REEFER MADNESS!!!!!!

[AFK]

It's funny.  I also post on a political message board and marijuana legalization will come up fairly often as a topic.  And a somewhat similar pattern evolves where it is most of the board vs. me.  Well, there are a couple of Conservatives who are on "my side", though their arguments aren't really research or informed it's just the "Drugz are evil!" stuff. 

Though, what I do appreciate about here is that no one challenges my Discordian-ness despite my position on this matter.  Over at the political board everyone is like, "and you consider yourself a Discordian?  Fo realz?"

1.  You should post that political board's URL.  For SCIENCE.

2.  Many - most - people have a very odd view of Discordianism.  They expect us to wear a uniform...A zany uniform, but a uniform all the same.

hxxp://www.politicalpanic.com

It is the new Political Crossfire, after its server went splodey. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

It's funny.  I also post on a political message board and marijuana legalization will come up fairly often as a topic.  And a somewhat similar pattern evolves where it is most of the board vs. me.  Well, there are a couple of Conservatives who are on "my side", though their arguments aren't really research or informed it's just the "Drugz are evil!" stuff. 

Though, what I do appreciate about here is that no one challenges my Discordian-ness despite my position on this matter.  Over at the political board everyone is like, "and you consider yourself a Discordian?  Fo realz?"

1.  You should post that political board's URL.  For SCIENCE.

2.  Many - most - people have a very odd view of Discordianism.  They expect us to wear a uniform...A zany uniform, but a uniform all the same.

hxxp://www.politicalpanic.com

It is the new Political Crossfire, after its server went splodey. 

Oh, yeah.  Heard about that one.  I shall have to check it out.  I will reg as either Doktor Howl or Professor Zero.

[BabylonHoruv]

It's funny.  I also post on a political message board and marijuana legalization will come up fairly often as a topic.  And a somewhat similar pattern evolves where it is most of the board vs. me.  Well, there are a couple of Conservatives who are on "my side", though their arguments aren't really research or informed it's just the "Drugz are evil!" stuff. 

Though, what I do appreciate about here is that no one challenges my Discordian-ness despite my position on this matter.  Over at the political board everyone is like, "and you consider yourself a Discordian?  Fo realz?"

Well, proclaiming someone "not a really real Discordian" would kind of go against the spirit of this board.

I actually think supporting the war on drugs could easily fit even into a Discordian stereotype, as an "imposition of order leads to escalation of disorder" sort of thing.

[Don Coyote]

It's funny.  I also post on a political message board and marijuana legalization will come up fairly often as a topic.  And a somewhat similar pattern evolves where it is most of the board vs. me.  Well, there are a couple of Conservatives who are on "my side", though their arguments aren't really research or informed it's just the "Drugz are evil!" stuff. 

Though, what I do appreciate about here is that no one challenges my Discordian-ness despite my position on this matter.  Over at the political board everyone is like, "and you consider yourself a Discordian?  Fo realz?"

Well, proclaiming someone "not a really real Discordian" would kind of go against the spirit of this board.

I actually think supporting the war on drugs could easily fit even into a Discordian stereotype, as an "imposition of order leads to escalation of disorder" sort of thing.

I think this is a "Think for yourself shmuck!!!" situation.

[Telarus]

Going on 50 pages. Oh, and remember that story about how officers on the ground can flip a warrant to "no knock" at their own whim? Not necessary any more, as long as you claim you "smelled marijuana and heard some-one make 'scurrying' sounds".


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-search-20110517,0,6746878.story

Supreme Court gives police leeway in home searches
Officers may break in if they hear sounds and suspect that evidence is being destroyed, the justices say in an 8-1 decision. Justice Ginsburg dissents.

Reporting from Washington—
The Supreme Court gave police more leeway to break into homes or apartments in search of illegal drugs when they suspect the evidence otherwise might be destroyed.

Ruling in a Kentucky case Monday, the justices said that officers who smell marijuana and loudly knock on the door may break in if they hear sounds that suggest the residents are scurrying to hide the drugs.  [NOTE! This guy had nothing to do with the person that the officers chased into the apartment building.]

Residents who "attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame" when police burst in, said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for an 8-1 majority.

In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she feared the ruling gave police an easy way to ignore 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. She said the amendment's "core requirement" is that officers have probable cause and a search warrant before they break into a house.

"How 'secure' do our homes remain if police, armed with no warrant, can pound on doors at will and ...forcibly enter?" Ginsburg asked.

An expert on criminal searches said the decision would encourage the police to undertake "knock and talk" raids.

"I'm surprised the Supreme Court would condone this, that if the police hear suspicious noises inside, they can break in. I'm even more surprised that nearly all of them went along," said John Wesley Hall, a criminal defense lawyer in Little Rock, Ark.

In the past, the court has insisted that homes are special preserves. As Alito said, "The 4th Amendment has drawn a firm line at the entrance to the house." One exception to the search warrant rule involves an emergency, such as screams coming from a house. Police may also pursue a fleeing suspect who enters a residence.

The Kentucky case began when police in Lexington sought to arrest a man who had sold crack cocaine to an informer. They followed the man to an apartment building, but lost contact with him. They smelled marijuana coming from one apartment. Though it turned out not to be the apartment of their suspect, they pounded on the door, called, "Police," and heard people moving inside.

At this, the officers announced they were coming in and broke down the door. Instead of the original suspect, they found Hollis King smoking marijuana and arrested him. They also found powder cocaine. King was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The Supreme Court ruled in Kentucky vs. King that the officers' conduct "was entirely lawful," and they were justified in breaking in to prevent the destruction of the evidence.

"When law enforcement officers who are not armed with a warrant knock on a door, they do no more than any private citizen may do," Alito wrote. A resident need not respond, he added. But the sounds of people moving and perhaps toilets being flushed could justify police entering without a warrant.

The ruling was not a final loss for King. The justices said the Kentucky state court should consider again whether police had faced an emergency situation in this case.

--------------------------


Can we just end this farce already? Cannabis doesn't have an LD50 level reachable by humans. Chance of death purely due to the chemicals acting on the body = ZERO.

And yet, it get used as an excuse to take away more and more of our "rights".

Fuck those Supreme Court idiots who made this ruling.

[LMNO]

Drug issues aside, trampling the 4th amendment is COMPLETE BULLSHIT.

[East Coast Hustle]

I don't think you CAN "put the drug issues aside" in this case. Drug issues and this ruling are inextricably linked.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I don't think you CAN "put the drug issues aside" in this case. Drug issues and this ruling are inextricably linked.

Ironic that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written on hemp  

ETA: Correction - Apparently they were not written on hemp and thats just an urban legend...

[Telarus]

http://blogs.computerworld.com/18335/bitcoin_miners_busted_police_confuse_bitcoin_power_usage_for_pot_farm

Bitcoin miners busted? Police confuse bitcoin power usage for pot farm

Bitcoin, one of the world's newest currencies, is an open source, peer-to-peer currency that does not exist in physical form. It's owned and traded by means of an anonymous P2P network, without any third-party intermediary like a payment processor, without any government issuing or tracking the virtual currency. While there is a limit of only 21 million bitcoins to be generated by the year 2140, bitcoin is "free" to generate and is created by "bitcoin miners."

I haven't played around with bitcoin, but Launch called bitcoin peer-to-peer currency "the most dangerous project we've ever seen," suggesting it could "topple governments, destabilize economies and create uncontrollable global bazaars for contraband."

According to Big Think, bitcoin will be a bank for Anonymous. "The hacktivists now have a virtual currency that's untraceable, unhackable, and completely Anonymous."

Wired UK tried to explain how bitcoin miners dedicate their CPU/GPU to generate the virtual currency. "It's generated by Bitcoin 'miners' over time by using CPUs and GPUs to solve a cryptographic problem -- hashing some data against a function. If your computer manages to generate a hash that's numerically lower than a defined value, then you shout it out to the rest of the network, and get to pocket the newly-minted Bitcoins, while also signing a series of transactions and making sure they're legitimate."

One of the issues, other than if governments will try to outlaw bitcoin, is the high amount of electricity needed to create a single bitcoin. It might cost more to generate a bitcoin than the actual value a bitcoin is currently traded at. High electricity bills can lead to marijuana busts. And it is this unusual power consumption needed that caught my attention since it appears as a bitcoin miner has been mistaken as a person running a marijuana growing operation.

Blogger Mike Esspe captured an IRC chat that supports the rumor floating around that at least one bitcoin miner has been arrested.

In regards to if being a miner will bring the cops to your doorstep, according to the Bitcoin Miner, the power consumption will be somewhat like the electric usage for "marijuana grow-op." An example was "The Canadian town of Mission, BC has a bylaw that allows the town's Public Safety Inspection Team to search people's homes for grow ops if they are using more than 93 kWh of electricity per day." There have allegedly been reports floating in IRC of two different cases of police showing up at a bitcoin miner's residence with a search warrant.

Will it become more common to confuse bitcoin miners with weed-growing operations? It is somewhat common for police to monitor unusually high power consumption if a person is a "suspect." For example, as NetworkWorld noted, Ohio police and the DEA file at least 60 subpoenas each month for energy-use records of people suspected of running an indoor pot growing operation. If a stakeout does not uncover anything illegal or point to a "grow house," then utility consumption records can be sought. DEA Agent Anthony Marotta said high electricity usage does not always mean the residence is an indoor pot farm and has surprised federal agents. "We thought it was a major grow operation ... but this guy had some kind of business involving computers. I don't know how many computer servers we found in his home."

It is unclear at this point if more bitcoin miners will have police show up with a warrant on their doorstep after more false positives, mistaking the power consumption to create virtual P2P currency as electricity usage needed to grow weed.

[Kai]

There's a wrong way to use it?  What the hell does that even look like?  Not disputing the god among men comment, though.

Yes, yes there is.

Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the speaker assumes the initial point is true without any backing or evidence.

However, common usage of the term is used synonymously with "to raise the question", which is incorrect.

You used it correctly. 

Note: It would be wise to let continue to worship you as an Internet god.

It's a pet peeve of mine too, darling. Awesome to see someone use it /right/.

[Telarus]

So this isn't directly connected to Teh War on DruGz, but you can totally see the connections (I have a backlog of some recent events that I need to post).

That movement militarized our LOCAL police forces. Now the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION has the authority to serve paramilitary "no knock" warrants on some-one being investigated for FINANCIAL FRAUD. No surprise after the Vet shot in Arizona, right?


Let me repeat. The DoE can now shove a machine gun barrel in your face and hold you face down on you lawn in front of your children. And then "just let you go" 3 hours later, no charges filed, no damaged paid for your broken shit.

http://www.newsherald.com/articles/excessive-94324-force-.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 10, 2011 08:00:00 AM

"Dynamic entries" into private homes by law enforcement SWAT teams have become part and parcel of the government's War on Drugs. But now those tactics appear to have been extended to the war on ... financial aid fraud.

At 6 a.m. Tuesday in Stockton, Calif., about a dozen heavily armed federal agents from the U.S. Department of Education — yes, you read that right — broke down the door of Kenneth Wright's home. They dragged him from the house while he was clad only in his boxer shorts, threw him down on the front lawn and handcuffed him, all while his three children — ages 3, 9 and 11 — watched, crying uncontrollably.

Wright sat in the back of a patrol car for six hours while the agents searched his house. They didn't find what they were looking for — Wright's estranged wife. Wright eventually was released and not charged.

Initial reports indicated the government was pursuing an unpaid student loan. But the Department of Education swiftly moved to quash that story.

No, no, no, officials said, this raid wasn't about something as trivial as that. It was much worse. A search warrant for the home indicated the DOE and its Office of the Inspector General were looking for evidence related to financial aid fraud, conspiracy, theft of government funds, false statements to government agency and wire fraud.

Oh, well, in that case ...

Sorry, no. Unless the feds produce a completely different and valid explanation, this raid was insane.

The alleged crimes were non-violent in nature — white-collar paper violations. If the feds had reason to fear that in addition to the alleged fraud that Wright might be armed and dangerous and engaged in more serious criminal activity, then those offenses should have been the focus and the operation should have been conducted by local police or federal law enforcement.

Why the need to conduct a dawn raid in a home containing young children? Those tactics elevate the risks for everyone involved. There are numerous examples of "dynamic entries" resulting in confused police shooting innocent people, or startled and scared homeowners firing on the officers to protect their property. These kinds of raids should be employed sparingly, only in extreme circumstances where there is a high probability that the suspects will not submit peacefully and where there is a low likelihood of innocents being on the premises.

Using them because officials fear evidence will be destroyed is an insufficient excuse. That could be said for almost any criminal investigation.

An even bigger question is: Why is the Department of Education, through its OIG, conducting these operations?

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 granted law enforcement powers to the DOE and several other federal departments with OIGs, including the authority to use deadly force. Thus, agents of the Small Business Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Railroad Retirement Board (among others) can legally break down your front door and point automatic weapons at you so as to serve a search warrant.

Did we mention that this is insane?

The pursuit of bribery, fraud and embezzlement of federal student aid funds does not warrant paramilitary action. The Stockton raid represents a dangerous and unfounded expansion of federal police power and a threat to individual liberty. Congress should investigate this immediately.

[Telarus]

Ok, Ok... something ON TOPIC.



Mothers who test positive for just cannabinoids have lower rates of infant death than mothers who test positive for other drugs AND mothers who don't test positive for any drugs. This seems to mirror the lung cancer studies which showed that cannabis-only use reduces the chances of lung cancer more than not smoking anything, and that mixed cannabis/tobacco users had lower cancer rates than just-tobacco users.

Mortality Within the First 2 Years in Infants Exposed to Cocaine, Opiate, or Cannabinoid During Gestation
Pediatrics Vol. 100 No. 1 July 1, 1997
    Enrique M. Ostrea Jr, MD*,
    Anthony R. Ostrea, BS*,
    Pippa M. Simpson, PhD

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/100/1/79.short

Conclusion. We conclude that prenatal drug exposure in infants, although associated with a high perinatal morbidity, is not associated with an overall increase in their mortality rate or incidence of SIDS during the first 2 years of life. However, a significantly higher mortality rate was observed among low birth weight infants (≤2500 g) who were positive for both cocaine and opiate.

This is probably because of the anti-inflammatory effects of cannabinoids on the digestive tract. Opiate and Concaine use tend to disrupt functioning in the "lower brain", the Enteric Nervous system, but cannabis is pretty consistently shown to provide neuro-protective and anti-inflammatory effects. This also lines up with the studies done in Jamaca on Rasta mothers using cannabis tea.
-----------------------

Ok, so that's interesting. What else have I got in a tab here....

Ah, here we have the current state of yellow-journalism on the matter -

Why did Bob Marley smoke marijuana/cannabis?
May 11, 2011
http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/23709

The author doesn't even spell "Rasta" correctly, doesn't list sources for any of the claims, and pushes the Gateway/Children rhetoric. Then claims that Bob would be 'disappointed' that all the "non raster kids" (lol, as if only children listen to Bob Marley) are freely smoking herb on his Birthday. Every single comment on the article calls it out on it's half-truths and outright lies... but these articles keep getting written, which means some-bodies pouring money into it.

---------------------------

Of course, it also seems that most of the really interesting "fact finding" research is only done outside of the United States. Not only 'done', but also only Publicized outside of the US:

Cannabinoid Function in the CNS
May 22-27, 2011
Les Diablerets Conference Center
Les Diablerets, Switzerland
http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2011&program=cannab

The Gordon Conference on "Cannabinoid Function in The CNS" in 2011, the fourth in its series, will present the most recent advances on the multitude of physiological and pathophysiological roles of this lipid signalling system in the CNS, and discuss provocative new ideas and hypotheses, helping to integrate endocannabinoid function into other major CNS signalling systems, both in adult physiology and in neural development, as well as in various disease states. The conference will bring together established investigators of various disciplines, such as chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology and genetics, but will also give plenty of opportunities to young investigators and students from around of the world, in order to attract new prospective leaders to this exciting research area. Several poster presenters will be selected for podium presentations, thus giving researchers early in their career the opportunity to present their results to the whole audience. All speakers will be encouraged to discuss unpublished results, thus enhancing the aspects of novelty and cutting edge research. In the opening talk on Sunday evening, Pierre Magistrettí from the EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland, will address the metabolic coupling between glial cells and neurons and discuss plasticity processes regulated by neuron-glia interactions, a topic of great interest for the further understanding of endocannabinoid function in the entire brain. Further topics will include the role of the endocannabinoid system in neurodegenerative disorders, neuroimmune interactions, memory processing, pain, and feeding behaviour, but the meeting will focus also on endocannabinoid interactions with other signalling systems, dietary influences on endocannabinoid signalling, novel techniques for the study of endocannabinoid signalling, novel pharmacological and genetic tools, and studies on non-THC phytocannabinoids. The collegial atmosphere at the conference, with plenty of opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoon, with leisure time and long poster sessions, and in the evening, will promote cross-disciplinary collaborations and likely unify the different disciplines applied to research on cannabinoid function in the CNS.

---------------------

Which is probably one of the big reasons that Jimmy Cater says END THE DRUG WAR NOW, and mentions the Global Commission On Drugs Report:

Call Off the Global Drug War
By JIMMY CARTER
Published: June 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/opinion/17carter.html?_r=1

--------------------
But it seems FaceBook has a problem with the message:

http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/whats-facebooks-problem-with-marijuana-is-safer/

--------------------
Which is odd, because CNN has no problem running a story critical on the current DEA policies:

Organized crime won the war on drugs
By Evan Wood, Special to CNN
June 7, 2011 12:08 p.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/07/wood.failed.war.on.drugs/index.html?hpt=op_t1#0_undefined,0_

--------------------

Everyone reading this thread also should be aware of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. They recently tried to deliver a fact-finding report to the current head of the DEA, Gil Kerlikowske. Good ol Gil wouldn't even be seen in the same room as them (he knows his PR-fu), so he sent down an Aid instead. Poor Aid looks seriously embarrassed at being such an obvious political pawn.

Neill Franklin, head of LEAP on the left. Gil's skittish aide on the rght:


But Gil & Co have decided to "end the War on drugs" by simply changing the rhetoric and not using the word 'War'.

http://www.theroot.com/views/why-wont-obama-end-war-drugs

It's gotten this bad: On Tuesday, representatives of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition sought a hearing with Obama's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, who has refused repeated requests for even a simple sit-down. LEAP includes officers, judges, prosecutors, agents and military officers united in the conclusion that the war on drugs has been a failure, and all they wanted was to put in Kerlikowske's hands their new report on the issue.

Kerlikowske wouldn't even appear, instead sending down a skittish aide. Just look at how the encounter played out in this photo, of LEAP's executive director, Neill Franklin, on the left, with the aide in question. Serious people with a serious concern seek a bit of face time with the administration devoted to change we can believe in, and they get treated as if they're a bunch of 11-year-olds agitating for one more Harry Potter movie.

Kerlikowske has actually claimed that the Obama administration has ended the war on drugs -- but what he means is that they have decided not to call it that. This is mere semantics of the "It depends on what 'is' is" kind. Obama has said, "We have to think more about drugs as a public health problem," but under his watch, punishment for drug possession and use has been funded more highly, while funds for treatment under the Department of Education have been slashed by a third.

It gets worse. Drug arrests during Obama's first year in office were higher than they were in George Bush's first year. There have been about 100 marijuana raids under the Obama administration so far, while during all eight of the Bush years, there were only about 200.

--------------------
I mean, these laws are doing ACTUAL HARM to people not even involved with 'drugs'. This poor woman in Florida was a pagany/hippie bird watcher who burnt some sage for meditative purposes before she'd leave the area. The cops confiscated it, let her go, and then busted her later WHILE AT WORK for 'possession of marijuana'. When it got to trial, it was discovered that the sage smudge stick she had was never even tested in a lab.

Birdwatcher Arrested For Sage In Botched Marijuana Bust
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/05/birdwatcher_arrested_for_sage_in_botched_marijuana.php

​"Our policy is to make sure the evidence is tested at the very least before trial," claimed Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the Broward State Attorney's Office. "Looking back now at this specific police report, it would have been the better practice to test the evidence before filing a formal charge," said Captain Obvious, I mean spokesman Ishoy.

The Police Culture which our current Drug Laws and Rhetoric encourage and reinforce are blindly crushing the freedoms we have.

Even the Governor and Attourney General of Arizona can see this. They have filed suit against Eric Holder (US Attourney General) and goold ol Gil (head of the dEA) in their official capacities. The Claim for Relief in this Federal Lawsuit includes this language:

"Citizens of Arizona and the United States have a right to reasonable certainty with respect to the application of both state and federal law, especially with regard to making medical and business decisions."
...
"Recently, the principles of the Ogden Memo have been systematically modified by a series of letters from U.S. Attorneys, including the letter attached as Exhibit B, which has had a negative effect and created uncertainty as to the application of federal law to state medical marijuana programs, which has harmed the Plaintiffs."

And interestingly enough, the ACLU has jumped in to the suit:
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/05/aclu_to_defend_medical_marijua.php

--------------

Oh, and the Canadian Courts just recently found that the Canadian Drug Control Laws violated their Charter (Constitution), and if not ammended within 90 days would fall TOTALLY VOID:

http://www.iamm.com/lsd.htm#RvMernagh

ATTENTION MEDICINAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES & PATIENTS

By virtue of the Reasons for Judgment of Justice Taliano J.,
http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2011/2011onsc2121/2011onsc2121.html
pronounced, April 11, 2011, in the Supreme Court of Ontario File No.: 1640/09,
[Citation: R. v. Mernagh, 2011 ONSC 2121], (See Disposition below) s. 4 (possession) and s. 7 (Production/Cultivation) under the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations  were declared at "constitutionally invalid and of no force and effect" and  the Declaration of invalidity was "suspended 3 months".

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU?

If by JULY 11, 2011, Parliament has not complied with this judgment, the Medicinal Marijuana Laws will become constitutionally invalid and of no force or effect. It will therefore be lawful for anyone to produce and possess marijuana for medicinal purposes without a Doctors approval on an Application to Health Canada.


AND TAKE NOTICE THAT: If you want a license from Health Canada, and cannot find a Doctor who will prescribe Medicinal Marijuana, simply forward your application to Health Canada upon based upon the references at the conclusion of the case:

[5] This figure would include the patient witness MC whose evidence was presented in the Berin trial. Her request for medical approval of her application to Health Canada was rejected by 7 physicians in British Columbia. (Exhibit 21(i)) [6] The reference to 19 communities would not be accurate because several of the 21 patient witnesses testified that they tried to access marihuana through doctors in several communities. [7] See the affidavit of Jeannine Ritchot Exhibit 17 at p. 6.

EXCERPT FROM: COURT FILE NO.: 1640/09
Read full case here. http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2011/2011onsc2121/2011onsc2121.html

DISPOSITION

[345] For the foregoing reasons, this court declares that:

1. The Marihuana Medical Access Regulations, SOR/2001-226 and the prohibitions against the possession and production of cannabis (marihuana) contained in sections 4 and 7 respectively of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, S.C. 1996, C. 19 are constitutionally invalid and of no force and effect;

2. This declaration of invalidity is suspended for a period of three (3) months;

3. The criminal charge against the applicant is permanently stayed;

4. The applicant is granted a personal exemption to possess and/or produce cannabis (marihuana) during the above noted period of suspension.



·       Health Canada Medicinal Marijuana Forms:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/marihuana/how-comment/applicant-demandeur/index-eng.php

The Canada courts have also assisted in preparing this report on indigenous ritualistic and social use in cultures which immigrate to Canada:

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL USES OF CANNABIS AND THE CANADIAN "MARIJUANA CLASH"
Prepared For The Senate Special Committee On Illegal Drugs
Leah Spicer
Law and Government Division
12 April 2002
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/371/ille/library/Spicer-e.htm

Which definitely reinforces the argument that if Medical Cannabis is approved in a state, then Religious use must be approved as well (US/Canada have similar religious freedom language in the Constitution/Charter).

Does the prohibition of cannabis restrict religious freedom? Marijuana and the First Amendment
http://nugmag.com/2011/06/does-the-prohibition-of-cannabis-restrict-religious-freedom-marijuana-and-the-first-amendment/

At which point I'd like to remind everyone that Roger Christie is still being denied Bail in Hawaii in Federal Court for expressing and practicing his religious beliefs. They've postponed the trail again, but Roger has gotten a new lawyer (the previous one was actively blocking his arguments to the court).

-----------------------
Finally, I'll leave this post with some very very good documents about some recent Science!

Scientists Uncover How CBD Treats MS, Alters Cholesterol Metabolism
http://www.freedomisgreen.com/cbd-in-marijuana-treats-ms-alters-cholesterol-metabolism/

Inhaled Cannabis Beneficial For Fibromyalgia Patients, Study Says
http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/health-and-fitness/24362-inhaled-cannabis-beneficial-for-fibromyalgia-patients-study-says.html

The Endocannabinoid System Controls Key Epileptogenic Circuits in the Hippocampus
http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273%2806%2900546-0

Oh, and remember when the National Cancer Institute (the NCI is a Federal Agency), actually had language on it's website (for a brief moment) declaring that Cannabis had recognized medical value? Remember how fast that got pulled down? Well a recent FOI request has turned up the story behind that:

Documents reveal inter-agency politicking that led to changes to marijuana entry in federal cancer treatment database
http://washingtonindependent.com/110168/documents-reveal-inter-agency-politicking-that-led-to-changes-to-marijuana-entry-in-federal-cancer-treatment-database

As stated on NCI's website, the treatment database is called the Physician Data Query (PDQ); the PDQ entry on marijuana ("cannabis and cannabinoids" are the terms NCI uses) is maintained by the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Editorial Board. The lead reviewer of the marijuana summary statement is CAM board member Donald Abrams, the director of Integrative Oncology at the University of California-San Francisco cancer center.

Abrams is an advocate of the use of marijuana in cancer treatment, and his desire to provide a complete picture of its medical application becomes clear early in the documents. As the CAM board discussed the upcoming PDQ entry back in December, board director Jeffrey White asked for Abrams' approval in including controversial results of an African study that some have claimed links marijuana use to cancer. Abrams came back with:

   

Gee, I would rather not. It flies in the face of all that is known. And it seems far-fetched to have to go to northwestern Africa to find a case control study. Could be a number of confounders! What's wrong with the Tashkin study from LA[?] Or the Kaiser cohort? We could run the article by Tashkin and I will have a look myself, but I would strongly object to adding this and would prefer to delete the whole Cannabis section! I guess I feel pretty strongly about it!

[AFK]

If you are interested in actually debating or discussing these items, it would help if you didn't post so many of them in one post.  If that was your intent.  I know, I know, I'm like the only voice of dissent seemingly, but still.

Anyway, a couple of points.  Gateway isn't rhetoric.  It is a predictable and provable phenomenon in drug use.  It is true, and the article states, that marijuana isn't the ONLY gateway drug, but it certainly is one of them.  This is because of the ease of access. 

As far as children, when you look at adolescence and brain development we are coming to understand more and more that when you disrupt or alter brain chemistry in the crucial periods of development, it can have a very real and irreversible effect.  And of course, as with anything, it isn't 100%.  It isn't destiny.  It doesn't mean that if a kid smokes a joint they are going to ruing their brain.  It does, however, present very real and measurable risks and I, for one, am not about condoning behaviors that pose negative health risks and negative development risks. 

As far as the "War on Drugs", that is old news.  I've brought this up several times in all of our discussions that it is no longer called the "War on Drugs".  But the pro-legalization movement keeps using it as a way to demonize and characterize those who work in substance abuse prevention, which includes law enforcement and the courts. 

I would also point out that you should be very careful about the conclusions you draw from arrest data.  An increase in arrest data can be a result of varying factors.  More arrests can result from a larger police force.  A lot of police departments these days are stretched thin because of thin city budgets.  This certainly dwindles their capacity to enforce laws.  When that capacity is then, increased, you are obviously better able to enforce laws, thus an increase in arrests. 

Increases in arrests can also be the result of more people violating the law.  In the case of drug arrests, we are in a shitty economy right now.  People tend to turn towards escapist vices in tough times such as drugs and alcohol.  This will obviously also contribute to increased arrests.  So it isn't an automatic that just because arrests were higher in year one of Obamas administration than Bush's that it means Obama is being more of a hard-ass on the "War on Drugs".  You have to take the other factors into account, such as the fact the economy under year one of Obama is much shittier than it was under Bush when the federal government had a goddamned surplus. 

[East Coast Hustle]

As far as children, when you look at adolescence and brain development we are coming to understand more and more that when you disrupt or alter brain chemistry in the crucial periods of development, it can have a very real and irreversible effect....and I, for one, am not about condoning behaviors that pose negative health risks and negative development risks.

One quick question:

Do you let your kids watch TV?

[AFK]

My son, no.  My daughter can but is more interested in playing outside and engaging in creative activities like drawing, playing music, etc.