Open Thread

bullet image American Thinker: End the War on Drugs Now – a conservative viewpoint

By any objective measure, the War On Drugs is a disastrous failure. It’s time to end this madness now. […]

What are the results of the War on Drugs?

A million innocent Americans are sitting in prisons right now solely because they’ve been caught storing, buying or using drugs. A million people who haven’t harmed anyone else. Americans prisons are overcrowded as a result.

Taxpayers dollars and limited police resources are being squandered on arresting people who may have harmed themselves but haven’t harmed anyone else, rather than be used chasing truly dangerous criminals.

America’s Southern border is dangerous and de facto governed by drug cartels, which are also present in hundreds of American cities, even NYC, Chicago, Tacoma, and Anchorage.

Drug gangs have high annual incomes, and therefore can afford to buy lethal weapons, bribe officials, and build villas for their leaders. This income is not taxed.

Meanwhile, Americans who want to buy drugs for recreational (or even medical) purposes are forced to buy them from these gangs rather than pharmacies. These drug cartels […]

It’s time to end the War on Drugs. It’s not a conservative policy, its results are dismal, its costly, and it has made America’s drug problem worse, not better.

Many of the commenters there disagree.

[Thanks, Malcolm]

bullet image Every Member of Seattle’s Legislative Delegation Goes on the Record in Favor of Legalizing Pot

Sweet democracy on a stick. As of yesterday evening, every member of Seattle legislative delegation to Olympia—all ten representatives and all five senators from the 34th, 36th, 37th, 43rd, and 46th Districts—had gone on the record to say that they support taxing, regulating, and legalizing marijuana. They join every elected official at City Hall (the mayor, the city attorney, and all nine members of the city council) and King County Executive Dow Constantine. […]

This seems significant, whether we’re the first city or not: It appears that the safest position politically these days—the most mainstream position a politician can take in Seattle—is to replace the War on Pot with a government takeover the entire industry. Quashing the politically toxic drug war is a winning platform. A decade ago, before Seattle voters had deprioritized enforcement of pot possession, most local lawmakers wouldn’t touch this issue with a ten-foot bong.

[Thanks, Tom]

bullet image Germany plans to legalize medical marijuana

Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Tuesday, Health Minister Philipp Roesler said the plan could be carried out by a simple change in the ministry’s policy, and that no change in German law was necessary.

He added that because many other European countries already allow medical cannabis, the process in Germany could go “quickly in comparison.”


bullet image Cannabinoids for Treatment of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain; a Systematic Review of Randomized Trials

Via Paul Armentano, who notes:

Both cannabis inhalation and the administration of cannabinoids are associated with “significant analgesic effects” in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain, according to a systemic review of randomized controlled trials to be published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. [..]

“Overall the quality of trials was excellent,” authors wrote. “Fifteen of the eighteen trials that met inclusion criteria demonstrated a significant analgesic effect of cannabinoid as compared to placebo, several reported significant improvements in sleep. There were no serious adverse effects.”

Researchers noted that all four trials involving inhaled cannabis “found a positive effect with no serious adverse side effects.” They added: “Of special importance is the fact that two of the trials examining smoked cannabis demonstrated a significant analgesic effect in HIV neuropathy, a type of pain that has been notoriously resistant to other treatments normally used for neuropathic pain. In the trial examining cannabis based medicines in rheumatoid arthritis a significant reduction in disease activity was also noted, this is consistent with pre-clinical work demonstrating that cannabinoids are anti-inflammatory.”


bullet image Did you know? The first international symposium on drug-impaired driving will be held in Montreal, Canada, on July 17 and 18, 2011. Source


bullet image Joint statement against the death penalty at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

The death penalty for drug offences is a violation of international law. This is clear. Yet 32 jurisdictions retain this excessive and cruel punishment. The International Harm Reduction Association has identified hundreds of executions annually for drug-related offences but believes that as many as one thousand people may be executed for drug offences each year when states that keep their death penalty statistics a secret are counted.

The justification for this is usually deterrence. This is a faulty argument that has been presented many times over, and for a range of crimes.

While nobody should be executed for any offence, the vast majority of those known to be sentenced to die for drugs are not kingpins or major traffickers. They are carriers. Very often involvement in this aspect of the drug trade is driven by poverty, drug dependence and a lack of options. To kill these people is cruel in the extreme.

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55 Responses to Open Thread

  1. Matthew Meyer says:

    Wow, that “American Thinker” text and context are a trip! The guy who says he’s a “biological Psychiatrist” in Michigan and blames medical marijuana for his young patients getting sicker; the other one who says “we know” that marijuana makes you get Alzheimer’s faster; the several suggestions that draconian treatments of “users” and “dealers” would quickly solve the problem–these and many more features made me feel like I was in Bizarro Land. Guess I’ve been reading Reason too much and expecting to find that spectrum of views more common than it is…

    Hatred for the “user” as an inverted image of proper morality, that was represented aplenty.

    Reading comments like the ones there, I can imagine very scary things happening in this country. Like, the drug war getting worse than it already is!

  2. kaptinemo says:

    To amplify on Matthew Meyer’s observation, it becomes obvious after only a few minutes of reading those comments that the authors of them had entered the wrong forum. It plainly says that it is for thinkers.

    All I read there, comment-wise, was best described as emotional responses coupled with spastically regurgitated propaganda. A sure sign of successful ‘dumbing down’…sadly, publicly demonstrated for all to see.

  3. allan420 says:

    it is sad isn’t it? And of course it’s all the teachers’ fault…

    What is even more scary than that view of the state of mind of wwweb based conservatives is reading opinions like this from our elected reps:

    McCaul: America needs a plan to combat Mexico’s cartels

    Apparent Rep McCaul didn’t get the memo on the ATF sending weapons TO Mexico…

    After more than 35,000 killings in the past five years, increased spillover crime into the U.S. and the killing of Zapata, it is time for America to take decisive steps to end the rampant drug war. The solution goes beyond securing our borders.

    And when he says “end the rampant drug war” I doubt he’s talking legalization…

  4. yang says:

    The comments on that AmericanThinker make me feel paranoid, are those real people or scripted robots or what?

    Regardless, if they allow me to register on that site I’ll try responding to each of their arguments. This sure is tiresome sometimes though…

    • darkcycle says:

      Yang, it’s tiring, but as Malcolm says, you’re not reaching the authors of those comments, you’re reaching other intellegent people who may read through the comment threads. Good on you. I’m still at it, but my disposable time has evaporated.

      • malcolm kyle says:

        Good luck with it guys! Unfortunately, I’m not able to log in; I’ve tried requested a new password, but even that doesn’t work :>(

  5. primus says:

    He stated that crimes dropped by 420% Obviously a humanities major with a minor in stupidity.

  6. Servetus says:

    “Ignorance is king. Many would not prosper by its abdication.“—Walter M. Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959).

  7. uff the fluff says:

    “Ever fight someone on PCP who just dropped their kid in boiling oil? Hmmm, ok, ever get in a shoot out with a meth head who’s decided that the CIA put a radio in his head? Ok, try this, have you ever been standing near a shed when the meth lab explodes and levels a 1/4 of a city block? Well guess what, I HAVE!”

    It would appear that the vicarious experience of urban legends justifies prohibition.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .
      1. Unfortunately by the time I arrived the PCP user had finished cooking the baby and was eating it for dinner.

      2. Don’t be daft. Everyone knows that a tin foil hat will block the CIA’s neural interface devices so you’re obviously making that one up. tin foil not aluminum foil Don’t go posting up the studies that have found aluminum foil ineffective. Why do you think the government made Reynolds stop making tin foil?

      3. We don’t have very much interest in meth on the east coast so I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing a meth lab explode. But if the cop hadn’t given me a ticket for speeding I would have seen a Marinol lab blow up. I missed that by about 3 minutes. Everyone does know that the Marinol production process includes a risk of extreme explosions, right? They don’t even need to be operated or staffed by totally brain addled tweakers to have those labs blow up.

      “Apparently, the basic elements of delta 9 tetra-hydra-cannibidol, marijuana’s primary—though by no means only—active ingredient, are derived from the compounds tempere olivitol and paramenthide (PMD). Norac used to purchase olivitol from Aldrich Labs, but opted to manufacture it themselves in order to save money. Norac also used to acquire its other raw material, PMD, from the German lab Ferminic until frequent explosions caused the company to halt its PMD production. As of 1993, Norac was forced to produce its own PMD as well.”

      http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=215616#ixzz1HqLdeb7s

  8. uff the fluff says:

    “Follow the example of the Chinese Communists in 1948. Drug problem solved forever in just a few weeks.”

    Now that’s some truly moral mass murder. Drug users all deserve to die, except alcohol users (presumably).

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .
      Yeah, they may be self serving, mass murdering, iron fist ruling, propaganda spewing, known liars but they can’t be all bad. They did claim that they did away with (some) drugs practically overnight!

      …and there are people that are stupid enough to take their word for it.

    • allan420 says:

      aye… there’s the rub. The Chinese are not “drug free.” There are still folks there that smoke pot and hash, still smoke opium, still shoot up heroeen… perhaps you might point out that China grows industrial hemp, the oldest ganja stash was found in China… the oldest medical records for using cannabis are from China…

      But, it is true… we are indeed awash in ignorance. But shine away me hearties, turn the lanterns on those dark corners and make the ign’ants squirm.

      For every lie they tell there are at least two truths with which to counter…

  9. uff the fluff says:

    It actually seems that many commentors are willing to embrace reason on these issues, and justice certainly doesn’t require unanimity. There is hope.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .
      It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself. — Thomas Jefferson

  10. vicky vampire says:

    Yes Yang I understand your words are they real people or scripted,it did have an air of artificial to the comments.
    Well another conservative trickles out with article on ending War on drugs yeah they are out there slowly piling up yet not enough momentum yet I guess, to ensure a groundswell yet if ever on very conservative side.

    Wow look whose being a real progressive Germany. are you listening America.Oh maybe Seattle’s listening a bit..Yeah I can hear the sweet sound of Cannabis closer to Normal STATUS a tiny bit there.

  11. Duncan20903 says:

    mommas don’t let your babies grow up to be potheads…

    Willie Nelson’s sentence is a command performance for the judge and a fine of $100. Good news for Willie, but what about the tone-deaf? This isn’t really equal protection under the law we’re seeing happen.
    http://www.celebstoner.com/201103256320/news/drug-bust-news/willie-nelson-to-receive-fine.html

  12. David Marsh says:

    I sit here in awe. This is such a great country. Elsewhere many of the commenter’s at the American Thinker would not have survived childhood because of stupidity. Here they grow up and become conservatives.

  13. Scott says:

    I just posted a comment there (awaiting moderation), that I would like to share with you fwiw (noting such evolving comment is going to be posted a lot more in other places):

    Facts:

    According to our Supreme Court in the public record, the sole constitutional basis for the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the Commerce Clause (“To regulate Commerce, with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;”)

    In 2005 (Gonzales v. Raich), our Supreme Court irrationally interpreted those 16 words to authorize a ban (not regulation) on the free growth, free distribution, and free possession of marijuana, all within a single state.

    Such an irrational interpretation means at some point along legal precedence related to the Commerce Clause, our Supreme Court must have stopped doing their job to just interpret the law, and started engaging in judicial activism at the highest level of the judicial branch. Justice Clarence Thomas, in his dissent, wrote:

    “Respondents Diane Monson and Angel Raich use marijuana that has never been bought or sold, that has never crossed state lines, and that has had no demonstrable effect on the national market for marijuana. If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything–and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.”

    Facts:

    Drug use and drug abuse are different, despite CSA proponents swapping the words use and abuse to their convenience. Even the CSA itself differentiates between the two by saying use has a “high potential for abuse” (noting that claim has no grounding in conclusive science — i.e. experiments proving such high potential without any possible doubt).

    Facts:

    Despite people still using a drug called alcohol, there is no longer any black market violence associated with alcohol distribution, now that Alcohol Prohibition has been repealed. Historical precedence proves the prohibition is to blame for black market violence involving illicit drugs, not the use of those drugs. In other words, CSA proponents are guilty in this regard, not people who use arbitrarily-illegal drugs.

    Fact:

    Every ‘drug abuse ruined a life’ story is also a ‘drug prohibition did not work’ story.

    Fact:

    We do not even have a drug-free prison system.

    Fact:

    We the taxpayers are spending 12 billion dollars annually by the most conservative figure (over 150 billion annually, according to some).

    Fact:

    There has never been a cost/benefit analysis proving the CSA works.

    Facts:

    The drug-czar-proclaimed serious drugged driving problem is grounded in an increase in marijuana testing on the roadside. However, such tests do not necessarily prove impairment, instead producing a positive result even if the user used marijuana a few weeks ago. Imagine having a couple of beers a few weeks ago, getting pulled over and tested for alcohol in your system, and being dragged off to jail for testing positive.

    Fact:

    Treatment, when mentioned by people with a serious financial interest in preventing the repeal of the CSA, is a euphemism. If you are arrested with a small amount of marijuana, you go to a “drug court”, and then it is off to “treatment” you go!

    Fact:

    Despite saying marijuana has no medicinal benefit, the FDA (and even the DEA) support Marinol, which is 100% synthetic THC (the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana).

    Fact:

    There is no conclusive science proving any harm in moderate marijuana use. Perhaps the act of smoking is harmful, but marijuana can be conveniently vaporized to eliminate that harm.

    Fact:

    I have left out a large number of facts for the sake of brevity.

    Fact:

    CSA proponents cannot provide even one sustainable point in their favor. Please read that fact again, until it sinks in.

    Conclusion:

    The CSA is unconstitutional by any rational interpretation of our Constitution.

    The CSA is ineffective, based on no reasonable evidence proving effectiveness.

    The CSA is destructive, based on black market violence, botched drug raids (search “Mayor Calvo”, for example), imprisoning non-violent Americans, and the GAO-reported corruption in law enforcement due to the insane, black-market-inflated profit margin for such drugs.

    The CSA is unwarranted, based on lacking conclusive science (not suggestive or junk science) applying to at least marijuana and even LSD25, and CSA proponent statistics (National Drug Use & Health Survey) consistently show over the past several years that only about 8% of Americans use illicit drugs (92% do not).

    Yes, drugs (legal and otherwise) are abused at times, even to horrifying degrees, noting no statistic puts such abuse in the majority (e.g. dependency rates for all drugs, even heroin at 23%, according to an “above the influence” commissioned study, are in the overwhelming minority).

    Abuse in any form is harmful, of course. That said, American society must accept that liberty as an unalienable right demands avoiding laws created solely to oppose abuse. It is one thing to oppose murder, assault, and theft, since each instance of those acts directly infringes upon another person’s rights (i.e. there is no such thing as ‘murder use’). It is a whole other American-liberty-defeating thing to continue allowing blanket bans or regulations against all ‘use’ in what has proven to be a futile effort to end ‘abuse’.

    For the sake of smaller government (reduced spending), promoting individual responsibility, and upholding the U.S. Constitution and our fundamental rights, the CSA must be repealed now.

    Fact:

    Any Republican opposing such repeal is clearly being hypocritical to the detriment of their party and our nation.

  14. Yage Panther says:

    Sorry, but Germany does not “plan to legalize medical marijuana”. Germany plans to allow SATIVEX for treating MS but no other deseases, at least currently.

    Further, though cannabis plants are re-scheduled in case they are dedicated for the production of so-called “Fertigarzneimitteln” (ready-to-use, fully tested and approved medications for a given desease (like SATIVEX)), using parts of the plants as-is for treating what desease ever is and will remain sanctioned much the same way as recreational use.

  15. Matthew Meyer says:

    Nice ones, Scott. I like: “Fact: I have left out a large number of facts for the sake of brevity.”

  16. Matthew Meyer says:

    Actually, my real fave was “Every drug tragedy story is also a story of prohibition’s failure.”

  17. vicky vampire says:

    Very nice Scott,yeah anything short of making Cannabis Legal like Alcohol is just an insane hypocritical tragedy that it is now with a very long never ending trail of Drug War Victims like Pete has with that flame on the side.

  18. kaptinemo says:

    Related: Finally, a documentary on the human costs of the DrugWar is about to be released.

    This should really ruffle some feathers if it gets wide distribution. People are in a cost cutting mood, and this should hit right where it needs to.

  19. kaptinemo says:

    A YouTube of the documentary’s 14 part Prologue is available starting here.

  20. Duncan20903 says:

    Montana man held harmless by Montana Supreme Court for being mauled by grizzly bear:

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20047178-504083.html

  21. Duncan20903 says:

    Well it seems that the message may be getting through to people, but when you refuse the knock and talk request for a search make sure not to tell the cops you have illegal stuff but it isn’t worth their bother.

    Warning: sophomoric ridiculing of the man’s name rampant in the article linked below:
    http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/03/28/Va-police-make-Cokayne-drug-bust/UPI-78231301335584/

  22. allan420 says:

    OT… oh those mean and nasty sado-moralists… I mean really, wtf…? There does seem to be a faction that feels the dumber we are the better.

    American Thought Police

    Recently William Cronon, a historian who teaches at the University of Wisconsin, decided to weigh in on his state’s political turmoil. He started a blog, “Scholar as Citizen,” devoting his first post to the role of the shadowy American Legislative Exchange Council in pushing hard-line conservative legislation at the state level. Then he published an opinion piece in The Times, suggesting that Wisconsin’s Republican governor has turned his back on the state’s long tradition of “neighborliness, decency and mutual respect.”

    So what was the G.O.P.’s response? A demand for copies of all e-mails sent to or from Mr. Cronon’s university mail account containing any of a wide range of terms, including the word “Republican” and the names of a number of Republican politicians.

    Behind the growing cacophony of Thud!s coming from the crumbling of the drug war wall I also hear a ripping sound. I suspect it’s the fabric of U.S. society as it’s being torn in half… either that or it’s the shredding of the Constitution. Hard to tell, heck, it might even be both.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      Always refer to them as republitards because then they’re clueless that you’re talking about them. Well not on the SF Chronicle website, republitard is a banned “hate” word. Interestingly, demotard is acceptable, or at least it was a couple of weeks ago.

      These automaton censors are weird. Can’t use the word pissant on some websites. Some will kick you for using the word idiot, but imbecile draws no rejection. The major Hawaii paper will never give the OK to an outside link. Sometimes I can talk about the bastard progeny of prohibition in others its the red headed step children of prohibition. Quite a few won’t let me quote Mark Twain and also won’t allow people to quote quite a large number of bible verses because they don’t allow the word damn.

      • Press the option key and a vowel in the word you want to get passed the censorbot. “é î ü will take two key hits. Â¥ and ñ are the only consonants.

        å∫ç∂郩˙î∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†ü√∑≈¥Ω
        abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

  23. Duncan20903 says:

    “Cigarettes a Gateway to Marijuana For Teens, According to Study”

    http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/03/teen_smoking_marijuana.php

    Slowly they’re working their way back, step by step, ever so slowly, but by 2111 they should be able to identify and conclusively prove that breast milk is the gateway drug for everything.

  24. allan420 says:

    Cliff thornton let’s off a volley in the Hartford Courant:

    Today’s guest blogger: Clifford W. Thornton: Ending the drug war will undoubtedly reap benefits

    The recent push to decriminalize, medicalize and legalize drugs, especially marijuana, has picked up steam worldwide. These drug prohibition reform efforts, while motivated by the massive harms caused by prohibition, are incomplete remedies if limited to criminal justice reform. A major aspect of prohibition’s harm is economic, and among the remedies which reform needs to include is financial relief for prohibition’s victims.

    Fortunately, reform offers an opportunity for efforts to relieve damage done by prohibition, without raising taxes.

    There is a comments section, quite busy, Miz Jillian jumped write on it it… as did Duncan, brian b, Neill Franklin (LEAP) and a good time being had by all it seems.

  25. BD says:

    Has anyone heard the most recent This American Life episode about the drug court in Georgia? It’s truly harrowing, but an important story.

    http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/430/very-tough-love

    Also related:

    http://www.thisamericanlife.org/node/4337

  26. vicky vampire says:

    Cigarettes a Gateway to Marijuana silly, Oh I did Love those candy Cigs has a child did that led to my life long obsession with Hot Tamales and now Key Lime Pie. Oh My. follow the Gateway candy trail its truly insidious, we all must have our own Gateway trails HA HA. Yeah read your comments Duncan Risk Takers take risks good one.

  27. DdC says:

    “When I was young and irresponsible,
    I was young and irresponsible.”
    – Texas Gov. George W. Bush

    Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in California:
    An Interview With Steve Kubby
    What is the best model for marijuana legalization in California? Activist Steve Kubby, one of the key players in the legalization of medical marijuana in California, speaks to Cannabis Culture about the “Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012”, his new ballot initiative to legalize pot in the Golden State.

    Judge Offers to Let Willie Nelson Off Drugs Jail Sentence
    US TX: Neville, Simon Daily Mail 29 Mar 2011

    Whoopi Goldberg Smoked ‘Homegrown’ Before Accepting Oscar
    In a newly-released video, Whoopi Goldberg tells interviewers that she smoked marijuana before going on stage at the 1992 Academy Awards and accepting her Oscar for best supporting actress.

    Rapper Rick Ross Charged With Marijuana Possession
    Ross has been arrested in Louisiana on a marijuana possession charge.

  28. DdC says:

    “Pugsley’s First Law of Government: All government programs accomplish the opposite of what they are designed to achieve.”
    – John Pugsley

    Friend says DJ Megatron was going to buy marijuana when murdered
    Mar 28 2011 AP: A friend of slain radio and TV personality DJ Megatron told investigators Monday the two were chatting on the phone as the deejay went out to buy marijuana when the line went dead, likely because he’d been shot.
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/

    Former Mexican President Vicente Fox favors legalizing drug use
    Mar 24 2011
    Vicente Fox: “Yes, I am promoting the legalizing of drug consumption. Mexico has to get out of this trap. The sooner, the better. The cost for Mexico is too much.”

    Colombia Is No Model For Mexico’s Drug War
    US MN: OPED: Tree, Sanho Winona Daily News 28 Mar 2011
    When Washington ramped up its anti-drug efforts through Plan Colombia, more than 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States came through Colombia. A decade later, we get about 97 percent of our cocaine via Colombia.

    Mexico Drug War Displaces 230,000 and Half Find Refuge in the U.S., Says Report
    About 230,000 people have been displaced in Mexico because of drug violence, and about half of them may have taken refuge in the United States, a new report says.

  29. DdC says:

    “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.”
    – Groucho Marx (1895-1977)

    Indian Scientists Foil UK Firm’s Plan to Patent Bhang
    Those who enjoyed a glass or two of bhang in Holi may not have been aware that their favourite drink has just brought Indian scientists some cheer. They have successfully foiled bids to patent medicinal properties of this ancient intoxicant.

    Budding Business
    Mar 28 2011
    Medical marijuana co-ops in Las Vegas (not dispensaries) face legal hurdles.

    A Sensible Approach to Marijuana Legalization
    US WA: OPED: Roffman, Roger Seattle Times 27 Mar 2011
    Proposals to regulate and legalize its use for adults must include careful planning for how children and adolescents, who are more vulnerable to the risks posed by marijuana use, can best be protected.

    Common Sense Law Under Way
    US NJ: Editorial: The Times 28 Mar 2011

  30. DdC says:

    “We have great respect for Canada, and if they start shifting policies with regards to marijuana it simply increases the rumblings in this country that we ought to re-examine our policy.”
    – Asa Hutchinson

    Dozens More L.A. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Ordered Immediately Closed
    Los Angeles city officials have widened their campaign against illegal medical marijuana dispensaries, warning an additional 60 stores that they must shut down immediately.

    San Diego Considers Tougher Rules for Pot Shops
    California’s second largest city is considering regulating its more than 80 medical marijuana clinics caught in a legal cloud that some say has left the dispensaries vulnerable to raids and arrests.

    Drug Screen Plan Needless, Wasteful
    US FL: Editorial: St. Petersburg Times 28 Mar 2011

    Illinois Medical Marijuana Bill Advances

  31. Duncan20903 says:

    The Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill to study medical marijuana. The bill would create an 18-member panel. The panel would advise how to create a medical marijuana program next year and would be made up of doctors, patients, law enforcement officials, and experts on medical marijuana policy.

    Last week, the Senate passed a bill which includes the language of the study, as well as protections for patients.
    http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/state/debating-medical-marijuana-in-maryland

    How did this get voted in? Has even one of the other medical cannabis States bothered with such a study? What makes Maryland think it’s so special? It just makes too much sense.

    BTW California did do so, but it was around 3 years after Prop 215 was passed that the State commissioned the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. There’s some pretty good studies coming out of the CMCR. Last year they published a study on smoking versus vaporization and concluded that vaping is not only preferred by patients but that it’s safe. When we remember that Governor Davis and his stooges decided to commission the CMCR in order to prove that cannabis isn’t a valid medicine we can have some kicks and giggles at their expense. Our beloved John Walters, formerly head of the ONDCP wrote a glowing endorsement. I’ll bet dollars to dirt that he wouldn’t mind being able to take a mulligan on that endorsement.

    “The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research is currently conducting scientific studies to determine the efficacy of marijuana in treating various ailments. Until that research is concluded, however, most of what the public hears from marijuana activists is little more than a compilation of anecdotes.”

    ~ John Walters, Former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy 2002
    http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/

    Prohibitionists just have bad karma with the use of the blue ribbon panels that they ask to prove that cannabis is bad, mmm-kay. When do they figure out that they can’t put together a panel of ethical researchers that will give them the answers they want?

  32. Duncan20903 says:

    .
    .
    In more shocking news released today, our universally admired drug czar, Gil Kerliefries, has announced that he is against legalizing merri wah nah nah. I must say I was not expecting him to buy a new dictionary.

    http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article379055.ece

  33. DdC says:

    Imagine: What If They Had a War on Drugs and Nobody Came?
    The War on Drugs was still just a twinkle in Richard M. Nixon’s evil eye when the great John Lennon released his classic recording called “Imagine.” That was in 1971, and Nixon launched his horribly misconceived attack on recreational drug users the following year as part of the re-election campaign headed by the aptly named Committee to Re-Elect the President ( CREEP ).

    Nixon lied to schedule Ganja #1

    Nixon’s 40 Year War On Drugs… Drugs Won!

    Nixon Lie Keeps on Killing

  34. jhelion says:

    just saw this on faux news –
    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/01/highway-deaths-fall-lowest-level-14/?test=latestnews

    kind of puts a crimp in kerly’s new mantra.

  35. DdC says:

    DEA Expands War On Drugs
    Tony Aroma

    Amid growing concerns over the push for marijuana legalization and the devastation it could wreak on their funding, the DEA has announced that they will be expanding their war on drugs. The war will now target a number of other substances which the DEA believes have not been properly regulated. They will be kicking off this new campaign with the reclassification of insulin as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. Beginning today, April 1, 2011, the production, sale, and possession of insulin will be illegal in the United States.

    According to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, insulin’s FDA approval has been revoked, meaning it no longer has an accepted medical use in the United States. “We were trying to help these people who claim they have a medical need for this drug, but the situation is getting out of control,” Leonhart warned. She went on to explain how it’s become a “wild west show,” with anybody and everybody being able to get the drug and the paraphernalia needed to inject it. “It’s very obvious to me,” she said, “that far too many of these so-called diabetics just want to enjoy a recreational sugar rush.”

    Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske praised the DEA’s new classification of insulin. “I’ve visited several pharmacies and seen some of the ‘patients’ who are there filling their insulin prescriptions,” he said, making the air quotes as he spoke. “They sure didn’t look sick to me.” Kerlikowske went to quote government statistics which show that many insulin addicts are in fact young and “healthy looking,” with many under the age of 18. “How can we stop these kids from using drugs when their parents are buying the drug for them and even teaching them how to inject it?” Knowing they will serve time in jail if caught is the only deterrent that can keep people off this addicting drug, he noted. “Spending some time behind bars will make them think twice the next time they want a fix,” he said with a straight face. The Czar added that this new law is the only way we can be certain that teachers, eye doctors, and airline pilots aren’t shooting up on the job.

    Law enforcement officials from across the nation have come out in support of the DEA’s new agenda. “Drugs are a scourge on our society, and the only solution is to vigorously enforce any law, real or imaginary, that takes drug users off our streets,” said San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. Dumanis used the opportunity to announce a crackdown on all San Diego county pharmacies. Rather than warn them to stop selling the drug in advance of the new law, she is planning a series of raids that will involve local police, area SWAT teams, and masked, heavily-armed DEA agents. “These people are drug dealers plain and simple, and the only thing they understand is extreme force,” she said, following up with a maniacal laugh. In response to Dumanis’ announcement, the private prison industry in California collectively creamed its jeans.

    Addiction counselors and a number of religious groups have also praised the new legislation. Partnership for a Drug Free America spokesperson Denise Fahr Rite could barely contain herself when she heard the news. “Pharmacies are everywhere these days,” she pointed out. “There’s even one right across the street from my daughter’s pre-school. How can I teach my kids that drugs are bad when they see young, healthy-looking people come and go all day with their bags of drugs and needles?” The rehab industry was also very positive about the new law. Industry spokesman Jebediah Deadwood pointed out that, although treating insulin addiction has not been very profitable in the past, they are very optimistic about the future. “We are planning a major expansion to help this new class of criminal addict kick their habits, “ he said. “As long as they are insured, we will spare no expense to get them drug free.” Stock in a number of private prison and rehab corporations rose sharply on the DEA’s announcement.

    Happy April 1st!

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