Heard in Congress

Yes, that Congress… (via Jacob Sullum and Raw Story)

“How many people die from marijuana overdoses every year?” Connolly asked.

“I don’t know that I know. It is very rare,” Botticelli replied.

“Very rare. Now just contrast that with prescription drugs, unintentional deaths from prescription drugs, one American dies every 19 minutes,” Connolly said. “Nothing comparable to marijuana. Is that correct?”

Botticelli admitted that was true.

“Alcohol—hundreds of thousands of people die every year from alcohol-related deaths: automobile [accidents], liver disease, esophageal cancer, blood poisoning,” Connolly continued. “Is that incorrect?”

But Botticelli refused to answer. Guessing where the line of questioning was headed, he said the “totality of harm” associated with marijuana indicated it was a dangerous drug, even though it was not associated with deaths.

“I guess I’m sticking with the president—the head of your administration—who is making a different point,” Connolly fired back. “He is making a point that is empirically true. That isn’t a normative statement, that marijuana is good or bad, but he was contrasting it with alcohol and empirically he is correct, is he not?”

Botticelli again tried to dodge the question, but Connolly interrupted him and told him to answer.

“Is it not a scientific fact that there is nothing comparable with marijuana?” Connolly asked. “And I’m not saying it is good or bad, but when we look at deaths and illnesses, alcohol, other hard drugs are certainly—even prescription drugs—are a threat to public health in a way that just isolated marijuana is not. Isn’t that a scientific fact? Or do you dispute that fact?”

“I don’t dispute that fact,” Botticelli said.

Thud.

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116 Responses to Heard in Congress

  1. darkcycle says:

    Damn fine bit of questioning on the part of that congress critter.

  2. Howard says:

    Oregon whale disposal (snippage from Snopes.com);

    ———————————

    The Oregon Highway Division’s 1970 attempt to blow up a beached whale lives on a quarter-century later.

    “My insurance company is never going to believe this,” said Springfield, Ore., businessman Walter Umenhofer as he surveyed the crushed remains of his big Buick.

    A 3-foot by 5-foot piece of foul-smelling, rotting whale blubber had moments before soared a quarter-mile through the air, arching gracefully over a crowd of spectators perched on the sand dunes overlooking the Pacific Ocean, only to totally crush the top of Umenhofer’s car.

    ————————

    Dear prohibitionists, you are Umenhofer’s car. We are sending our own versions of “3-foot by 5-foot piece(s) of foul-smelling, rotting whale blubber” in your direction, unrelentingly. We’re sure you’ll wear them well. And you’ll like the sound as they hit. Cheerio.

  3. Shepherd says:

    The ONLY thing dangerous about marijuana are the cops that shoot people for having it:

    Number of American deaths per year that result directly or primarily from the following selected causes nationwide, according to World Almanacs, Life Insurance Actuarial (death) Rates, and the last 20 years of U.S. Surgeon Generals’ reports.

    TOBACCO – 340,000 to 450,000

    ALCOHOL (Not including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders) – 150,000+

    ASPIRIN (Including deliberate overdose) – 180 to 1,000+

    CAFFEINE (From stress, ulcers, and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.) – 1,000 to 10,000

    “LEGAL” DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol – e.g. Valium/alcohol – 14,000 to 27,000

    ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSE – (Deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs – 3,800 to 5,200

    MARIJUANA – 0

    (Marijuana users also have the same or lower incidence of murders and highway deaths and accidents than the general non-marijuana using population as a whole. Cancer Study, UCLA; U.S. Funded ($6 million), First & Second Jamaican Studies, 1968 to 1974; Costa Rican Studies, 1980 to 1982; et al. LOWEST TOXICITY 100% of the studies done at dozens of American universities and research facilities show pot toxicity does not exist. Medical history does not record anyone dying from an overdose of marijuana (UCLA, Harvard, Temple, etc.)

  4. Paul McClancy says:

    I believe at around 9:15 on the Raw Story vid, Botticelli almost says “third way”.

    • jean valjean says:

      several mentions of smart approaches. sabets finger prints are all over this guy.

    • B. Snow says:

      Yep, except he switched to the President’s -signature- “balanced approach” line. He said everything except “Third Way”… he said “another way”, then went to “we need a smarter approach”, he sure knew the updated talking points.

      And simultaneously -claims- to knew nothing of why & how, those talking points are currently phrased the way they are, which I can only see as disingenuous at best.

      I find it absolutely unbelievable that he was coached on how to dodge questions to this (semi-competent) level – enough so that he could deny the blatantly obvious, but not know why/(how) he was doing it.

      And, He might have been able to pull off this crap, “if it weren’t for those meddling kids…” (think Scooby-Doo)
      Except, that instead of ‘Scooby & Friends’ – it was the 3 notable Congressmen = Cohen, Connolly, & Blumenauer – who shut down this ‘Deputy’ ONDCP bullshit-machine operator.
      Fortunately – they’re much more knowledgeable than their predecessors, regarding the subject they’re discussing… And, they’re willing to admit it!
      Who would’ve ever thought we’d see that level of intellectual competence & political bravery – simultaneously, in three separate Congressmen?

      I wasn’t holding my breath, But – I am grateful that they spoke up about it.

      • kaptinemo says:

        As you mentioned, and, as have I, it would seem that there is a high degree of collusion between the ONDCP and Kevvie’s organization. It shows in the language…and the pattern of evasions. ‘The fruit falls not far from the tree’. Particularly the poison fruit of prohibition.

        Perhaps Congressman Blumenaur’s office might want to do an in-depth investigation regarding whether public funds have been ‘granted’ by ONDCP to Kevvie’s operation. For Kevvie’s modus operandi is propaganda. And nobody likes to be BSed, especially if they have to (involuntarily) pay for it with their taxes.

        • Windy says:

          Our taxes have been used to spread propaganda to Americans for a quite a long time, and congress recently made it legal.

        • kaptinemo says:

          ‘Legal’ or not, it becomes evident to any who follow this issue that that propagandizing is taking place…and is as unwelcome as ever.

          This is something that is very common with authoritarians: the tendency to ‘send messages’ with the assumption the communication is all one-way; theirs. And that they don’t need to listen; they’re the ‘authorities’, don’t you know?

          Which is why so many younger voters are turned off about their precious DrugWar. It’s evident what is happening, as these newly minted voters, having had a bellyful of this while being forced to undergo the ‘education camp’ called public schooling, had nothing but that every day of their lives since kindergarten.

          They know it for what it is, and reject it almost instinctively. And now that they’re voters, they resent being treated like that again.

          So, they’ve begun sending messages of their own. WA and CO were the headers; the body of the message is forthcoming. And, of course, the prohibs continue to be stuck in the past, and refuse to acknowledge they’ve made a BIG mistake in lying to them. Too late: the ‘children’ they keep shedding big, fat crocodile tears about have grown up, and can pull voting levers.

          And if the prohibs refuse the get the message, those voting levers may be pulled in the future resulting in even more drastic measures, like cutting police budgets in favor of school lunches, textbooks, etc.

          My Irish Mum, who still spoke some Gaelic, taught me an old Irish saying when I was little: “Coimhead fearg fhear na foighde!” (“Beware the fury of the patient man!”).

          We’ve been patient long enough with this insanity of a DrugWar, and if the pols don’t end it, we will…as well as end the careers of those pols who supported it.

  5. kaptinemo says:

    The smarter pols have gotten the message…finally.

    I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Once the smarter pols figured that a generational tsunami was heading their way, they wisely chose to surf it rather than be crushed by it.

    The ‘developmentally challenged’ ones won’t until it’s too late…and Botticelli will have plenty of company in the political hurt locker.

    • free radical says:

      I totally agree with you, but incidentally, tsunamis cannot be surfed. They don’t form a clean wall like a wave, but a rushing front of whitewater and debris. Just sayin’.

  6. allan says:

    thud indeed…

    … looks like that golden egg laying goose might get cooked after all.

    And this was in the… uh… US Congress? C’mon… April 1st is 2 months away. Did somebody spike the oatmeal? Duncan…

    When Pete lays down a thud, it echoes!

  7. claygooding says:

    Nontoxic is nontoxic,,adding nontoxic + nontoxic = nontoxic unless you use “new” math that they started teaching in the late 60’s that taught us that to -6 apples + -6 apples +12 = +apples,,,and just like finding a death caused from cannabis use by adding -zero deaths plus -zero deaths still ends up zero deaths even with a plus in front of zero,,and I know me and everyone I was in school with are still looking for those 12 friggin apples just like the government is wasting their time trying find +deaths from cannabis use,,,that is how I see it Vern.

  8. DdC says:

    Thud? Oh today groovy juvi senior Americans used the grown up toilet instead of the potty… yeah! Good job. An adult finally admitted we could do it. yeah! We haven’t been making it up all these decades eh? So for one trillion dollars the most powerful nation in human history admits to what stoners have been saying for 40 years. No actual stoners were present today, but an adult finally admitted us citizen tokers treated like children may not be lying after all. Holy underwear! What should we do now says Botticelli? We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!

    Howzabout Two Hits and i was Turned Into a Bat?
    or @WebMD:
    Fatal Car Crashes Involving Pot Use Have Tripled in U.S.
    SOURCES: Jan Withers, national president, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

    Reefer MADDness strikes 1 in 17 families, leading to paranoia, gossip and eventual insanity. Check the facts. Don’t try to live in a world of make believe.
    Drugwar Lies Linked to Schizophrenia

    Project SCAM
    http://i58.tinypic.com/2uh7pz7.jpg

    Let’s cage the liars!

  9. Servetus says:

    No place left to hide. Thud is how it ends. When the scam and its methods are ultimately revealed to its victims, the scam simply doesn’t work anymore.

  10. pfroehlich2004 says:

    Connolly was not a co-sponsor of HR 2306 (the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act). It certainly looks like he’s come around.

  11. C.E. says:

    “I don’t know that I know.”

    You lying sack of s***.

    Was he under oath when he said that?

  12. Atomish says:

    Now was THAT so hard? Slowly, but more rapidly, their hypocrisy is peeled back like so many layers of a really foul, stinky onion and I can’t tell if it’s tears of joy at watching them have to eat the same BS they’ve been shoving down the throats of the American public for decades or if it’s just that awful stench in the room.

    Probably a little of both!

  13. claygooding says:

    My post was not to criticism or deny that clover honey hash oil exists,,it was to help people understand,,we need to quit posting any myths ourselves because when someone posts a myth like seeded marijuana hash oil or a low THC strain hash oil is weaker or stronger,,or any hash oil is better than any other hash oil is a myth,a myth that allows prohibitches claiming there is no way to standardize dosages of marijuana medicine,,not true if hash oil is used as the starting point and not the finish.

    If you use 4% THC seeded marijuana the hash oil produced is just as strong as the hash oil produced from a 24% sensimelia hash oil,,because the hash oil,if produced using a standardized technique and stripping agent any hash oil produced will always be the same strength but a 24% cannabis strain will produce 6 times as much hash oil,,the high THC or the high CB D’s hash oils.

    The high THC plants you grow take up the same space,take just as long to grow and use the same nutrients to produce maximum THC levels in the plants,,if you want to produce the maximum quantity of medicine for your grow dollars it is foolish to try and regulate THC levels of legal marijuana,,you can still produce the same strength medicine you just have to grow more to produce enough medicine for the market demands,,if an efficiency expert studied the policy of regulating THC levels he would tell us the maximum THC plants will produce more medicine equals more medicine with less resources used to produce it.

    The reason doctors used hash oil as their starting point was they could import any hash oil,,put 1>2>3>etc tablespoons of hash oil in any sized bottle and then fill with alcohol write the inter mix ratio and continuously produce the same strength and dosages for the
    dosage required by the patient and easily adjust the tincture,,meaning edibles made from hash oil and even cannabutter can be made the same way every time,you just need to know the THC level of the marijuana you are making cannabutter from to know how much butter to use to make a standardized maximum strength and dosage for the health issue you are treating everyone produces the maximum strength cannabutter the desired amount needed for each person can be “cut to proper dosage “with butter,,same for any oil has a known saturation,,put he mixture formula used and prepare the same strength medicine every time,,standardization that can be used around the world.
    We just need to know exactly what the saturation point is for cannabutter,,and I don’t have access to test the left overs to see if maximum has been achieved,,it may result in cannabutter that doesn’t taste good on a cracker full strength but tasting bad could convince a lot of str8s that cannabis is medicine because it tastes bad.

    That is why I keep asking medical marijuana dispensary workers,medicine producers what the maximum amount of THC one stick of butter can absorb,,if every medical marijuana produces maximum strength cannabutter every time you can cut it with more butter to reach desired desired dosage consistently,,standardized dosage achieved…

    PS: I did not read this somewhere and it is my theory of how to “standardize medical marijuana” but if I never make a dollar more than the three $100 checks from WeedMaps for being the news moderator,the first legal marijuana money I ever made from marijuana and no LE could kick my door in for it,,I have a copy of the first check framed and when anyone comes over it becomes my PHD in my opinion,,a better than any university’s.

    This is how I really figured this out,,if anyone here remembers my story about smoking marijuana with an old man in DC that bought hash oil tinctures when sold in every store and apothecary he had said the blue capped tinctures and never never the red cap..I asked him why,, and he said the redcap was for heavy pain and just put you to sleep.

    My memory processes operate off a sketch pad instead of a camera,,the old hard drive opened the right file,,I was arguing with a prohbiter about the uncontrollable dosage levels and I told him when researcher’s are allowed to find a way to control dosages the industry could be standardized that was 10 or 12 days ago,,I woke up this am remembering that old man and most of our conversation and still did not connect the red cap and the blue caps had controlled dosage for different health issues,, standardized dosages using a known strength and making exactly over and over again,,because hash oil is hash oil.,,that and the claim by a scared of hemp prohib that said,,”even industrial low level THC industrial hemp can produce hash oil,,some advocate sat down and figured it would take a truckload to produce a fluid oz of hash oil,,the same strength hash oil uncut sold in dispensaries where allowed.

    I was sitting on my best thinking chair and when I turned to flush,,all the dots connected this am and here it is,,to be peer reviewed by experts,,get to researching and find any faulty methodology or facts,,,,steal it if correct and get it out there so the patent G& w won’t be able yo enforce patent infringement if we start doing it before Sativex is approved in the US,,if only a few do it,,they will come after them,,Having the entire MMJ industry would be as expensive as funding the drug war.

    • claygooding says:

      Some dispensaries are probably doing it now,,like the infused sodas and keeping it secret instead of spreading the knowledge and protecting what they consider “trade secrets”

      They consider making money more important than setting a standard dosage and taking one more myth busted and gaining acceptance from fence sitters,,,

      The constant maximum strength cannabutter ,,not sure if anyone,,maybe the guy with the legal MMJ warehouse grow that doesn’t sell buds,,only cannabutter and edibles,,but if so he isn’t revealing what the saturation THC is for the same reason dispensaries are,,keeping a trade secret
      secret and hampering industry wide standardization.

    • I don’t know what the saturation point is but I do know that the maximum strength of the butter is dependent on the fat content – higher the fat content, the stronger the butter can be.

      • claygooding says:

        True,,that is why it would have to be standardized,,the same butter could be used,,say Bordens or even Walmart,,they are both nationwide,,everyone would be on the same page with adjusted boiling times for elevation and would be required to have state health inspectors doing random inspections just like every other food producer allowed to sell to the public with randomUSDA inspections once a year or more if the state agency reports a set number of offenses..
        Until we are regulated like other food producers have USDA
        inspectors it is foolish to try and lobby for exceptions for MMJ or recreational, MMJ especially will be required to have to follow federal regulations on food quality and purity laws,,which we know that are just another way of having another bureaucracy and we can fight any “special inspection programs when it is removed from the CSA if they take it off Schedule 1 and the DEA doesn’t control the science,,which we all know will be the results of the loss of that control,,proven by how scared they are about even talking about it.,,uniform regulations will be required at the federal level,,and we can lobby for regulations being restricted to federal levels if say Texas or wants to keep hash oil banned or hash,,TX is Class A felony regardless of any amount of hash and OK is almost a guaranteed a 99 year sentence with no parole.
        TMK,the only reason states can use a death sentence is the feds have death sentences,,if the feds drop the death sentence states can choose to use less sentencing policies but not more excessive,,allowed now because of the damn Schedule 1 classification which allows states to control their states sentencing on any drug law that is on the substance on S-1,,,,TMK,not being familiar with exactly why the vast discrepancy in sentencing for marijuana laws at the state level.
        If anyone has studied that situation a little help clarify the why would be nice,,

        “Give us some heat mon,,bring us some heat over here mon” !!!

        • Windy says:

          Borden’s is not nationwide, not sold in my area. Besides the only butter I will use is from Tillamook — no antibiotics or BGH given to their milch cows, same for Darigold, but Tillamook butter tastes better. I also stick to Tillamook for ice cream and Yogurt (again better flavor in yogurt and Darigold ice cream no longer sold in my area’s stores, don’t know why, but Tillamook is better for both flavor and texture than any other ice cream including ones like Ben and Jerry’s). I use Darigold milk, sour cream, half and half and whipping cream because Tillamook is not available in those items (except for sour cream but Tillamook’s containers are too small for how much we use) at the stores near my home. I’ve been picky about my dairy products since I was a child, in a blind taste test I can tell you which whole milk comes from Jersey cows and which from other breeds (Jersey cows produce more cream in ratio to volume of milk and I can taste that extra cream in whole milk — I don’t like whole milk at all and all Jersey milk even less, I’m a 1% milk girl except in Kahlua where I prefer half and half, and in general I prefer milk from Holsteins). Wow, didn’t mean to write an essay.

        • Freeman says:

          Windy,

          When I was growing up we had a very small farm for a few years. Our milk cow was a Guernsey. Her milk was about 1/3 cream, and she gave about 5 gallons per day. We’d skim a bit and then, every time we poured some we had to stir it good.

          We made lotsa AWESOME home-made ice cream in those days. The neighbor’s wild blackberries made the best! I can still taste it!

          I got used to drinking rich milk — much richer than the “whole” milk you buy in the store. To this day I can’t drink anything but whole milk — everything else tastes like water.

        • War Vet says:

          In OK, hash making is the same thing as manufacturing meth, but with just a different drug (according to the law) . . . the law believes hash is not natural and is cooked like meth.

          Feel free to support Connie Johnson and write to those bastards in behalf of her bill for legalization. The race is on: Texas or Oklahoma for first legal weed. I’ll wager a gram of blue dream Clay.

        • claygooding says:

          Wendy the butter produced from the Jersey porvides the richest milk,,they do not provide the most milk,,Holsteins do and is what 90% of dairies use,,volume production,,specialty dairies that milk goats and Jerseys and Guernseys a crossbreed Jersey that produces the most calciumIIRC,,if my 4H memory from about 10>11 yrs old,,my sketch pad memory hasn’t opened the right file yet to remember the other breed used,,

    • NorCalNative says:

      Clay, I’m not sure I buy the idea that all hash oil is the same strength no matter what the starting material is, if that’s what you’re saying.

      I’m no expert in this arena, just an observation from what one of my local dispensary “OrganiCann” lists on their concentrated products.

      Check out the Santa Rosa, CA, Organicann website and look for yourself. I’ve seen quite a variation, from low 40’s THC up to almost double that.

      What I do know is that using hash oil (full extract cannabis oil aka Rick Simpson Oil) both orally and other hash oils and waxes with a vaporizer has improved my health and well-being significantly.

      Hash oil is god’s gift to mankind! Enjoy and take care.

      • claygooding says:

        MY reasoning is based on a the fact that if you only strip off the thc and other cannabinoids every time and evaporated or boiled off all thestripping agent what is laying on the pyrex dish should be as close to pure thc and cannabinoids as we can get,,tmk,,however if you “cut” your straight HO with a carrier fluid by one tbls the resulting tincture will remain constant,,are you looking at just straight HO levels or the products they are making from HO and if you happened to discover hash oils produced the same way always produced the same pure THC ,,would you perhaps change up the numbers to protect a trade secret,,has anyone ever tested their claimed thc/cbd levels of all their pure HOs?,,the reason I ask,,apparently even though the doctors in 1942 knew they could label their tinctures and sell them with different colored caps and from what i remembered of my conversation,,the blue cap meant they were successfully making and continuously making medicines with informed or practiced techniques that were designated party or pain/sleep and every health issue they used cannabis for,,if they could do it we can,,since they were buying hash oil from suppliers all over the world and controlling dosages without any of the “science” and discoveries we try to form our opinions on,they had “controlled dosages,,how?

        • claygooding says:

          They had 150 patent medicines sold in the apothecaries but I bet the general storrs carried the blue/red caps to conserve shelf space,,,

        • claygooding says:

          PS,,even if they didn’t know hat thc is they still knew Indica produced more hash oil because the only deciding factor was the most oil for the dollar.

        • NorCalNative says:

          Clay, here’s the numbers I’m getting from my dispensary on my current batch of full extract cannabis oil.

          THC% = 54.4%
          CBD% = 2.2%
          THCV = 0.7%
          CBN = 1.1%
          CBG = 2.2%
          CBC = 1.8%

          Does this help? Their oil is produced from Indica plants.

          I suggest directing your inquiry to the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. They have a contact e-mail and might be able to answer your questions. They don’t have any direct financial ties to a dispensary to the best of my knowledge.

          Good luck.

        • claygooding says:

          can you call several other dispensaries for the price of
          just their THC hash oil and what stripping agent was used?

          Checking the others will requre knowing the best strippng agent ahd I don’t even know or desire to learn,,that is research for the time I can grow enough to make the extractions myself.

  14. strayan says:

    I just watched the whole thing on c-span: http://www.c-span.org/video/?317590-1/317590-1

    I actually started to cry with joy.

    • Crut says:

      From that video:

      Rep. Blumenauer gives Botticelli a chance to answer a simple question, he doesn’t. That was a mistake that led into a Full Metal Jacket beatdown.

    • claygooding says:

      I did too,,until Bonehead took the oath to not lie,,I knew we were fucked His entire initial speech was full of ONDCP double speak and outright lies.
      For the last three years we have had committees acting all worked up over the cost of the WOD from the Judicial committee,the GOA report that although the ONDCP has talked about a “turd way” now for 3>4 years the GOA reported they had not been successful in establishing the necessary framework(not enough rehab centers to do it in any major city or state to enact rehab instead of prison) which means if Congress adopts to change over,,until your state has those rehab centers enough to take care if their entire state,,they will continue sending marijuana criminals in their state to prison,,and rehab costs will be even more expensive than prison because it will allow states to send the indigents and poor through rehab will be a lot more marijuana users to rehab instead of a few hundred dollars now could decide to go to the rehab plan because the politicos,,with legal insider trading and the rich will be the “rehab industry soaking up tax dollars on another plan to buy state legislators just like they bought LE support,,if they can buy state government’s legislatures,,any state without a ballot initiative will never get a legislated decriminalization or legalization bill out of committee,just like we can’t get reform debated on the floor of Congress even now,,despite any of the Committees acting like there is change in the air,,not one debate,,all are still “in committee” and reform at the federal level is still just smoke and mirrors with the only reform law they passed was to ease the prison population and now they will start pushing the turd way before Election campaigns in place and locked in so even if we vote out the prohibition supporters they will have the new reform supporters in Congress,even some of the new reform will be bought and paid for by the people that really run our government.

    • claygooding says:

      And another drug war propaganda hearing behind us like the last three,,angry legislators cross examining ONDCP

      ACT I
      All committee members including Chair are appalled by racial disparity and law enforcement applications along arrests of more minorities without admitting WOD is WOPoverty.

      If anyone ever counts public defender convicts and paid lawyer inmates the truth is exposed.

      Act II.
      ONDCP swears to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me god,,I think,,had bullshit meter set too high,,immediately launches a 5 minute ONDCP double talking,statistic skewing false concerns options that won’t change anything and no promise of any reduction in flow of drugs,use or availability for children to buy better weed than I can.

      Closes with overdose of double talk that destroyed my bullshit meter by implying more funding needed for more programs start up,,if “turd way” policy is enacted that will allow new grants to buy more support in state legislatures(see http://us-government…rcement-grants/) to become more active in moving towards turd way by building the rehab centers that major investors refuse to do,,states accept grants and become the newest WOD profiteers,,and could cause some states to increase penalties so they can get on the turd way lottery ,,especially in states without voters initiatives.

      Act III
      Question from enraged legislators and legislators joining the hearing,,one wanting to pursue turd way policy,,very good questions and concerns,,answered with logic so twisted that even the ONDCP didn’t believe his own words,,and nobody on the committee either.
      Act IV
      Closing statement was regretting that DEA and DOJ weren’t in attendance but DOJ was still preparing report to congress and I missed why Michelle was under the weather with all that seized top grade MMJ and a bottle of Sinola coke to chase it with,,notice no mention of the latest latest alleged dancing with the devil for 12 years

      BEST news is the POSSIBLE release of WOSD prisoners,,punished to harshly,,expect millions of request from every marijuana prisoner and requests for expunging peoples arrest records for low level marijuana crimes in every state,,should be a flood hit the agency involved in every state Monday

      Best new term: schizophrenic drug policy,,WOW,,I will use WOD a lot less.

      Results so far from every hearing so far:Minimum sentencing reduced to slow prison prison population growth(no money to build more prisons),DOJ reveals possible releases of schizophrenic drug policy political prisoners(show of compassion to cover reducing the prison populations without changing any laws or softening stance and continuing bounty money grants law enforcement receives to prosecute and arrest us).
      New plan to build a relief valve to keep prison population full and keep them within legal capacity levels and avoid this situation ever again.

      Call from warden to AG,,Need 10 more inmates for empty beds,,AG calls district judges in big cities and requests 2 from each cities poor neighborhoods,DA look at docket and search for which two marijuana criminals fill the order and due to judicial prerogative of rehab paid for by insurance or Medicare any one that has neither has a free lottery ticket

      Results:
      A well oiled self feeding slave work force,,welcome to prohibition paid for by the richest for a few million dollars buying committee members that could possibly effect the smooth operation and WE pay foot bill to fund continued prohibition of HEMP and marijuana that will continue as long as our government can drive a wedge between hemp supporters ///MMJ ///legalizers ///legalizers ///hemp supporters,,divided we fall.

      Solution,,,,,,vote out reefer madness infected :
      state governors,legislators,judges,mayors,prosecutors,sheriffs,city managers,council members,dog catchers,and anyone you can’t vote out start petitions for their recall that supports the schizophrenic drug policy ,,and a 4;20 party at every state capitol and Obama’s house for those that want choom with him,,,that is how I see it Vern.

  15. I was listening to Botticelli at Raw Story and the refrain about marijuana harm always comes from the ONDCP about adolescents and children. Why? They have not kept marijuana from children during the last 80 years. How do they think half the country has gotten into the condition of having tried marijuana at one time or another? Legal states propose asking children for ID so it can’t be sold to them. The ONDCP points are so vapid that I can’t believe a blind man can’t see through it. States are not legalizing marijuana for children. BUT…on the other hand, the best propaganda is the simplest. Dumb, but simple. What a deceptive bunch of double talkers our government has become.

    • DdC says:

      “All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it.”
      Benito Mussolini

      Just Say No…

      • DdC says:

        Incremental Retardation Blues.
        How to make something as pure as Hemp sound like shit.

        Farm Bill Passes with Deep cuts to Food Stamps and Family farms.

        HEMP RESEARCH

        With marijuana laws loosening, supporters of industrial hemp saw an opening and pushed through a provision that allows colleges and state agencies to grow and conduct research on the crop in the nine states where it is legal. Kentucky is among them and Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, was a big backer of the provision. Industrial hemp, which can be used to make clothing, food, building materials and a number of other products, has low levels of the chemical that gets people high. Growing or using it is illegal under federal law.

        I apologize because I didn’t look hard enough, until now. I didn’t look far enough. I didn’t review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency. Not because of sound science, but because of its absence, marijuana was classified as a schedule 1 substance.
        Why I changed my mind on weed By Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
        Neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical reporter,
        Obama’s first choice as surgeon general,

        And the bewildered herd is still believing
        Everything we’ve been told from our birth
        Hell they won’t lie to me
        Not on my own damn TV
        But how much is a liar’s word worth
        And whatever happened to peace on earth
        ~ Willie Nelson

        Tell Congress: We Need Jobs, Not Cuts, Got Hemp?

        Here’s your research. globalhemp or dashhemp or drbronner

        More research so you can find out if does what is already being sold because it does? What do we pay these chumps, oats and carrots? Ditchweed Canvas and Burlap provide most of the eradication statistics. Cage sick people for illegal remedies. Stall, lie, intimidate, threaten, gossip, kill, forfeiture, confiscate, probe, lie, stall, divert, squirm, run, hide, retreat back into the darkness whence you came,

        Step 1 Remove it as a controlled substance.

        Step 2. Get the fuck out of the way.

      • One might question if the ONDCP stands for – The Office Of National Drug Control Propaganda

        • allan says:

          howz ’bout:

          ONDCP = Orifice of National Drug Cartel Propaganda

        • tinma says:

          How bout this.

          Outrageous Nonsense Denying Citizens Peace

        • claygooding says:

          needs to be changed:

          ONDCSP cause the chair,a Republican said it and too many people laughed waiting on Jon Stewart and every other TV comedian to start tearing drug policy apart every show until it ends now instead of every other day,,send twice as many letters,,read to EVERYBODY

        • DdC says:

          OiNkDeCePtions

          Obama’s Narko DeCePtions

          Obama’s Neocon DeCePtions

          Obama’s New Deal, Cannabis Pharmaceuticals

          Old Nutjobs Deciding Cannabis Policy

          Old Nasty Drug Cop Perverts

    • Howard says:

      Regarding the children;

      Mindless bureaucrat #1: “We need to pretend we’re keeping marijuana illegal to protect the children”.

      Mindless bureaucrat #2: “Sounds good. But what do we do when those children grow up and become adults and realize we’ve been lying to them. And they decide to use marijuana?”

      Mindless bureaucrat #1: “We arrest them and seize their property and cause them general mayhem.”

      Mindless bureaucrat #2: “We justify this how?”

      Mindless bureaucrat #1: “We tell them we’re doing it to protect THEIR children.”

      Mindless bureaucrat #2: “Thoroughly mindless and twisted. I like it.”

  16. Pingback: Heard in Congress... Thud. - YaHooka Forums

  17. Nunavut Tripper says:

    Kevin is back in action trying to explain that CBD is good if you buy it from big pharma but not in plant form because some dangerous THC might sneak in and contaminate everything.

    http://www.alternet.org/drugs/project-cbd-responds-sams-cbdisinformation

    That guy is such a little worm with his twisted logic.

    • jean valjean says:

      the worse the case gets for the wod the more in demand sabet becomes with big pharma. he makes money no matter what

      • Crut says:

        The whole piece was a HUGE plug for Epidiolex.

        The entire page 6 of the SAM brochure was all about the product: “Epidiolex® is produced by GW Pharmaceuticals in the U.K. ”

        And:
        “GW is concerned that the presence of THC may be harmful to children with brains already stressed by epilepsy.”

        Careful Kevin, your motives are showing!

    • Howard says:

      From the AlterNet aricle;

      “SAM’s single-molecule [CBD] fetish reflects a cultural and political bias that privileges corporate pharmaceuticals. Single-molecule medicine is the predominant corporate way, the Big Pharma way, but it’s not the only way, and it’s not necessarily the best way to benefit from cannabis therapeutics.”

      Maybe SAM should now become SAC (Smarter Approaches to Cannabinoids)? Except there’s nothing smart about anything they do.

      So here’s an acronym I need to assign words to: NutSAC. Any suggestions?

      They can’t shape shift fast enough.

      When Kevin Sabet was recently asked by an Oregon legislator, “How are you funded?” Kevin responded, “We’re an all volunteer organization.” Which did not answer the question. Even volunteer organizations are funded in some way or another.

      So, what is Kevin hiding? Big Pharma ties which provide money through his shadowy Policy Solutions Group, Inc.?

      Pete, you mentioned Policy Solutions Group in another post. I can’t find their website. Is there one?

      • Common Science says:

        Never Under Truth – Stupid Approaches to Cannabinoids.

        • Howard says:

          Excellent. And the logo will be Kevin Sabet and Stupid Patrick Kennedy nestled in a giant scrotum.

        • Common Science says:

          …in front of a collage of grim-faced; Andrea Barthwell, Paul Chabot, Robert Dupont, Calvina Fay, David Frum, Cully Stimson, Michelle Leonhart, Cliff Kinkaide and Mark Kleiman. Wallpaper all the remaining droning mooncalved louts still making careers obstructing cannabis science.

      • Servetus says:

        I did a search on Sabet several years ago, before his name became so littered with drug propaganda that his information became obscured. What I found indicated his family has money. They owned a house in England when he went to school at Oxford. It also looked as if his family was linked in some way to the rehab business. It would explain a lot.

        Kevin Sabet can’t be making much money as an assistant professor in Florida. He always comes across as a bourgeois, or petite bourgeois hypocrite in his authoritarian preferences and casual disdain for the common citizen, a “let them eat cake” attitude that just happens to deprive innocent people of freedom. He’s an ambitious social climber. He likes associating with the Kennedys. Joe Califano, Jr. of CASA infamy is another Kennedy-made man. Sabet and his wife had their wedding featured in Real Weddings magazine (are there fake weddings?).

        Strange character, but predictable.

      • NorCalNative says:

        This single-molecule fetish is why EVERY physician not using cannabis-based medicines that work through the endocannabinoid system, is a “DATED” doctor.

        We have an entire pharmaceutical industry gearing up to serve us this plant at great expense. But, at medical school?……crickets!

    • I just get done mentioning a deceptive bunch of double talkers and all of a sudden Kevin’s name pops up in the conversation. Figures. Sensible.

  18. Tony Aroma says:

    Here’s my impression of Botticelli:

    Homina, homina, homina.

  19. Matthew Meyer says:

    I like this Blumenauer chap.

  20. Crut says:

    WoooHooo! Looks like another wave is about to crash on the Prohib’s beach…

    Legalizing Medical Marijuana May Lead To Fewer Suicides

    I’m predicting that “Kevin and Patrick Inc.” will either totally ignore this, or somehow twist a fact-nugget to “prove” that their “third way” is viable.

    • Howard says:

      It’s only going to be tougher for the likes of Kevin and his ilk. With more and more information coming out about the substantial health benefits of juicing raw cannabis leaves, the discussion will change from, “Should cannabis be treated like alcohol” to “Should cannabis be treated like carrots.”

      This includes the leaves of so-called industrial hemp. Characteristically high in CBD and very low in THC. And juicing raw cannabis has no psychoactive effects, only the huge benefits of ingesting CBDa.

    • DdC says:

      Another drug worrier reverse engineering to try and blame Ganja for causing suicides 6 month’s after abstaining. Dr Drew Quack of TV drug worrier symptoms to spew has stated this several times. Not even realizing that they didn’t commit suicide while stoned. Only after they were forced to abstain by court order. Stopping the only thing keeping them from going over the edge. That is murder. No easy way to put it. They know it has properties from centuries of study and to forcably keep someone from using it, and then blame cannabis on their suicides is nothing less than premeditated murder. Same as intimidation and threats to Military personnel finding relief from PTSD with Ganja. Zero tolerance so they lose their medical benefits to even treat it with hard drugs that have side effects, including suicidal behavior. This is beyond normal comprehension. The drug worriers profits take a higher priority than wounded soldiers, sick kids or just everyday Americans making a safer choice. That is coming close to genocide, trying to wipe out cannabis users regardless of truth or cost. Whatever you call it it is definitely not America.

      Ganja 4 PTSD & Depression

      Using Pot To Save Brains!

      VA prescribes/opposes addictive drugs for PTSD

      PTSD Sufferers Qualify for Medical Marijuana

      Military Veterans Say Pot Eases PTSD

  21. Francis says:

    “I guess I’m sticking with the president—the head of your administration—who is making a different point,” Connolly fired back. “He is making a point that is empirically true. That isn’t a normative statement, that marijuana is good or bad, but he was contrasting it with alcohol and empirically he is correct, is he not?”

    “Wait, are you saying your boss is wrong?” Well played, Connolly.

    • kaptinemo says:

      (Chuckling) Yes, it is a sight, isn’t it? Talk about being painted into a corner.

      This is why the prohibs have sought to move Heaven and Earth to avoid any debate with a reformer. Any person in possession of the most basic facts regarding both the history and implementation of prohibition knows it has not a single scientific leg to stand on. Not a one.

      And thus to try to defend it upon a scientific rationale is impossible. It’s why every study funded solely to find any deleterious effects of cannabis winds up using weasel-words, such as ‘might’, ‘could’, ‘may possibly cause’‘, etc. peppered all through their conclusions.

      Which, of course, the prohibs, in their desperation, loudly misrepresent in hopes the public will be distracted by it and lose interest. While silently cursing the fact-checking capability of the Internet and their futile, failed attempts to throttle it legislatively.

      For they know that that is exactly what will happen; using said Internet, their propaganda is treated to Occam’s Razor, and will be deboned, fileted, sliced, diced and served up on an adamantine platter engraved with the word BULLSH*T. Which, unless you’re s sick fetishist of some sort, you wouldn’t want as an hors d’ourve.

      As the risk of sounding a boor, I’ve said many times before that each Administration has had to play a game of Russian Roulette regarding drug law reform. All the previous Administrations have been able to doge the bullet.

      Not this one. This time the hammer has come down. The pin has hit the primer. The propellant is catching fire…but in slow motion. And for the political bullet to dodge the Prez, someone will have to step in front of it…whether they want to or not.

      ONDCP is rapidly becoming a political liability…as well as a public laughing stock. President Choom just might want to grab their leadership and use them as a policy equivalent of Human shields to save his own backside from further ignominy. To keep his own political head, he may well offer up theirs on that above-mentioned platter.

      • primus says:

        Prior to this the political timing was not right. No president will take a political risk at any time. It is not in their character. What must happen is that the public and a goodly portion of the politicians must be for something, then it can happen. Until that point has been reached, no president will do anything. On any topic, but especially one that looked red hot back then. Now, the public is onside, the media is coming around and most recently more politicians have been prepared to be seen to have ‘evolved’. Now, it is safe for O’Bama to reschedule. AFAIK that is all he can do to end prohibition. It would be up to Congress to change the CSA. Now, there is no need for human shields however a good scapegoat is never to be wasted. I see a new use for the ONDCP; BAaAaAaAaAaAaHH.. ..BAaAaAaAaAaAaHH.. ..BAaAaAaAaAaAaHH.

  22. Online DEA Manuals Show How Feds Use NSA Spy Data, Train Local Cops to Construct False Chains of Evidence
    http://tinyurl.com/kxxp8cb
    The DEA Has a Secret Program to Cover Up Its Spy Ops
    http://tinyurl.com/kr6wqzb

    I guess they really don’t want to touch this related topic. Using illegally obtained NSA spy data to secretly nab druggies. And teach the finer art of lying. Wow. No real coverage. No congressional questions.

    If a tree falls in the forest …

  23. DonDig says:

    The amount of Thudding that has happened lately would not have been believed possible even a year and a half ago. Certainly not by me anyway.
    Bravo team.

    • claygooding says:

      I am impressed but not yet,,for all the thudfuking going on we ain’t getting even a reach around but plenty of blowing on our ears.

      The dog and pony shows seem to be following the very same dog and pony show(see above summary of hearing)with a hell of a lot of angry congressional committees talking reform with little more than token legislation that benefits state government than the people,,all by memos that can be shredded
      The day that congress legislates rehab instead of incarceration policy,,even with no rehab centers to place marijuana criminals in until states build them,,incarceration and imprisonment will have to remain the actual policy while they wait until the economy recovers before it becomes the actual policy in every state,,even if it takes a hundred years.

      • Rehab people cost more than prison guards. That will be a big improvement in the budget. SOS

        • DonDig says:

          And it’s all coming.
          I sense that the rate of change in terms of being supportive vs negative is approaching (being) exponential, and that is a really nice thing.
          A vortex of acceptance.
          Yahoo.

  24. allan says:

    I still thin they need a dictionary Queeksdraw. I mean if this is how they define “zero”:

    “How many people die from marijuana overdoses every year?” Connolly asked.

    “I don’t know that I know. It is very rare,” Botticelli replied.

    Therefore, according to the US gummint, zero = rare

    • claygooding says:

      Jeez allan,,that’s a whole lot better than using a dictionary that doesn’t have legalization in it.

      Not to mention,IIRC,there were former Admins early on in the drug war machine,,NIDA<NIMH that did claim marijuana killed and of course,,Anslinger claimed it caused people to kill everybody big enough to die.

      • allan says:

        ya know this shit puts a grin on my face! Ummm… ya wanna bet legalization is in their freaking dictionaries now? Bwahahaha!

        Which is why it was such a pleasure to have thrown this brick thru the WH ONDCP office window:

        ‘A Dictionary for Gil’

        I’m not sure how many dictionaries they actually received but it might be time to revive the effort. But this time use everybody uses a highlighter (green!) on the word ‘legalize’ and provides a bookmark at the page.

        And… (gosh, pardon my morning bowl rambling) they could be hand delivered by someone of prominence – Neill Franklin, maybe someone could do a ghost of Wm F Buckley type of appearance, Willie Nelson, Elvy, Michael Phelps… a group presentation would be way cool, then it could be an event! Kareem, Cheech and Tommy, Doc Agarwaal, Richard Branson, some ex-Latin American presidents, George Schultz and of course, we the people!

        sigh… pipedreams… but what the hell else am I gonna do? It’s 20º and snowing.

  25. tinma says:

    The Thudreaper strikes a prohibition again.

  26. B. Snow says:

    Did you guys notice Dan Riffle (MPP, Director of Federal Policies) sitting back behind Botticelli – over his left shoulder?

    I find that very amusing – No wonder they can’t keep their arguments straight – we’ve got people all over this!

    They come up with new nonsense, and we’ve already got those new ‘talking points’ countered.
    If you check out recent = the Jan. 11, 2014 C-SPAN clip –Recreational Marijuana Sales where Dan goes head to head with Kev-Kev…

    Dan gets to speak first, and he has the phrase – “smart approach” – ‘appropriated’ and countered in 18 seconds = LITERALLY!
    He starts speaking and finishes his intro/’thesis statement’ between (00:18 to 00:36) You just can’t beat that…
    (Although it would’ve also worked as a counter-point if he were to go second = sharp!)

    I haven’t watched the whole hour yet = but I may as well watch it now, it’s about 1AM.
    And, I am interested in the ‘questions from callers, Email, and tweets’ part.
    I’m curious to see if the larger public opinion is accurately represented or not…
    *(1). By the ‘C-SPAN Audience’?,
    *(2). At 8am ET – on a Saturday morning in January??

  27. NorCalNative says:

    @Clay Gooding,

    My understanding is that the stripping agent or solvent used for “food-grade” full extract cannabis oil is White Lightning alcohol. I don’t have a clue where you get it, as I don’t believe this is a product the liquor stores carry.

    Rick Simpson took a lot of criticism for using a harsh nasty solvent for his initial recipe.

    What they call “full melt” waxes are made with CO2, 02, and Nitrogen. The hash oils and waxes using these three techniques are $45 per gram, and the food grade full extract oil is $60 for a 3.5 gram syringe.

    It’s the full extract cannabis oil that I take orally that I’ve had such good success with.

    Also, if your considering cultivation be aware that LED lighting technology has come a long way in the last few years. LUSH LED LIGHTING has units simulating sunlight!

    • claygooding says:

      190 proof EverClear”sold in the liker stores and it will knock your dick in the dirt and burns with such a light colored flame people have been known to burn their hands and arms reaching across the top,,I heard some where.

      PS: it’s over and we skipped right past it,,he admitted lying about all the science they have used for the last 75 years,,we just need to tell America to get their foot off our necks and on the Federal government’s neck and every one that kept on locking Americans behind those lies that did it with full knowledge of the lies.

    • NorCalNative says:

      @Clay Gooding,

      This info is from a Washington State-based dispensary called Green Wellness.org.

      Glycerin tincture = 90% THC absorption rate.
      Vaporizing and edibles = 45%- to 55% absorption rate.
      Bong waterpipe = 25%- to 35% absorption rate.
      Combustion = 15% absorption rate.

      The Rick Simpson Oil taken orally would fall under the category of edibles, I guess. Glycerin is a sugar alcohol and is not alcohol. It’s a much better consumer experience compared to traditional alcohol-based tincture because it’s sweet.

      My dispensary has a product using Glycerin they call “THC Nectar” The label features a pair of hummingbirds bookending the text and it’s a personal favorite.

      Whether the above numbers are accurate I can’t say yes or no. However, it’s clear that not all methods of consumption have equal absorption rates.

      There’s also a method of extraction using olive oil that is supposed to be superior in regard to getting the most complete extraction.

  28. Duncan20903 says:

    I’m surprised no one has mentioned this one:

    As states weigh legalizing marijuana, the feds legalize hemp
    By Jeff Simon February 5, 2014

    It might be a long time before the federal government legalizes recreational marijuana. But once President Obama signs the new five-year farm bill that won passage in the Senate on Tuesday, its less controversial cousin, hemp, will have the all-clear.

    A short clause buried deep in the 959-page bill authorizes colleges and universities to grow industrial hemp for research purposes, so long as their state permits the growth and cultivation of the plant.

    Right now, that’s nine states: California, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia, Vermont, and Maine. Another 11 states have bills pending before their legislatures this year.

    Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report.

    • Windy says:

      Shh, if it gets around to the wrong people that the bill legalizes the growing of hemp (even though only at “centers of higher learning”), Obama won’t be able to sign it, he’ll veto it instead.

  29. Duncan20903 says:

    .
    .

    Hey, will someone please introduce Justin Beiber to cocaine, crack, heroin, meth, religion, séances, N2O, liquor, or flippin’ anything that isn’t cannabis? Please?
    Source: Justin Bieber, dad ignored pilot’s demand to put pot away

    Maybe it isn’t all his fault. It appears that stupid runs in his family. Regardless, that little peckerhead needs to have his attitude adjusted.

  30. claygooding says:

    Nope,,glycerin,,90%

    Now we need a test run to see what strenth the tinture wil

  31. Duncan20903 says:

    .
    .

    Sit your ass down. No liquids in your mouth. Close your eyes and go to your happy place. Ooops, skip the closing your eyes part, that makes it hard to read.

    Uruguay’s president nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for legalizing marijuana
    February 06, 2014

  32. Did you guys see this one? :
    Jets cornerback on NFL marijuana ban: ‘We’re just going to do it anyway’ http://tinyurl.com/q3xaf8e

  33. War Vet says:

    OT: did any of you hear about the San Diego Firefighter arrested for doing his job . . . handcuffed (and caught on tape) for helping a car crash victim and for keeping police officers and fire fighters safe by blocking part of a freeway as routine?

    • War Vet says:

      Personally, I admire firefighters far more than I do cops since their job is actually hard and dangerous. But wouldn’t it be decent Karma if this officer’s house burnt down and the man who responded was this innocent firefighter?

      I bet the real reason he arrested him was because he wanted to give him a cavity search and make him turn his head and cough. We all know this arresting officer has posers and calendars of half-naked firefighters and he pays the ‘firefighter’ the most money at Chip N’ Dales.

  34. Vice President Joe Biden Not High On Marijuana Legalization
    … the Vice President also defends his record on criminal justice reform.
    http://tinyurl.com/mouls2d

    “I am not only the guy who did the crime bill and the drug czar, but I’m also the guy who spent years when I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of [the Senate Foreign Relations Committee], trying to change drug policy relative to cocaine, for example, crack and powder,” Biden says.

    He should not be allowed to make a comment like that without being taken to task on it. I just keep picturing that famous Biden smile superimposed over the statistics that show the USA to be the prison capital of the world. I hope he doesn’t get off the hook that easy. That was his baby,

  35. DdC says:

    Michigan’s Long Ganjawar…

    Michigan Supreme Court Strikes Down MMJ Ordinances
    CN Source: Detroit News February 06, 2014
    Michigan — Local communities can’t pass ordinances that try to pre-empt Michigan’s 5-year-old medical marijuana law, according to a unanimous Michigan Supreme Court ruling released Thursday. In the case in question, the west Michigan city of Wyoming created a 2010 zoning ordinance that prohibited the use, cultivation or manufacture of marijuana. The Supreme Court ruling appears to invalidate similar ordinances in Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia that were challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

    Rainbow Farm Massacre Labor Day 2001

    “At DEA, our mission is to fight drug trafficking in order to make drug abuse the most expensive, unpleasant, risky, and disreputable form of recreation a person could have.”
    – Donnie Marshall,
    Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

    In Memory of Civilian Casualties
    of the Drug War

    Was Rainbow Farm Another Waco?
    Trena Moss stands in the falling snow and tells a story about the time country singer Merle Haggard played a gig at one of the farm’s pro-pot festivals. “Tom told me that when Merle came here, he said to Tom and Rollie, ‘I can’t believe they haven’t killed you boys yet.’ Rollie laughed real hard at that.”

    Lots of folks loved the Rainbow Farm festivals but Scott Teter was not one of them.

    The official investigation into the killing of the men was conducted by Scott Teter. He concluded that the deaths were “justifiable homicide.”

    So they devised a plan that combined harassment with surveillance.

    Crosslin and Rohm are dead now, but the controversy over Rainbow Farm lives on.

    Teter still plans to go forward with his efforts to seize Rainbow Farm as a public nuisance, despite the fact that the men who once operated it are dead.

    In his will, Tom Crosslin left the farm to Robert Rohm. Now, Teter says, he’s worried that the boy — or somebody else — might turn the place into a memorial to Crosslin and Rohm and continue holding pro-pot festivals.

    “Not only are we here to protect the public from vicious criminals in the street but also to protect the public from harmful ideas.”
    — Robert Ingersoll, then Director of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, in a column by Jack Anderson in the Washington Post, June 24, 1972, p.
    31 (Ingersoll became the first director of the DEA in 1974)

    While Nixon Campaigned, FBI Watched John Lennon
    In December 1971, John Lennon sang at an Ann Arbor, Mich., concert calling for the release of a man who had been given 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. The song he wrote for the occasion, “John Sinclair,” was remarkably effective. Within days, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Mr. Sinclair released.

  36. DdC says:

    Tribute to Rainbow Farm Campground ecp

    Fat flakes of snow are falling from a bleak gray sky on what’s left of the Rainbow Farm campground. Snow covers the fields where thousands of campers gathered for the annual pro-marijuana festivals — Hemp Aid and Roach Roast. It covers the stage where aging ’60s stars rocked out — the Byrds and Big Brother and the Holding Company. It falls on the foundations of a half-dozen buildings burned to the ground during a five-day siege last summer — an armed standoff that started after police arrested Crosslin and Rohm for growing pot, then took Rohm’s 12-year-old son away from him and prepared to seize the farm as a public nuisance.

    Snow also covers the spot where Crosslin, 46, was shot through the forehead by an FBI sharpshooter and the place beneath a scraggly pine tree where Rohm, 28, was killed 12 hours later by a Michigan State Police sniper who put a bullet right through Rohm’s rifle butt and into his chest, splattering blood over the camouflage paint on his face.
    â–¸Was Rainbow Farm Another Waco? January 26, 2002

    Vice President Joe Biden Not High on Marijuana Legalization Feb. 06, 2014

    In an exclusive interview with TIME, the Vice President also defends his record on criminal-justice reform

    The Obama Administration is not pushing marijuana legalization on the federal level, Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday in an exclusive interview with TIME.

    Biden said the Administration supports smarter enforcement, but not outright legalization. “I think the idea of focusing significant resources on interdicting or convicting people for smoking marijuana is a waste of our resources,”

    Biden’s position is essentially unchanged from a 2010 interview with ABC News in which he called marijuana a “gateway drug.”

    In the Senate, Biden was on the forefront of the Democratic Party’s war on crime, authoring or co-sponsoring legislation that created the federal “drug czar” and mandatory minimum sentencing for marijuana and the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine.

    “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” When asked if he believes marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, Obama said it is less damaging “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.”
    â–¸Obama interview with the New Yorker’s David Remnick

    Police Made One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds in 2012

    Data released 09/2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show there were an estimated 1,552,432 arrests for drug-related crimes in 2012 – a slight uptick from the 1,531,251 drug arrests in 2011. Marijuana offenses accounted for 48.3 percent of all drug arrests, a slight reduction from 49.5 percent in 2011, which itself was the highest rate since before 1995.

    Most marijuana-related arrests were for possession of the drug. By mere possession, there was one marijuana arrest every 48 seconds in 2012. Including arrests for distribution, there was a pot-related arrest every 42 seconds, the same interval as in 2011.

    This is the Brain of Incremental Retardation…
    â–¸Retardation is the act or result of delaying;
    â–¸the extent to which anything is retarded or delayed;
    â–¸that which retards or delays.

    According to the ACLU’s original analysis, marijuana arrests now account for over half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having marijuana. Nationwide, the arrest data revealed one consistent trend: significant racial bias. Despite roughly equal usage rates, Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana.
    â–¸Marijuana Arrests by the Numbers aclu.org

    Obama Doesn’t Need Congress

    “This is a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law,” Obama said. “I head up the executive branch; we’re supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we’re going to need to have is a conversation about, How do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it’s legal?”

    With 99 percent of federal laws this would be the case, but the Controlled Substance Act is fairly unique. The law explicitly gives the executive branch the right to change the legal status of any drug without Congressional involvement. If the administration, after examining the latest scientific research, determines that cannabis shouldn’t be Schedule I it has the power to move it to a lower schedule, which would make medical marijuana legal under federal law, or even unschedule it all together, which would effectively legalize it.

    :Just Do It!
    Mr. President, tear down this wall!

    White House comment line 202-456-1111
    @WhiteHouse

  37. Crut says:

    Excellent article about media reactions to”just another heroin overdose”

    http://m.thiscantbehappening.net/node/2137

  38. Crut says:

    Excellent article about media reactions to”just another heroin overdose”

    http://thiscantbehappening.net/node/2137

  39. DdC says:

    I heard the orange guy weasel on an immigration reform question saying “they” couldn’t trust Obama to enforce the laws. I don’t think many wonder what he meant. Putting Obama between back tracking and removing it as a scheduled substance so the orange guy doesn’t have to fret.

    I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day…
    Yes u2b Jon Anderson, Chris Squire

  40. Roz Wilder says:

    When did Stupid Patrick remove all references to SAM and marijuana from his official facebook page?

    http://tinyurl.com/oour5zc

  41. Howard says:

    Something the “do nothing” congress needs to hear. This problem is not going away;

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/101391433

    • Crut says:

      –Prohibitch: SEE! Pot makes people violent!

      In all seriousness, this is mostly just a flash in the pan problem. Inventory is going to increase, value is going to decrease. More states are going to get on the gravy train.

      The next big hurdle after that is once these new banking regulations actually get put into place. Then the cash-only problem goes away also. It’s only February, so I expect our congress should have those wrapped up by March…2025. Well, actually, my confidence there might be misplaced…2040?

      • Howard says:

        Yeah, I’m optimistic about the timetable too. When Eric Holder’s great grandson announces, “We expect to provide a memo on banking soon”, all will be copacetic.

        I mean, we really need to be cautious here. A dozen dispensary workers have been shot in the face? Just a blip…

  42. primus says:

    Curious. Now that sales of legal cannabis in Colorado have been going on for 5 weeks, how is the supply holding up, and what kinds of sales volumes are they reporting now? How much tax revenue has Colorado collected? How much have they saved by not arresting and prosecuting over the past year plus?

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .

      Previous to A-64 being approved by voters up to 2 ounces was a civil infraction so it’s not likely that Colorado is saving a penny by not arresting people that wouldn’t have been arrested previously.

      The State of Washington is likely saving some money because it even had a mandatory term of one day in jail for petty possession previous to the voters approving I-502. But it really probably didn’t cost very much to shoehorn a few potheads into the drunk tank overnight.

      What I really want to see is the impaired driving statistics. I really think that I’m safe in presuming that we would have already seen those numbers if they supported the standard issue hysterical rhetoric regurgitated by the prohibitionist parasites and their sycophants. Still, I’d like to be able to rub their collective nose in those stats and I need to know where they are to do that.

  43. Muzzy Lu says:

    Cannabis could help the large aging population with safe, inexpensive pain relief. I found a great medical marijuana book that has great recipes, uses less valuable marijuana, and has smaller candies to use for pain on a daily basis: MARIJUANA – Guide to Buying, Growing, Harvesting, and Making Medical Marijuana Oil and Delicious Candies to Treat Pain and Ailments by Mary Bendis, Second Edition. Just $2.99. http://www.muzzymemo.com

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