DrugSense recognizes Chris Buors of Winnipeg, Manitoba for his letter
published during February bring his total published letters that we
know of to 239.
You may review his published letters at:
http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Chris+Buors
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In an interview with KCTS in Seattle, drug czar Gil Kerlikowske (a former Seattle police chief) disputed facts in an op-ed, by LEAP speaker Norm Stamper (also a former Seattle chief) on how the Obama administration continues to emphasize funding for punishment over funding for treatment despite having lots of flowery rhetoric about how they’re treating drug abuse as a health problem
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor says he’s dropping his nearly decade-long fight to persuade the government to let him grow marijuana in bulk for medical research.
Horticulturist Lyle Craker wanted to cultivate marijuana to boost research into the plant’s potential medicinal benefits. But he’s been rebuffed — even as more than a dozen states have legalized medical marijuana.
Craker, 70, said he saw no end in sight to the legal wrangling, given the likelihood of an appeals process that could run several years, or even decades. He was frustrated, too, that he never got a hoped-for boost from the Obama administration.
“I’m disappointed in our system,” he said. “But I’m not disappointed at what we did. I think our efforts have brought the problem to the public eye more. … This is just the first battle in a war.”
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Obama and Calderon Fail to Discuss Alternatives to Drug War
By Daniel Ernesto Robelo
Mexican President Felipe Calderon and President Obama ignored the elephant in the room in their meeting — drug prohibition is the cause of prohibition.
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BILL COULD LEGALIZE, REGULATE MARIJUANA USE
A Solid and Sensible Case for Legalization
Thank you for making such a solid and sensible case for the
legalization and regulation of marijuana [“Legalize marijuana,”
Opinion, Feb. 20].As Seattle’s police chief for six years, and as a law-enforcement
officer for nearly three decades before that, I saw more than enough
on the front lines of the drug war to convince me that it’s time to
end marijuana prohibition.In addition to powerful economic and civil-rights arguments,
marijuana legalization will allow law enforcement to focus on
preventing and solving crimes against persons and property.
Legalization will eliminate a huge, untaxed revenue source for gangs
and cartels whose members never hesitate to use violence against each
other, the police and innocent citizens in order to protect their
illicit profits.Our state’s lawmakers have an opportunity to do the right thing
locally while also taking a powerful leadership role in the national
movement to end marijuana prohibition. For doubters and proponents
alike, The Times’ editorial should be required reading.Norm Stamper, Eastsound
Pubdate: Wed, 23 Feb 2011
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n000/a010.html
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Mohideen Mifthah
KATHMANDU, March 2, 2011
(AFP) – Police in Nepal on Wednesday cracked down on the sale of cannabis at a major religious festival where the drug is smoked legally by thousands of long-haired holy men to honour a Hindu god, an official said.
Marijuana is illegal in Nepal, but under an ancient legal loophole authorities allow holy men — known as sadhus — to smoke it during a night of often wild celebrations in honour of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction.
Thousands of pilgrims travel to the sprawling Pashupatinath temple complex in Kathmandu every year from all over Nepal and India to mark the occasion, which is known as Shivaratri.
At one time the government even used to provide marijuana for the occasion, but authorities said they decided to enforce a ban on holy men selling the drug because of complaints they were dealing to local people.
“The holy men are free to use the drugs for themselves. But they can’t sell it to others,” said Narottam Vaidhya of the Pashupati Area Development Trust, which looks after the temple complex.
“Not all the sadhus are holy men and some come with bad intentions. Our aim is to prevent people from posing as holy men in order to break the law,” he told AFP.
Vaidhya said armed police, some of them in plain clothes, had been deployed to the area to look out for anyone breaking the law ahead of Wednesday’s celebrations.
“As of today, we have arrested seven sadhus for selling drugs,” he added.
Sadhus, who renounce all worldly possessions and usually live in caves or temples, have been coming to Kathmandu for hundreds of years to celebrate the festival.
They mark it by smoking cannabis because Hindu mythology suggests Shiva himself enjoyed the drug.
Shivaratri is a public holiday in India and Nepal, where all government offices and schools are shut for the day.
Huge camps are set up to accommodate the visiting sadhus, many of whom arrive weeks ahead of the celebrations.
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We should not pretend that Bill S-10 has anything to do with evidence – or with making our country a safer place in which to live.
by Neil Boyd Associate Director, Criminology, Simon Fraser University.
The Harper Conservatives are under fire for their extraordinarily expensive legislative initiative, Bill S-10. Among other things, the bill seeks to spend at least hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on prison building, in order to impose a mandatory minimum term of six months in jail for anyone who grows more than six marijuana plants. Most Canadians, experts and non-experts alike, have criticized the proposal as costly and counter-productive, noting that it will imprison individuals who are mostly non-violent and who sell to willing adult consumers.
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WILL NEW MEXICO REPEAL ITS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW?
**********************************************************************
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #465 – Saturday, February 26th, 2011
It seems more likely than not that the New Mexico Legislature
http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/ will repeal the state’s medical marijuana law.New Mexico became the 12th state in the country to allow legal access
to medical cannabis. The bill, the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use
Act, passed the New Mexico State Legislature and was signed into law
in the spring of 2007.News clippings about this effort to repeal the law will be found at
http://www.mapinc.org/states/NM/If the law is repealed it will encourage similar efforts in other
medical marijuana states.Please do whatever you can to help stop this effort. Tell your
friends. Forward this alert or send links to it. Support
organizations opposing the repeal effort.Below is an Associated Press wire authored by Sue Major Holmes which
provides details.Please note that the alert “Will Montana Repeal Its Medical Marijuana
Law?” is still valid as there has been no final decision by their
legislature. http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0464.htmlVerified facts about medicinal cannabis are found at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54**********************************************************************
MEDICAL MARIJUANA REPEAL POSSIBILITY
NM Lawmaker Wants to Repeal Medical Marijuana
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) – A freshman New Mexico lawmaker who’s a high school
teacher in civilian life is trying to repeal the state’s medical marijuana law.The law “sends a bad message to kids, that somehow marijuana is good
for you,” said Republican Rep. Jim Smith of Sandia Park, who teaches
at East Mountain Charter High School east of Albuquerque.Gov. Susana Martinez said during her campaign last year the state’s
medical marijuana law put state employees in the position of
violating federal law. The federal government classifies marijuana as
a Schedule 1 drug, a category reserved for drugs that have “no
currently accepted medical use.”But after taking office Jan. 1, the Republican governor focused on
New Mexico’s pressing budget issues and said repeal was not a
priority in the 2011 legislative session.Smith said, however, he was encouraged by an effort in Montana to
repeal that state’s medical marijuana law. Montana House Speaker Mike
Milburn argues the multimillion dollar marijuana industry has gone
far beyond what voters envisioned when they voted for it in 2004.Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said she would sign a repeal of New
Mexico’s medical marijuana law if it reached her desk.Some legislators who voted for the law originally said earlier this
month they were troubled by the expansion in medical conditions that
qualify for the program and the growing number of people using it.Only patients with conditions approved by the health secretary can
legally use medical marijuana. When New Mexico’s law went into effect
in July 2007, the state had seven approved conditions, including
cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and HIV-AIDS. Now
there are 16, plus some people in hospice care can qualify. The
program is overseen by the state Department of Health.As of Feb. 16, the day before Smith introduced his bill, New Mexico
had 3,218 active patients.Smith’s measure is expected to be heard next week by the House
Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, whose vice chairman is
Democratic Rep. Antonio Maestas of Albuquerque, who sponsored the
medical marijuana law in the House.Maestas said the program has proved to be more valuable than
expected, with soldiers returning from war using it to treat post
traumatic stress disorder.“Moving medical marijuana out of the criminal justice realm is
difficult for many people to accept, but I believe the vast majority
are in agreement it was a great decision and should not be rolled
back,” he said.Smith said it’s hard to argue against people in pain who say medical
marijuana makes them feel better, but he believes there are medical
alternatives.He said he’s encouraged by the 27 co-sponsors, both Republicans and
Democrats, who signed onto the one-page bill when it was introduced
earlier this month.“The people I got to sign the bill were very passionate about wanting
to get rid of medical marijuana,” Smith said.**********************************************************************
Prepared by: Richard Lake, Focus Alert Specialist www.mapinc.org
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A BUDGET SAVING IDEA: END THE WAR ON DRUGS
One area of the federal budget that should be cut is the money spent
to fight the drug wars. Primarily, this means decriminalizing personal
drug use by peaceful adults and regulating the sale of currently
illegal drugs. Whether we are talking about controlled drugs or
prescription drugs, it should not be a civil or criminal offense for
peaceful and honest adults to ingest any substance.If a person drives a vehicle while intoxicated or commits crimes to
support a drug habit, that is a different situation, and it is a
proper role of government to protect citizens against the real threats
to physical harm by others. It is also a proper role of our government
to protect children. But, we should not wreck the futures of peaceful
adults by giving them a criminal record for drug use.You can drink as much alcohol as you want in your home or at a bar (as
long as you don’t drive while intoxicated), and that is your personal
business, and it has no effect on your ability to get or keep a job or
to serve in the military or to get an education. But, if you get
caught using drugs, you will have significant problems in all of those
areas. That is not right, it is not just and is a wrongful
infringement on our liberties.Kurt Johnson, Urbandale
Pubdate: Sat, 19 Feb 2011
Source: Des Moines Register (IA