Nora Volkow is stumped

Regulated markets for adults have not made it easier for younger people to get marijuana. U.S. News

The latest Monitoring the Future survey is out.

Actual use of the drug dropped among 8th grade students and stagnated among 12th graders. Reported annual use continued a five-year slide among 10th grade students, though the year-to-year change was not statistically significant.

“I don’t have an explanation. This is somewhat surprising,” says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which commissions the annual survey.

“We had predicted based on the changes in legalization, culture in the U.S. as well as decreasing perceptions among teenagers that marijuana was harmful that [accessibility and use] would go up. But it hasn’t gone up,” she says.

“We’re seeing that more people in the U.S. except for teenagers are taking it,” Volkow says. “The rates of increases are highest among young adults 18-24, so one would expect that would translate to the adolescents, but apparently it has not.”

As Tom Angell of the Marijuana Majority notes:

“We’ve always argued that taking marijuana out of the unregulated criminal market and putting sales into the hands of responsible retailers would actually make it harder for young people to get. The new data bear this out, and it’s just common sense. Under legalization, businesses have every incentive to follow the rules and make sure their customers are of legal age lest they lose their lucrative licenses. Conversely, black market dealers don’t care about the IDs in their customers wallets; they only care about the money in there.”

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108 Responses to Nora Volkow is stumped

  1. DC Reade says:

    General John Kelly, Donald Trump’s pick for chief of the Department of Homeland Security, has a different opinion: http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/hypocrisy-of-legalizing-pot-undermines-americas-war-on-hard-core-drugs-general-says

    • Ohutum Valik says:

      Well, he’s sorta right, isn’t he? It’s hypocritical of the US to allow for legal recreational cannabis inside the country while taking other countries to task over insufficiently curbing exports. The problem is that he wants to get rid of legal cannabis in order to continue telling other countries how to not regulate drugs, while the reasonable solution would be the exact opposite.

  2. WalStMonky says:

    /snip/
    “She says it also may be possible legalization has prevented the rates from plunging.”

    Unbe-friggin-lievable, she said that with a straight face! Now that takes talent!!

    I am pleased that I remembered who was speaking because I almost posted “yeah, and monkeys might fly out of your ass!” That would have been embarrassing because I think it could be reasonably seen as possible when she’s the object of that assertion.

    • strayan says:

      “Even though I can’t explain the actual statistics I still feel relaxed and comfortable about speculating and you should continue to take me very seriously”

      • LOL. LMAO. She can take any course on business to explain actual statistical values, and their management value to her.

        WalStMonky’s last paragraph nailed it.

        Only one point of view is valid in her management viewpoint. The one she agrees with.

        She has a strange way of managing by statistic.

      • If statistics are not used to guide the activities of the department, they evidently have no value other than to be used as a propaganda tool. No wonder she doesn’t understand and can’t explain.

        There is nothing there of value as a government tool.

        It doesn’t fit Nora’s model of Drug War.

    • DC Reade says:

      That is what’s called “non-falsifiability.”

      As in “the proposition that cannabis legalization must lead to an increase in teen drug use cannot be false.”

      And the “reasoning” follows from that conclusion. As with the “reasoning” employed by advocates for the Flat Earth Theory.

      Remember, these are the people who insist on lecturing certain other people about their alleged lack of ability to think coherently.

      • You are 100% correct. It’s the one filter all prohibitionists use to digest their statistics.

        It amounts to adding justification for negating an observed statistic so as to ignore or explain it away.

        Its bad management, and in and of itself will bring about a worsening effect on a business.

        The business here being helping people on drugs (hopefully the ones who have asked for it).

        • markm says:

          “The business here being helping people on drugs”

          Assumes facts not supported by the evidence. Drug warrior “help” for addicts is always punitive.

  3. jean valjean says:

    “Anything that normalizes marijuana with kids is child abuse.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marijuana-pants-amazon_us_58507b7ee4b0e411bfd440ea

    • DdC says:

      Such idiots. The kids are being poisoned without concern while they freak out over pictures of pot leaves? While the safer clothing is classified the same as crack.

      Hemp Baby Clothing
      http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1794
      Hemp is a very durable, much stronger than cotton, and a breathable fabric that is often combined with organic cotton in the making of organic baby clothes.

      Extremely comfortable, the fabric created from hemp is similar in appearance to linen, but far softer; it’s also totally machine washable, which is great given the mess that babies often make. Naturally UV resistant, sensitive baby skin will be protected in the warm summer sun.

      Hemp is grown naturally, without the use of pesticides, and is more ecological than cotton, which uses massive amounts of water to produce – whether it’s organic or conventional. Given that fact, you can see why it is a preferred fiber in the making of organic clothing; a one-two-punch to help the environment.

      The Top 6 Fabrics You Should Avoid Wearing and Why
      When you pick out your clothes, you probably don’t think about their toxic load on your body and the environment. But most fabrics that make our clothes, upholstery and linens are highly processed with tons of chemicals. Find out how to protect yourself.

      Cotton, cashmere, chemicals … what really goes into making our clothes?

      Why does this matter? Because manufacturers use hundreds of substances to produce clothing that don’t show up on clothing labels. And many of these are hazardous to the environment and to human health.

      Unlike chemicals used in food, no single U.S. federal agency is responsible for overseeing chemicals used in clothing.

      Do You Know What Toxic Chemicals Lurk in Your Clothing?

      Cotton has long been considered by consumers to be the most natural, healthy fabric and they have made it the most popular clothing material. It has been easy to forget that cotton is a crop and as such, it is subject to the same issues as other crops normally considered as food. The last time you drove by a cotton field, did you consider that many of the foods you eat contain a by-product of this very plant?

      The concerns regarding health stem from the fact that though cotton uses only 2.4% of the world’s agricultural acreage, its cultivation involves 25% of the world’s pesticide use, more than any other crop. Most of these are insecticides, but fungicide is another fraction of the total. Also, consider that it takes about one-third of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers to grow enough conventional cotton for just one T-shirt.

  4. jean valjean says:

    “Trump Just Picked a Mass Torturer Who Cheerleads for the Drug War to Head DHS”

    ‘“Kelly is a big-time drug war zealot,” Michael Collins, deputy director of Drug Policy Alliance’s office of national affairs, said in a press statement. “As head of Southern Command he demonstrated that he is a true believer in the drug war, and it’s incredibly worrying that he could now head up Homeland Security.”’

    http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/trump-just-picked-mass-torturer-who-cheerleads-drug-war-head-dhs

    • DdC says:

      Jean, I have no great love of anything with a general tagged to it. Or do I respect weasels like Trump. As things typically go in the drug war when GOPers are running it, like Bennett or Walters or Sabet. It’s all bad mmmkay. This dude seems to believe in soft and hard drugs having a difference. If Ganja is heading south he’s ok with it. Just no white powders coming north. He fails to see that its prohibition stupid. He brags about El Chapo amassing a billion dollar fortune but fails to see the trillion dollars in tax money already spent on Ganja eradication. Or that El Chapo only got rich because of prohibition. He seems ok with states rights on pot laws. Still a GOPer x general working for a weasel. Who knows?

      General John Kelly, Donald Trump’s pick for chief of the Department of Homeland Security, has a different opinion:

      Drug trafficking. Human trafficking. Weapons trafficking. It’s all connected, Kelly said.

      Yet he fails to see that they are all only connected via prohibition.

      Most marijuana consumed in the U.S. is grown here or in Mexico, Kelly noted. Its recreational use is legal in Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and Washington, D.C. At least a dozen additional states have decriminalized pot, and more than a dozen others allow people to consume it with a doctor’s prescription. Increasingly, those individuals include military veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress and other service-connected injuries or illnesses. That doesn’t bother the general, who led combat forces in Iraq as a one- and two-star general.

      “I’m not a doctor,” said Kelly, an infantry officer whose military career dates back to the Vietnam era, “but I’m told it has a medical use. So whether it’s veterans or anyone else, if it helps those people, then fine. Medicine is medicine. Every medicine is probably illegal unless you take it medicinally.”

      “If it’s heading away from the United States, I don’t care about it,” he added. “I mean, we take it, we seize it, we take the people and put them in the legal justice system.” Rather, the most intense focus is on the movement north of cocaine, heroin and meth. “When I talk drugs,” Kelly said, “I talk hard drugs.

      Again he seems like he sees light and then blows out the candle. Its prohibition causing the use of opioids due to pain and the unavailability of Ganja. Pain always beats silly rules. Inconsistent dosages and ingredients and adulterants all part of prohibition, not safe use of drugs as in clinical settings. Or with the DEA cutting off meds so people have to find it on the streets. Pain doesn’t follow directions even if its a message to the kidlets.

      Opioid ODs Keep Rising,

      More than 50,000 overdose deaths: A grim tally soars to all-time U.S.

      The disastrous tally has been pushed to new heights by soaring abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers, a class of drugs known as opioids.

      Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr note the destructive nature of opioid pills which are handed out like candy, and how cannabis is a viable alternative.
      Greatest NBA Coach of All Time
      Admits to Using Cannabis,
      Says Players Should be Free to Choose

      “When asked if Kerr thought professional sports leagues should explore loosening their stance on medical marijuana, the coach answered emphatically.

  5. Servetus says:

    Nora Volkow would not be surprised at the survey results had VP Joe Biden named his anti-drug legislation the “Uncontrolled Substances Act”, rather than “Title 21 United States Code (USC) Controlled Substances Act ”.

    It’s the wrong social paradigm. Resorting to double-speak gives the false impression that popular, prohibited chemical compounds are being controlled by the government. Whereas ‘uncontrolled substances’ implies a need for regulation, not prohibition.

    According to the government’s plan, so-called controlled substances are controlled through their illegality, such that children or adolescents will never come into contact with certain drugs—a ludicrous assumption for those who rely on reality-based data and politics. Incidentally, adolescent use of legally regulated alcohol is down as well as illegal drug use: see the AAAS public release for the NIDA funded survey, Teen substance use shows promising decline: NIH monitoring the future survey shows use of most illicit substances down, but past year marijuana use relatively stable.

    The drug survey results undermine the NIDA’s raison d’être. It’s obvious the agency can’t protect the children, so Volkow and the NIDA will need new excuses to continue the drug war. So will the ONDCP. Which is why Volkow and Botticelli are taking the following victory lap:

    13-DEC-2016—”Clearly our public health prevention efforts, as well as policy changes to reduce availability, are working to reduce teen drug use, especially among eighth graders,” said Nora D. Volkow, M.D., director of NIDA. “However, when 6 percent of high school seniors are using marijuana daily, and new synthetics are continually flooding the illegal marketplace, we cannot be complacent. We also need to learn more about how teens interact with each other in this social media era, and how those behaviors affect substance use rates.”

    “It is encouraging to see more young people making healthy choices not to use illicit substances,” said National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli. “We must continue to do all we can to support young people through evidence-based prevention efforts as well as treatment for those who may develop substance use disorders. And now that Congress has acted on the President’s request to provide $1 billion in new funding for prevention and treatment, we will have significant new resources to do this.”

    • – “It’s the wrong social paradigm.”

      Schedule one is a representation of the extent of prohibition. Prohibiting these drugs is like saying “they don’t exist because we say so”. Then General John Kelly sails some ships over to make it so. Easy with enough money and power, right general?

      Truth is we don’t have enough money or brawn to make this happen or it would be done already. Prohibition is a control and money making scam for fascists, police state adherents, and moralizing control freaks who prefer they all just mind “or else”. It can’t be done except in a delusional mind of grand proportions, something that our country seems to be in great supply of in our political arena.

      It takes some intelligence to go with that brawn to realize that the CSA as currently written is based upon a narcissistic craving for power that is easily exercised upon the weak and the poor, foreigners, and races of people with color pigmented skins who are in the minority. Lets not forget those damn hippies and other disgusting political opponents.

      Science bought and paid for will support this structure easily as Anslinger and Nixon soon found out. Money and power are very convincing.

      Only a criminal or a fool would allow a child to be harmed.

      When pharmaceutical drugs are the biggest progenitors of overdose deaths as is the case in present time US of A, don’t we have a clear case of misrepresented priorities?

      Those overdose deaths, the prison over populations in America, the frequent law enforcement toward victimless crimes creates a whole class of socially ostracized citizens of all ages that no longer are allowed family or participation in the normal work force or society in general (thru court action or prohibition created prejudice).

      This should give us a clear picture of what needs to be done.

      These Trump cabinet picks are the very people that our political structure should be ostracizing from the body politic.

      Without drug war all men are created equal under the constitution and Duterte and his ilk could put down their guns or be arrested and shot like every other common criminal that has no respect for human life.

      Lack of respect for human life and a connection to money and power makes prohibition an enticing philosophy, one that should not ever exist in any country that prides itself upon being free.

    • We’ll never legalize marijuana or end the drug war giving this kind of money to the prohibition crowd.

      • DdC says:

        That is kinda the point of prohibition.
        for prohibitionists to get money.
        It also keeps the competition out.
        Kids are only the hook to reel the money in.
        A shield for prohibitionists to hide behind.
        While they go around shooting citizens in the back.
        Then they drain their blood and sell it for perks.
        Modern day draconian Dracula’s.

  6. Servetus says:

    There’s hardly a single person Trump is considering for his Cabinet of the Apocalypse, or other government positions, who doesn’t wreak of fascism. One such person is Florida AG Pam Bondi, likely BFF with Kevin Sabet at Florida State, who is being considered for ONDCP drug czar:

    Trump hasn’t announced his “drug czar” yet but odds are it’ll be someone with an abhorrent track record. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a staunch opponent of sensible drug policies, is currently a leading candidate to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Bondi vigorously opposed Florida’s medical marijuana ballot measures in 2014 and 2016, and took a heavy-handed, counter-productive approach to her state’s problems with prescription opioids and new psychoactive substances.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jag-davies/trump-on-drugs-nightmare-_b_13609326.html?1481661123

    If Trump’s appointees aren’t enough to drive the point home, compare Trump & Co. with some great quotes from the history of fascism:

    The strange part of it all is that I don’t feel like a criminal and that if I had been in the United States or South America or any other place else, I would probably be a leading figure in one of those countries. I am a capitalist and a cultured gentleman.—Hermann Goering at the Nuremburg Trials.

    ***

    Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power.—Benito Mussolini

    ***

    Fascism transcends democracy and liberalism; its regenerative action is based on granite foundations: the idea of hierarchy, of the participation of the whole population in the life of the State, social justice in the equitable distribution of rights and duties, the infusion of public life with moral principles, the affirmation of religious values, the prestige of the family, the ethical interpretation of the ideas of order, authority and liberty. In the light of this transcendence Europe will be able to find its way to enter a new phase of History.—Asvero Gravelli

    ***

    Source: http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/05/understanding-fascism-and-anti-semitism/

    • Atrocity says:

      Random thought of the day: How comfortable would Kevin Sabet (who likes to watch little boys go to the bathroom) be working in the administration of someone so openly willing to judge people based on their adherence to an ancient monotheistic religion that isn’t Christianity?

  7. Mr_Alex says:

    NEWSFLASH and @DDC

    The DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) has classed CBD Cannabidiol as a Schedule 1 substance

    http://www.occnewspaper.com/dea-makes-cbd-extracts-schedule-i/

    • This is so wrong. Plenty of medical benefit. No high.

      Just wrong. Sounds as though it should be against the law to do something like this.

      Oh I forgot. DEA is the law, or so I am sure they think – and we will be told.

      Wrong from every angle. Are they really that evil?

    • DdC says:

      Same as growing my Hemp blue jeans Alex.

      The only thing I’ve heard recently about CBD is banning the butane extraction method. Due to idiots blowing themselves up. Using the meth lab laws or something. Which is mostly hype and dispensaries have never had much of a problem. More DEA over reach for big fat pharma. They bait and switch everything. Since federally whole plant CBD has always been a schedule#1. Same as growing Hemp bird seed.

      • DdC says:

        It also means all whole plant cannabinoids are probably the same schedule#1 narcotic as Δ9. Reverse engineering to schedule it without science on a temporary basis to appease the AMA. 45 years ago. Temporary? So reality doesn’t matter. Its S#1 and everything derives out of that. As false as it is. As long as it is, then Cops and Courts can make the claim that there is no medicinal value and so there is no medicinal defense. The justification for the Gag rule. With mandatory minimum sentencing as a deterrent to jury trials and questioning the controlled substance act. 95% take a plea bargain including pisstasting and loss of all kinds of things from Pell Grants to Organ Transplants. Until the FDA tests it. Which they can’t until the HHS tells them too. Which they haven’t since the 1999 IOM report stating it does have medicinal properties. But until the FDA approves it, officially it has no medicinal value, is highly addictive and a menace to society. Even if its nonpsychoactive. Reality has no place among DEAth Mongers.

        Antibacterial Cannabinoids from Cannabis Sativa

        Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) has long been known to contain antibacterial cannabinoids, whose potential to address antibiotic resistance has not yet been investigated. All five major cannabinoids (cannabidiol (1b), cannabichromene (2), cannabigerol (3b), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (4b), and cannabinol (5)) showed potent activity against a variety of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains of current clinical relevance.

  8. CBD has never been anything but a Schedule I substance. DEA did not reschedule it today & anyone who says so is wholly misinformed – John Hudak
    https://twitter.com/JohnJHudak/status/809149865473277953

  9. claygooding says:

    With Trump loading his cabinet and advisory positions with prohibitches all he needs is a pharmaceutical billionaire as Secretary of Health to make me feel like he is really trying to drain the swamp.
    But having an Exxon CEO as Secretary of State is really a scary thought,,they barely hide the fact we are fighting wars protecting big oil’s profits now.

    Between the war on drugs and war for resources while billionaires create more low paying jobs it is the poor that will work for nothing and send their children to the wars.

    I hate to estimate the cost of trying to put the cork back in the legalization bottle or the next oil field war with the regime preparing to take the job.

  10. Analyze This says:

    Live stream of Mark and Jodie Emery opening eight shops across Montreal today.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-marijuana-dispensaries-shops-opening-1.3897590

  11. Servetus says:

    As an OTC health supplement, N-acetylcysteine helps the body make the important antioxidant enzyme glutathione, and is an acetylized form of the dietary amino acid cysteine. It has shown promise for certain health conditions, such as chronic bronchitis, and lately as a means of reducing drug cravings:

    14-DEC-2016—An over-the-counter antioxidant known as N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is showing early promise at promoting abstinence from or reduced use of alcohol in marijuana-dependent adolescents, report researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in the December 2016 Addictive Behaviors. In a cohort of treatment-engaged marijuana-dependent adolescents, reduced marijuana use was associated with reductions in alcohol use in the NAC-treated group, but not placebo group. NAC is believed to restore neuronal glutamate homeostasis disrupted by addiction.[…]

    Recent preclinical findings suggest NAC’s promise–it has been shown to decrease alcohol consumption by up to 70% in rats. Although NAC has been shown to improve substance abuse treatment outcomes for a number of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and nicotine, little research has been done to explore the effect on NAC on alcohol use in adolescents.[…]

    Instead of compensating for reduced marijuana use by drinking more, the NAC-treated group actually decreased its alcohol use as well.

    These findings suggest NAC effects may generalize from marijuana to other substances and could be useful in decreasing adolescent alcohol use, specifically. This is particularly compelling given the participants were not actively attempting to reduce their alcohol use, nor were they engaged in a combined behavioral treatment for alcohol use.[…]

    However, a limitation of the study is that investigation of the effects of NAC on alcohol use resulted from secondary analysis of the data, thus alcohol dependence was not an inclusion criterion, and measures of alcohol use were dependent on self-report rather than real-time or biological markers of alcohol use.[…]

    AAAS Public Release: N-acetylcysteine shows early promise in reducing alcohol use in marijuana-dependent teens

    News of N-acetylcysteine’s effects is likely to shake up the drug treatment industrial complex. Whether such a thing as marijuana dependence exists in teens or anyone else, the specter of an OTC home remedy that helps people reduce overall drug consumption threatens the industry’s profits. It will be interesting to see if the addiction industry follows up on this new disruptive medical technology and promotes it.

  12. Servetus says:

    If safe injection sites for opioid addicted people could save society a lot of money, would such centers finally be made available in the United States? Using San Francisco as its base for a hypothetical model, a single facility is predicted to be capable of producing $3.5 million in health care cost savings every year:

    14-DEC-2016—According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the opioid epidemic costs the United States 75 billion dollars each year – 55 billion in health and social costs and 20 billion for emergency department and inpatient care. People who inject drugs comprise less than one percent of the U.S. population, however they experience roughly 56 percent of new hepatitis C virus infections, 11 percent of new HIV infections, and nearly one-third suffer from skin and soft tissue infections.

    Currently, 97 supervised injection facilities exist in 66 cities across 11 countries, however the United States is not among these countries. Supervised injection facilities provide a safe, clean place and injection equipment so that people can bring in previously obtained drugs and inject while being observed by medical staff.[…]

    Published in the Journal of Drug Issues, the team of researchers–from RTI, the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Disease Control, and the University of Southern California–found that the supervised injection facility would prevent 3.3 cases of HIV and 19 cases of hepatitis C virus per year, reduce skin and soft tissue infection hospital stays by 415 days annually, save an average of 0.24 lives per year, and facilitate 110 people to enter medication-assisted treatment.

    “While the predicted results may sound small, they are substantial for a single facility,” Kral said. “Three HIV infections is roughly 6 percent of the city’s total annual injection-related HIV infections, and we estimate that 19 HCV infections comprises roughly 3 to 5 percent of the city’s total annual injection-related HCV infections.”
    The associated outcomes of the supervised injection facility would result in about $6.1 million in health savings per year. With facility operations estimated at $2.6 million per year, net savings would be roughly $3.5 million annually.[…]

    “Our analysis shows that a supervised injection facility will not only keep San Franciscans who inject drugs alive and out of the hospital, but it will encourage them to seek help and save taxpayer money,” said Amos Irwin, the first author of the study as chief of staff at the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.[…]

    AAAS Public Release: Opening a supervised injection facility for people who inject drugs could save millions

  13. Will says:

    .
    .
    Over at Reason, Jacob Sullum covers the same topic as US News but he wins the article title award;

    Teenagers Dismay Prohibitionists by Consuming Less Cannabis

    Good one Jacob.

    • DdC says:

      If “Those Prohibitionist People” are so paranoid of the Bill of Rights, maybe they should move to China.

      “I can’t tell you how concerning it is for me, emotionally and personally, to see the possibility that we will reverse the progress that we’ve made,”
      ~ Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III

      Teenagers Dismay Prohibitionists by Consuming Less Cannabis

      Opioid Addiction Being Treated With Medical Marijuana in Massachusetts

      “We have a statewide epidemic of opioid deaths,” said Dr. Gary Witman of Canna Care Docs, a network of facilities that qualifies patients into medical marijuana programs in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Delaware and the District of Columbia. “As soon as we can get people off opioids to a nonaddicting substance — and medicinal marijuana is nonaddicting — I think it would dramatically impact the amount of opioid deaths.”

      The notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, whose arrest this month and interview with actor Sean Penn have been the subject of intense media coverage, built a billion-dollar criminal enterprise from the cocaine produced Colombia.

      No, El Chapo built a billion-dollar criminal enterprise from progress that Sessions drug war made.

      “We have spent over a trillion dollars trying to eradicate the world’s most beneficial plant off the face of the earth. Imagine what a better world this would be if that money had been spent on treatment, education and studying the medical benefits of marijuana.”
      — Steve Hager – High Times Editor (1988 – 2003)

  14. Analyze This says:

    Yesterday, Mark and Jodie Emery opened a chain of illegal dispensaries in Montreal for recreational users. Within the hour, Mayor Denis Coderre tweeted:

    “Zero tolerance for those who don’t respect the current law,”

    A video soon emerged of the Mayor’s aide, Jean-François Thibault, showing him using something that looked like a crack pipe. Thibault later confirmed to a reporter that he was smoking crystal meth.

    http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2016/12/15/un-attache-politique-du-maire-coderre-filme-avec-du-crystal-meth

  15. Servetus says:

    Being arrested in the United States is more dangerous than smoking marijuana.

    Whereas a marijuana OD has never killed anyone, a new study indicates there were 1900 arrest related deaths in the US between June 2015 and May 2016:

    15-DEC-2016— …according to a new report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and RTI International…The arrest-related deaths report represents a national accounting of persons who died during the process of arrest, including justifiable homicides by law enforcement personnel and deaths attributed to suicide, accidental injury, and natural causes.[…]

    Researchers found that potential arrest-related deaths occurred in all 50 states during that period, with the largest number occurring in California (224).

    Washington, DC, Wyoming and New Mexico had the highest rate of potential arrest-related deaths per million residents. New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island had the lowest rate of potential arrest-related deaths per million residents compared to other states.[…]

    AAAS Public Release: Study estimates 1,900 arrest-related deaths occurred in US between June 2015-May 2016

  16. darkcycle says:

    …aaaaand….Jonny Pee weighs in:
    http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/obamas-drug-policy-legacy-overdose-deaths-and-youth-pot-use/article/2005877
    Just cannot accept legalization. Can’t acknowledge that Opioid OD’s drop in States with Legal weed. Instead…..it’s all weed’s fault! (And here, I thought it was Russian Hackers….silly me.)

    • jean valjean says:

      “David W. Murray and Brian Blake are senior fellows at Hudson Institute’s Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research; both served in the Office of National Drug Control Policy during the George W. Bush administration. John P. Walters is Hudson’s chief operating officer and former director of drug control policy for President George W. Bush.”
      About says it all, plus it is the Weekly Standard…. good grief.

      • DdC says:

        Hudson is a Non Thinking Tank. So damn boring. Same old shit. Gateway. So why didn’t the forefathers or anyone before the mid 1800’s “gateway” to heroin or cocaine? Because it wasn’t invented yet. So how would anyone before that gateway to what doesn’t yet exist? Again, repeat after me David. The only gateway is prohibition. That you and your evil ilk perpetuate for profits.

        Spooky brain imaging, oh and least we not forget the kiddies. Or the mentally ill might get permanent damage, although for thousands of years no one has actually died or has a causal connection been made to brain damage.

        Just reading the Hudson Institute crap can cause brain damage. But what the hell. If their bullshit can spare change another trillion tax dollars to keep this shit up. I guess that is what they are about. Profits over People. Sicko bastards. Time to sue these weasels for lying to the citizens, causing a public nuisance, harassing and doing harm to sick people.

        Why We Believe Marijuana is Dangerous David W. Murray

        “But if it was up to me,
        I wouldn’t have done it, right.
        I opposed it from the very beginning.
        All right, what the hell — I’ll say it was reckless.”
        (Governor Hickenlooper, on legalizing marijuana in Colorado.)

        Governor who called legalization ‘reckless’ now says Colorado’s pot industry is working

        “If I had that magic wand now,
        I don’t know if I would wave it,” he said.
        “It’s beginning to look like it might work.”

        And during an appearance on “60 Minutes,” he predicted that Colorado might “actually create a system that could work” in successfully regulating marijuana.

        Why the change?

        “The predictions of fire and brimstone have failed to materialize,” said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a national group working to reform pot laws. “Most Coloradoans, including the governor, recognize that the law is working.”

        Colorado is booming. The state has a 4.2% unemployment rate, one of the best in the country. High-tech companies are moving in. Small towns across the state, some once teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, have been saved by tax revenues from pot dispensaries. And the $1-billion-a-year cannabis business will pump $100 million in taxes into state coffers this year.

  17. I see why the early confusion about the CBD thing. DEA entered this in the Federal register on 12-14-16. https://t.co/Vkkhg4IdrZ

    I like leafly’s response:

    Hold On! The DEA’s Move Against CBD May Not Be Legal
    https://t.co/L6342b6wO6

    • DdC says:

      Hold On! The DEA’s Move Against CBD May Not Be Legal
      https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/hold-deas-move-cbd-may-not-legal

      The DEA tried this before.
      In 2001 it tried to ban hempseed oil.
      And Doc Bronner kicked the agency’s butt in court.

      Yes he did.
      But not to grow it here.
      It has to be imported.
      I suspect the same for cbd extracts,

      It’s a move that the same agency tried 15 years ago,
      in fact. And that attempt was ultimately slapped down by federal courts.

      Again, to grow it here all Cannabis is a schedule#1 narcotic, highly addictive and has no medicinal value. It is also a menace to society. This is what the entire Ganjawar is based on. Start with an imaginary evil. Then build the prohibition profits and hoops to jump through. The deterrents, shunning, degrading and racial injustice. All from that one categorization 45 years ago.

      Since then medicinal research funding is banned. Organ transplants are banned. Losing Veteran medicinal benefits is happening due to finding traces weeks after using. Evictions, unemployment and loss of driving privileges. All based on the ludicrous Nixon vengeance on his political enemies. The radical groups, hippies and blacks. Now we know stopping tumor research has potentially murdered thousands of American citizens. Who paid billions of dollars to big fat pharma to “treat” what Ganja may have prevented or even cured.

      Reagan’s Monkey Tests backing Nanny’s Just Say No and then piss in the cup so Bensinger, Turner and DuPoint can rake in the profits. Walters Philanthropy Roundtable giving tax breaks to corporations for donations to his favorite Calvina Sabet persecution. I’d wager it helped seed the Iran Contra Scam. His side kick Bennett as Education Secretary, removing the word cannabis and hemp from school history books. Then as drug czar with walters starting the predator kid gossip.

      Back again, same bad actors who have taken lives and ruined lives and just made what could have been an enjoyable part of life, Due to the Illogical Prohibitionists its all fear mongering, violence, Its their mission statement. “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)

      So because Nixon, just out of the blue. Added Cannabis in all forms. Without any evidence. Even decades after Biden’s ONDCP has purposely tried to find something to legitimize its classification. Nothing but innuendo and future projections of potential maybe might be doom and gloom. But the past has caught up with the present and none of it has come to pass. Yet maybe this time it will?

      To the DEA, with over 200 offices in over 80 countries sucking up tax dollars teaching people how to cage and kill druggies. Their mission is persecution. The reality of the situation is that… One toke = abuse. Possession without inhaling = abuse. Getting relief for scores of ailments = abuse. Giving a patient a joint is trafficking.

      They have been popular with the media and general population making it the most expensive, unpleasant, risky, and disreputable form of re-creation a person could have. Over a Trillion has been spent trying to eradicate those who use it. In the name of saveding them. All where the kids won’t see it. Or hear about it.

      Look at DiFi’s shit eating grin over the new reich. With her long time butt buddy hatch trying to pass a censorship of anything drug like bill since Bubba Clinton. This might be a time for that prudent juncture on their part. Net Neutrality or flat out shutting down servers. Again all based on that non science Obama said he was opposed to.

      Its a label that permits CA cops to teach rookies it has no medicinal value, because its schedule#1. No need for reasons it was classified non medicinal? When so much evidence before and after is diametrically opposed. The reason no medical schools have an Endocannabinoid System Science Department, therefore no American doctors are taught anymore than cops. Except on their own or lectures and basic common sense. None of it legit as far as the FDA.

      The DEA can say anything the same as the donald. As long as the Ganjawar continues, they get paid. If it ends, they don’t get paid. Doctors can only mention cannabis as a matter of free speech. Not officially. They can’t prescribe cannabis to anyone. Because we started with a fabricated notion that a title needs no reality to back it up.

      The first decades the media censored themselves for the most part. Comedy broke through, very little corporate music labels touched it while most in rock and roll were using. Occasional sports figures popped up. Ganja was pretty open in the late 60’s early 70’s. While they tried BBQing Nixon for a two bit break in. Not so concerned if its Putin. The CSA was hatched and all Cannabis became as one, living life in not so much peace.

      Where is the documentation defining cannabis as highly addictive? After millions walked away from it, especially during the Rayguns era. Shouldn’t the DEA tell them they can’t just quit, its highly addictive damn it! Its a menace to society. If that means getting the Nobel Laureate in Literature or the Medal of Freedom. Or become a President or Astrologer or most of the NBA. Where athletes in the NFL and somewhat MLB suspend players for failing a whiz quiz. Its for the concussion the NFL never fret over and handed out Vicadin like candy. Why? Because Nixon was being scolded and humiliated badly in the public arena. The Nixon Paper Machete heads in march after march.

      His TET increase in bombing to some ungodly millions of tons of bombs onto a country not threatening one American. But arrest someone for a plant serving mankind thousands of years. Then brand a scarlet letter on their forehead for Life. Even life in prison and many like kNewt and Bennett cheerleading for Saudi and Iran like beheading of “traffickers”. Big timers with over 2 ounces of pot.

      Profit max cap prisons make the incentive to fill the cages. A higher priority than Civil Rights. Prohibition fills in many blanks. More tax and capital stimulating the economy than flipping burgers or working fields, Avg $35k/yr cost paid in tax dollars to the prison industrial complex plus income and sales tax back. Verses $12-15 and no tax back. Or under the table and unemployed, all considered a greater “value” in a cage.

      They all get away with this legal extortion, coercion, intimidation and terrorist acts because Nixon lied and rejected science. That is the foundation for all of the nit picking draconian special rules, lies, omissions, gossip and stalling or blocking legislation. Segregation of those choosing alternatives to what has known side effects far more dangerous to the kids. 45 years of diversions while the people believed the TV and not their own ears and eyes. Until the internet, and it seems that is a high priority to bring in another “National Legion of Decency” to keep Americans properly dumbed down.

  18. Blast from the Past says:

    Why is a hippie a hippie?

    Our interviews with hippies have revealed that there are basically TWO kinds of hippies– there is the honest, sincere dropout who became disillusioned with the world and society around him. They sincerely believe the world is a rotten place and want nothing to do with it. So they withdraw, rebel, and become alienated.

    Then there is the pseudo-hippie. He (or she) only goes into hippiedom for the sex, the excitement, the “thrills,” and to get away from Mom and Dad. This hippie doesn’t believe in peace or the hippie philosophy — but he does believe in free sex, having fun, and rebellion!

    Finally, you might also say there is a third kind of hippie — if you could call him (or her) a hippie. This would be the violent, insincere, dishonest hippie — the one who takes advantage of other hippies and other people. This is the type who peddles LSD and marijuana to the others making a profit, short-changing them when he can get away with it. He is liable to be a “pusher” of hard narcotics and more addictive drugs.

    ————————

    The hippie uniform consists of something like bell-bottom trousers or sawed-off jeans; a pack of beads, a string of bells, a feather or flowers in the hair; wide belt with big buckle; boots, moccasins or bare feet. Above all, however you notice a hippie by his straggly, disheveled, long, DIRTY hair!

    Hippie girls usually have long hair combed straight; bright colorful dresses (sometimes just plain with psychedelic buttons or emblems); and don’t forget the beads, flowers, and bells.

    Other than their attitude toward society, and their odd dress, there are TWO basic ingredients of the average hippie: Sexual promiscuity and Drugs.

    From a 1968 booklet from Ambassador College in Pasadena, California.

    • Part of Nixon’s campaign of brainwashed facts supporting his war on drugs..

    • jean valjean says:

      Translation: I’m sitting here with my dick in my hand while these dirty hippies are getting laid. It’s just not fair….bwaaa

    • DdC says:

      Freedom
      “Our programme is cultural revolution thorugh a total assault on culture, which makes use of every tool, every energy and every media we can get our collective hands on… our culture, our art, our music, our books, our posters, our clothing, the way our hair grows long, the way we smoke dope and fuck and eat and sleep-it’s all one message-the message is freedom”
      -John Sinclair (1969)

      Hippy is an establishment label for a profound, invisible, underground, evolutionary process. For every visible hippy, barefoot, beflowered, beaded, there are a thousand invisible members of the turned-on underground. Persons whose lives are tuned in to their inner vision, who are dropping out of the TV comedy of American Life.
      Timothy Leary
      The Politics of Ecstasy

      “Hippies started the ecology movement. They combated racism. They liberated sexual stereotypes, encouraged change, individual pride, and self-confidence. They questioned robot materialism. In four years they managed to stop the Vietnam War. They got marijuana decriminalized in fourteen states during the Carter Administration.”

      …we condemned them, our children, for seeking a different future. We hated them for their flowers, for their love, and for their unmistakeable rejection of every hideous, mistaken compromise that we had made throughout our hollow, money-bitten, frightened, adult lives.
      June Jordan

      Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.
      — Seneca, A.D. 65

      Thank God for Hippies
      http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1148

  19. Mouth says:

    I DID NOT WRITE TO MY CONGRESSMAN ABOUT MARIJUANA USAGE OR LEGALIZATION: my letter.

    When you champion oil and natural gas as the only legal source of employment for Oklahoma, you are championing the kind of competition that makes Saudi Arabia fruitful. The Arabs cannot grow hemp the way we can in the states, yet most Conservative Republicans fight tooth and nail to keep Radical Islam alive and well funded by reducing American competition by simply not legalizing hemp.

    Veterans says: Give me Liberty or give me taxpayer funded welfare. If I’m not allowed to farm hemp or work in an industry that uses hemp based materials grown in America, then I demand $2500 a month in Welfare checks for the rest of my life because I worked very hard to earn them and have the college degree to prove it. The civilian taxpayers have not.

    Give me Liberty or give me Welfare checks. I’ve earned it when I gave up a good College scholarship for the Army because 9/11 supposedly happened, thus keeping us at a long costly war, where vets are still denied the right to become job creators and workers, unlike the WWII vets, given ample freedom by their government.

    When you don’t act like a small government politician, then we have ample proof you donated to the Hillary Clinton Campaign . . . did you expect her to win and offer you benefits for your contribution? Is this why Wiki-Leeks says you were a donor, contributing $4,200 to her campaign? And is this why the Times News Paper are investigating republicans in office who sincerely believed Donald Trump had no fighting chance, thus contributing to Hillary for what they could get from her if she won? Can you prove them wrong since we live in a world where actions speak louder than words?

    WHAT HE WROTE BACK:

    Dear Mr. {name left out}

    Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns regarding marijuana usage. As your representative, I give full consideration to the concerns of the Oklahomans I am honored to serve in Congress.

    According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), research has clearly shown that marijuana use has negative health effects such as an increased risk of heart attacks, respiratory problems, as well as mental illness. Research has shown that marijuana has an adverse impact on learning and memory – use during teen years decreases IQ rates by an average of eight points. The American Medical Association (AMA), the American Cancer Society (ACS), and other medical organizations remain highly skeptical of the claims made about medical marijuana. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the drug because not enough clinical evidence shows that its possible medical benefits outweigh the significant health risks.

    I cannot support legislation that expands marijuana’s reach, as it is proven to be a risk both to the mind and the body. I do not believe it is safe for widespread consumption. After considering the evidence, at this time I cannot support reversing the federal prohibition on marijuana for public consumption or allowing states to ignore federal law. However, I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind should legislation related to marijuana use come to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

    I encourage you to sign up for my weekly emails at mullin.house.gov to receive updates on federal issues that impact Oklahomans.

    Again, thank you for taking the time to write. It’s an incredible honor and privilege to serve the communities and families I grew up and worked with my entire life. God bless!
    Sincerely,
    Congressman Markwayne Mullin
    Markwayne Mullin
    Member of Congress

    • NorCalNative says:

      Mouth, love the California-like ‘tude acting out in Red State Oilandia. Hemp to the world!

      Still driving like Mr. Bobble-Head?

      • Mouth says:

        I still do drive like Mr. Bobble-Head: a total scan of everything. That’s one of a few things I’m grateful the Army gave me: excellent driving skills and front row seats so I can question everything my government is doing. I so want hemp . . . it would be the perfect consumerism product.

        How’s everything in California? Hopefully Arkansas and Florida can save us from drowning in oil.

  20. Mouth says:

    THIS IS WHAT I WROTE TO HIM ON TODAY–FOR THE RECORD.

    Early December of 2016, I did not ask you to ‘support marijuana’, yet you sent me an email stating you did not support marijuana legalization and I did not write to you about ‘marijuana’. I wrote to you about creating jobs from scratch: jobs in energy, clothing, construction, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food processing, environmental cleanup/grass fire protection etc. This is the 3rd or 4th time you have sent me this insulting letter. Who do you have as your staff: young Nigerian girls used as sex-slaves and kept uneducated by Boko Haram? Are your offices Staffed with monkeys and lemurs? Are you saving money by employing young adults with severe mental retardation? Do you go out and hire drunkards and crack addicts? Have you outsourced your staff to China, the way the U.S. Military outsourced military jobs in Iraq to people from India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, former Yugoslavia etc?

    Henry Ford: do you know who he is. Can I at least get a small letter detailing who you think Henry Ford is? That’s what I asked on December 3rd 2016 by demanding Oklahoma be allowed to have job options.

    If you write to me about ‘Marijuana and not supporting it’, one more time, then I will have won a bet I have and my neighbor will have to rake my leaves or I’ll have to clean his entire house.

    How can I not pray for a lost soul like you. Do you know Jesus? And I’m not talking about your Mexican waiter at your favorite Mexican restaurant.

  21. Servetus says:

    Three years after it was confiscated by the DEA at a Cincinnatti airport, a college student is getting back his $11,000 (plus interest), part of life’s savings he’d intended for college:

    All it would take to combat many questionable seizures would be a shift in the burden of proof. The process makes it almost impossible for those whose property has been seized to mount a successful attempt to reclaim it. The filing of cases as “Gov’t v. Property” allows the seizing agency to run unopposed (as it were), since the seized property can’t speak for itself and the property owner is tied up in bureaucratic paperwork with strict time limits that is wholly reliant on the seizing agency properly notifying seizure victims of the whereabouts of their cash, etc.

    If the government can’t come up with criminal charges, it very likely cannot come up with proof the money is tied to illegal activity. But too few courts are willing to shift the burden of proof, leaving the government to indulge in its perverted incentives.

    https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161206/09485036209/us-government-gives-11000-back-to-college-student-three-years-after-dea-took-it-him.shtml

    There are further examples from techdirt.com of police malfeasance:
    Before Forfeiture Is Finalized, Sheriff Racks Up 54k Miles On Seized Vehicle, Sells It To Private Buyer

    In Rare Win, Man Arrested On Bogus Drug Charges Gets Everything Back, Including $150,000 The Government Really Didn’t Want To Give Up

    Documents Show Chicago PD Secretly Using Forfeiture Funds To Buy Surveillance Equipment

    Tools such as forfeiture enable police states. California’s government, much to their credit, is scaling back on future wholesale police theft: California Passes Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill That Closes Federal Loophole, Adds Conviction Requirement.

    The reform bill goes into effect on January 1, 2017. On that day, residents, visitors, and tourists will feel much safer in California than they will in forfeiture states, which should further help the great California economy.

  22. I know that there was at least a partial share of marijuana legalization advocates who voted for Donald Trump. It is them that I am thinking of as I write this post.

    I am horrified at the prospect of 4 years of what so far seems to be a new Nixonian era style of repression about to commence. By saying he supported “states right to choose” in response to a marijuana question, Mr Trump had lead many to believe that the legalization movement was safe under him.

    Do you still feel that way?

    The power of the majority is expressed as: a republican majority spearheaded by Trump and his crew of prohibition minded strongmen and former or current military.

    As this administration commences to unfold from a foundation of mud people I sincerely wish the best to us all. The writing on the wall is not good from my point of view.

    • DdC says:

      “I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.”
      – Tolstoy

      Trump’s a weasel. Yes he claimed he would observe states rights. But that doesn’t include Cannabis since Raich v Gonzales. So the state laws mean diddly shit to FED law enforcement. It meant a heap of shit to ward off state LEO’s. Why P64 only gave local LEO jurisdiction they didn’t have under P215.

      The grand weasel also claimed he was for “Medicinal” use. Again that only means big fat pharma not dispensaries since they are illegal under the CSA. So whole plant smokeless whiffers, sublingual sprays or synthetically produced cannabinoids. After the FDA finalizes testing that could take 10 years. Only on substances approved by the HHS, not Ganja or edibles or anything not approved by the gods at the FDA.

      But then it is the fat pharms product and if it takes profits from other drugs, they can shelve it until the patent runs out.

      So in weasel truth he can claim he is for medicinal cannabis and states rights. I am enjoying the civilized time we have. Enjoying the many products available at the dispensaries. But I haven’t lost contact with my old growers either.

      Since Cannabis has no science behind its classification. It should be removed. As it stands it is the bedrock of Prohibitionists to reverse engineer policy since it is schedule#1 it has no medicinal value. It can not be funded for research, wasting funding on a S#1. It can’t be used in Federal Court as a defense because Doh! Evictions, Firings, kicked out of line for organ transplants because state law is not recognized.

      Catch 22²

      Nixon rejected reality by rejecting the republican Shafer Commission. Probably the Dilantin. Meaning Drumpf can observe states rights and enforce federal law which is bogus and has been bogus for almost 5 fricking decades.

      Leaving one to think we are the stupidest nation in history or just naive and selfish or if its in our back yard or takes something. Neither can justify prohibitionists, it doesn’t have an affect on them and its no where near their back yards. They spend big bucks and spew big lies to justify their fear of hobgoblins that don’t exist.

      Basically it will divert infrastructure, school and health care funding to whack a mole enforcement on dispensaries who haven’t lawyered up. Then drain more from the middle class through the courts. I don’t know in what universe that makes sense.

      I guess since they are really really bothered by me smoking a doobie. That they would spend over a trillion dollars and persecute over 30 million people so it’s harder and more dangerous to smoke a doobie. I should probably give some thought to quitting. OK enough thought about that…

      Those who sit in judgement over my doobie toking need to reflect on how this entire fiasco started and why it continues.

      “…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana
      is its effect on the degenerate races.”
      Harry J. Anslinger

      Then resign from political office as incompetent or as a fascist. Then pay some kind of restitution for squandering our tax dollars and the vast persecution of Americans. Perpetuating lies when facts were easily obtainable. Then block any means of objecting. Stalling for decades only to be arbitrarily and capriciously rejected. The IOM re-evaluation of studies back to the 1894 Indian Hemp Commission. Still sitting with the HHS before the FDA can start testing it. IF the people let it be, it will not change.

      ☛ Drug War Was Meant To Target Black People

      ONDCP with the DEA and NIDA statutory responsibilities, which include taking such actions as necessary to oppose efforts to legalize certain controlled substances such as marijuana.
      ~ Drug Czar is Required by Law to Lie DWR

      ☛ The Science behind the DEA’s Long War on Marijuana
      Scientific American By David Downs on April 19, 2016 Policy & Ethics

      We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong… There are good laws and there are occasionally bad laws, and it conforms to the highest traditions of a free society to offer resistance to bad laws, and to disobey them.
      — Constitutional scholar Alexander Bickel

      “☛ The DEA Has Smothered the Drug Debate With a Smoke Screen”
      http://tinyurl.com/jnal4cz

      At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! Had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.
      — Frederick Douglass

      ☛ The DEA scheduling system has no scientific basis at all
      http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/2063

      Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
      — Frederick Douglass

  23. jean valjean says:

    Legalization advocates who supported Trump join the line of all the other Trump voters, with the exception of the 1%, who are going to discover that they have been lied to throughout the campaign and are about to be shafted by the incoming administration.

  24. I hereby dedicate the remainder of my life to stopping the ignorant and repressive use of prohibition by this administration and to preventing its re-occurence in American politics in future administrations.

    I have never personally met any of you, but I want to say thank you to Pete and all of you that share the couch at Drug War Rant. You are a great bunch of human beings.

    If we rant long and hard enough maybe enough people will listen, maybe it will sink in and finish turning the corner on ending the war on drugs.

    The world will be a better place for it.

  25. Mouth says:

    I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that ‘Wall Street’ will help spread legalization further . . . ‘there’s too much money in legalization’. Colorado is filled with way too much money which is good for the local economy and it will trickle down to surrounding states. The Military bases in Colorado are positively affected by cannabis legalization, from not only tax increases but increased employment/education opportunity for their spouses and children (to re-think Colorado legalization would harm the military and their families, therefore it is a Muslim Terrorist conspiracy/tactic–according to Osama Bin Laden’s ‘Revolutionary Guide to Jihad’).

    How many of my couch mates worked in a Prison in the Middle East? This is why I call all drug enforcement cops, jailers, judges, attorneys, politicians etc, ‘Muslim Terrorists’ because that is what they are . . . had we been attacked by Italians on 9/11, I’d call the above, ‘Italian Terrorists’. My prison stent in Baghdad taught me about the war on drugs. Before Iraq, I questioned cannabis prohibition. After Iraq, I realized we need to legalize all drugs to stop the drug black market.

    The War on Narco Terror in the Middle East has cost us so much money, that other companies, their investors and their buyers are harmed by the debt it has occurred. Imagine if America didn’t waste $2+ Trillion in Drug Prohibition/fighting Naroc-Terrorism before 2008–what would the Financial Crisis look like? Would MBS’s and CDOs have more cushion? Yes they would. And America wasn’t the only country spending their money on the drug wars. If Americans didn’t have that bill to pay off and pay for, then they could shop more, which would rise stock prices and give companies better credit ratings. Even Wal-Mart’s bottom line is negatively affected. It’s hard to shop more with less money.

    Let’s hope Donald Trump isn’t a Muslim Extremist. Everyone who wants drugs to remain illegal are Muslim Terrorists . . . it’s just easier for me to add just one label as to why they want prohibition than a whole host of mangled, mixed, individual and jumbled up reasons why they support keeping drugs illegal. I choose the label that demands they be put to death for treason.

    Who’s watched ‘Rogue One’? That’s our new rallying point. Art imitates life.

    • Analyze This says:

      We have knowledge; rebellions are built on knowledge.

      • DdC says:

        Yes AT we do.

        But we also have a self censoring media reading corporate memo’s as news. They know revolutions start with knowledge and that is why dumbing down Americans has been a top priority. Obstruction ain’t nothing new to reformers. Paul Rayn has already blocked any legislation concerning Cannabis. They are deathly afraid of knowledge getting into the minds of the people and seems like they will do anything to stop it. Like kids hiding something from their parents and the first thing they say when they enter the room is… don’t look under the bed, nothing there. Sure sign they’re hiding something. The entire drug war is based on what is hidden under the bed, and if it is ever exposed they will feel exactly the same as daddy Boosh.

        “If the people knew what we had done,
        they would chase us down the street and lynch us.”
        ~ George H.W. Bush

    • jean valjean says:

      ” Everyone who wants drugs to remain illegal are Muslim Terrorists…”
      Mouth, I often feel I’ve entered the Twilight Zone when I read your posts here. Trump, Sessions, Gingrich and the rest of the prohibitionists are indeed terrorists in the real sense of the word, but Muslims? I feel uneasy everytime you start these convoluted arguments about “Muslims” as I don’t think this advances the cause of drug reform, which I know you support. Inevitably you lay yourself open to the charge of islamophobia every time you do this. I don’t mean to be offensive but that is how I read many of your posts.

      • Mouth says:

        I’ll stop using the word ‘Muslim’ if you won’t deny that the DEA are Al Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS etc sympathizers. Can you prove that the 2008 Mumbai Terror attack didn’t exist and also (partially or wholly) funded by the DEA? But you must also realize that American cops are the same: Jihadist sympathizers. I’m into compromising. And it’s not the Twilight Zone you feel . . . that’s the real world when you realize that a little cocaine being used around you in London, blew up a building in Libya (given one can buy illegal cocaine in London). Cops can at anytime boycott the drug laws, same goes for politicians, but blown up children and soldiers don’t reconnect like Lego toy people . . . a bullet bought with drug money is as good as one bought with taxes. The last I checked, drug money can be put into a bank account and buy airline tickets for some of the 19 passengers. Drug money can buy laptop computers, electricity, internet etc for those who blog–spread the Jihadist virus of hate affecting so many.

        I’ve experienced the atmosphere of the drug war from jail/court–from Mexico(15 days), Honduras (1 day), Belize (1 day) and Iraq (9+ months). Most of us from here have not. But where I live, calling the enemy a ‘Muslim Terrorist’ is understood and raises heads. Most Americans have not experienced Cartel violence, like in Mexico, but they’ve felt the strong emotions when jihad happens in America or Europe. And the charge of Islamophobia can never be used against me because of who my uncle is and that he was born in [] and how I grew up around the idea that Islam or Muslims are normal . . . I’d never say to you ‘that you are acting like an expensive antique lamp.’ That makes no sense.

        Help me call American cops what they are: Jihadist sympathizers (sadly, unknowingly as I’ve long suggested many times) and I’ll go out of my way to reduce the M-word. The Hydra Beast that is the drug war has many heads and we must cut them all off.

        Jean, I hope you and your family have an awesome Christmas and may next year be the best year for you and for all the couch. I feel more comfortable calling you and all on here ‘patriots’ than I do with some of the soldiers I served with–serving without learning, thus not fulfilling their oath: to protect against all Foreign and Domestic threats.

  26. kaptinemo says:

    As with all social movements, there are the sincere protagonists and then there are the shallow money-grubbers. The latter remind me of the old joke: “Confucius say that some people are like blisters; they show up only after work is done”.

    I hope I am not re-hashing something already discussed here; if I am, I render my apologies in advance. But to me this is like those companies seeking to profit from the misery of parents who have sick children who could benefit from CBD treatment by falsely proclaiming their products are legal in all 50 States. Such should be burned at the stake, and I’d chip in for the wood, ropes and petrol.

    I recently received an email from a friend who in turn received a link from Agora Financial. I would not be surprised to learn many of you have received the same: Penny Pot Stocks Set to Explode January 1st http://pro.agorafinancial.com/TEK_secretpot_1016/LTEKSA19/?h=true

    It’s one of those ‘get rich quick’ schemes that comes with a hard sell, while only briefly acknowledging that you are far more likely to lose your shirt and shoes courtesy of market volatility…not to mention the troubling developments of Trump filling his Cabinet with apparent Re-Animated DrugWar fanatics likely to attempt to go against the public grain of ever increasing re-legalization.

    An excellent rational dissection of this sales pitch can be found here: What’s the pre-election “Secret ‘$50 Marijuana Stock Blueprint’” Pitched by Technology Profits Confidential http://tinyurl.com/hootubw

    Bad enough that we still have to fight the lurching, grasping, wailing zombies of prohibition; worse that we get this kind of crap from the rear.

    • DdC says:

      Hey Kapt.
      Hope all’s well,

      I was also told by Hemp people and Medicinal people to stay away from the penny stocks. My bank won’t touch them. Some were advocating to buy them last year. I too get the email ads and thought hard about getting into them. Those I’ve checked on are stagnant or going down. GW is fickled, hovering and dipping some. This is my second time around and if they drop to 100 I’m selling. I’ve bought them twice now when they hit the $30 range. Sold them off at $120 the first time. They hit $120+ a while back after a surge and then fell pretty steady since then. $114 Fri. Brokers are stymied.

      I think bad news on legalizing drives them up, but bad news on cannabis itself may be why they drop. Good news for legalizing is also a deterrent to big fat pharma who want the monopoly kept in their greedy industry. When the prohibitionist gossip doesn’t pan out I think GW gets a boost the same as discovering yet another treatment or ailment cannabis can treat. I still feel like showering when I read their stock options even if they’re up.

      Its clear they have no moral compass fighting for decades to keep Ganja from the people only to embrace it for profits. I’d bet most of the prohibbies own stock in GW and maybe the latest TEVA. The Fentanyl drug company INYS moved into the cannabis medicines but arn’t doing so well. About 9 bucks. Best deals are still the dispensaries. Not for stocks, but for prices I haven’t seen in decades. All the new ingestion methods. Stoners are definitely imaginative. I’m so proud of them. Fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham like modern day Robin Hoods getting medicine to the sick.

    • My actual confusion came from those ads saying “legal in all 50 states” Kapt, plus seeing cbd available over the counter (not at a dispensary).

      Penny stocks are sucker’s bets.

    • claygooding says:

      Where the money flows con artist goes.

  27. Servetus says:

    Rodrigo “Rody” Roa Duterte (Tagalog: [ɾoˈdrigo dʊˈtÉ›rtÉ›]; born March 28, 1945){wiki}, also known as Digong — has finally done a deed — a deed sinister and evil enough to possibly convince people in this screwed up world that vesting drug enforcement powers in the hands of evil maniacs is a bad idea.

    Digong’s drug war has killed a six-year in his sleep, and it’s a CNN story:

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/15/world/philippines-duterte-killings/index.html

    Rody will become an important object lesson for anyone with an IQ above 70 still needing proof the drug war needs to end.

    • Love the smell of insanity in the morning says:

      If the Philippines are 83% Catholic, and 92% Christian is this psychopathology of murderous activity a form of Christian Terrorism?

      My understanding is that something like 90% or more of the country support the violence and extra-judicial killings. Somebody needs to drop the Pope Mobile on top of Duterte’s head from 30,000 feet.

      • jean valjean says:

        The Pope tried that with Trump because he was attacking Catholic Mexicans. I can’t see Frankie coming out in support of those sinful drug addicts though.

      • Servetus says:

        According to news reports, some priests and officials condemned Duterte’s actions, while others in the Church are too afraid to speak up, as are citizens who fear for their lives if they criticize Duterte. There are some priests who support Duterte’s techniques:

        “Are the means unnecessarily illegitimate?” said Father Joel Tabora, a Jesuit priest in Davao, where Duterte was mayor for 22 years, and where about 1,400 people were killed from 1998 until the end of last year in a similar anti-crime and anti-drug campaign, according to activists.

        “People are dying, yes, but on the other hand, millions of people are being helped,” said Tabora.—ibid

        In a highly religious culture such as that found in the Philippines, citizens will often feel the need to be ruled instead of governed, which makes them act like authoritarian followers. They are taught to view drug consumers as the other.

    • DdC says:

      Digong Rody will become an important object lesson for anyone with an IQ above 70 still needing proof the drug war needs to end.

      Sorta like the object lesson they learned when SWAT tossed a stun grenade in the crib?CNN updated October 7, 2014. That was Obama, not the “Duterte” of the US. IQ’s above 70 will be assimilated.

      No indictments for Georgia SWAT team that burned baby with stun

  28. Servetus says:

    PROPAGANDA ALERT: New speculations about marijuana’s effects are happening at Bristol’s School of Experimental Psychology as psychologists blatantly attempt to confuse journalists into believing marijuana use causes schizophrenia, in a game known as “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

    19-DEC-2016 …while still cautioning that the results ought to be considered in the wider context of other contributing factors of mental health…while some evidence was found to support hypotheses that cannabis use is a contributory factor in increasing the risk of schizophrenia, the researchers were surprised to find stronger evidence that the opposite was also likely. This adds weight to the idea that the drug may be used as a form of self-medication.

    “The evidence suggested that schizophrenia risk predicts the likelihood of trying cannabis,” said Dr Suzi Gage, Research Associate with the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit. “However, the relationship could operate in both directions. Our results don’t really allow us to accurately predict the size of the effect – they’re more about providing evidence that the relationship is actually causal, rather than the result of confounding or common risk factors.”[…]

    Dr Gage added: “Our results use a novel method to attempt to untangle the association between cannabis and schizophrenia. While we find stronger evidence that schizophrenia risk predicts cannabis use, rather than the other way round, it doesn’t rule out a causal risk of cannabis use on schizophrenia. What will be interesting is digging deeper in to the potential sub-populations of cannabis users who may be at greater risk, and getting a better handle on the impact of heavy cannabis use.

    “In this study we could only look at cannabis initiation. What would really help progress this research is to use genetic variants that predict heaviness of cannabis use, as it seems that heavy cannabis use is most strongly associated with risk of schizophrenia. Once genetic variants are identified that predict heaviness of cannabis use we’ll be able to do this.”

    AAAS Public Release: Further evidence found for causal links between cannabis and schizophrenia

  29. WalStMonky says:

    .
    .

    Here’s a comprehensive index of people who the Mayo Clinic says should always avoid being anywhere in the general vicinity of cannabis.

    .

    /snip/
    Avoid if allergic or sensitive to cannabinoids or to plants of the Cannabaceae family. Asthma, hives, pink eye, and runny or stuffy nose have been reported.

    Side Effects and Warnings
    Cannabinoids are likely safe when used for specific conditions at the recommended doses for the recommended amount of time.

    Side effects have mostly been linked to THC, the active ingredient in Cannabis sativa. Dizziness is a common side effect. Marijuana may have effects on almost every organ system in the body, including the central nervous, heart, endocrine, and immune systems.

    Use cautiously with alcohol. Combining alcohol and CBD may cause significantly low blood alcohol levels compared to alcohol alone, though similar effects may occur.

    Marijuana may increase the risk of bleeding. Caution is advised in people with bleeding disorders or those taking drugs that may increase the risk of bleeding. Dosing adjustments may be necessary.

    Marijuana may affect blood sugar levels. Caution is advised in people with diabetes or blood sugar problems, and in those taking drugs, herbs, or supplements that affect blood sugar. Blood sugar levels may need to be monitored by a qualified healthcare professional, including a pharmacist, and medication adjustments may be necessary.

    Marijuana may cause low blood pressure. Caution is advised in people who have blood pressure disorders or those taking drugs or herbs and supplements that lower blood pressure.

    Use cautiously in people who have liver disease or those using agents toxic to the liver.

    Use cautiously in people who are taking barbiturates, antipyrine, or central nervous system (CNS) depressants.

    Marijuana may interfere with the way the body processes certain agents using the liver’s cytochrome P450 enzyme system. As a result, the levels of these agents may be increased in the blood and may cause increased effects or potentially serious adverse reactions. People using any medications should check the package insert and speak with a qualified healthcare professional, including a pharmacist, about possible interactions.

    Use cautiously in people who are on estrogen therapy.

    Use cautiously in people who have immune disorders or those taking agents that may affect the immune system.

    Use cautiously in people who are taking p-glycoprotein-regulated drugs.

    Use cautiously in people who have a history of drug abuse or addiction. Marijuana may be addictive.

    Use cautiously in people who have or are at risk of eye problems. Marijuana may cause eye problems and dry eyes, and it may increase eye pressure.

    Use cautiously when consuming foods or supplements that contain cannabis seeds or oil. These products may contain a high level of THC that may trigger a positive drug screen.

    Use cautiously in people who are at risk of seizure or those using antiseizure drugs. Marijuana may cause seizures.

    Use cautiously in people who have or are at risk of heart disease. Marijuana may cause abnormal heartbeat, disrupted blood flow to organs (kidney, spleen), heart attack, and heart failure.

    Use cautiously in people who have learning disabilities or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Marijuana may cause problems with attention, learning, memory, organization, planning, problem solving, and other brain functions.

    Use cautiously in people at risk of skin problems. Marijuana may cause hives, patches in the mouth, and skin itching.

    Use cautiously in people with stomach disorders. Marijuana may cause stomach problems such as a bad taste, burning or swelling tongue, diarrhea, dry mouth, increased appetite, indigestion, mouth ulcers, nausea, pain, and vomiting.

    Use cautiously in people who have or are at risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Marijuana may cause bone problems, increased risk of side effects linked to musculoskeletal or connective tissue disorders, falls, muscle problems (pain, twitching, or weakness), numbness, recurrence in multiple sclerosis, reduced coordination, restlessness, and speech disorders.

    Drowsiness or sedation may occur. Use caution if driving or operating heavy machinery.

    Use cautiously in all otherwise healthy people who are not taking any medications. Marijuana may cause disorientation, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, a feeling of intoxication, light headedness, and reduced attention.

    Use cautiously in people who have or are at risk of ear problems. Marijuana may cause ear problems.

    Avoid if allergic or sensitive to cannabinoids or to plants of the Cannabaceae family. Asthma, hives, pinkeye, and runny or stuffy nose have been reported.

    Avoid in women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to get pregnant. Marijuana may have serious risks and may cause low birthweight or abnormalities in the baby.

    Avoid long-term use in people who have or are at risk of lung problems, such as asthma or byssinosis (a disease caused by breathing dust). Marijuana may cause bronchitis, coughing, lung cysts, phlegm, reduced lung density, and wheezing.

    Avoid using cannabis products that have been obtained illegally. These products may contain unknown and possibly harmful ingredients, such as the animal tranquilizer PCP.<//b

    Avoid inhaling cannabis, due to increased risks of lung cancer, emphysema (chronic lung disease), and spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung).

    Avoid injecting cannabis into the veins. Cannabis sativa may be extremely toxic.

    Avoid using in children or adolescents. Marijuana may affect brain development in the young.

    Avoid using in people who have or are at risk of mental illness. Marijuana may cause anxiety and psychotic-like symptoms. It may also increase the risk of aggression, bipolar disorder, delusions, depression, hallucinations, lack of energy or motivation, and suicidal thoughts.

    Avoid using before driving motorized vehicles. Marijuana may increase the risk of collision, and when combined with alcohol, it may affect alertness and driving performance.

    Marijuana may also cause blood rush or dizziness when standing, a burning sensation, cannabis arteritis (reduced blood flow to feet and legs), changes in brain structure, changes in chromosomes, changes in erectile function, changes in quality of life, confusion, detachment from surroundings, difficulty concentrating, dysphoria (feeling unhappy or unwell), euphoria (feeling of happiness or well-being), forgetfulness, hoarseness, increased risk of male cancers, liver problems (damage, disorders, or poisoning), panic, paranoid thinking, problems with bowel movements, psychiatric problems, reduced saliva, reduced sperm production, risky behaviors (unprotected sex), sudden stomach upset, sweating, thirst, throat irritation, urinary tract infection, and weight gain.
    Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

    Avoid using marijuana in women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to get pregnant. Research strongly suggests that marijuana may have serious risks for the child, including abnormalities, cancer, development problems, increased leukemia risk, low birthweight, and reduced attention skills. Cannabis may affect the mother’s judgment and ability to care for the child, and it should not be smoked around infants or children. Cannabis may be passed to babies through breast milk.

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/marijuana/safety/HRB-20059701

    • DdC says:

      Mayo Clinic Alert…

      Operator: [Captain Oveur is on the phone with the Mayo Clinic] Excuse me, Captain Oveur, but I have an emergency call on line five from a Mr. Hamm.

      Captain Oveur: Alright, give me a Hamm on five, hold the Mayo.

      The DEA has raided Safeway, Publix, Kroger, Winn Dixie and Piggley Wiggley as major traffickers of a controlled substance… Hundreds of Grocery Gang members have been arrested.

      Did you know that other plants
      produce cannabinoids too?

      Cannabinoids For years, it was thought that cannabis was the only plant capable of producing cannabinoids. However, in the last few years research has been published that shows that cannabis is not the only plant that produces these compounds, and that they are actually quite common!

      Cannabinoids produced by plants are known as phytocannabinoids, those produced by the body are known as endocannabinoids, and lab-synthesized compounds are simply known as synthetic cannabinoids.

      However, as our understanding of the endocannabinoid system has grown, we have found that the number and type of different compounds that act on the receptors is far larger.

      Mayo Clinic has urged the DEA to protect the Pharmaceutical monopoly by stamping out natural remedies. They grow in dirt and smell funny. In conjunction with Monsanto all “natural” food has been designated to the DEA for inclusion in the CSA. GMO’s have been subsidiaries of the Pharmaceutical industry, so putting all food under the DEA umbrella seemed logical, said Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. They also advise us to drink plenty of DEA approved bottled water. Avoid bathing, drinking or preparing foods with raw tap water. THC has been found.

  30. DdC says:

    WARNING!!!
    Adults Only!
    Proceed with extreme caution.

    High on Health: CBD in the Food Supply
    There is wider awareness that the ‘endocannabinoid system’ is the largest neurotransmitter system in the human body, regulating relaxation, eating, sleeping, memory, and, as noted by the Italian scientist Vincenzo Di Marzo, even our immune system.

    Cannabinoids promote homeostasis, the maintenance of a stable internal environment despite external fluctuations, at every level of biological life, from the sub-cellular, to the organism. For example, endocannabinoids are now understood as the source of the runner’s high. The endocannabinoids naturally found in human breast milk, which are vital for proper human development, have virtually identical effects as cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. Amazingly, the mechanism at work after smoking or eating cannabis, when adults get the “munchies, is essentially the same as what causes breastfeeding babies to seek protein-rich milk.

    Universally accepted following its discovery in 1995, the endocannabinoid system asserts it power to heal and balance the other systems of the body by turning on or off the expression of genes. Cannabinoids hold the key that unlocks receptor sites throughout the brain and immune system triggering potent healing and pain-killing effects.

    Ah shucks. Cannabis is dangerous to fascism, Killing profits by preventing Big Pharma an opportunity to treat an illness. Keeping people on minimal medications and no trickle down drug stores have to sell milk and candy. This “recent” discovery of the ECS can only lead to Healthy people and eventually an uphill spiral to a Healthy Society. Where’s the profit in that? I love the smell of science catching up. Obesity or Wasting it brings it back to where it once belonged, jo jo. It’s Re-Creational

    So prohibition leads to Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency which leads to Abstainers Having Larger ‘Fear Centers’ in Their Brains and an obedience to authoritah! Perfect universal soldiers carrying out any means to the end… Our salvation depends on humans Using Pot To Save Their Brains!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASQ-yHWKSQk

  31. Servetus says:

    Totalitarianism is not only hell, but also the dream of paradise—the age-old dream of a world where everybody would live in harmony, united by a single common will and faith, without secrets from one another….Once the dream of paradise starts to turn into reality, however, here and there people begin to crop up who stand in its way, and so the rules of paradise must build a little gulag on the side of Eden. In the course of time this gulag grows ever bigger and more perfect, while the adjoining paradise gets ever smaller and poorer. —Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, (pp. 86-87).

    • Don't Care Anymore says:

      Sounds like left-wing ideology to me. The former Soviet Union, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba etc. You know, the ideology of those disgusting hippies with their rock n’ roll music and long hair. The countries that never even thought of banning said rock n’ roll music for being part of hedonistic capitalist Western culture.

      But at least weed is legal in North Korea, dude. Toke up, just don’t say wrongthink words about The Ones Who Do Not Defecate. Also, better settle for boiled rat and tree bark dish if you get the munchies. Not all hope is lost, comrade.

      Here’s another socialist country I love. Sweden. I heard they hand out free medical marijuana as part of their socialist health care plan, while protecting vulnerable gay people from homophobic Islamic immigrants and giving child rapists life in prison.

      If only the fascist USA was so progressive. They can’t even get their states to legalize dope.

      • DdC says:

        Sounds like left-wing ideology to me.
        You know, the ideology of those disgusting hippies.
        … and long hair.

        ☛ Archeology:
        Ancient Temple Hashish Incense! Did Jesus Inhale?

        http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1090

        ☛ Did Jesus Heal With Cannabis?

        Here’s another socialist country I love. Sweden

        ☛ ISIS’s War on Drugs: Extremists Torch Marijuana Fields
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcmqdsBnltA

        ☛ ISIS Has Beheaded 30 People Over Last Month
        After Sharia Court Sentences Them To Death..
        No, Wait, That Was Our “Ally” Saudi Arabia…

        ☛ PREJUDICE: MARIJUANA AND JIM CROW LAWS

        “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.”

        Just Say No…

        “Through clever and constant application of propaganda,
        people can be made to see paradise as hell,
        and also the other way around,
        to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.”
        From Benito Mussolini,
        “London Sunday Express,” December 8, 1935

      • DdC says:

        with their rock n’ roll music

        “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes,
        entertainers and any others.”
        Harry Anslinger,
        U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics,
        testifying to Congress on why marijuana should be made illegal, 1937.
        (Marijuana Tax Act, signed Aug. 2, 1937; effective Oct. 1, 1937.)

        I heard they hand out free medical marijuana as part of their socialist health care plan

        ☛ Endocannabinoids
        http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1683
        Chemicals in Marijuana May Fight Antibiotic-Resistant MRSA “Superbug” Chemicals in marijuana may be useful in fighting MRSA, a kind of staph bacterium that is resistant to certain antibiotics. Researchers in Italy and the U.K. tested five major marijuana chemicals called cannabinoids on different strains of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). All five showed germ-killing activity against the MRSA strains in lab tests.

        ☛ Only The Stoners Will Survive
        http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/664

        Opioid Addiction Being Treated With Medical Marijuana in Massachusetts
        “We have a statewide epidemic of opioid deaths,” said Dr. Gary Witman of Canna Care Docs, a network of facilities that qualifies patients into medical marijuana programs in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Delaware and the District of Columbia. “As soon as we can get people off opioids to a nonaddicting substance — and medicinal marijuana is nonaddicting — I think it would dramatically impact the amount of opioid deaths.”

        ~ Cannabinoids promote homeostasis, the maintenance of a stable internal environment despite external fluctuations, at every level of biological life, from the sub-cellular, to the organism. For example, endocannabinoids are now understood as the source of the runner’s high. The endocannabinoids naturally found in human breast milk, which are vital for proper human development, have virtually identical effects as cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. Amazingly, the mechanism at work after smoking or eating cannabis, when adults get the “munchies, is essentially the same as what causes breastfeeding babies to seek protein-rich milk.

        If only the fascist USA was so progressive.

        “Parallel to the training of the body a struggle against the poisoning of the soul must begin. Our whole public life today is like a hothouse for sexual ideas and simulations. Just look at the bill of fare served up in our movies, vaudeville and theaters, and you will hardly be able to deny that this is not the right kind of food, particularly for the youth…Theater, art, literature, cinema, press, posters, and window displays must be cleansed of all manifestations of our rotting world and placed in the service of a moral, political, and cultural idea.”
        Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf”, Vol. 1, Chapter 10

        “How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, communists, atheists, New Age worshipers of Satan, secular humanists, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, adulterers, and homosexuals are on top?”
        –Pat Robertson,
        The New World Order, p.227

  32. Analyze This says:

    The Israeli army is expected to decriminalize the recreational use of marijuana:

    “The army considers its soldiers to be responsible,” Magen told Haaretz. “It puts weapons in their hands and allows them to consume alcohol on weekends. If it allows that, believing that it doesn’t affect their functioning, this means that it’s OK, the army isn’t collapsing. Why then does it consider that smoking marijuana will affect them?”

    He called on the army to leave law enforcement in cases of consuming drugs off base to civilian authorities. “If the police find a soldier smoking pot when he’s off duty, let them handle the issue. The army gives a harsher interpretation to civil law, and I don’t think there is any point in that.”

    http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/73285-150601-israeli-army-weighs-leniency-toward-pot-smoking

  33. Servetus says:

    Nora Volkow is likely to be stumped again. A study at Columbia University has analyzed the rate of traffic fatalities after states allow medical marijuana. Despite the NIDA funding, the results of the study favor cannabis, particularly in certain age groups:

    20-DEC-2016—States that enacted medical marijuana laws, on average, experienced reductions in traffic fatalities, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Overall, states that passed medical marijuana laws saw an 11 percent reduction in traffic fatalities, on average, after enacting the laws, and had 26 percent lower rates of traffic fatalities compared with states without the laws. The findings are published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

    Reductions in traffic fatalities greatly impacted those between the ages of 15 and 44 and were especially striking among those aged 25 to 44 years, a group representing a high percentage of those registered patients for medical marijuana use.

    Specifically, the researchers observed an 11 percent reduction of among those aged 15 to 24 years, 12 percent for ages 25 to 44, and 9 percent for those 45 years and older. Operational dispensaries were also associated with a significant reduction in traffic fatalities in those aged 25 to 44 years at 5 percent.

    Lacking was strong evidence suggesting reductions among those aged 45 years and older, which is also a group overrepresented in the population of patients registered in state medical marijuana programs. “This finding suggests that the mechanisms by which medical marijuana laws reduce traffic fatalities mostly operate in those younger adults, a group also frequently involved in alcohol-related traffic fatalities,” said Julian Santaella-Tenorio, a doctoral student in Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. In 2004 and 2013, 47 percent of fatally injured drivers with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or greater were 25 to 44 years old.

    AAAS Public Release: Traffic fatalities decline in states with medical marijuana laws: Most affected are those between the ages of 25 and 44.

  34. DdC says:

    I’d say its more like Why Trump is Likely To Kill Legal Marijuana but then the Naiveté of profiteers soars beyond most normal boundaries.

    Why Trump is Unlikely To Kill Legal Marijuana
    http://cannabisnews.com/news/29/thread29007.shtml
    By Todd Mitchell, Contributor Source: Hill
    Due to the largely unfounded and negative speculations that have lately sprung up in the media, contemplating and trying to predict the new administration and its position on cannabis legalization, we are seeing much uncertainty around the country as it pertains to our industry. The fear perpetrated in media coverage like this, in a time when we should be waiting to see what will actually happen, is astonishing and not helpful. This is not the conversation that we should be having.

    If you look at the facts, legal cannabis could be a great thing for the Trump administration, but it will take us working closely together.

    Facts and Trump in the same sentence. Oy Vey. More waiting to see what happens? Like 1972 isn’t long enough? No Sabet clone. Times up. Obama has the authority to do the right thing and observe the actual facts that Nixon rejected that Cannabis does not warrant a schedule#1 classification.

    Here are four reasons why the cannabis industry should work with, not against, the AG around the topic of legalized cannabis – and why we should not live in a fearful mindset with regard to this new administration.

    State Rights
    The factors that would be taken into consideration for the state vs. federal lawsuits would be the Cole memo,

    Void after Obama and waiting until Trump is in will be too late. States have no rights since Raich and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III knows this. Bennett and Walters are already gearing up for a battle to bring back the nastiness of their past. Incremental Illness leaves many states unprotected and all states as targets.

    Federal Budgets
    It is also critical to remember that the president’s budget proposal is a request that Congress has to review and approve.

    The Neocon objective is to remove funding going to people and bring it to the Corporations. A GOP Congress taking money from states and giving it to Big Fat Pharma, the Profit Prison Industry the Gun lobby LEO’s and Prohibitionists Cartels and Propagandists infiltrating schools again with DARE crap. DEA is not giving up their 200_ offices in over 80 countries either.

    The President
    President-elect Trump seems to like results. After all he did win the election and fought a hard campaign to do so. If the President of the United States takes a positive position on Marijuana policy, by keeping marijuana legal in the current legal states, the incoming AG will be asked to do the same.

    What’s he drinking? Drumpf has already claimed he is for medicinal use and against recreational and nothing much about Hemp. Medicinally keeping it with Fat Pharma Cannabis products. Busting recreational outlets as “terrible terrible” and Hemp is in direct opposition to his base. Fossil Fools and even Coal. Monsanto poisons on cotton. Plus fat pharma and all of the profits prohibition has been raking in since Nixon.

    Secondly, let’s not forget the President-elect is a business leader, who fired people beautifully, on his own reality show.

    Secondly his reality show was about firing people in the way. As his political campaign of swiftboating opponents with anything to eliminate them. Now why would this not apply to Ganja growers taking his Pharmaceutical interest profits? Grow up. Negatives about Trump are not angst or paranoia. Just the facts of this article are soggy with wishful doubts.

    California alone due to the marijuana legalization allowance in the legal framework. It’s good for business and stops jobs from leaving America.

    All the trouble to urine test people out of jobs. Who are now employed under the table trimming buds for a living wage. While the key here is to bankrupt the middle class with NAFTA outsourcing and cheaper wages. This does not compute. It is opposite of Neocon business which is corporatism. Merging the State laws with Multinational corporations profits and eliminating private enterprise. At least since 1972.

    Cartels
    No President wants to allow more and more illegal drugs into this country,

    Thats up for debate. All GOPers want war and budgets for war. Iraq or the Drug War is profits. Tax paid profits diverted from infrastructures and schools. More ammo for privatization when the budgets can’t fulfill the obligations. War is only bad to the victims of it and those losing funds diverted towards it. I suppose a few genuine passivists. Those who profit on it have a different opinion. Neocons need reasons to fight Cartels and the Banks need their money. Contrary to logic, war is profit and legalizing Ganja has already downsized the Cartels. that is not prudent at this juncture. Now is the time to act and act aggressively, but peacefully demand Obama remove Ganja as a Controlled Substance and treated as Liquor to sell or as tomatoes to grow and Hemp as Corn.

    Todd Mitchem has aided or founded several companies in the cannabis space, including O.penVAPE,

    I like the Bumble Bee, wasn’t O pen the company pisstasting employees until we raised hell? And it goes without saying Mitchem is in the business and like Drumpf and the P64 pushers, has vested ignorance in his reporting.

    ☛ Once-Secret Nixon Tapes Show Why US Outlawed Pot By Kevin Zeese
    Source: AlterNetMarch 22, 2002
    Thirty years ago the United States came to a critical juncture in the drug war. A Nixon-appointed presidential commission had recommended that marijuana use not be a criminal offense under state or federal law. But Nixon himself, based on his zealous personal preferences, overruled the commission’s research and doomed marijuana to its current illegal status. This newly revealed information comes from declassified tapes of Oval Office conversations from 1971 and 1972, which show Nixon’s aggressive anti-drug stance putting him directly at odds against many of his close advisors.

  35. Servetus says:

    More news implicating Big Pharma and corrupt or incompetent public employees in the rise in opioid addictions involves legal policies ignored by West Virginia officials who probably won’t be investigated or prosecuted for their professional laxity:

    http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-health/20161218/suspicious-drug-order-rules-never-enforced-by-state

    In the meantime, apologists for Big Pharma and its inferior products are being spearheaded by Grand Inquisitor Bill O’Reilly, who uses the opportunity provided by opioid addictions to blame Obama for the problems because the president is a black man:

    BILL O’REILLY (HOST): Here’s the deal. President Obama has made it a cause to go out and try to convince Americans that number one selling heroin’s not a violent crime. That’s insane to me. Because I have seen what heroin does to people. All right? And number two, he does this because he believes that the justice system is unfair to black heroin dealers, see? Because more of them are arrested. The black heroin dealers and the crack dealers who are out on the streets, who are actually pedaling on the streets and are easier to arrest. He sees this as a racial thing. So he has tied the racial thing in to his permissive attitude about narcotics and what do we have? An explosion, an explosion of heroin use. Kids wanting to try it thinking it’s cool. And that comes from the top. The leadership of this country so it is his fault.

    http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/12/12/bill-oreilly-blames-obama-rise-opiod-addiction-deaths/214802

  36. Servetus says:

    Racism, xenophobia, and authoritarianism are intimately associated with the discrimination or stigmatization of drug consumers throughout the world, and throughout Christian history.

    Now researchers have demonstrated that discrimination, white-Christian-American-style or otherwise, interacts epigenetically to create health problems among those who are discriminated against:

    21-DEC-2016— It’s no secret that discrimination is stressful for those who experience it, but turns out the issue is more than skin deep — these stressors can interact with our genetics to negatively impact our health, a new University of Florida study shows.[…]

    “We’ve been missing a huge factor in explaining racial disparities in disease,” said Mulligan, co-author of the new study online today in PLOS ONE. “Our finding of an interaction between genetics and environment could explain why it’s been so hard to identify all the risk factors for complex diseases, particularly those that have racial disparities. You have to look at genetics and environment in the same study if you’re investigating complex diseases like hypertension, certain kinds of cancer and psychological disorders.”[…]

    Mulligan and colleagues identified eight significant genetic variants in five genes that were previously associated with cardiovascular disease. When they added sociocultural data, including their novel measure of vicarious unfair treatment, and tested for interactions between genetic variants and unfair treatment, they were able to identify associations with blood pressure and a new class of genes that previously had been associated with psychosocial distress and mood disorders.

    Study authors suggest genetic variants that predispose some people to depression, anxiety or suicide might also make them more sensitive to the effects of discrimination and lead to higher blood pressure. The role of these genes with blood pressure regulation may only become relevant when dealing with the effects of discrimination and could help explain why it’s been so difficult to understand racial disparities in disease, Mulligan said.[…]

    “People may also be reluctant to report personal experiences of discrimination to avoid the stigma, and denial may itself be a coping mechanism,” Mulligan said “It’s also likely effects of vicarious unfair treatment may be even greater, since the study did not include events that one hears through the news, such as an act of racial violence.”[…]

    AAAS Public Release: Study shows discrimination interacts with genetics and impacts health

    The discovery, published by lead author Jacklyn Quinlan, has profound implications for prohibitionists who use discrimination and stigmatization as a means of eliminating drug use in society. It means stigmatizers such as Bill O’Reilly and Psychiatrist/political-pundit Charles Krauthammer, are committing acts of violence that can lead to physical disabilities or disease whenever they discriminate against or stigmatize drug consumers of whatever color. It means the victims in this case may actually be compensating for their discrimination and victimization through drug consumption. The pundits are committing acts of violence by their own definition, which by their own reasoning should commit them to being prosecuted and incarcerated. Discrimination is an act of violence.

  37. DdC says:

    ot NorCalNative
    November 2, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    Hey NCN,

    Sorry to hear about your Dad.

    I don’t really know why, but I started filing some of my links and rants on a blog. Tired of looking them up and repeating some stuff. So I go back to “Quote of the day” and planned to stop a while. When I came across your post. I totally agree with Windy and Grief is a healthy present for us and its a shame to escape from it with anything. Ganja always worked for me grieving doing hospice cases through the 90’s, Also the last stages being more stressful and physically harder.

    Sorry I missed reading it. Hope all is well.

    • NorCalNative says:

      Thanks for your comment DdC.

      • Servetus says:

        I would like to add that your father was fortunate to have a son such as yourself who would go the extra mile in a very public way and buck the system by employing cannabinoids to ease his last days.

        • NorCalNative says:

          That’s really kind of you to say that. This blog played a significant role in my education and ability to go to bat for my dad.

          Ideas and discussions presented here were key to motivating me into action. My dad was fortunate I found this place.

      • Mouth says:

        Your father knew he created a man who could help hold the world in such good hands: tough but compassionate.

  38. Mouth says:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/court-rules-it-was-reasonable-for-cop-to-shoot-dog-for-barking_us_585c4bc9e4b0eb586485d619

    One day, we’ll all wake up and realize that Disney Land had been painted around us. Though many of us already know the whole nation had been painted black long ago.

    • jean valjean says:

      “Disneyland produces a clear cut distinction between reality and imagination…… But this distinction between the real and imaginary in Disneyland is nothing but a desperate attempt to hide the fact that there is no difference. According to Baudrillard, all of America is Disneyland. Reality is not distorted in some Marxian fashion……, it is the cultural code that pre-establishes life in America which is manifested in Disneyland. Disneyland doesn’t let you be a child; it hides that fact that you are a child.”

      http://culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/jean-baudrillard-on-disneyland-and.html

      • Mouth says:

        Does this mean Baudrillard believes America is trapped in the Hegelian hell of ‘Thesis, antithesis, Syntheses’. Thesis: what is right. Antithesis: Watergate. Synthesis: impeach Nixon, thus restoring Disneyland’s ability to thrive and investigate wrongs or scandals threatening the magic kingdom’s ability to be/show what is right and against what is wrong. Police shootings should=Watergate, though cops face very few punishments, which is an indicator that Disneyland is set to crumble, since wrong is not put back together with ‘right’. Therefore, one day someone like Baron Trump will kill someone like Mike Pence after the dissolution of the new Triumvirate. Or is the growing powers of the President against the Legislative and Judicial branches the new Caesar? Were the three branches of government America’s own triumvirate, created out of the Constitution–a.k.a. Disneyland?

        A humorous anti-drug commercial by Jim Morrison once warned us that if you give a one legged duck speed, he’ll swim in circles all day . . . though he was already swimming in circles before giving him an injection of speed.

        Jean, when you critiqued my use of the term ‘Muslim Terrorist’ when referring to cops, it’s just that I live in a place where ‘I wouldn’t be taken seriously for preaching drug legalization’ . . . I’d be cast as a drug addict and irresponsible. Thus I used the M-word so I would not be confused as someone who wants to ‘shoot smack and sexually take advantage of your teenage daughters via LSD’. They ignore drug users and hippies here, but they don’t ignore ‘patriots’. I have the advantage around cops/civilians when I use the M-word against them and am ignored if just viewed as a chemical chaser/drug user . . . especially when I can pass a drug test at anytime. A little glass of water won’t help against white phosphorus. I’ve experienced fist hand how Al Qaeda utilizes drug money, therefore it is very easy for me to connect Police Officers as Al Qaeda sympathizers . . . Jacques Derrida would agree that I’m using my location’s lingo to help end the drug war. I’m sure if I grew up in California or never went to war as a result of 9/11, I’d be speaking from a different ‘ousia’. I’d like to think that I can help keep a child’s leg on and keep people out of jail with the demand of ‘drug legalization’.

      • DdC says:

        Be “child like” not “childish”.

        “The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
        ~ Frank Zappa

        Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters
        cannot be trusted with important matters.
        — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

        Drug Czar linked to deception
        http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/599
        – Drug Czar is Required by Law to Lie
        – UK’s Drugs Czar Fired For Marijuana Truths
        – Cover-Ups, Prevarications, Subversions & Sabotage
        – Anti-Drug Campaigns Dumb Down Vital Message
        – Calvina Fay Prohibition Inc.
        – GOP Mogul Behind Drug Rehab ‘Torture’ Centers

  39. Analyze This says:

    It’s been common practice for Georgia’s (former soviet republic) police to stop young men at random, forcing them to provide urine samples and undergo drug tests. That will now change.

    Norms envisaging imprisonment for marijuana use now null and void in Georgia

    In October 2015, Georgia’s Constitutional Court delivered a historic verdict, saying the norm of Georgia’s Constitution about imprisonment for personal use of marijuana was ‘too strict’ and needed to be relaxed.

    Despite this, the norms envisaging imprisonment for this offence still remained in other legislative documents of Georgia, in particular in the Criminal Code and Administrative Offenses Code. Yesterday’s decision meant these norms were now removed from these legislative documents too.

    http://agenda.ge/news/72349/eng

    • Mouth says:

      Georgia hits home for me: They left Iraq to protect their nation while I was there, with U.S. soldiers living with the possibility that we may come to our allies rescue: a change of deployment. They’re waging in combat operations against Russia at a costly price and waging war against drugs, which isn’t cheap either. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that drug money rich Russian Mobsters help produce cash for sanctions harmed Russia and gangsters can help the Kremlin and Putin keep control, while dolling out dope money funds to various ‘separatists’. We held the Russian Mafia in our Prison in Baghdad. Ramzan Kadyrov is a Chechnya leader with militant and biker gang ties. Drug money supports their efforts to defeat Georgia and Ukraine. Have you ever seen any human who will deny owning a random $20 bill they found on the streets? If not, then drug money is perfect for filling holes in the financial infrastructure.

      This is why Israel is moving to legalization: drugs finance their enemies and Jewish mafias and gangs undermine government efforts.

      Drug money is fantastic for Russia who is desperate to prove to the world that they do not finance [all] the separatists when it comes to food, RPGs, surface to Air Missile (sorry Dutch people), bullets, training, communications, uniforms and other gear. If Russia has a GDP akin to the U.S. then Russia is fully funding the separatists with tax dollars . . . if Russia is much poorer than the U.S., Germany, Britain etc, then drug money funds a lot.

  40. Don't Care Anymore says:

    Being against the authoritarian left does not make you right-wing. Why is this so hard for people to understand? Why do people dismiss the centrist libertarian positions? Back in the 90’s everyone called me “commie”. Now I am “alt-right”, whatever the fuck that means. Just because I think the government has no right to stick its filthy nose in any person’s private business. Being against the nanny state is a conservative position, right? RIGHT?! It is no business of the government what I smoke. Go tell that to your comrades in Sweden, where child rapists genuinely do less if any time than casual pot smokers. Leftard hypocrites. I will stick to the US, the only country with the balls to legalize dope on a state by state basis. A country is not only the state, but the people in it as well. Power to the people… isnt’t that a left-wing slogan? I wouldn’t know. I am just a bi-partisan freedom fighter. Go fuck yourself.

    • Servetus says:

      Left wing authoritarians still exist in places such as Russia, where some nostalgic people still yearn for the iron hand of Stalin. Alt-right is a term too vague at the moment to have any meaning; it’s like trying to define fascism with only three specific examples to work from. I get the feeling from your posting that you are anti-totalitarian, like many of us. Totalitarianism is better defined (see Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism). Arendt noted that the tyranny produced by totalitarianism never lasts. People are always motivated to work against it.

    • NCN Because Life is Better on Weed says:

      “Go Fuck Yourself.”

      I’m confused. Is that centrist libertarian speak or is that your special bi-partisan powers talking?

      Now, if you had said, “Go Fuck Authoritarians of ANY political label?” I’d be asking you where to send money.

  41. Servetus says:

    Researchers at USC find a distinction in the retention of political beliefs versus non-political beliefs:

    23-DEC-2016 – …”Political beliefs are like religious beliefs in the respect that both are part of who you are and important for the social circle to which you belong,” said lead author Jonas Kaplan, an assistant research professor of psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “To consider an alternative view, you would have to consider an alternative version of yourself.”

    To determine which brain networks respond when someone holds firmly to a belief, the neuroscientists with the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC compared whether and how much people change their minds on nonpolitical and political issues when provided counter-evidence.

    They discovered that people were more flexible when asked to consider the strength of their belief in nonpolitical statements – for example, “Albert Einstein was the greatest physicist of the 20th century.”

    But when it came to reconsidering their political beliefs, such as whether the United States should reduce funding for the military, they would not budge.

    “I was surprised that people would doubt that Einstein was a great physicist, but this study showed that there are certain realms where we retain flexibility in our beliefs,” Kaplan said.

    AAAS Public Release: The incorrigibles; Hard-wired: The brain’s circuitry for political belief.

    One implication is whether marijuana legalization is a political belief, or another kind of belief, about marijuana’s safety, for example. For those who make it a political belief, the politicians and officials and pundits who built their careers on drug enforcement, it becomes an identity issue that rattles their cages if someone proves them wrong about illicit drugs. They refuse to budge.

    • There is only one lasting and true move to make for cannabis:
      Remove it from the CSA.

      Only then will its real medical value become apparent to all.

      Rescheduling marijuana while it remains in the controlled substances act just reshuffles the problem to new plateaus.

      It has no business in the CSA. Its an affront to common sense and the rights afforded to all American citizens by our constitution.

      • DdC says:

        That’s the way I see it too TC. Physical science determines how dangerous Ganja is. Letting states dictate physical science is not science, it’s politics, and that is how we got into the mess in the first place. Not that that states rights are actually on the table since Raich. Incremental Illness is very contagious if profits are at stake it seems. Obama should correct the deception of Nixon and then remove it as a Controlled Substance. Anything less is a childish fear of hobgoblins and ghosts. As with any impairment, deal with the impairment whatever the cause. Be-it old people on medications or young and hormonally whacked. Or just being too sleepy can cause impairment. The priority is removing the reckless drivers, not adding up fine money or forfeiting cars.

    • NCN Because Life is Better on Weed says:

      DdC, I wanted to add to your recent comment about my dad. My experience with Hospice was all positive and I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with all of the folks who came into our home under stressful conditions.

      If you’ve done that work, I’m a huge fan. It’s takes a really special kind of person.

  42. All State’s courts should take notice from this ruling.

    “Medical marijuana patients given DUI protections by Arizona appeals court”
    By Andrew Blake – The Washington Times http://tinyurl.com/jrk4qof

    “The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled this week that medical marijuana patients arrested for driving under the influence of the drug can contest DUI charges by arguing before a judge that they weren’t too high to operate an automobile.” …

    … “there is no scientific consensus about the concentration of THC that generally is sufficient to impair a human being.”

    • WalStMonky says:

      .
      .

      Why not just the States which have medicinal cannabis patient protection laws which specifically protect patients accused of cannabis addled driving? This one is a case of government lackeys and stooges who refuse to enforce reformed cannabis laws as designed.

      quoting verbatim:

      D. OPERATING, NAVIGATING OR BEING IN ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL OF ANY MOTOR VEHICLE, AIRCRAFT OR MOTORBOAT WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA, EXCEPT THAT A REGISTERED QUALIFYING PATIENT SHALL NOT BE CONSIDERED TO BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA SOLELY BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF METABOLITES OR COMPONENTS OF MARIJUANA THAT APPEAR IN INSUFFICIENT CONCENTRATION TO CAUSE IMPAIRMENT.

  43. Former DEA Spokesperson: Marijuana is ‘Cash Cow’ and ‘We Will Never Give Up’
    http://tinyurl.com/zmqmzp4

    “Nelson — who, during her time there, eventually became the DEA’s chief propagandist — told a crowd at the Marijuana for Medical Professionals Conference in Denver, Colorado last month that the DEA’s war on cannabis is exactly the corrupt, money-grubbing scheme that most believe it to be.”

    “Marijuana is safe, we know it is safe. It’s our cash cow and we will never give up,” she said

    … “[When they hired me] they forgot to get me to sign a confidentiality agreement — and boy did I know the dirt. They called me in and said ‘name your price, $10,000 a month? $20,000? What do you want Belita?’” she said during her presentation in Denver.

    But instead of cooperating, Nelson stormed from the office screaming, “You know this is safe and you are keeping it from people who are sick! I am not taking your money and you better worry about what I am going to say.”

    “…If you think the DEA are the good guys, they are not,” she said. “They are really not. We are talking corruption on steroids.”

    • jean valjean says:

      We finally know what Hillary meant when she said “there’s too much money in it” to end the drug war.

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