• Focus Alerts

    #433 Black Tar Heroin

    Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010
    Subject: #433 Black Tar Heroin

    BLACK TAR HEROIN

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #433 – Tuesday, 16 February 2010

    For newspapers to print a series of articles about heroin is rare. The
    Los Angeles Times printed, starting on the newspaper’s front page each
    day, an in depth series Sunday through today. The sidebar, below,
    appeared at the end of each article. Here are the links to each article:

    Sunday: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n111/a09.html

    Monday: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n114/a01.html

    Tuesday: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n117/a03.html

    Your letters to the editor may be sent by using the webform at
    http://mapinc.org/url/bc7El3Yo – which recommends letters of about 150
    words or less – or by email to [email protected]

    Sustaining all the activities of DrugSense in support of the reform
    community is difficult in these hard economic times. Please consider
    giving what you can. Details are at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm

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

    ABOUT THIS SERIES

    Times staff writer Sam Quinones is the author of two books about
    Mexico, where he lived for 10 years. For this series, he traveled to
    Colorado, Idaho, Ohio, West Virginia and Xalisco, Mexico, to track the
    spread of black-tar heroin. He interviewed police narcotics officers,
    federal drug agents, prosecutors, public health officials, addiction
    experts and imprisoned former dealers and addicts across the U.S.

    Sunday: Pushing heroin into the heartland.

    Monday: Black tar packs a deadly punch.

    Tuesday: Drug money transforms a backwater.

    latimes.com/blacktar

    An audio slide show and other resources are available
    online.

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

    Suggestions for Writing LTEs Are at Our Media Activism
    Center

    http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

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

    Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org

    =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #432 Colorado In The News

    Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010
    Subject: #432 Colorado In The News

    COLORADO IN THE NEWS

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #432 – Friday, 12 February 2010

    While not yet rivaling the medical cannabis dispensary news from
    California there has been a substantial increase in medical marijuana
    news from Colorado.

    On December 28, 2000 the Constitution of Colorado was amended to
    include medical marijuana. That makes Colorado different than other
    states where laws were passed by initiative or the state legislature.
    Read Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution at http://mapinc.org/url/NU0HpB5k

    Please note that for magazines, with very rare exceptions, the cover
    date or Pubdate is the date that the magazine is removed from sale.

    Now and in the future news clippings specific to Colorado appear at
    http://www.mapinc.org/states/co/ , dispensary items at
    http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries and United Stated medicinal
    cannabis items at http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 . Many of the news
    clippings may be worthy targets for your letters to the editor.

    Sustaining all the activities of DrugSense in support of the reform
    community is difficult in these hard economic times. Please consider
    giving what you can. Details are at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm

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

    Pubdate: Mon, 22 Feb 2010

    Source: Newsweek (US)

    Copyright: 2010 Newsweek, Inc.

    Contact: [email protected]

    Author: Tony Dokoupil, NEWSWEEK

    COLORADO’S DOPE DILEMMA

    With more medical-marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks outlets,
    Denver has emerged as the per capita frontrunner for curative ganja.
    As more residents partake of doctor-prescribed pot, however, questions
    are emerging about where the line is between an employee’s right to
    use medical marijuana and an employer’s right to a drug-free office.

    Employers, of course, don’t need to accommodate a worker who shows up
    stoned. But can someone who legally tokes on his own time, and whose
    performance isn’t hurt, be fired for failing a drug test? “We’re in
    uncharted territory,” says Vance Knapp, a Denver employment lawyer who
    expects the issue to be tested in the courts soon.

    So far, judges in California, Washington, Montana, and Oregon have
    sided with employers. But because Colorado’s medical-marijuana laws
    are in its constitution, not just statutes, legal experts give the
    edge in any test case to employees. That could mean a breakthrough
    victory for users, swinging momentum their way and giving pro-patient
    lawyers in other states much-needed–if nonbinding–precedent.

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

    Suggestions for Writing LTEs Are at Our Media Activism
    Center

    http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

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

    Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org

    =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #431 Maryland Considers Medical Cannabis Dispensaries

    Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010
    Subject: #431 Maryland Considers Medical Cannabis Dispensaries

    MARYLAND CONSIDERS MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARIES

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #431 – Monday, 1 February 2010

    In Maryland, emergency medicine physician and state Delegate Dan
    Morhaim, (D., 11th District), is introducing a bill to allow the
    licensing of marijuana dispensaries. The proposed law will also
    authorize Maryland’s Departments of Agriculture and Health to monitor
    medical cannabis in the state. In the Maryland Senate, David Brinkley
    of Frederick (a Republican) has signed on as the legislation’s co-sponsor.

    The poignant letter below, in support of the medical marijuana bill,
    is a reminder marijuana news and letters are getting increasing
    traction in the media. But in a February 1 Baltimore Sun blog (and
    elsewhere) http://mapinc.org/url/JiaOnnrg the Sun’s Kelly Brewington
    frets over a potential “backlash against medical marijuana.”

    Writing letters to the editor to newspapers in Maryland and nearby
    areas (Virginia, the District of Columbia, etc.) about this proposed
    bill helps people remember the possibilities that access to medical
    marijuana opens up, and how it might affect those they care for.
    Contacts for many newspapers may be found at http://mapinc.org/media.htm

    Maryland state representatives may be found at http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/
    and contacted directly.

    Updated facts on medical marijuana you may wish to use are at
    http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54

    Articles and opinion items about medicinal cannabis are posted daily
    in MAP’s unique archive of drug policy news http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm
    . With MAP’s newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org/pot you can follow news
    about medical cannabis right as it breaks.

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

    Pubdate: Mon, 01 Feb 2010

    Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)

    Copyright: 2010 The Baltimore Sun Company

    Contact: [email protected]

    Website: http://www.baltimoresun.com/

    Author: Samuel Owings

    MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD SAVE LIVES

    My Brother died this past November, after a three-month illness in
    which he was neither diagnosed or treated for any specific disease.

    He spent one week in a local hospital, four weeks at Johns Hopkins and
    didn’t eat a square meal for three months. A team of the best doctors
    available came up empty handed regarding a diagnosis or treatment, so
    brother Dorsey eventually dwindled away and died.

    It is a known fact that medical marijuana enhances the appetite and
    mood, but not one doctor was able to prescribe medical marijuana,
    which alone might have saved Dorsey’s life. Without food and proper
    nutrition combined with a lack of any diagnosis for a viable
    treatment, my brother is no longer with us.

    Let this be a wake-up call for everyone, including the medical field,
    that not every illness can be treated with a pill or a surgery.

    This is the 21st century. Fourteen States have legalized medical
    marijuana. New Jersey just legalized it, the state can tax it, and the
    agricultural industry will benefit from it.

    Now is the time to pressure our lawmakers to pass the bill being
    introduced by Dr./Del. Dan Morhaim to license marijuana dispensaries
    and authorize the state departments of agriculture and health to
    monitor the drug’s production and distribution.

    I truly believe Dorsey would be alive today if a doctor had been able
    to prescribed him medical marijuana. Please contact your legislators
    and tell them to support this bill.

    Samuel Owings, Baltimore

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

    PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

    Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list
    ([email protected]) if you are subscribed.

    Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent
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    To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

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    Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism
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    http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

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

    Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International
    Drug Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org

    =.

    =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #430 Bill To Regulate Marijuana Studied In New Hampshire

    Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010
    Subject: #430 Bill To Regulate Marijuana Studied In New Hampshire

    BILL TO REGULATE MARIJUANA STUDIED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #430 – Thursday, 28 January 2010

    This week, the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee of the New
    Hampshire House of Representatives voted 16-2 to study House Bill
    1652, a proposed law to regulate and tax marijuana. H.B. 1652 is
    sponsored by Republican Calvin Pratt from Goffstown, Republican
    Timothy Comerford of Fremont, Democrat Joel Winters from Manchester,
    and Democrat Carla Skinder of Cornish.

    The CommonDreams.org report, below, is just one of this event now
    breaking on the net. By using MAP’s newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org/nh
    you can follow news about New Hampshire cannabis legalization bill HB
    1652 as the news breaks.

    Writing letters to the editor to newspapers in New Hampshire and the
    surrounding area about the proposed legislation keeps the issue in the
    mind of voters and lawmakers alike. Contacts for many newspapers may
    be found at http://mapinc.org/media.htm

    New Hampshire state representatives may be found at
    http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/ and urged to support HB 1652.

    Updated facts on marijuana you may wish to use are at
    http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53

    Many articles and opinion items about marijuana are posted daily in
    MAP’s unique archive of drug policy news http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm
    . Breaking news about marijuana may be found at http://drugnewsbot.org/topic/cannabis.htm

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

    http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/01/28

    Pubdate: January 28, 2010 10:03 AM

    Source: CommonDreams.org (Web)

    Author: Matt Simon

    NH House Committee Recommends Study of Bill That Would Tax and
    Regulate Marijuana

    Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee votes 16-2 to consider
    details of H.B. 1652 before moving bill forward

    CONCORD, N.H. – January 28 – Yesterday, the New Hampshire House of
    Representatives Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted
    16-2 to “refer for interim study” H.B. 1652, a bill that would tax and
    regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. If the House
    concurs with this recommendation, the 20-member committee will proceed
    with a comprehensive study of the proposal. This vote is a promising
    sign that New Hampshire’s lawmakers are willing to seriously discuss
    the possibility of ending marijuana prohibition in the Granite State.

    Previously, a vote to recommend that the bill “ought to pass” failed
    8-10. Five Democrats and three Republicans voted in favor. Rep.
    Shannon Chandley (D-Milford), who voted against the first motion, told
    her colleagues, “I believe we should decriminalize marijuana,” but
    said she felt the committee should take time to consider all the
    details of the bill before recommending it to the full House of
    Representatives.

    “This committee seems to understand that the prohibition of marijuana
    has been a terrible policy failure,” said Matt Simon, executive
    director of the NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. “We
    appreciate the fact that some members want to give this further study
    and make sure the details are correct before they move this bill forward.”

    In 2009, an effort to override Gov. John Lynch’s (D) veto of a medical
    marijuana bill passed the NH House but fell two votes short in the NH
    Senate.

    HB 1652 is sponsored by Rep. Calvin Pratt (R-Goffstown), Rep. Joel
    Winters (D-Manchester), Rep. Carla Skinder (D-Cornish), and Rep.
    Timothy Comerford (R-Fremont).

    Matt Simon, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy
    http://www.nhcommonsense.org/

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

    PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

    Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list
    ([email protected]) if you are subscribed.

    Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent
    LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches.

    To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

    http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

    Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism
    Center

    http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

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

    Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International
    Drug Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org

    =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #429 South Dakota Medical Marijuana On Ballot

    Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010
    Subject: #429 South Dakota Medical Marijuana On Ballot

    SOUTH DAKOTA MEDICAL MARIJUANA ON BALLOT

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #429 – Tuesday, 26 January 2010

    Last week, South Dakotans were able to get twice the 16,776 signatures
    required to put a medical marijuana question on the state’s ballot
    next November. In an effort led by the South Dakota Coalition for
    Compassion, http://www.sdcompassion.org/ over 30,000 South Dakotans
    signed a petition to allow the question to be put before voters.

    The report, below, describes and outlines the status of the medical
    marijuana initiative ballot question in South Dakota. Now, South
    Dakotan voters need to be educated about the harms of arrest, jail,
    and prison for medical marijuana patients. A similar ballot question
    was only narrowly defeated by voters in 2006.

    By using MAP’s newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org?q=South+Dakota you can
    follow South Dakota’s medical marijuana news, as it breaks. In MAP’s
    unique archive of drug news spanning a decade and a half, you can
    research marijuana and drug policy news from South Dakota at
    http://mapinc.org/area/South+Dakota

    Writing letters to the editor to newspapers in South Dakota and the
    surrounding area about medical marijuana can help to get people
    thinking about this issue. Contacts for many newspapers may be found
    at http://mapinc.org/media.htm

    Updated facts on medical marijuana you may wish to use are at
    http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54

    Archived articles and opinion items about medical marijuana are posted
    daily at http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 and breaking news about
    medical marijuana may be found at http://drugnewsbot.org/topic/medical_cannabis.htm

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

    Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jan 2010
    Source: Lawrence County Government Examiner (Web)
    Author: Traci Wangen
    Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/wVXPUdl7

    SOUTH DAKOTA TO VOTE ON SAFE ACCESS ACT

    In 2010, South Dakota residents will once again vote on the
    legalization of medical marijuana. The South Dakota Coalition for
    Compassion, a non-profit group compromised of physicians, patients,
    law enforcement officials and private citizens, submitted 30,000
    signatures to the South Dakota Secretary of State this week, 16, 776
    more signatures than required to get the initiative on the ballot.

    The South Dakota Secretary of State will now examine the signatures,
    validate each, and certify the initiative so that it can be put on the
    November ballot.

    Last time South Dakotans voted on the legalization of medical
    marijuana in 2006, the state initiative was defeated 53% to 48%. This
    time South Dakota Coalition for Compassion is hoping for the passage
    of the Safe Access Act. The initiative was sponsored by Patrick K.
    Lynch, former chairman of the board for the North Central States
    Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and drafted with the help of
    the Marijuana Policy Project. http://www.mpp.org/about

    The initiative, if passed into law, would allow medical marijuana card
    holders to possess one ounce of marijuana if they have been diagnosed
    or treated for certain cancers, glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral
    sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, seizures or multiple sclerosis, along
    with other specifically diagnosable ailments. The initiative outlines
    specific disabilities that qualify patients for use, rules regarding
    registration cards, distribution, and rules for establishing a
    registry for medical marijuana users. The entire initiative can be
    read at http://www.sdcompassion.org/sdsaa.htm

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

    PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

    Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list
    ([email protected]) if you are subscribed.

    Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent
    LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches.

    To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

    http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

    Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism
    Center

    http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

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

    Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International
    Drug Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org

    =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #427 Confusion In California

    Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:35:15 -0800
    Subject: #427 Confusion In California

    CONFUSION IN CALIFORNIA

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #427 – Friday, 22 January 2010

    Today newspapers across California are printing articles about a
    Supreme Court of California decision which may impact patients who are
    authorized to use medicinal cannabis. If there is a common thread in
    the printed articles it is one of confusion. Many of the articles
    contain varied opinions about what, if any, impact the decision will
    have.

    You may read the decision at http://mapinc.org/url/SkEZh5HU

    The Los Angeles Times coverage of the story is below. Here are links
    to some other newspaper articles about the topic:

    Press Democrat www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n059.a07.html

    San Francisco Chronicle www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n059.a08.html

    Sacramento Bee www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n059.a09.html

    Daily Nexus www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n060.a01.html

    Pasadena Star-News www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n060.a02.html

    Times-Standard www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n060.a04.html

    Oakland Tribune www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n060.a05.html

    Please consider sending your own opinion as a letter to the editor to
    your own local newspapers and, if you wish, to some of the newspapers
    listed in this alert.

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

    Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)

    Page: A4

    Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times

    Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/bc7El3Yo

    Author: John Hoeffel

    Referenced: The Supreme Court of California Opinion
    http://mapinc.org/url/SkEZh5HU
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis – California)

    STATE LIMITS ON MEDICAL POT REJECTED

    California Supreme Court Invalidates a 2003 Provision That Capped
    Possession at Eight Ounces.

    The Justices Unanimously Declare Unconstitutional a 2003 Provision
    That Capped Possession at Eight Ounces and Cultivation at Six Mature
    or 12 Immature Plants.

    In a unanimous decision filed Thursday, the California Supreme Court
    struck down the state’s specific limits on how much medical marijuana
    a patient can possess, concluding that restrictions imposed by the
    Legislature were an unconstitutional amendment of a voter-approved
    initiative.

    The decision, which affirmed an appellate decision, means people who
    have a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana can possess and
    cultivate as much as is “reasonably necessary.”

    The court invalidated a provision of a 2003 state law passed to
    clarify the initiative. Under that law, patients or their primary
    caregivers could have no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana and
    grow no more than six mature or 12 immature plants. The law, however,
    allowed patients to have more than that if they had a statement from a
    doctor that the amount was insufficient.

    “I’m very pleased. They gave us exactly what we wanted,” said Gerald
    F. Uelmen, a law professor at Santa Clara University who argued the
    case for Patrick K. Kelly, a medical marijuana patient from Lakewood.

    Medical marijuana advocates and defense attorneys said the court’s
    decision could make it harder for prosecutors to win convictions
    because they will no longer be able to tell juries that a defendant
    had more medical marijuana than the law allows.

    “The big impact is going to be the change in perception by the
    district attorney,” said Allison B. Margolin, a Los Angeles attorney.
    “It’s going to be difficult for a narcotics expert to testify that an
    amount is unreasonable.”

    The state’s 1996 medical marijuana initiative, known as the
    Compassionate Use Act, put no limit on the amount of cannabis a
    patient could possess or cultivate other than to require that it be
    “personal medical purposes.”

    Seven years later, the Legislature passed a law to create medical
    marijuana identification cards to help protect patients from arrest
    and included the limits on possession and cultivation.

    The justices concluded that the state Constitution bars the
    Legislature from changing an initiative approved by voters, but also
    appeared to rue that restraint. Almost a third of the 54-page decision
    written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George discusses how California’s
    initiative process places unparalleled limits on the Legislature. The
    decision notes that it “may well be prudent and advisable” for
    lawmakers to have the power to set limits.

    George recently gave a speech to the American Academy of Arts and
    Sciences in which he questioned whether initiatives had become “an
    impediment to the effective functioning of a true democratic process.”

    In an odd twist, Uelmen and state prosecutors argued before the court
    that the limits were unconstitutional.

    Both sides also argued that the appellate court erred when it ruled
    the entire section of the law that included the limits was
    unconstitutional. They maintained that the limits were valid as part
    of the state’s medical marijuana identification card program.

    “It effectively would have gutted the ID card program,” said Deputy
    Atty. Gen. Michael Johnsen.

    The court agreed, concluding that the limits could still be applied to
    the identification card program.

    Medical marijuana advocates and the state attorney general’s office
    said that means patients with ID cards are shielded from arrest for
    possession or cultivation if they have less than the limits in state
    law or the more liberal limits adopted by some cities and counties.
    But Chris Conrad, a court-qualified expert medical marijuana witness,
    said he believed the limits would also protect patients without cards.

    “In one sense this is a call to patients to enroll in the ID card
    program if they want to be immune from arrest and prosecution,” said
    Kris Hermes with Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana
    advocacy organization.

    The card program, however, has been largely shunned by patients who
    have been afraid to have their names listed in government records.
    Statewide, about 38,000 cards, which must be renewed annually, have
    been issued since the program started. In Los Angeles County, the
    total is 1,574.

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

    PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

    Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list (
    [email protected] ) if you are subscribed.

    Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent
    LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches.

    To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

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    Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism
    Center

    http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

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

    Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org

    =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #428 Marijuana Activists Urge National Boycott Of Starbucks

    Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:48:53 -0800
    Subject: #428 Marijuana Activists Urge National Boycott Of Starbucks

    MARIJUANA ACTIVISTS URGE NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF STARBUCKS

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

    Update from SAFER, Monday Jan 25, 2010:

    “SAFER and supporters of marijuana policy reform have won Round 1
    in the fight against the Arrest and Prosecution Industry and the
    companies that sponsor their efforts to keep marijuana illegal . . .
    SAFER is no longer calling for a nationwide boycott
    of Starbucks or these other companies.”

    You can read SAFER’s complete statement at http://mapinc.org/url/uqHsjhDw

    This is from Chris Gyrgiel, Jan 23:

    Starbucks officials said the effort is misguided. The company does not provide financial support to the Colorado law enforcement group, Starbucks said in a statement.

    “This organization is apparently targeting us because a local law enforcement organization in Colorado posted our logo on their Web site. Starbucks has not taken a position on their issue,” the statement said. “We have a tremendous amount of respect for the men and women of local law enforcement. However, we have not sponsored this particular organization through our foundation. It is up to the discretion of our local teams to support those groups that are relevant in their neighborhoods. Our stores often support organizations in their community by donating coffee for their events.”

    The Colorado Drug Investigators Association Web site, which apparently listed other national and Colorado companies besides Starbucks as backers, is no longer working.


    Continues: http://www.kval.com/news/national/82516892.html


    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #428 – Saturday, 23 January 2010

    Mason Tvert and SAFER Colorado this week called for a boycott of
    Starbucks and other sponsors of the Colorado Drug Investigators
    Association (CDIA), after the coffee franchise was listed as a sponsor
    of the rabidly prohibitionist police association on their web site.

    Writes SAFER, “the Colorado Drug Investigators Association (CDIA), the
    group spearheading anti-marijuana lobbying efforts, is sponsored by
    several local and national businesses including Starbucks Coffee,
    Glock handguns, and — you guessed it — members of the alcohol
    industry! This might seem a bit odd, but when you consider the fact
    that their Web site and merchandise features the grim reaper and
    military helicopters, a skull motif, and the slogan, ‘Death on Drugs,’
    it all makes a little more sense. These guys are not out to protect
    people; they’re out to fight a literal war on marijuana . . .

    “It’s no surprise that the Arrest and Prosecution Industry is
    determined to maintain the war on marijuana. But Starbucks and other
    companies’ funding of this war should strike any marijuana consumer or
    reform supporter as truly appalling. It’s time to stand up and send
    them all a message.”

    The report, below, is just one about this story now circulating in the
    blogosphere. By using MAP’s newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org
    http://drugnewsbot.org?concept=safer_colorado you can follow the news
    about the Mason Tvert and Starbucks boycott, as it breaks.

    SAFER Colorado has put up a page suggesting some ways you can
    immediately take action http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/995/9/

    Writing letters to the editor to newspapers about the vested interests
    many have in maintaining marijuana prohibition can help advance the
    issue. Contacts for newspapers may be found at http://mapinc.org/media.htm

    Updated facts on marijuana you may wish to use are at
    http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53

    Articles and opinion items about Mason Tvert updated hourly may be
    found at http://drugnewsbot.org/topic/safer_colorado.htm

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

    Pubdate: Fri Jan 22nd, 2010
    Source: Indybay.org
    Webpage: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/22/18635964.php

    Today, Mason Tvert, founder of SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable
    Recreation), called for a boycott of Starbucks, saying the coffee
    chain supported the Colorado Drug Investigators Association, a
    lobbying group that has opposed to medical marijuana.

    The CDIA, which listed Starbucks as a sponsor on its website alongside
    such vendors as Glock handguns and Point Blank Body Armor, is a group
    that is seeking to overturn Colorado’s constitutional amendment
    allowing cannabis for medical use.

    Oddly, Tvert says, the CDIA’s website was curiously taken down an hour
    before his noon appearance at the 300 East 6th Avenue Starbucks
    branch. But SAFER outreach director Eva Enns called it “totally
    metal.” According to her, the site featured skull-and-crossbones
    graphics and a grim reaper rappelling from a helicopter declaring
    “Death on Drugs.”

    “Law enforcement is an industry like any other, and the
    decriminalization of marijuana threatens part of that industry,” Tvert
    says, adding that regulation of marijuana poses a conflict of interest
    for drug enforcement agencies.

    On one hand, marijuana dispensaries keep some of the drug trade out of
    the hands of organized traffickers, ultimately reducing crime
    (something you might think law enforcement would support). On the
    other, that reduction in crime takes jobs away from those enforcement
    agencies. “Law enforcement groups are not motivated by maintaining
    public safety or developing a workable system of medical marijuana
    regulation,” Tvert adds. “They are motivated by one thing — job
    security.”

    Tvert hopes to spread awareness among consumers that don’t realize
    Starbucks helps fund the CDIA’s efforts. He believes that by
    pressuring Starbucks (and other national corporations such as
    Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and Embassy Suites)
    through consumer backlash, he can help impede the CDIA’s efforts to
    abolish dispensaries and wage war on marijuana.

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

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    Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International
    Drug Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org

    =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #426 Virginia Lawmaker Proposes Medical Marijuana Bill

    Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:35:15 -0800
    Subject: #426 Virginia Lawmaker Proposes Medical Marijuana Bill

    VIRGINIA LAWMAKER PROPOSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #426 – Thursday, 21 January 2010

    Virginia’s 79-year-old Republican State Senator, delegate Harvey B. Morgan
    proposed legislation earlier this week to make cannabis available
    medically, and also to reduce penalties for marijuana possession for adults
    in the conservative southern state. Virginia’s penalties for marijuana are
    currently some of the harshest in the nation.

    The AP report, below, is just one of many about this story. By using MAP’s
    newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org?q=Virginia+OR+Va.+Lawmaker&concept=cannabis
    you can compare different versions of the AP Wire service story as the news
    breaks.

    Writing letters to the editor to your local newspapers in Virginia about
    delegate Harvey B. Morgan’s proposed legislation may help advance the
    issue. Contacts for many newspapers may be found at
    http://mapinc.org/media.htm

    Virginia state representatives may be found at
    http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/ and urged to co-sponsor Morgan’s courageous
    medical marijuana and decriminalization legislation. Morgan’s proposed
    legislation does not, at this time, have a co-sponsor.

    Updated facts on medical marijuana you may wish to use are at
    http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54

    Articles and opinion items are about medical marijuana are being posted
    daily at http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 and breaking news posted hourly
    about medical marijuana may be found at
    http://drugnewsbot.org/topic/medical_cannabis.htm

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

    Virginia Lawmaker Proposes Medical Marijuana Bill

    Pubdate: Weds, 20 Jan 2010

    Source: AP (Wire)

    shorter edit at the Washington Times –
    http://mapinc.org/url/PDlNGbeC

    a longer edit on the wires –
    http://mapinc.org/url/DwvRSeC1

    VA. LAWMAKER PROPOSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

    Steve Szkotak, Associated Press Writer

    RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Del. Harvey B. Morgan acknowledges he might not seem
    a likely proponent of decriminalizing marijuana and making the drug
    available medically. He’s 79, a Republican and he’s never touched the
    stuff.

    Surprising even his friends, Morgan has proposed bills that would ease
    penalties for marijuana possession and allow doctors to prescribe marijuana
    and pharmacists to dispense it for a wide range of medical uses.

    Morgan, whose 31 years in the General Assembly ranks him No. 2 in
    seniority, outlined his legislation Wednesday at a news conference. He came
    prepared with a raft of charts, studies, legalization proponents and
    medical professionals, and a good dose of realism on its prospects of
    passage.

    “I’m hopeful but not optimistic,” Morgan, of Gloucester, said after the
    news conference.

    Fourteen states have what advocates call effective medical marijuana laws.
    Virginia has one of the oldest on the books — it dates back three decades
    — but it was enacted primarily for limited research purposes.

    “Virginia is one of 17 states with laws that recognize marijuana as a
    medicine, but whose impact is strictly symbolic,” said Bruce Mirken,
    formerly of the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project and now an
    independent consultant.

    Because of laws restricting marijuana possession and distribution, “there
    is no supply of medical marijuana for physicians to prescribe or pharmacies
    to dispense,” Mirken said.

    Under Morgan’s two bills, the possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana
    would be reduced from a criminal offense to a civil one, carrying a $500
    fine. People now face jail sentences and fines for possessing less than 1
    ounce of the drug. In 2007, 18,000 people were prosecuted in Virginia for
    possessing 1 once of marijua na.

    Twenty-one states have decriminalized marijuana.

    The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request by
    The Associated Press to comment on Morgan’s proposals.

    Morgan said he felt compelled to promote the decriminalization bill because
    of the many lives damaged by possession of small amounts of marijuana. He
    called his legislation a common sense approach and one that would ease
    overburdened courts and jails.

    “The commonwealth continues to punish people for mistakes made decades
    ago,” Morgan said at the news conference. “We need to move to a more
    honest, reasoned, compassionate, and sensible drug policy, and this bill
    does that.”

    The bill also eases penalties for marijuana distribution.

    On medical marijuana, Morgan drew upon his experience as a pharmacist,
    stating that all medications have benefits and risks. His bill would
    broaden the current statute, which allows for marijuana’s use in the
    treatment of cancer or glaucoma, to include chronic pain, Parkinson’s
    disease and multiple sclerosis.

    “We trust physicians with our health care,” he said. “Why not trust them to
    determine appropriate therapy?”

    Morgan is realistic, however, and acknowledged the legislation has not been
    run by the medical establishment or law enforcement groups. The bills do
    not have a co-sponsor.

    Still, Morgan persuaded an old college classmate and skeptic, who attended
    Wednesday’s news conference.

    “I was surprised when I learned of this bill,” Dr. Gaylord W. Ray said. “It
    seemed out of character.”

    Like Morgan, however, Ray was persuaded by the suffering of patients and
    the human costs of strict drug laws.

    “It is a sad thing to see someone at the end of their life who is
    struggling with cancer and taking chemotherapy and they can’t get relief
    from nausea,” he said.

    After more than three decades in the legislature, Morgan said he’s more
    concerned about what’s right than with winning another term in office.

    “If people choose not to elect me because of this, that’s up to them,” he
    said. “But I’m doing the right thing, based on all the information I have.”

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

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    Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list
    ([email protected]) if you are subscribed.

    Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent LTEs
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    **********************************************************************

    Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International Drug
    Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org

  • Focus Alerts

    #425 New Jersey Becomes A Medical Marijuana State

    Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:54:48 -0800
    Subject: #425 New Jersey Becomes A Medical Marijuana State

    NEW JERSEY BECOMES A MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATE

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #425 – Tuesday, 12 January 2010

    Within a few days Governor Corzine is expected to sign New Jersey’s
    law, making the state the 14th to have a workable medical marijuana
    law. New Jersey will become the fifth state to pass a law through
    legislative action.

    The New York Times report, below, is just one of many about this
    story.

    Writing letters to the editor to your local newspapers about New
    Jersey’s action may help advance the issue. Contacts for many
    newspapers may be found at http://mapinc.org/media.htm

    Updated facts you may wish to use are at http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54

    Articles and opinion items are about medical marijuana are being
    posted daily at http://www.mapinc.org/find?253

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

    Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jan 2010

    Source: New York Times (NY)

    Page: A1, Front Page, New York edition

    Copyright: 2010 The New York Times Company

    Contact: [email protected]

    Author: David Kocieniewski

    NEW JERSEY VOTE BACKS MARIJUANA FOR SEVERELY ILL

    Both Houses Pass Bill

    TRENTON — The New Jersey Legislature approved a measure on Monday
    that would make the state the 14th in the nation, but one of the few
    on the East Coast, to legalize the use of marijuana to help patients
    with chronic illnesses.

    The measure — which would allow patients diagnosed with severe
    illnesses like cancer, AIDS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, muscular dystrophy
    and multiple sclerosis to have access to marijuana grown and
    distributed through state-monitored dispensaries — was passed by the
    General Assembly and State Senate on the final day of the legislative
    session.

    Gov. Jon S. Corzine has said he would sign it into law before leaving
    office next Tuesday. Supporters said that within nine months, patients
    with a prescription for marijuana from their doctors should be able to
    obtain it at one of six locations.

    “It’s nice to finally see a day when democracy helps heal people,”
    said Charles Kwiatkowski, 38, one of dozens of patients who rallied at
    the State House before the vote and broke into applause when the
    lawmakers approved the measure.

    Mr. Kwiatkowski, of Hazlet, N.J., who has multiple sclerosis, said his
    doctors have recommended marijuana to treat neuralgia, which causes
    him to lose the feeling and the use of his right arm and shoulders.
    “The M.S. Society has shown that this drug will help slow the
    progression of my disease. Why would I want to use anything else?”

    The bill’s approval, which comes after years of lobbying by patients’
    rights groups and advocates of less restrictive drug laws, was nearly
    derailed at the 11th hour as some Democratic lawmakers wavered and
    Governor-elect Christopher J. Christie, a Republican, went to the
    State House and expressed reservations about it.

    In the end, however, it passed by comfortable margins in both houses:
    48-14 in the General Assembly and 25-13 in the State Senate.

    Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Democrat from Princeton who sponsored the
    legislation, said New Jersey’s would be the most restrictive medical
    marijuana law in the nation because it would permit doctors to
    prescribe it for only a set list of serious, chronic illnesses. The
    law would also forbid patients from growing their own marijuana and
    from using it in public, and it would regulate the drug under the
    strict conditions used to track the distribution of medically
    prescribed opiates like Oxycontin and morphine. Patients would be
    limited to two ounces of marijuana per month.

    “I truly believe this will become a model for other states because it
    balances the compassionate use of medical marijuana while limiting the
    number of ailments that a physician can prescribe it for,” Mr.
    Gusciora said.

    Under the bill, the state would help set the cost of the marijuana.
    The measure does not require insurance companies to pay for it.

    Some educators and law enforcement advocates worked doggedly against
    the proposal, saying the law would make marijuana more readily
    available and more likely to be abused, and that it would lead to
    increased drug use by teenagers.

    Opponents often pointed to California’s experience as a cautionary
    tale, saying that medical marijuana is so loosely regulated there that
    its use has essentially been decriminalized. Under California law,
    residents can obtain legal marijuana for a list of maladies as common,
    and as vaguely defined, as anxiety or chronic pain.

    David G. Evans, executive director of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition,
    warned that the establishment of for-profit dispensaries would lead to
    abuses of the law. “There are going to be pot centers coming to
    neighborhoods where people live and are trying to raise their
    families,” Mr. Evans said.

    Keiko Warner, a school counselor in Millville, N. J., cautioned that
    students already faced intense peer pressure to experiment with
    marijuana, and that the use of medical marijuana would only increase
    the likelihood that teenagers would experiment with the drug.

    “There are children at age 15, 14 who are using drugs or thinking
    about using drugs,” she said. “And this is not going to help.”

    Legislators attempted to ease those fears in the past year by working
    with the Department of Health and Senior Services to add restrictions
    to the bill.

    But with Democrats in retreat after Mr. Corzine’s defeat by Mr.
    Christie, some supporters feared that the Democratic-controlled
    Legislature — which last week failed to muster the votes to pass a
    gay marriage bill — would balk at approving medical marijuana.

    Mr. Christie added to the suspense Monday, just hours before lawmakers
    were scheduled to vote, when he was asked about the bill during a
    press conference within shouting distance of the legislative chambers.
    He said he was concerned that the bill contained loopholes that might
    encourage recreational drug use.

    “I think we all see what’s happened in California,” Mr. Christie said.
    “It’s gotten completely out of control.”

    But the loophole Mr. Christie cited — a list of ailments so
    unrestricted that it might have allowed patients to seek marijuana to
    treat minor or nonexistent ailments — had already been closed by
    legislators. In the end, the bill received Republican as well as
    Democratic support.

    “This bill will help relieve people’s pain,” said Senator William
    Baroni, a Republican.

    Supporters celebrated with hugs and tears.

    Scott Ward, 26, who said he suffered from multiple sclerosis, said he
    had been prescribed marijuana to alleviate leg cramps so severe that
    they often felt “like my muscles are tearing apart.” “Now,” he said,
    “I can do normal things like take a walk and walk the dog.”

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

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

    Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org

    =.