publication "Journal of Pain", the report demonstrates significant relief of neuropathic pain (pain caused by damage to nerves) stemming from a variety of conditions. This is the second study in just over a year, to prove that marijuana relieves neuropathic pain, which is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs, including opioid narcotics.

 

THIS SATURDAY IS THE BIG TORONTO FREEDOM MARCH

U must B there

25,000 UNITE FOR FREEDOM! 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival - Saturday, May 3rd 2008 The much anticipated 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival returns Saturday, May 3rd to Queen’s Park North. Downtown Toronto The city’s largest one-day outdoor spring festival, will once again present multiple stages featuring musicians, vendors, artists, exhibitors and speakers coming together to celebrate our cherished freedoms.

 

Marijuana church shut down HAMILTON - Two men who operated a church where marijuana was sold as a sacrament here, were sentenced to prison Friday. Michael Baldasaro was sentenced to two years in jail while Walter Tucker will spend one year behind bars in connection with selling marijuana at the Church of the Universe. In handing down his ruling, the judge called the operation "a marijuana convenience store that operates for profit like a prohibition-era speakeasy, but disguised as a church." In 2004, police officers purchased marijuana from the church in an undercover operation. Baldasaro and Tucker maintain that God tells them to smoke marijuana and pass joints to their Church of the Universe parishioners. The case of the two men, who also lived in the church, made history in Hamilton because it's the first time a residence has been seized under the drug law. "This will send the message that if you're going to carry on trafficking in drugs, growing drugs, on your premise or residence, it can be forfeited as offence-related property," added Hamilton Police officer Bob MacDonald.

 

Pot smokers getting older: survey Marijuana finds its way 'into an adult lifestyle' More adults in Ontario are smoking marijuana than a decade ago, and the average age of cannabis users is increasing, Jurgen Rehm, senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said yesterday. According to the CAHM annual survey of adult substance use, the number of adults in Ontario who reported cannabis use over a one-year period is up from eight per cent in 1977 to 14 per cent in 2005. More telling, said Rehm, is the aging of the cannabis user, who now is on average 31 years old, compared with 26 in 1977. "For a long time, marijuana smoking was confined to a transitional phenomenon," Rehm said. "But it now finds its way into an adult lifestyle."

 

Will Pot Ever Be Legal in This Schizoid Country? Marijuana occupies a bizarrely paradoxical place in American culture. Its use is widespread, commonplace among the young and ubiquitous in popular culture. Yet it remains highly illegal, and talk of legalization is usually deemed political suicide. Here are five signs that pot should be legal soon -- and five reasons why it probably won't.

 

Cannabis users not “Deadbeats” Victoria medical cannabis and HIV-AIDS activist Jason Wilcox says the Calgary Sun newspaper owes him and other therapeutic pot puffers an apology following an article published this week headlined “Deadbeat dopers owe big time.” The article focuses on documents obtained by Canadians for Safe Access director Philippe Lucas that show 434 Health Canada Medical Marihuana Access Division patients are in arrears to the tune of $554,225 for the government’s pre-packaged pot. “Who else has to face this kind of depredation of character?” says Wilcox. “What about all the other people in the country who are behind in paying for their prescriptions?” Wilcox is particularly upset by the article—a rewrite of a Canadian Press piece that ran on the newswire the previous day in which he was quoted several times—because he has repeatedly told news outlets he refuses to pay for Health Canada’s sub-par weed until the federal department can justify the 1,500 percent markup passed on to patients. Medical cannabis is not covered under any provincial health plan. “I wonder if we had more money whether they would be so quick to call us deadbeats,” says Wilcox, citing the fact many medical marijuana users live below the poverty line. Wilcox was not the only one to feel slighted by the Alberta tabloid’s slanted headline writing. Shortly after the paper hit newstands, the Canadian AIDS Society weighed in on the issue. “Maybe one day the name calling will cease and people who suffer from serious and chronic conditions and who benefit from the use of marijuana will have their peace. Until then, comments like this just feed the stigma,” wrote CAS executive director Monique Doolittle-Romas. In other medical marijuana news, Health Canada announced Monday it is taking bids for a new supplier of government-approved medical cannabis. Clients have long complained current provider Prairie Plant System’s gamma-radiated product is sub-standard. Wilcox, however, says any new supplier won’t make much difference unless the government can ensure clients are offered an organic product in multiple strains suited to treating different conditions.

 

Drug Consumption Decriminalized In Argentina A federal court in Argentina has decriminalized the consumption of marihuana. According to the article, the issue still has to be taken to the Argentinean Supreme Court. Still, this sets an important precedent. Indeed, the Minister of Justice and Security has recently called the war on drug consumers an "absolute failure." The federal court has ruled in favor of two people who had been detained for possessing marihuana and ecstasy.

 

04-14 April 2008

Health Canada looking for firm to grow its medical marijuana OTTAWA — Health Canada is looking for someone to grow its weed. The department served notice Monday it will soon allow firms to bid on a contract to cultivate and distribute medical marijuana. The winning firm will be expected to deliver a steady stream of government-approved dope to certified medical users starting in the fall. Health Canada posted a notice on a government tenders website saying it would put out a formal request for proposals "in the spring of 2008." It doesn't specify a date. A spokeswoman for the Public Works Department was to provide particulars of the request for proposals on Monday afternoon. Ottawa has been a reluctant supplier of pot since a series of court rulings forced it into the medical marijuana business. Health Canada's contentious medical marijuana program licenses certified medical users to grow their own pot, have someone grow it for them or buy it straight from Health Canada.

 

Medical marijuana users more than $500,000 in arrears with Health Canada OTTAWA — Medical marijuana users are on the hook for more than $500,000 in unpaid bills for government-certified weed, raising questions about the effectiveness of Health Canada's troubled dope program. Newly disclosed statistics show that Health Canada has sent final notices - and sometimes dispatched a collection agency as well - to 462 registered users since government marijuana first became available in 2003. "Most of the 462 individuals who have received a letter regarding their accounts in arrears have had their shipment ceased," department spokesman Paul Duchesne said in an e-mail. The unpaid bills, totalling $554,255 as of Dec. 31, have tripled in value in the last two years and have resulted in some seriously ill citizens returning to the black market for their medication. The marijuana distribution service was specifically designed to give patients a legal alternative to street dope. Officials have handed 29 overdue accounts to collection agencies who so far have been able to recoup just $2,000. The statistics, acquired through the Access to Information Act and questions to Health Canada, suggest a deeply flawed program as the number of users in arrears has soared to about two-thirds of all 739 patients licensed to buy government dope.

 

 

04 April 2008

 

UN's Drug Czar Lashes Out on Reformers: "You’re All On Drugs!" UN Drug Czar Antonio Maria Costa made a rare appearance before the drug law reform community last November when he gave the keynote address at the Drug Policy Alliance’s bi-annual conference in New Orleans. It appears that we made quite an impression. Speaking in Vienna this week, Costa commented on his brief appearance with this ad hominem attack: “I attended the meeting of the Drug Alliance [DPA] in New Orleans last December, 1200 participants, 1000 lunatics, 200 good people to talk to. The other ones obviously on drugs.”

25,000 UNITE FOR FREEDOM! 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival - Saturday, May 3rd 2008 The much anticipated 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival returns Saturday, May 3rd to Queen’s Park North. Downtown Toronto The city’s largest one-day outdoor spring festival, will once again present multiple stages featuring musicians, vendors, artists, exhibitors and speakers coming together to celebrate our cherished freedoms.

 

Brown's Cannabis Outrage "This sort of Tyranny was precisely why Human rights legislation was passed - we have a Right to a Private Life, to our individual beliefs and practices and to the protection of the law." The law that sends police into private homes looking to bust people for no reason other than the law itself - is in fact illegal. "It is time that somebody seriously looked into the question of the legality of cannabis prohibition itself".

 

Calling B.S. on the Idea of 'Marijuana Addiction' The U.S. government believes that America is going to pot -- literally. Earlier this month, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse announced plans to spend $4 million to establish the nation's first-ever "Center on Cannabis Addiction," which will be based in La Jolla, Calif. The goal of the center, according to NIDA's press release, is to "develop novel approaches to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of marijuana addiction." Not familiar with the notion of "marijuana addiction"? You're not alone. In fact, aside from the handful of researchers who have discovered that there are gobs of federal grant money to be had hunting for the government's latest pot boogeyman, there's little consensus that such a syndrome is clinically relevant -- if it even exists at all. But don't try telling that to the mainstream press -- which recently published headlines worldwide alleging, "Marijuana withdrawal rivals that of nicotine." The alleged "study" behind the headlines involved all of 12 participants, each of whom were longtime users of pot and tobacco, and assessed the self-reported moods of folks after they were randomly chosen to abstain from both substances. Big surprise: they weren't happy.

 

MDs boost dosages of prescribed pot OTTAWA -- Canadian doctors have been increasing daily dosages of marijuana for patients using cannabis for medical purposes, Health Canada reports. The increase in prescribed dosages is noted in a recent report on the views of physicians regarding the use of marijuana, adding that this information "surprised" most doctors when they were told during interviews. It said the doctors identified seven "logical" explanations for the trend, including the perception that Health Canada marijuana is "not as potent" as that produced and grown by patients or their suppliers.

 

12 March 2008

 

SACRAMENTO – A large and respected association of physicians is calling on the federal government to ease its strict ban on marijuana as medicine and hasten research into the drug’s therapeutic uses. The American College of Physicians, a 124,000-member group that is the nation’s largest for doctors of internal medicine, contends that the long and rancorous debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that has demonstrated the benefits and medicinal promise of cannabis. In a 13-page position paper approved by the college’s governing board of regents and posted Thursday on the group’s Web site, the ACP calls on the government to drop marijuana from Schedule I, a classification it shares with illegal drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value and a high likelihood of abuse. The declaration could put new pressure on lawmakers and government regulators, who for decades have rejected attempts to reclassify marijuana. Bush administration officials have aggressively rebuffed all attempts in Congress, the courts and among law enforcement organizations to legitimize medical marijuana.

 

'Cannabis' could help smokers quit Smokers trying to quit could do so in the future with the help of cannabis-based medicines, a university has said. Scientists at the University of Nottingham are also looking to see whether such medicines could be used to treat obesity, diabetes and depression. The research has focused on cannabis-like compounds which naturally exist within the human body called endocannabinoids. Scientists believe they could have a crucial link to addictive behaviour. Dr Steve Alexander, associate professor at the university's School of Biomedical Sciences, said: "In terms of getting better medicines the endocannabinoid system has a lot to offer. "The range of cannabis-related medicines is currently limited, but by increasing our knowledge in this area we can increase our stock." Professor David Kendall, a cellular pharmacologist at the university, said: "The brain is full of cannabinoid receptors. "And so, not surprisingly with diseases like depression and anxiety, there's a great deal of interest in exploiting these receptors and in doing so, developing anti-depressant compounds. "We know that the endocannabinoid system is intimately involved in reward pathways and drug-seeking behaviour. "So this tends to indicate that if the link involving endocannabinoids and the reward pathway, using inhibitors, can be interrupted, it could turn down the drive to seek addictive agents like nicotine. Cannabinoids have also been shown to bring down blood pressure and it is hoped that related compounds can be used in patients with conditions like hypertension.

 

25,000 UNITE FOR FREEDOM! 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival - Saturday, May 3rd 2008 The much anticipated 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival returns Saturday, May 3rd to Queen’s Park North. Downtown Toronto The city’s largest one-day outdoor spring festival, will once again present multiple stages featuring musicians, vendors, artists, exhibitors and speakers coming together to celebrate our cherished freedoms.