DrugSense recognizes Russell Barth of Nepean, Ontario for his six
letters published during November, bringing his total that we know of to 776.
You may read his published letters at:
http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Russell+Barth
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THIS IS NOT THE GOOD FIGHT
Re: “Perry backs drug war troops – Military should be an option if
Mexico approves, he says, because stronger tactics needed,” Friday
news story. Gov. Rick Perry wants to send American kids to Mexico to
risk being seriously injured or killed fighting drug gangs.The reason for this fight is largely to keep these same kids from
smoking a plant that has never killed anyone in 5,000 years of
recorded use. In contrast, Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001
and put the money saved on law enforcement into education and medical
treatment.Crime, drug use by teenagers, HIV, overdoses and heroin use all declined.
The percentage of Portuguese who have ever used marijuana dropped to
the lowest in the European Union, 10 percent.The American rate is about 40 percent. What is Perry drinking?
Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas
Pubdate: Wed, 24 Nov 2010
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a061.html
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WRONG ANTIDOTE
Apparently history has no lessons (Nov. 15). The legendary explosion
of violence in the 1920s was caused not by the decriminalization of
alcohol but by the criminalization of alcohol. It was not cured by
redoubling enforcement but by re-establishing a legal and regulated industry.Had the nation continued Prohibition, the Herald today would be
reporting stories of murders caused by alcohol deals gone bad and
disputes among bootleggers while piously cautioning its readers that
drinking a beer is “not a victimless crime.”Andy Gaus, Boston
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Nov 2010
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Reference: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n937/a06.html
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NO LEGAL AUTHORITY
By way of introduction, I had a 24-year career in federal law
enforcement and then worked for the state judiciary and the
enforcement branch of the Department of Land and Natural Resources
for 13 years. I am a strong supporter of law enforcement. Even so,
I was appalled by the piece in West Hawaii Today Oct. 31. It
appears a major travesty of justice is playing out here.To see two medical marijuana patients improperly denied boarding on
an aircraft and then detained by the Transportation Security
Authority representatives for arrest by the local police is ludicrous
if I can accept WHT’s assurance that they were in full compliance
with state law. According to the article, a TSA spokesman stated
their only mission is to keep explosives off planes ( something they
have not done in nine years to the best of my knowledge ). That
amounts to tacit admission that TSA exceeded their statutory
authority in this case.The local police then “stole” their legally owned property and
conducted what appears to be an illegal arrest. Worse the prosecutor
for whatever reason decided to levy criminal charges against the two
individuals that seem to have been in full compliance with the law,
and if so, they are victims and NOT criminals. Lastly, the judge in
the case failed to see the baselessness of this case and is pursuing it!We all have to comply with various laws such as wear your seat belt,
comply with speed limits, don’t drive and use a cell phone, etc. If
we don’t like the laws, we must work within the system to change them
and follow them in the meantime. Law enforcement has the same
obligation and should be held to an even higher standard in this regard.Yet in this case it appears we have the feds, the state and local
authorities who don’t agree with our medical marijuana laws, choose
to violate them and harass law-abiding citizens and try to prosecute them.My advice to the two victims that now find themselves defendants is
to sue their butts off. Enforcement and the courts are not above the law.For the record, the only marijuana I ever touched was samples of
evidence in a seizure case for illicit trafficking cases. Some
sanity needs to get interjected here, and if a cardiac patient is
driving down the road with prescription drugs in his or her car and
is stopped by police, would their medication be seized, that person
get arrested and face criminal charges? I think not.I’d love to have someone in law enforcement advise us why in hell
people holding legal prescriptions are treated differently based upon
the particular drug.We’ll get silence as none of the entities in this case have ANY legal
authority for their actions, nor a leg to stand on.Keith King
Kailua-Kona
Pubdate: Mon, 8 Nov 2010
Source: West Hawaii Today (HI)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a055.html
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ARIZONA BECOMES 15TH STATE TO APPROVE MEDICAL MARIJUANA
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DrugSense FOCUS Alert #462 – Monday, November 15th, 2010
Today the article below was printed.
We call it to your attention not because of the source newspaper but
because few newspapers put their Associated Press articles on line.Please watch your local newspapers for versions of this story as they
represent a letter writing opportunity.Verified facts that may be of value in your letter writing are found
at http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54MAP posted articles specific to Proposition 203 are found at
http://www.mapinc.org/find?273Articles about medicinal cannabis are found at http://www.mapinc.org/find?253
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SAFE DRUG
Buddy Sims, in his letter “It ain’t medicine” (Nov. 1), wrote, “The
American Medical Association recommends that marijuana remain a
Schedule I controlled illegal federal substance.”The AMA recently passed a resolution urging the rescheduling of
cannabis as a Schedule II drug in the Controlled Substances Act.Further, Kevin Sabet, as part of the ONDCP, is mandated by law to lie.
Cannabis has been in the human pharmacopoeia for thousands of years
with no known case — ever — of a human overdose.When cannabis was discovered to have cancer-fighting potential in
1974, the study was buried.The U.S. government owns U.S. Patent 6630507, Cannabinoids as
antioxidants and neuroprotectants.The U.S. government also distributes half a pound of pre-rolled
medical cannabis cigarettes to the four remaining patients enrolled
in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program.If science and truth were the standard, cannabis never would have
been made illegal in the first place.Allan Erickson
Eugene, Ore.
Pubdate: Sun, 7 Nov 2010
Source: Vail Daily (CO)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n894/a01.html
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DrugSense recognizes Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, from
Vallejo, California, for his two published letters during October,
bringing his total that we know of to 43.You may review his published letters at
http://www.mapinc.org/author/Paul+Armentano -
SELF-MEDICATION SHOULD BE A RIGHT
I am extremely disappointed that the East Valley Tribune would oppose
Prop. 203, the medical marijuana initiative. I thought the Tribune
was pro freedom. Apparently I was wrong.Prop. 203 is substantially different from the medical marijuana laws
in California, Colorado and Montana. If people are opposed to the
use of marijuana for medical reasons, they should not use it. But
don’t dictate to me what I may put into my own body in the privacy of
my own home.It seems to me that the right to self-medicate should be a
fundamental right. Apparently the East Valley Tribune disagrees.Kirk Muse
Mesa
Pubdate: Wed, 27 Oct 2010
Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n867/a05.html
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Pubdate: Sat, 30 Oct 2010
Source: Burnaby Now, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Alan Randell
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n861/a07.html
Author: Alan Randell
Award: With this published letter Alan Randell receives the MAP
Published Letters Gold Award for 500 published letters
http://mapinc.org/lte_awards/lte_gold.htmDRUG PROHIBITION PART OF PROBLEM
Dear Editor:
Re: No easy answers to gang violence, Burnaby NOW, Oct. 20.
Why do we continue to ban certain drugs when it is crystal clear to
all but the most stubborn drug war warriors that not only prohibition
doesn’t work but it causes even more harm – including, of course,
gang violence – than if the users were left alone.Here are some of the reasons:
. Politicians feel they need scapegoats:
Human beings are suspicious of strangers or those who are different.
Thousands of years ago, such feelings may have been a necessary
factor in survival, but in the modern world, vestiges of this feeling
still remain and we are all susceptible to urgings from our leaders
that this or that minority is a deadly threat to society.The “good” citizens of Salem hanged innocent “witches.” Hitler
consolidated his power by urging the majority to hate the Jews. Our
present political leadership is merely goose-stepping in Hitler’s
path by distracting the majority away from more serious problems by
demonizing a vulnerable minority, those who use and/or sell certain
drugs. Another advantage for the politicians in banning drugs of
course is that such a strategy calls for bigger and more powerful governments.. The media needs scapegoats too:
Aside from a few token articles, the media supports any program that
results in people being punished by the law because that is what
(they think) sells newspapers and increases TV ratings.And like the politicians, editors and publishers just love a law that
enables them to work themselves into a rage about how society is
going to hell in a hand basket because of a few rotten eggs that
should be thrown into jail forthwith and the key thrown away.Prohibition is perfect for this practice because “it is for the children.”
. Drug users are a minority:
The prohibition of alcohol both in Canada and in the U.S., like all
prohibitions, failed to achieve the hoped for results, but, because
drinkers were the majority, politicians listened and acted to abolish it.Because the number of marijuana users is increasing, that drug may
well be legalized before long, but the users and sellers of other
illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine will have to wait a little
while longer until their drug is legalized.Once marijuana is legalized and it no longer possesses the lure of
the forbidden fruit, you can be sure the popularity of another
illegal drug will skyrocket until that drug becomes favoured by the
majority and is legalized and the whole cycle begins again.. The police favour prohibition:
This is a no brainer, of course. Drug prohibition is the greatest
police employment booster ever.Alan Randell, Victoria