• Letter Writer of the Month

    Letter Of The Week

    SOME DON’T UNDERSTAND NEEDS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS

    Today is a very sad day. As a medical marijuana caregiver, it is
    always sad to read in the obituaries that one of your patients has
    died from the debilitating effects of cancer.

    I watched her struggle with her disease for the better part of a
    year. She never complained or showed any sign of ill will toward
    anyone. She never complained even when she was so weak that she
    could barely walk into our store to purchase the cannabis that
    allowed her to combat the constant nausea that she suffered
    throughout her illness. She never complained when she read almost
    daily in The Billings Gazette that she was being demonized and
    accused of criminal behavior. She never spoke an ill word against
    those who call themselves “Christians” and systematically try to
    repeal the law that allowed her to medicate with cannabis. She
    gracefully endured the insulting accusations by the group “Safe
    Community, Safe Kids,” who constantly insinuated that her medical
    cannabis was somehow harming schoolchildren. This gentle spirit has
    gone to a place where she will be judged for her valor and her inner beauty.

    It is ironic that in the very same Gazette in which her obituary
    appeared, a member of Safe Community, Safe Kids has printed an appeal
    to call the governor and urge him to sign the medical marijuana
    repeal bill. I am guessing there is a special set of rules for
    judging people who are so intolerant, judgmental, uncompassionate and
    quick to condemn other members of our community. I hope to witness
    the event when those rules are applied.

    William Reid

    Billings

    Pubdate: Sat, 16 Apr 2011

    Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)

    Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11.n241.a03.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net - International

    Legalizing Marijuana: An Exit Strategy from the War on Drugs

    by By COHA Research Associate Zoë Amerigian

    • U.S. drug policy needs to be altered; legalization must be subject to serious debate
    • Legalization could eliminate illegal demand for Mexican marijuana and curb drug-related violence
    • Medical dangers of marijuana may be largely exaggerated
    • Economic costs and benefits should be balanced; legalization could reduce financial burden on the U.S.

    Few topics of debate are as stigmatizing and polarizing as the legalization of marijuana. For the majority of the U.S. population, the idea invokes one of two reactions: a firm guffaw at the ridiculousness of it, or a tenacious, almost blind, support of it. Regardless of their stance, most people derive their opinions from personal beliefs and unsubstantiated myth rather than unassailable fact.

    Disinformation on marijuana is rampant and several U.S. presidents have been stubbornly opposed to any serious discussion about marijuana legalization. National interest in the subject is evidenced by the myriad of legalization-related questions directed at the White House, yet President Obama cannot stifle his laughter every time the topic is brought up.

    Secretary of State Clinton brushes off the idea, vaguely dismissing the subject with “[T]here is just too much money in it,”1—the implication of this statement is uncertain—while countless lawmakers simply cite “morality” in disregarding it.

    If the federal government is going to firmly oppose legalization, they must first establish that they have given significant consideration to the idea. Many Latin American nations, including Mexico and Colombia, the greatest victims of the drug trade, have already had serious debate about legalization. It is time for the U.S. to do the same.

  • Drug Policy

    Obama’s Facebook Forum Fails to Silence Marijuana Legalization Advocates

    By Scott Morgan, Associate Editor, StoptheDrugWar.org

    In an apparent effort to prevent marijuana legalization from again dominating the discussion, Obama’s next online townhall event will not allow participants to vote on their favorite questions for the president. But what does that say about the politics of social media? And will it even work?

    It started with a simple and promising idea. The young voters who helped put Obama in office congregate on the Internet, and the best way to keep them involved in the political process is to meet them on their own turf. The incoming Obama Administration planned online forums mimicking the “thumbs up, thumbs down” voting systems that help rank the best content on popular viral sites like YouTube, Reddit and Digg. The President would solicit questions from the public and see what people cared about the most.

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Marijuana Law Reform: What’s Next?

    This week, in observance of 4/20, we’re taking a look at the politics of pot in America. We kicked off yesterday with a quick overview of marijuana law reform efforts over the past twelve months. Today, we check in with a leading legalization advocate, Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, for a take on the path ahead. Below, some highlights from our talk.

  • Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net

    Vancouver Injection Site Becomes Election Issue

    Vancouver’s controversial safe injection site became an election issue Monday after yet another published study showed it has saved lives, prompting the study’s author to say Conservative policy on the site has no basis in fact.

    Critics demanded Prime Minister Stephen Harper drop his government’s opposition to the clinic and abandon efforts to have it shut down.

    Harper was in Yellowknife on Monday where he touted his government’s national drug strategy, saying it is based on prevention and treatment.

    But the Conservative government has said in the past that it doesn’t condone the safe injection site and claims it fosters addiction.

    The latest study was published this week in the influential medical journal The Lancet. It was written by Dr. Thomas Kerr, along with his colleagues from the Urban Health Research Initiative at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital.

    “Canadians should be concerned about how the federal government is approaching problems like drug addiction — that they’re really not basing their decision on science, they’re basing it on ideology,” Kerr said.

    Marc Townsend, manager of the Portland Hotel Society, enters Insite

  • Letter of the Week

    Letter Of The Week

    DRUG FIRMS AGAINST PATIENTS GROWING MEDICINE

    Did you know the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved pill form
    of marijuana (Marinol) only contains one of the compounds or
    cannabinoids that are found in the marijuana plant? That compound is
    tetrahyrdocannabinol or THC.

    Recent research in marijuana has shown it has many therapeutic
    compounds or cannabinoids in it, such as CBD, a nonpsychoactive
    cannabinoid that has been clinically demonstrated to have analgesic,
    anti-spasmodic, anxiolytic, anti-psychotic, anti-nausea and
    anti-rheumatoid arthritic properties. Along with CBD, there are
    other naturally occurring terpenoids (oils) and flavonoids (phenols)
    that also have been clinically demonstrated to possess therapeutic utility.

    If you are wondering why this information has not been in the
    mainstream, you need look no further than Sunday’s Birmingham News
    (“Doctors rethink ties to drug industry”). The drug industry is rich
    and powerful. It pays doctors to promote its products and to not
    promote products. The drug industry doesn’t want you to be able to
    grow your own medicine. Where’s the profit in that?

    Obviously, there is merit to marijuana helping to relieve symptoms
    for various illnesses or 15 states would not have legalized it for
    medicinal purposes, nor would the Veterans Administration have
    relaxed its policies concerning marijuana.

    This legislative session, Alabamians could have the chance to try
    this medicine with a recommendation from their doctor. Let your
    legislators know to vote yes for House Bill 386, the Michael Phillips
    Compassionate Care Act.

    Dawn Palmer

    Tarrant

  • Drug Policy - Hot Off The 'Net

    Drug Policy Research

    Download over 650 peer-reviewed journal articles and significant reports on Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Reform!

    This comprehensive (and amazing) collection of references includes the following categories of papers:

    Alcohol harm reduction
    Cannabis
    Drug Education / prevention
    Drug policy documents – the need for change
    Drug policy history
    Economic issues
    Entheogens and psychedelics
    Health and social consequences of drug prohibition
    Incarceration
    Needle Exchange
    Policing and drug law enforcement
    Positive or non problematic relationships with drugs
    Post prohibition options
    PowerPoint presentations
    Ranking of drug harms
    Science is trumped by ideology
    Sex trade work
    Supervised injection facilities
    United Nations and human rights
    Violence and drugs

    The download time is approx 10 minutes and the file you receive will need to be unzipped.

    https://rcpt.yousendit.com/1096089053/7d1dc1ae510268bbd237f32729feb17d

  • What You Can Do

    Tell Attorney General Holder: Stop Raiding Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

    28 raids in 24 hours. That’s the unfortunate reality for medical marijuana patients in Montana and California.

    Federal agents shutdown 26 dispensaries across Montana and 2 in the medical marijuana sanctuary city of West Hollywood, California this month in their latest attack on patients and legitimate businesses.

    But back in 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memo ordering an end to federal raids of medical marijuana dispensaries. Despite his memo, federal agents have continued these operations sporadically for years, without regard for patients’, states’ or business’ rights.

    Attorney General Eric Holder clearly doesn’t have control of his own cavalry. This assault on patients rights has to stop now.

    Sign our letter telling Attorney General Holder to enforce his memo and prohibit federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries.