• Cannabis & Hemp - Focus Alerts

    #461 Debunking False Fears About Proposition 19

    DEBUNKING FALSE FEARS ABOUT PROP. 19

    **********************************************************************

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #461 – Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

    If you have been following the news at http://mapinc.org/find?272
    about Proposition 19 it should be clear that the campaign rhetoric is
    heating up.

    Below is an editorial that debunks myths being spread about the initiative.

    Ways You May Support Prop. 19 Now –
    http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0460.html provides suggestions for how
    you may help during the remaining weeks until the election.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Drug Policy

    Re: Hard Drugs Are The Source Of B.C.’S Notoriety

    To the editor,

    Congratulations to Ethan Baron for recognizing that cannabis should be legally regulated, however, he needs to do his homework on illicit drugs and drug policy. ("Hard drugs are the source of B.C.’s notoriety," Oct 15.)

    The “hard drugs” Baron mentions; heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine, are also orders of magnitude less harmful than tobacco and alcohol when used as directed in a legally regulated environment.

    Meth is available by prescription, ecstasy (MDMA) is being clinically reconsidered for psychotherapy, pharmaceutical heroin, used as directed, in no worse than any other opiate, and coca tea is healthier
    than coffee and other caffeinated energy drinks.

    Most of the crime and violence we associate with hard drugs is made worse by, if not caused by, criminal prohibition. The three evidence-based pillars of our drug control regime; prevention, treatment and harm reduction, are fettered and grossly outspent by the fourth, drug law enforcement.

    The vast majority of drug users are not low-income, nor disadvantaged, nor under-educated, and consume drugs moderately and non-problematically. Most who become addicted are self-medicating
    preexisting psychological problems that cops, courts and criminalization exacerbate.

    The more harmful the substance, the less it makes sense to abdicate control of it to unaccountable criminals who sell drugs of unknown potency, purity and provenance, on commission, to anyone, of any age, any time, anywhere, no questions asked. We have more control over cat food than we do the so-called “controlled drugs and substances.”

    Matthew M. Elrod

  • Cannabis & Hemp

    US OH: Up in Smoke

    Newshawk: Medical Marijuana www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54
    Pubdate: Wed, 1 Sep 2010
    Source: Columbus Monthly (OH)
    Pages: 81 and 82
    Author: Jo Ingles

    UP IN SMOKE

    The Truth Is Medical Marijuana Is a Dead Issue in Ohio. But a Band of
    Dedicated Supporters – Including Two Legislators – Refuse to Give Up
    on the Idea.

    Brandy Zink, who grew up in Westerville, says she was 12 years old
    when she took a drag off her first joint at, of all places, a church
    camp. She liked it. So she’s kept smoking the stuff, pretty steadily,
    since she was 14. But it wasn’t all about getting high (although she
    acknowledges that was part of the appeal when she was young). It’s
    also because it helps combat the effects of her epilepsy, which she’s
    struggled with since birth. Over the years, she’s found that it has
    eased muscle pain, reduced stuttering and prevented seizures. “I
    notice that when I have access to cannabis, I don’t have seizures,
    but when I don’t, I do,” she says. It’s been so effective, she’s
    ditched her other medicine.

    She used to obtain marijuana through the black market and people she
    calls compassionate caregivers. Zink knew, however, that using pot in
    Ohio made her a criminal. “Can you imagine living with a debilitating
    medical condition and then on top of it, being worried about being
    arrested?” she says.

    After years of choosing between being in pain or fearing that she’d
    get caught using marijuana to alleviate the discomfort, Zink, 33,
    decided to leave her Ohio home. She now lives and works in Michigan,
    where she possesses a card that allows her to smoke dope legally.

    [continues] http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a052.html

  • Announcements - Cannabis & Hemp

    Fact-Based Resource for Media Covering Proposition 19

    CSDP

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    October 7, 2010

    For Further Information:
    Mike Gray, Co-Chair, Common Sense for Drug Policy
    323-650-7212, [email protected]

    Fact-Based Resource for Media Covering Proposition 19,
    California’s Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010

    Fact Sheet: http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/files/Marijuana-Facts-from-Drug-War-Facts.pdf

    Los Angeles, CA: Common Sense for Drug Policy has produced a special edition of Drug War Facts for the media covering Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 initiative in California. It is called “Marijuana Facts on Drug War Facts” and can be found online in the Drug War Facts Marijuana chapter at http://www.DrugWarFacts.org/cms/Marijuana.

    “The debate on whether to tax and regulate marijuana should be a fact-based one so that California can develop the most effective policy,” said Mike Gray, co-chairman of Common Sense for Drug Policy. “It is too easy when it comes to marijuana for people to lose sight of what is true and what is false, what is myth and what is reality. We are providing this resource to the media to make sure the debate remains elevated to fact-based information.”

    The special edition, edited by Mary Jane Borden, includes sections on: usage rates, the effect of decriminalization on marijuana use, arrest rates, the deterrent effect of criminalization, the cost of enforcement, and potential tax revenues from legalization, among other issues. A few samples include:

    • Do criminal penalties deter marijuana use? Despite a federal ban and criminal penalties that vary among the 50 states, 104 million Americans are estimated to have tried marijuana at least once according to 2009 data, up by +10% from 95 million in 2002. SAMSHA, 2010.
      http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k9NSDUH/tabs/Sect1peTabs1to10.pdf
    • Does marijuana increase healthcare costs? “[D]irect alcohol-related health care costs ($3,306.2 million in Canada) are over 45 times higher than the direct health care costs of cannabis ($73 million).” Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 2007.
      http://www.ccsa.ca/2007%20CCSA%20Documents/ccsa-011350-2007.pdf
    • Does marijuana cause cancer? “[W]e found no positive associations between marijuana use and lung or UAT cancers … Despite several lines of evidence suggesting the biological plausibility of marijuana use being carcinogenic, it is possible that marijuana use does not increase cancer risk …” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2006.
      http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/15/10/1829.full.pdf

    Drug War Facts provides facts, citations, and links to their sources without any rhetoric or argument so that media covering Proposition 19 can do so based on the facts, not on mistaken claims. Produced by Common Sense since 1995, no cited fact has been found to be inaccurate.

    Drug War Facts is consistently updated throughout the year and periodically published. It is available at http://www.DrugWarFacts.org.

    –END–

    Common Sense for Drug Policy is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to reforming drug policy and expanding harm reduction. CSDP disseminates factual information and comments on existing laws, policies and practices. CSDP provides advice and assistance to individuals and organizations and facilitates coalition building.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Prop 19 Analysis: Will Marijuana Legalization Increase Use?

    By Maia Szalavitz

    As California moves toward the legalization of marijuana — next month, voters will decide on Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 — a key question remains: could the new law produce a whole generation of stoners? Opponents of legalization say, yes, fearing it will lead to a massive increase in pot smoking among youth. But some supporters suggest the opposite: legalizing cannabis could de-glamorize it and ultimately prompt reductions in toking. Who’s right?

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    U.S. Government Data Demonstrates Failure of Cannabis Prohibition

    The International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP) today released a new research report that demonstrates the clear failure of U.S. marijuana prohibition and supports calls for evidence-based models to legalize and regulate the use of cannabis. The British Medical Journal, one of the world’s most influential medical journals, published a supportive commentary to coincide with the report’s release today.

    The new report, entitled Tools for debate: U.S. federal government data on cannabis prohibition, uses 20 years of data collected by surveillance systems funded by the U.S. government to highlight the failure of cannabis prohibition in America. The report has deep relevance for California as the state prepares to vote on the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis proposition and, potentially, legalize cannabis.

    Listen to lead author Dr. Evan Wood discussing the report with host Bill Good on CKNW Radio Vancouver.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Pot Prohibitionist Prevarications

    Five whoppers told by opponents of California’s marijuana legalization initiative

    By Jacob Sullum

    With a month to go before California voters decide whether to legalize marijuana, Proposition 19’s opponents have pinned their hopes on desperate arguments that illustrate the intellectual bankruptcy of the prohibitionist position. Unable to offer a persuasive moral justification for continuing to treat marijuana users and suppliers like criminals, the No on 19 crowd has tried to distract voters’ attention with several bright red herrings. Here are five of the smelliest.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Has the US Reached A Tipping Point On Pot?

    California’s Proposition 19, if approved by voters, will legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana legal for the first time in the United States. Many other states have relaxed their marijuana laws. Is this the tipping point when marijuana follows alcohol and gambling from criminal offense to harmless pastime — and source of new tax revenue?