• Cannabis & Hemp - Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    Marijuana Voters

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 11-4-11

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 11-4-11. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3616

    Question of the Week: What is the marijuana vote?

    An October Editorial from the Christian Science Monitor lauded the federal crackdown on California medical marijuana by stating,

    “Pot smokers are a small minority. They are containable … .”

    Are “pot smokers” indeed a small containable minority?

    According to the U.S. Census, 16 million voters in 2008 were Black, 12.3% of the total vote. About 8 million Hispanics and 3 million Asians cast their ballots respectively at 7.4% and 2.6% of the 2008 vote. The youth vote, those 18-24, numbered 12.5 million, 9.5% of the total 2008 vote.

    Applying the National Survey on Drug Use and Health to the Census voting data can compute the “marijuana vote” comprised of 2008 “past year” or “monthly” marijuana users. Because of its illegality, self interest may compel these individuals to vote for candidates who are more lenient toward pot.

    At respective 9.8% and 5.9% of the total 2008 vote, “marijuana voters” numbered about 13 million, with around 7.8 million making up the “medical marijuana vote.” These values are well within ranges that define minority voting blocs like Hispanics, Asians and youth.

    According to Northwestern University Searle Center article,

    “in 2004 less than 2.5 percentage points separated President Bush and Senator Kerry and the margin in 2000 between then-Governor Bush and Vice-President Gore was less than half a percentage point.”

    The Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan declared,

    “the minority support for Obama was instrumental in his success.”

    With almost 40% of the youth vote reporting past year marijuana use, perhaps pot smokers will be not be so “containable” when their support becomes instrumental to candidate success in the 2012 election.

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Civil Rights Chapter of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.

  • Drug Policy - Question of the Week

    Prohibition

    Drug Policy Question of the Week – 10-29-11

    As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 10-29-11. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3606

    Question of the Week: How similar is Ken Burns’ ‘Prohibition’ to the Drug War?

    Many aficionados have probably seen “PROHIBITION,” the

    “three-part, five-and-a-half-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that tells the story of the rise, rule, and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the entire era it encompassed.”

    Viewers of this film can’t help but see strong similarities between this era and the 21st Century drug war.

    Substituting the word “drug” for “alcohol,” PBS states that prohibition was,

    “intended to improve, even to ennoble, the lives of all Americans, to protect individuals, families, and society at large from the devastating effects of DRUG abuse.”

    In bold letters, PBS declares,

    “Prohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, made a mockery of the justice system, caused illicit DRUGS to seem glamorous and fun…”

    The similarities between the Prohibition 1 and Prohibition 2 are substantiated by more than words. Consider these statistics. Despite the fact that 25 million people were made criminals by arrests for illegal drugs during the last 15 years, 120 million Americans – roughly half of everyone over age 12 – made a mockery of drug laws by reportedly using an illegal drug in 2010.

    As PBS concludes,

    “The film [Prohibition] raises vital questions that are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago – about means and ends, individual rights and responsibilities, the proper role of government and finally, who is — and who is not — a real American.”

    These facts and others like them can be found in the Alcohol, Crime and Drug Usage Chapters of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org. Please visit the PBS website pbs.org to learn more about the Prohibition series.

  • Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net - International

    It’s time to make drugs legal, Nobel winners tell Cameron

    David Cameron has been urged to consider legalising drug use by a group of 60 major thinkers and celebrities including Sting, Yoko Ono and the former American president Jimmy Carter.

    By Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent

    In a letter to the Prime Minister and every member of Parliament, the public figures claim the “global war on drugs has failed”.

    The roll-call of eminent names includes seven former presidents, 12 Nobel Prize winners and six British MPs.

    Their letter says the illicit drug industry, worth £285 billion a year, is the third most valuable in the world after food and oil.

    It calls for a debate on “decriminalising” the world’s 250 million drug users and asks Mr Cameron to start a public conversation with other global leaders.

    The group claims that drug use should be treated as a medical problem, rather than a criminal one.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    If Not Now, When? The Slow Rise of Marijuana Reform

    Last month the United States reached a milestone in the debate over cannabis’ place in our society. For the first time since it began asking the question, the Gallup polling organization recorded 50% support for legalizing marijuana sales to adults.

    That number has been a long time in the making, as attested by our banner art this month; the trendlines show public support levels from 1970 to the present.

    Why now? What’s changed lately to bring so many people around? And where are we going from here?

    To discuss these questions, we’ve invited a quartet of marijuana reform activists to a roundtable discussion. Each will present an essay on a different facet of marijuana policy, and our conversation this month will be about political strategy, possible future trends, and the interplay among various sub-issues in the field.

    Kicking things off will be Paul Armentano of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), writing about the biomedical aspects of cannabis and its prohibition. He will be followed by former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper, now with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML, who will discuss public education and messaging; and Morgan Fox of the Marijuana Policy Project, who will discuss upcoming ballot initiatives and legislative developments.

    Although each of the four is more or less in the same camp on this issue, each also brings to the table different experiences, different perspectives, and different areas of expertise. We hope you will find a discussion among them educational and thought-provoking.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net

    Missouri ballot measures proposed to legalize marijuana

    THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Posted: Tuesday, November 8, 2011

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. • Advocates can begin collecting signatures for two proposed Missouri ballot measures that would legalize marijuana.

    The secretary of state’s office said Monday the initiative petitions have been approved for circulation to get them on the 2012 ballot.

    One proposal would amend the Missouri Constitution to legalize cannabis for people 21 and older, allow doctors to recommend use of medicinal marijuana and release prison inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses related to cannabis. It would also allow the Legislature to enact a marijuana tax of up to $100 per pound.

    The second proposal is similar but would enact a state law instead of amending the Missouri Constitution.

    http://bit.ly/vvkkwV

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Hemp Activists and “Truthers” Unite

    Posted by Camron Wiltshire on November 5, 2011

    HempVia the Bob Tuskin Radio Show:

    After 11 years, the Florida Hemp Fest is back with a new twist.

    Dennis “Murli” Watkins, who served four months of jail time for orchestrating a “doobie toss” at the event in 1994, is bringing back what used to be an annual celebration of marijuana and a protest for its legalization. —Gainesville Sun

    Murli just so happens to be a supporter of the “truth.” When we were contacted by him to set up a table and to give a talk on various topics such as the Federal Reserve, fluoride, and 9/11 we gladly accepted.

    Watkins said this year’s edition will touch on other, even more controversial issues than legalizing pot. “Hemp has been cultivated for thousands of years. Here it is almost 2012, and we’re still fighting this same stupid battle,” he said. “9/11 was an inside job and they’re worried about someone smoking a doobie. They’ve got to get their priorities in order.” Watkins said there will be a “9/11 truth booth” set up at the event, which will be held on the city’s Bo Diddley Community Plaza downtown. —Gainesville Sun

    Lets be blunt, no pun intended, The hemp/cannabis movement has always gone hand in hand with the type of information we cover on a daily basis.

    While you obviously do not have to get high to “wake up,” I think that it is pretty well documented that the powers that shouldn’t be do not like marijuana for many different reasons, namely the fact that it may inspire thinking outside the box.

    http://www.disinfo.com/2011/11/hemp-activists-and-truthers-unite/

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    The Drug Czar Just Says No to Marijuana Legalization

    By Jacob Sullum

    Drug Czar As Mike Riggs noted this morning, the Obama administration last Friday night finally got around to addressing the “We the People” online petitions urging repeal of marijuana prohibition. First it had to deal with the clamor for excising “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance (a cause that attracted 20,328 signatures) and removing the slogan “In God We Trust” from U.S. currency (12,273). By comparison, the eight petitions recommending some form of marijuana legalization totaled more than 150,000 (possibly overlapping) signatures; the most popular one, “Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol,” by itself attracted more than 74,000. If you bother to read drug czar Gil Kerlikowske’s embarrassingly weak response, you can see why the White House buried it in the weekend news graveyard.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Coalition Calls for Marijuana Legalization and Regulation to Reduce Gang Violence

    Coalition of BC Law Enforcement, Health and Academic Experts Call for Marijuana Legalization and Regulation to Reduce Gang Violence

    New Polls Shows 87% of British Columbians Link Gang Violence to Organized Crime’s Control of Marijuana Trade

    October 27, 2011 [Vancouver, Canada] – In the wake of high-profile gang violence related to the illegal marijuana industry in BC, a new coalition of academic, legal and health experts has released the first of a series of reports and polling results aimed at pressuring politicians to legally regulate marijuana sales under a public health framework.

    The Angus Reid poll says 87% of BC respondents link gang violence to organized crime’s efforts to control the province’s massive illegal cannabis trade while the report, called Breaking the Silence, clearly demonstrates that cannabis prohibition in BC has been ineffective and caused significant social harms and public safety issues.

    “From a scientific and public health perspective we know that making marijuana illegal has not achieved its stated objectives of limiting marijuana supply or rates of use,” said Dr. Evan Wood, a coalition member and Director of the Urban Health Research Initiative at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. “Given that marijuana prohibition has created a massive financial windfall for violent organized crime groups in BC, we must discuss alternatives to today’s failed laws with a focus on how to decrease violence, remove the illicit industry’s profit motive and improve public health and safety.”

    The new coalition, Stop the Violence BC, released the report in tandem with results from an Angus Reid poll that overwhelmingly demonstrates that lawmakers lag far behind public opinion on revamping marijuana laws in BC.

    Breaking the Silence: Cannabis prohibition, organized crime, and gang violence