LIVES OF
OTHERS - This is the point where the Secret Policeman turns
- just before the fall of the wall
(note: this is not relevant
to legalizing medical cannabis, but it is important to send a message)
April 2009
TOP 1O BEST EVER TV ADS!
January 2009
Pot smokers won't get an exemption from lawThe B.C. Supreme Court has rejected
complicated constitutional arguments that deficiencies in the medical
marijuana regime and conflicting jurisprudence should invalidate the
criminal drug law. In an important, cogent 18-page judgment released
Friday, Justice Austin Cullen quashed the suggestion that pot smokers
should get an exemption from the criminal law because the medical
marijuana scheme isn't working.
Growing Marijuana With Government Money
Mahmoud A. ElSohly, 62, a research
professor at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi,
presides over a farm that grows nearly a hundred varieties of
marijuana plants. As director of the Marijuana Project, he oversees
the only federally approved marijuana plantation in the country. We
spoke for two hours in September at his laboratory in Oxford, Miss.,
and later again by telephone. An edited version of the conversations
follows.
Noam Chomsky on Marijuana - Forget
about conspiracies, this is the simple truth
DEA denies professor's marijuana-for-research bidWASHINGTON
(AP) — The Drug Enforcement Administration has rejected a petition by
a University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor to let him grow
marijuana for medical research. The DEA's Jan. 7 ruling said Lyle
Craker, a horticulturist who heads the university's medicinal plant
program, failed to demonstrate that the government's longtime monopoly
on producing and distributing the drug for medical research was
"inadequate." DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney on Monday confirmed the
ruling, but declined further comment. Craker challenged the
government's monopoly on research marijuana. A lab at the University
of Mississippi is the government's only marijuana-growing facility.
Craker's suit claimed government-grown marijuana lacks the potency
medical researchers need to make important breakthroughs. He also
alleged there wasn't enough of the drug freely available for
scientists across the country to work with.
Low rates of use in the Netherlands demonstrate that the best way to
assure teens will try marijuana is to tell them it's illegal
It's official: the Dutch have
managed to make pot smoking uncool. The Dutch don't smoke nearly as
much cannabis as Canadians, which is surprising because cannabis use
is legal in the Netherlands. What can we learn from this? Cannabis is
not taboo, as it is in North America, under prohibition. That could be
why there is no real attraction for Dutch youth to take up the
practice. UN statistics tell it like it is: 16.8 per cent of adult
Canadians have tried cannabis, yet only 6.1 per cent of Dutch have
(2007 World Drug Report, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).
Yet cannabis is legally available in one of 280 licensed coffeeshops
in the Netherlands. Obviously, there is no connection between
availability and higher consumption rates.
(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.
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
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.
25,000 UNITE FOR FREEDOM! 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival -
Saturday, May 3rd 2008The 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 2008The 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.
'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 2008The 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.
Doubtful Doctors
Since the current incarnation of Canada’s
medical marijuana program was established, doctors have been forced by
Health Canada to act as sentinel for a product whose complexities,
methods of delivery and side effects they have little firsthand
information—a situation that leaves many physicians hesitant to sign
their names to the documents required for patients to access
government pot. “Our number one complaint is that patients can’t find
a doctor who will endorse their MMAD application,” says Eric Nash of
Duncan’s Island Harvest. However, physicians’ reluctance often has
more to do with the bureaucratic reach of Health Canada than it does
with their own personal misgivings about prescribing a drug that
remains in legal limbo. The Canadian Medical Association is slowly
coming around to recognizing the valuable role medical cannabis can
play in helping users achieve a higher quality of life, but as
recently as 2003 then-CMA president Dana Hanson said, “Physicians
should not be the gatekeeper for a substance for which we do not have
adequate scientific proof of safety or efficacy.” Observers say the
CMA’s regularly-parroted line rings hollow when general practitioners
regularly prescribe drugs with little more knowledge than what they
were told by representatives of the pharmaceutical companies that
manufacture them. The Canadian Medical Protective Association, the
organization that insures 95 percent of Canada’s physicians, continues
to issue its doctors a release form liability form that protects them
from legal action relating to a clients use of medical marijuana. No
such special form is required when prescribing addictive and dangerous
drugs like Valium and codeine.
10-20
February 2008
Medical Marijuana Endorsement
Medical marijuana gains a huge
endorsement. The American College of Physicians, the second largest
group of doctors in the country, urged the government to change the
law. They want patients to be able to use the banned drug. They say
evidence shows marijuana can help with severe weight loss in patients
with no appetite and helps with nausea and vomiting in AIDS and cancer
patients. A dozen states already allow medical marijuana use.
Ease ban on cannabis, physicians
group urges 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.
01-09
February 2008
Ottawa wants appeal of medical
marijuana ruling allowing more suppliers
Ottawa is asking for an appeal of a
Federal Court decision that struck down a key restriction in the
government's controversial medical marijuana program. The Jan. 10
decision allowed growers to supply medical marijuana to more than one
patient, effectively loosening the government's tight grip on
accessing the drug. The court erred in concluding that a restriction
preventing growers from supplying the drug to one person is
unconstitutional, the Department of Justice said in court documents
filed Jan. 31. Justice Barry Strayer also erred in concluding that the
provision was forcing medical users to obtain the drug on the black
market, the documents state. Prior to the January ruling, medical
users could grow their own pot, but growers like Carasel Harvest
Supply Corp. couldn't supply the drug to more than one user at a time.
The federal government is seeking that the Jan. 10 judgment be set
aside and that it be awarded legal costs. Lawyers representing medical
users, who considered the Jan. 10 decision a victory, also filed for a
cross-appeal of the ruling. They say the court should be monitoring
the federal government to ensure it's not unfairly restricting access
to the drug by denying licences to growers who want to produce medical
pot for a number of users. Strayer erred in not requiring the court to
"retain ongoing supervisory jurisdiction" over Health Canada or order
the government to periodically report back to the court on its
progress, according to a court document filed Tuesday by Toronto
lawyer Ron Marzel. "The record before the court contained ample
evidence that the government of Canada, the minister of health and
Health Canada have, since 1999, delayed and frustrated reasonable
access to medical cannabis," the document states. Lawyers for medical
users had argued that the restriction preventing growers from
producing medical pot for more than one person at a time effectively
established Health Canada as the country's sole legal provider. They
said the restriction was unfair and prevented seriously ill Canadians
from obtaining the drug they need to treat their debilitating
illnesses. The provision had been struck down by the courts before,
but was reinstated by the government which contracted Prairie Plant
Systems Inc. in Flin Flon, Man., to grow the drug for patients.
Previous governments have been uncomfortable with their role as a
cannabis supplier. Former Liberal health minister Anne McLellan, an
unabashed opponent of the program, was reluctant to provide the drug
to patients. Lawyers representing medical users have accused Ottawa of
trying to buy time until pharmaceutical companies come up with
marijuana products, so it can wash its hands of the program. The case
challenging the restriction began in 2004 and was heard before the
Federal Court in December. No date has been set for the court to hear
the appeal and cross-appeal.
Latest Anti-Pot Quack Science:
'Marijuana Makes Your Teeth Fall Out'
Recent weeks have seen a rash of new
studies of marijuana hitting the mass media, generating scary
headlines like "Smoking Pot Rots Your Gums," "Cannabis Bigger Cancer
Risk Than Cigarettes," and "Pot Withdrawal Similar to Quitting
Cigarettes. Most of this coverage can be boiled down to a fairly
simple equation: Flawed science + uncritical reporting =
misinformation. Mercifully, the U.S. mass media were so distracted by
Super Tuesday, Heath Ledger's autopsy and the latest Britney Spears
trauma that reports of these studies didn't get as much play as they
might have. That's good, because the research had significant gaps,
and the reporting ranged from slapdash to flat wretched.
Pot-smoking protesters show up at
marijuana advocate's court appearance
- Marijuana advocate Marc Emery
showed up to B.C. Supreme Court with a pot-smoking entourage only to
have his hearing date delayed while lawyers work on a plea agreement.
Emery says lawyers on both sides of the border are negotiating his
surrender to the U.S. for selling pot seeds over the Internet. He has
accepted a five-year prison term in exchange for no jail time for his
two co-accused. Emery says he considers his marijuana crusade over the
last few decades a "great patriot's act," and says he won't be making
any apologies for what he's done. Another court date is set for next
month and, if the plea agreement is solidified, defence lawyer Ian
Donaldson told the judge there won't be any need for another court
hearing. Emery says the plea agreement would see him spend six to nine
months in a U.S. jail and the remainder of the five-year term in a
Canadian prison.
starting February 01, 2008
Designated Growers for Health Canada
permit holders
If you
have a Permit to Possess Cannabis and you need a designated grower
Cannabis 'acquitted' over deaths...in
both instances, the verdict was the same. The death was attributed to
a previously unsuspected heart condition. A heart condition which the
initial pathologist either missed, or ignored perhaps? At the
subsequent inquest, cannabis was positively ruled out as a cause of
death and the family's solicitor called for the examining doctor; Dr
Al-Alousi, who works for the University of Leicester and the
University Hospital of Leicester NHS Trust, to be reported to the
General Medical Council, (GMC).
The right to be free of pain.
Kudos to Joe Fiorito for his
courage in asking us not to fear cannabis, but shame on the condo
corporation that owns the building in which Erin Maloughney lives. Do
Canadians still not realize that medical cannabis patients are here
and we are not going away? Why, then, do so many people proceed to
trample all over our rights? The last thing anyone of us would do is
put ourselves, our families or our neighbours in jeopardy in any way.
We do not have indoor grow-ops; we have medical gardens. We are tired
of being treated like second-class citizens and we will be heard. We
are sick, tired and have little left to fight for other than our
health and our choice of medicine. We are in pain and suffer daily
without cannabis.
21 January
2008
Emery asks court for more time
— So-called prince of pot Marc
Emery will be back in court Tuesday asking for more time to work out
details of an agreement with U.S. authorities to allow Emery to serve
a prison sentence in Canada. Mr. Emery said last week he'd reached a
tentative plea-bargain agreement with the U.S. Justice Department over
his Internet sales of marijuana seeds that would have meant he would
spent at least five years in prison — most of it in Canada. But Mr.
Emery now says more work is needed before any agreement was final, so
his lawyer will seek the adjournment to allow more time to negotiate
with U.S. prosecutors. Mr. Emery was arrested in Halifax two years ago
on an extradition request from the United States. A U.S. federal grand
jury indicted the outspoken pot activist on charges of conspiracy to
distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and
conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Any deal Mr. Emery works out
with the Americans also needs approval from the Canadian Department of
Justice.
07-14 January
2008
Emery agrees to 5 years in Canadian prison
Marc Emery, Vancouver's self-styled Prince of Pot, has tentatively
agreed to a five-year prison term in a plea bargain over U.S. money
laundering and marijuana seed-selling charges. Facing an extradition
hearing Jan. 21 and the all-but-certain prospect of delivery to
American authorities, Emery has cut a deal with U.S. prosecutors to
serve his sentence in Canada. He also hopes it will save his two
co-accused -- Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams, who were his
lieutenants for so much of the past decade.
Medical Marijuana Payback Burns
Colorado Police. He compared
the incident to police seizing a person's car which they believed was
stolen, "smashing the windows, pouring sugar in the gas tank, and then
returning it," after discovering it wasn't stolen after all. Applying
this general principle of law it seems natural to seek compensation
and using the DEA standards for marijuana valuation, ($5,200/plant)
Dickes will seek $369,200 in lost medicine.
Federal Court strikes down
regulation limiting growers of medical marijuana
Canadians who are prescribed marijuana to
treat their illnesses will no longer be forced to rely on the federal
government as a supplier following a Federal Court ruling that struck
down a key restriction in Ottawa's controversial medical marijuana
program. The decision by Judge Barry Strayer, released late Thursday,
essentially grants medical marijuana users more freedom in picking
their own grower and allows growers to supply the drug to more than
one patient. It's also another blow to the federal government, whose
attempts to tightly control access to medical marijuana have prompted
numerous court challenges. Currently, medical users can grow their own
pot but growers can't supply the drug to more than one user at a time.
Health Canada Unfairly Restricts Access to Medical Marijuana, says
Professor Alan Young Health
Canada has effectively established itself as the country's sole legal
provider of medical marijuana, but is providing an expensive yet
ineffective drug that doesn't meet the needs of many patients who use
it to treat chronic pain, seizures and other ailments, said Alan
Young, criminal law professor in York’s Osgoode Hall Law School.
Young’s comments were reported by The Canadian Press Dec. 3 in a story
about a case he is currently arguing before the Federal Court on
behalf of the patients. “It's not enough to say, ‘Here's some pot for
you, knock yourself out.’ That's not the way medicine is delivered,”
Young said outside court Monday. “You come up with the optimal
product.” There are providers who want to supply various strains of
the drug at a lower cost for medical use, but they're prohibited from
doing so because government policy restricts them from supplying more
than one patient, Young added. “They are determined not to let an
individual grow marijuana for more than one person – determined,”
Young said. “They want to have control over it and they said,
'ultimately our vision is that we'll be out of this business and that
marijuana products [will be] available in pharmacies and we can wash
our hands of it.'”
Feds “taxing” sick people who smoke
weedThrough an
Access to Information request, CSA discovered the government is
marking up its legally grown pot by 1,500 percent. The homegrown pot
is purchased through the government’s sole supplier, Prairie Plant
Systems, which grows it in a mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man., for $328
per kilo (or about $9 per ounce) and resold to users at $150 an ounce.
That works out to about $5,000 profit per kilo.
Amsterdam's drug police demand
right to keep on smoking cannabis.
“Police should not be put in pigeonholes
in which they can no longer be themselves,” said Hans van Duijn, the
chairman of the Nederlandse Politie Bond, the police union. “If you
allow people in the country to smoke [cannabis], you would be a
hypocrite to say to the police officers, ‘You are not allowed to do
that’. “It is illegal by law but we allow it for everybody else just
to use it in small amounts for themselves. There must be scope for
using soft drugs.”
30 November
2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30th 2007
Licensed medical cannabis users fight for
the right to adequate access.
Toronto - On December 3rd, 4th, and 5th,
Barrister Ron Marzel and Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Alan Young
will be arguing the case before Federal court in what is being
described as the most significant medical cannabis case in the last
seven years. Thirty license medical cannabis users are suing Health
Canada. Location will be 180 Queen Street West, 2nd floor, Toronto,
Ontario at 9:30am. One of the key arguments is the right to assign a
grower to produce medical cannabis. Currently Health Canada will not
allow a grower to produce cannabis for more than license holder (the
'1 to 1 ratio'). In October 2003 the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled
that the 1:1 ratio was unconstitutional and then, just 3 months later,
the government re-instated the invalidated ratio and distributed a
single strain cannabis from Prairie Plant Systems, Canada's only legal
cannabis producer. This has not worked out very well for many patients
and so they are back in court to seek invalidation of a provision that
has already been invalidated. Not only does it make good business and
agricultural sense to produce for several or many license holders, it
is constitutionally valid as is earning a wage for providing this
service; unique in the developed world. One reason that PPS's cannabis
is not adequate, is due to 'strain symptom correlation'. Over the last
twenty years there has been overwhelming evidence that different
strains of cannabis provide different therapeutic value or symptom
relief because its 'cannabinoid profile'. A strain that would provide
relief from AIDS wasting can be a very different strain from reducing
seizures. Health Canada is o fthe very firm opinion that whatever
benefit cannabis provides (if any) can be derived from a single strain
of cannabis. PPS has been criticized for having low or limited
potency, irradiated, and a single strain to distribute. Canadians with
Authorization To Possess cannabis (ATPs) need options and variety. For
Health Canada to do otherwise is akin to providing a right wuthout a
remedy. Three of the applicants have since passed on in the three
years it has taken to bring this 'medically urgent' case this far: C.
John Clarke, Robert Dodge, and David McGregor. Lawyers have been
required to obtain expert testimony as far away as Victoria, BC and
London, England. There are currently less than 2,000 license holders
in Canada; a surprisingly low number despite the evidence that shows
close to a million Canadians use cannabis for therapeutic purposes in
the last 30 days. As of July 2007, only 1/5th (393) of the 2,000 ATPs
are receiving cannabis from Health Canada, demonstrating that the
government supply is lacking. 'Health Canada is putting these people's
health at risk', says Neev, Director of Carasel Harvest Supply, the
corporation that the thirty applicants asked to grow their medical
cannabis. 'Not only is HC substantially getting in the way these
people access, criminal charges have been laid against the growers
working for Carasel. Canadians deserve better, especially those who
have chronic or terminal illness. Five banker boxes of legal documents
is not good use of tax payer money, nor does it make the lives of
these people any better.' "The record that we are presenting before
the court", says Ron Marzel lawyer for the claimants, "demonstrates a
track record or bad faith on the part of Health Canada and the
Goverment in dealing with terminally ill canadians in desperate need
of quality medical cannabis."
29 October
2007
Medical Marijuana Advocate Kills
Herself Robin Prosser, a
Missoula woman who struggled for a quarter century to live with the
pain of an immunosuppressive disorder, tried years ago to kill
herself. Last week, she tried again. This time, she succeeded.
Currently there is an excellent thread
keeping tabs on this story at the Cannabis Culture forums:
CC Forums . While I suspect higher powers than the judge who
found the cannabis laws unconstitutional will eventually step in and
overturn the decision, at the very least this ruling is drawing
attention to the current poor state of the cannabis laws. More news
will be posted as this story develops!
15 June
2007
(by
Dan420)
A Reminder of The BC3! Marc
Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams will be having their first
extradition hearing on November 5th of this year. The following text
is from the Cannabis Culture website:
Three Canadians face life imprisonment in a US federal prison simply
for political activities in Canada to legalize marijuana around the
world.
Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg
Williams are Canadian citizens who were heavily involved in
anti-prohibition activitism in Canada for ten years. The US will
attempt to extradite these three cannabis activists to the US where
they face 10 years to life in US prison. The extradition hearing
has been scheduled to begin on November 5th, 2007 and last for
four days.
More updates and information can be found
here,
and there is discussion at the end of
this thread in the CC forums.
I've met Marc Emery a couple of times;
he's a great guy and certainly undeserving of extradition to the US!
Marc attended the recent Global Marijuana March here in Toronto and I
was fortunate enough to get a picture with him:
Check back with us for further
updates as they happen. Mark X & I wish Marc, Michelle, and Greg all
the best in their activist legal battles!
18 May
2007
Drug War Finances Global Terrorism.
How terrorists are getting rich off of our own backward policies
We can defeat Al-Qaeda. We can blow up the
Shining Path, kill the FARC, and wipe out the Taliban. We can
eliminate their support that these terrorists enjoy, we can cut off
their finances and watch them die. We can do this without firing a
shot. We can repeal drug prohibition. Repealing drug prohibition is
hard because it requires admitting we’ve made a mistake. That’s a very
tough thing to do. It’s particularly hard when we’ve made a real
stinker. And make no mistake: Prohibition is awful. It is lousy
domestic policy, but it is horrible foreign policy. The drug war is a
blank check made out to every terrorist organization that hates our
guts. Facts aren’t easy to find in the shady world of narcoterrorism,
but the US government report “A Global Overview Of Narcotics-Funded
Terrorist And Other Extremist Groups” is a good place to start. From
this and other reputable sources, I learned that: 1. The Taliban nets
$40-$50 million a year from the illegal drug trade, the FARC between
three and four times that. 2. Last October the US extradited a
Taliban-linked individual planning to import $25 million worth of
heroin into the United States. 3. Hezbollah clerics have issued fatwas
permitting drug trafficking, because it is so lucrative. 4. Colombia’s
paramilitary and guerilla revenue from the drug trade is over half a
billion dollars a year. The list goes on and on. It’s not just money
that gives narcoterrorists power. Thanks to the law of supply and
demand, narcoterrorists enjoy popular support. Drugs are made because
people want them. Many of these people live in America. Opium or coca
production is often the only source of income in poor countries.
America has a problem with drug demand, which we “solve” by trying to
destroy the supply. Along with the livelihood of a poverty-stricken
population. By contrast, narcoterrorist organizations offer security,
a means of support for coca farmers, and a sense of pride by standing
up to what they see as the hypocrisy of America. I couldn’t write a
better recipe for insurgent support if I tried. We need to face our
drug prohibition problem head on, but right now that’s hard to do
thanks to our political discourse. Nobody wants
to talk about repeal, because you’ll be painted as a pro-drug,
anti-family crack addict. But that’s just nonsense. I’ve tried
marijuana a few times in my youth, but never got high. I think I’m
immune, but in any case I never understood what the fuss was about.
I’m also very happily married with two impossibly well-adjusted
teenagers, who attend a school they’ll be expelled from if drugs are
involved in their lives anytime anywhere. End of discussion. But just
because alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and heroin shouldn’t be a part of
a teenager’s life doesn’t mean they should be illegal under all
circumstances. Life is far more complicated than that. I understand
that repealing drug prohibition won’t create a fantasy utopia. The
search for chemically-induced ecstasy appears to be innate (after all,
our brains make opiates naturally). Some people appear to be extremely
susceptible to addiction, and if prohibition is repealed they’ll wind
up on the street with wasted lives. Others (like me) are immune to the
lure of narcotics. Most are somewhere in between. But I’d rather live
with the imperfections of a world where drugs are legal, precisely
because I can live with them. I can imagine ways to hold people
responsible for the consequences of their drug use. I can envision how
society can function with legal cocaine and heroin, produced
domestically and distributed non-violently in ways I can understand.
What I can’t do, and what we as a nation should not do, is sit idly by
pursuing failed policies that are contrary to our own interests. Sure,
I’d rather live in a world without drugs. I’d also rather live in a
world where murdering sociopaths had no money, no support, and were
hunted down like dogs with the enthusiastic cooperation of civilized
people everywhere. Right now, we are poised between those two
alternatives, and we as a nation have to choose. I think the first is
delusional fantasy, the second based in reality. When it comes to
politics, I always pick reality. That’s because I’m not on drugs.
16 May
2007
Medical Marijuana Retrial Begins.
A second trial of Ed Rosenthal who grew
and sold thousands of marijuana plants out of his warehouse for
distribution to medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland has begun A
second trial of Ed Rosenthal who grew and sold thousands of marijuana
plants out of his warehouse for distribution to medical marijuana
dispensaries in Oakland has begun It is being reported that Ed
Rosenthal, the man who is responsible for growing and selling
marijuana
plants in Oakland did it for 5 and a half years in violation of
federal law. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan, 62
year old Rosenthal grew and sold thousands of marijuana plants for
distribution out of a warehouse, providing them to medical marijuana
dispensaries. Medical marijuana is legal to use under California law
but federal law permits the use of the drug for medical purposes.
"This is an attempt by the U.S. government — by the federal government
— to censor Mr. Rosenthal," defense attorney Shari Lynn Greenberger
said. Outside of court, Rosenthal mocked the prosecution for trying
him on charges that he has already served his time for. "Sort of like
Alice in Wonderland," Rosenthal said. "Off with his head, and then the
trial." Back in 2003, Rosenthal was convicted of marijuana grow-op
charges, but his conviction was overturned later due to a juror
committing misconduct when they consulted a lawyer as to how to decide
his case. Rosenthal's trial is expected to last a couple of weeks.
11 May
2007
(BC) Medical pot court challenge begins
A constitutional
challenge to Canada's medical marijuana regulations began yesterday,
part of the B.C. Supreme Court trial of two Victorians charged after a
police raid of a compassion club grow-op. Defence lawyer John Conroy
of Abbotsford said outside the courtroom that the constitutional
challenge contends government regulations force Canadians onto the
black market to buy marijuana. And that interferes with the charter
right to life, liberty and security of person, a position the defence
says is supported by other court rulings. On trial are Michael
Swallow, 41, and Mat Beren, 32, both charged with possession of
marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and with production of
marijuana. The two were arrested in May 2004 when West Shore RCMP
raided a house near Sooke being used by the Vancouver Island
Compassion Society to grow marijuana. The 600-member society is one of
two groups in Victoria -- the other being the Victoria Cannabis
Buyers' Club -- that supply medical marijuana to members. The two
organizations are part of a wide trend where clubs have been set up to
supply marijuana to people who can supply evidence of a longstanding
incurable medical condition such as HIV/AIDS or multiple sclerosis.
The Victoria Cannabis Buyers' Club has also been forced into court,
winning one case in B.C. provincial court but losing another. The
trial of Swallow and Beren began earlier in the week with defence
lawyers seeking an application for a stay, based on the length of time
the case has taken to come to trial. The application was unsuccessful.
Phillippe Lucas, spokesman for the
Vancouver Island Compassion Society, said in an interview the group
has assembled what it considers an impressive list of witnesses for
the constitutional challenge but it was also bound to follow legal
advice and seek the stay on behalf of the two accused men. Testimony
in the challenge began with Lynne Belle-Isle of Ottawa, an
epidemiologist with the Canadian AIDS Society and author of several
reports on the use of medical marijuana. Belle-Isle testified Health
Canada allows three legal ways for people to get marijuana for medical
use: - They can seek government permission to grow it themselves; -
They can seek permission to have a designated person grow it for them;
- They can apply to buy their marijuana from the federal government,
which grows it in an unused mine in Manitoba. However, Belle-Isle
said, studies she has completed show the majority of users of medical
marijuana buy it from illegal sources. She also testified more
physicians are willing to sign notes for patients to attend compassion
clubs than to register in the government programs. Many compassion
clubs have exhibited a degree of professionalism and care. "They have
even taken it upon themselves to come up with operational standards,
strict rules," said Belle-Isle.
10 May
2007
(US) Oregon Toxicologist Says Treatment for PTSD Should Include
Cannabis During World War II,
in North Africa, the “nervous breakdown” ratio (another name for the
same) was 15 to 20% of living casualties. Some other casualties went
berserk and charged a machine gun or ran into a minefield. At the
Battle of the Bulge, they shot themselves in the foot or let their
feet freeze. No toes on a foot was better than a shot in the head. The
Vietnam soldier discovered an effective treatment for PTSD. They
discovered it while in Vietnam. It was high-grade Marijuana and
sometimes opium or a combination of both. It isn’t even known how high
a percentage of frontline “grunts”, as they were called, used the
above, but it was a lot. They also had access to all the beer or booze
they could get their hands on. This was certainly no different than
the “blue 88s” of WWII, and better in the long run. The Vietnam
Administration Clinics have tried every anti-psychotic and
anti-depressant in the book as well as highly potent pain killers like
Oxycontin and M.S. contin (morphine) with minimal success for PTSD.
They did end up with thousands of drug addicts and alcoholics. I had
about 500 Vietnam vet patients. Many had PTSD which was not acceptable
for an Oregon Medical Marijuana permit. Most did have some physical
injury for which I could give them a permit. Will vets please write in
their experiences?
(Czech Republic) Million Marihuana
March 2007 takes over Letna
About fifteen hundred mostly young people took part in the annual
Million Marihuana March in Prague on Saturday afternoon to support the
cause of marihuana legalization in the Czech Republic. After crossing
the Vltava River and arriving at Letna Plain, the crowd grew in
numbers and enjoyed an afternoon of live music, dancing, beer, and,
naturally, some illicit substances. Prague's Letna Plain was enveloped
in a haze of marihuana smoke on Saturday afternoon. The venue, best
known in the past for hosting communist May Day rallies and, more
recently, the largest anti-regime demonstration of November 1989, was
taken over by supporters of marihuana legalization. After the Million
Marihuana March arrived here from Old Town Square, the demonstration
broke into a big party. It has been ten years since the first
legalization gathering and David Cermak, the organizer of the event,
explains what progress he has seen since the first marches in Prague.
(Spain)
Thousands demonstrate for the legalisation of MarihuanaDemonstrations were held
in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday Thousands of people
demonstrated in Madrid on Saturday in demand of the legalisation of
cannabis. A good humoured march went from the Puerta del Sol to the
Plaza de Oriente, but took a long time because of the chant ‘otra
paradita, otro petita’ – ‘another pause, another drag’. Other smaller
protests were also held in Alicante, Bilbao, León, Málaga, Vigo,
Zaragoza, La Laguna and Las Palmas. The events were timed to coincide
with the ‘World March for Marihuana 2007’ in which 232 cities took
part worldwide. Meanwhile a man has been sentenced to a year in prison
and fined 3,800 € for the cultivation of 34 marihuana plants in the
patio of his father’s home. 32 year old Marcelino M.P. from Santiago
Pontones in Jaén province said he had used the plants to calm his
nerves. His father said he had no idea what they were.
(Bulgaria) Bulgaria's Police
Suspend Marihuana Legalization Rally.
Bulgaria's police managed to stop a crowd
of about 400 people, who wanted to stage a rally in support of the
legalization of marihuana on Saturday. The demonstrators gathered in
the centre of Sofia and demanded to be allowed to carry out their
ideas. The police broke up the demonstration planned, as there was no
official permission got by the Capital's Municipality. The leader of
the initiative has voluntarily withdrawn, the authorities reported.
02 May
2007
(US) New Studies Destroy the Last Objection to Medical Marijuana
Anyone who advocates for medical marijuana
sooner or later runs into arguments about smoking: "No real medicine
is smoked." "Smoking is bad for the lungs; why would any doctor
recommend something so harmful?" It's a line of reasoning that medical
marijuana opponents have used to great effect in Congress, state
legislatures, and elsewhere. Indeed, the FDA's controversial 2006
statement opposing medical marijuana was couched in repeated
references to "smoked marijuana." But new
research demonstrates that all those fears of "smoked marijuana" as
medicine are 100 percent obsolete. The smoking argument was the
closest thing to a scientifically meaningful objection to medical
marijuana. While marijuana smoke, unlike tobacco, has never been shown
to cause lung cancer, heavy marijuana smoking has been associated with
assorted respiratory symptoms and a potentially increased risk of
bronchitis. That's because burning any plant material produces a whole
lot of substances such as tars, and carbon monoxide that are not good
for the lungs.
(Toronto) The personal dope on
medical marijuana.
The pot smokers came to a downtown hotel
on a recent afternoon to hear the speeches, to meet others and to
talk. Who, me? I attended the Cannabis Awareness Forum, not because I
am unaware, nor because I inhale, but because I tend to favour
legalization. I sat up front, next to Erin Maloughney. By way of
making conversation, I asked if she was a medical user of marijuana.
Erin smiled amiably, dug into her wallet, showed me her licence and
said, "I can grow 25 plants. I can transport 1,125 grams, and I can
possess 150 grams. I have to renew my licence annually. Which is
funny, because the pain never goes away." The pain? "I broke my
back twice. The first time, I was 13 years old. I was asleep in the
car with my lap belt in place. My friend's father didn't turn on the
highway where it bends. The car jumped a creek bed and it crumpled. A
doctor found us and pulled us out. We were taken to Sick Kids
Hospital. My friend didn't walk again. I did. "The second time I broke
my back, I was riding my bike to work. I was hit by a car. The car
didn't have its turn signal on." Erin had been a career receptionist.
She can no longer work. She smiled enigmatically and said, "In my last
job, I was on the joint health and safety committee."
A proposed bill in the
state Legislature is pushing to legalize marijuana for legitimate
medical illnesses. The drug would act as a pain reliever. One Texas
organization supports the idea. "[Monday] evening, we are holding a
shadow hearing for House Bill 1534," said Noelle Davis with Texans
for Medical Marijuana, "because we have not been able to get a
regular public hearing scheduled. So we are having our own to create
a space for patients, family members and the public to really learn
more about this issue and why it's important to Texans." A public
hearing is scheduled for Monday at 6:45 p.m. inside the Texas
Capitol.
(NY)
Granny
Pot Bust A New
York City great-grandmother was in court Monday after being arrested
on for possessing marijuana. But today, there is relief for the
71-year-old after her appearance in Bronx Criminal Court. Barbara
Jackson was charged with buying two dime bags of marijuana a month and
a half ago. Jackson says she's needed it ever since receiving
chemotherapy and radiation for colorectal cancer. Barbara Jackson says
"when I left the hospital I weighed 97 pounds and they had given me
medication to build my appetite up ... but the medication put me in
bed for 3 days ... and I remembered when I was younger that I had an
appetite after smoking ... so I went to see the sidewalk chemist."
Jackson says it worked. Without the marijuana she has had nausea, no
appetite and is simply unable to eat so since beating the cancer in
1998 she's solved the problem with a smoke. But last month, Jackson
took a walk down walton and 179th street near her home in the Bronx in
search of the drug when she was arrested for possession, brought to
the 46th Precinct station house and she says held in handcuffs for 4
hours before being issued a desk appearance ticket. Her greatest fear
was being sent to jail in her condition. Barbara Jackson says "I could
pass out in jail. They're not going to give me any in there! ha!"
Defense Attorney Ron Cuby says "medical marijuana for her has
literally been a life saver ... her activity has literally been a
matter of life and death and I'm glad that we can move on."
(UK) Cannabis 'May Help Treat Schizophrenia'
Cannabis could hold the key to a
revolutionary new treatment for schizophrenia, surprising new research
suggests. The class C drug contains a chemical that could be used to
treat the mental illness with fewer side effects than current
medicines, scientists say. Though one chemical in cannabis can cause
psychotic symptoms, another actually stifles those effects and could
be used as a medicine. Experts say concentrations of the harmful
compound tetra-hydracannabinol (THC) are increasing in weed currently
on the drugs market while levels of balancing cannabidiol (CBD) are
dropping, causing the recent surge in cannabis smokers suffering
psychosis and schizophrenia. In a study to be presented at the
Institute of Psychiatry's international conference on cannabis and
mental health, Dr Marcus Leweke investigated the effects of CBD on 42
schizophrenia patients. Some were treated with conventional drugs and
others given CBD and though both groups' psychotic symptoms improved,
those given the cannabis component experienced fewer side effects.
Side effects of standard anti-psychotic drug amisulpride include
weight gain, sexual dysfunction and liver problems. Dr Luweke said:
"There is a good possibility that there are good guys and bad guys in
cannabis.
27 March
2007
Krieger off to jail — pending pot
problem solution. Marijuana
crusader and medicinal pot user Grant Krieger must serve time behind
bars for trafficking in the drug, a judge ruled today. But provincial
court Judge William Pepler delayed the start of Krieger’s four-month
sentence so provincial corrections officials can make arrangements for
him to have his dope in jail. Pepler agreed with Crown prosecutor
Scott Couper a term of incarceration was warranted, even though
Krieger peddled marijuana for altruistic reasons. Krieger, 52, who
suffers from multiple sclerosis, was convicted last September, of two
charges of trafficking cannabis. Pepler rejected defence lawyer John
Hooker’s argument the charges against his client were
unconstitutional. In each case Krieger sent quantities of the drug by
courier to a Manitoban who required pot for medicinal purposes. The
Calgary area resident sent 306.5 grams on Dec. 23, 2003, and another
495 grams on Jan. 8, 2004, as part of his work with the Compassion
Club and the Krieger foundation. The street value of the drugs if sold
at the gram level was about $8,000. Hooker had sought a fine, arguing
Krieger’s crimes weren’t for commercial gain.
But Pepler agreed with Couper’s assertion jail was warranted, even
though he had concerns about Krieger’s ability to access marijuana
while behind bars. Couper told the judge the provincial
government has not yet made provisions to allow prisoners with
constitutional exemptions to the pot law access to the drug. Krieger
was granted an exemption to grow his own pot after Alberta courts
ruled there was no other way he could get the drug he was permitted to
use for medicinal purposes. “The provincial corrections people
essentially won’t allow him to have marijuana inside the institution,”
Couper said outside court, in explaining the delay in sending Krieger
to custody. “He delayed the sentence to allow the provincial
corrections people to sort it out.” The matter will be brought back to
court June 18, to determine of the problem has been resolved by then.
Krieger can commence his jail term in the meantime if corrections
officials find a way to allow him access to pot, which relives
symptoms of his MS.
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Alcohol, tobacco worse than pot,
ecstasy: study
New landmark research concludes that
alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than some illegal drugs like
marijuana or ecstasy and should be classified as such in legal
systems, according to a new British study. In research published
Friday in The Lancet, Professor David Nutt of Britain's Bristol
University and colleagues proposed a new framework for the
classification of harmful substances, based on the actual risks posed
to society. Their ranking listed alcohol and tobacco among the top 10
most dangerous substances.
09 March
2007
Funny Song from England about the
"law abiding" drinkers and the "criminal" potheads. Funny if you can
understand British slang
'Cannabis Gran' Patricia Tabram
on This Morning (08-03-07)
06 March
2007
Medical marijuana user opens 'inhalation room'.
A Regina man has opened an inhalation room
in his hemp store for people who can legally use medical marijuana,
but questions are swirling about its legality. Dean Foster said he
made numerous calls to the authorities, but still doesn't know whether
authorities will consider it legal. "We've contacted the RCMP, we've
contacted the city police, the integrated drug squad, the City of
Regina, the Province of Saskatchewan and all the way to Ottawa," he
said. "Not one person anywhere has said it's illegal and not one
person anywhere will tell me it's legal." Foster has fibromyalgia, a
condition characterized by chronic pain. He's one of about 40 people
in Saskatchewan licensed to use marijuana to ease his suffering and
has formed a group called the Medical Marijuana Compassionate Club. As
of Monday, anyone with a stash of legal pot has been able to take it
to Foster's Field of Dreams hemp store east of the downtown. The
service is free.
It is legal to grow marihuana,
Czech Supreme Court rules
-- press Prague- Anybody can grow
cannabis from which marihuana is produced, according to a Czech
Supreme Court's ruling, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes
today. A crime is committed only when a person dries the plants and
produces the drug from them, the paper says. Czech police and courts
should act according to the above verdict. "Cannabis growing cannot be
considered production of a drug," Supreme Court judge Eduard Teschler
said about the verdict. The verdict was issued last year, but media
attention focused on it only now after the weekly Reflex pointed to
it.
Med. marijuana advocates seek
protection. Medical
marijuana advocates asked lawmakers to enact a bill that would
prohibit employers from firing them because of their choice of
medication. "The bottom line is I need a job and I don't make enough
through social security and food stamps," said Judy Adamson, a
61-year-old widow, breast cancer survivor and registered medical
marijuana user. Last year Adamson was suspended from her job as a
driving instructor when she tested positive for cannabis after her
former employer ordered her to take a drug test.
US Newswire - The patients advocacy
group Americans for Safe Access (ASA)
filed a lawsuit today in the United States District Court for the
Northern District of California demanding that the federal government
cease issuing misinformation on medical cannabis and correct the
information it has released. "The FDA position on medical cannabis is
incorrect, dishonest and a flagrant violation of laws requiring the
government to base policy on sound science," said Joe Elford, Chief
Counsel for Americans for Safe Access. The suit charges a violation of
the little-known Data Quality Act (DQA). The DQA requires federal
agencies such as Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to rely on sound science. It also allows citizens
to challenge government information believed to be inaccurate or based
on faulty, unreliable data. The ASA case specifically challenges the
government position that "marijuana has no accepted medical value."
"The science to support medical cannabis is overwhelming, yet the
government continues to play politics with the lives of patients
desperately in need of pain relief," said ASA Executive Director Steph
Sherer. "Americans for Safe Access is filing this lawsuit on medical
cannabis to demand that the FDA stop holding science hostage to
politics." Today's filing is the outcome of a more than two-year
petition process and comes on the heels of a recent University of
California, San Francisco study demonstrating the effectiveness of
medical cannabis in treating pain in people living with HIV/AIDS. ASA
first filed a petition to force HHS -- the FDA's parent agency -- to
correct statements about the medical value of cannabis in October
2004. Under the DQA, agencies must respond or file for an extension 60
days from the date of the first petition filing. The government
response was a statement saying that it would not act on the petition,
a position it has maintained despite ASA's May 2005 appeal. Using the
DQA's judicial review provisions, the Oakland-based organization is
now taking its cause to the courts.
USA - Medical pot cuts pain, study finds First rigorous research
looked at HIV patients.
Doctors at San Francisco General Hospital reported Monday that
HIV-infected patients suffering from a painful nerve condition in
their hands or feet obtained substantial relief by smoking small
amounts of marijuana in a carefully constructed study funded by the
state of California. Although the study was small, it is the first of
its kind to measure the therapeutic effects of marijuana smoking while
meeting the most rigorous requirements for scientific proof --
a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial.As
such, the results of the trial are being hailed by medical marijuana
advocates as the most solid proof to date that smoking the herb can be
beneficial to patients who might otherwise require opiates or other
powerful painkillers to cope with a condition known as peripheral
neuropathy. The federal government has taken a hard line against
marijuana use for medical purposes, maintaining that smoking it is
harmful and that there is no scientific evidence to support its
legitimacy for treatment in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court
in 2005 ruled that medical marijuana patients can be prosecuted by the
government, even in states like California where medical use has been
legalized.
New Zealand - Time to complete cannabis debate.
Many drugs used for medicinal purposes have illegal recreational side
effects. Usually this does not lead to any great controversy as these
drugs are controlled, dispensed by doctors and pharmacists and not
usually widely available, writes The Marlborough Express in an
editorial. What to do then when there are apparently demonstrable
medical benefits from a recreational drug which is widely available
and is known to have particularly detrimental effects when used by
young people. Medicinal cannabis has been in use for almost 5000
years. Early records show the drug's psychoactive properties were
recognised, and doctors used it for a variety of illnesses and
ailments. These included a whole host of gastrointestinal disorders,
insomnia, headaches and as a pain reliever, frequently used in
childbirth. Due to its non-medicinal characteristics and recreational
use, cannabis is illegal in many countries, New Zealand included.
Israel - Bat Yam hospital
seeks to import medical-grade marijuana from Holland
Seventeen cancerpatients suffering from severe
pain and a few other diseases currently receive a special Health
Ministry license to purchase marijuana for medical purposes. Since the
medical cannabis program began eight years ago, 140 people have
applied, and some 70 received permission to grow or purchase it, but
most of those have already died. A ministry conference was held
yesterday at the Abarbanel Mental Health Center in Bat Yam to update
and increase doctors' awareness of the medical uses of marijuana. Dr.
Yehuda Baruch, director-general of Abarbanel, said that oncologists
and other specialists have to apply for the license on their patients'
behalf.
From Russell Barth Medical
marijuana license holder /
Medical marijuana license holder / author / activist / artist /
Russell Barth comments on Canada's Drug Strategy. Are the Tories
criminals? Or just blind ideologues?
03 January
2007
Medicine? Chocolate containing
cannabis With her husband
Mark, 42, and co-defendant Marcus Davies, 38, she had helped create an
operation that supplied cannabis-laced chocolate to 1600 people. ...
Story about
cannabis saving lives long time ago. by T420
Webmaster: I had a very interesting conversation with a
reputable media type who would rather not be identified (for now). He
told me a story about cannabis during German occupation of Poland in
World War II (1939--45) His uncle , of whom I have a picture of
and I will post it as soon I scan it, was imprisoned at the
Ostzyn Wlkp. (Poland) Concentration Camp run by the German army. He
was a prisoner because of his intellectual status, he was a university
professor. At the time, if you were Jew, gay, military or so called
intelligencia, you were shipped of to one of many Death Camps set up
by the Germans... The conditions were deplorable at best and deadly at
worst. .............(continued here)
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.
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.
marijuana
plants in Oakland did it for 5 and a half years in violation of
federal law. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan, 62
year old Rosenthal grew and sold thousands of marijuana plants for
distribution out of a warehouse, providing them to medical marijuana
dispensaries. Medical marijuana is legal to use under California law
but federal law permits the use of the drug for medical purposes.
"This is an attempt by the U.S. government — by the federal government
— to censor Mr. Rosenthal," defense attorney Shari Lynn Greenberger
said. Outside of court, Rosenthal mocked the prosecution for trying
him on charges that he has already served his time for. "Sort of like
Alice in Wonderland," Rosenthal said. "Off with his head, and then the
trial." Back in 2003, Rosenthal was convicted of marijuana grow-op
charges, but his conviction was overturned later due to a juror
committing misconduct when they consulted a lawyer as to how to decide
his case. Rosenthal's trial is expected to last a couple of weeks.
ive,
degenerative, neurological condition for which there is currently no
cure. 
