Open Thread

bullet image CU Boulder history instructor baffled and offended by pro-pot protest

On my way to class I passed through the quad and saw several thousand students (as well as many homeless folks and others who didn’t seem to belong there). They were all in small circles of four to five people, and every circle was passing around marijuana cigarettes. I almost felt high myself as I tried to make it across the quad to my class. Half the class never showed up; they were enjoying the activity out on the lawn.

My lecture that day was Calvinism, Puritanism and the Protestant Ethic, how these values made America great, but that we were now unfortunately losing them here in America. How appropriate! As I spoke of living a responsible and sober life, studying hard to be a success, becoming an upstanding member of the community, and of one day becoming a good spouse and parent, my students automatically juxtaposed the activities outside our classroom where the other half of the class was spending their time. I told them that I felt I was preaching to the choir, but promised them all extra credit for their faithful attendance, choosing to learn about responsibility, instead of blowing smoke in the quad.

Wow.


bullet image AG Eric Holder Outlines DOJ ‘s Planned Priorities – TalkLeft notes that Holder still is just talk.

President Obama’s 2012 proposed budget is overly heavy on law enforcement and too light on prevention. The words by Holder are nice, but as the Justice Policy Project points out, they are not borne out by the numbers.


bullet image A Drug that Kills

A student editorial that says the right thing: “Ultimately, ensuring that kind of safety means legalizing marijuana.” But does it really badly.


bullet image President Obama speaks on Manning and the rule of law – Glenn Greenwald.

Pretty sad when our commander-in-chief is unclear on the meaning of the law. And don’t for a moment think that this doesn’t have a drug policy connection.

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49 Responses to Open Thread

  1. Sakume says:

    I just want to say that marijuana is indeed an extremely dangerous drug and is a proven fact that it’s a gateway too. Every day, hundreds of people in the US are arrested for even just simple possession of marijuana making it extremely dangerous in the process. However, the use of the drug is an extremely dangerous gateway … to Taco Bell.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .
      God knows that Taco Bell wouldn’t have much in the way of sales if people asked what kind of meat goes into a 69 cent taco. Yes, yes, I know it’s 100% beef. That just means it’s made from cow parts. 100% cow rectums is in fact 100% beef. Don’t get me started on the subject of head cheese either.

    • Peter says:

      a gateway to jail

  2. Servetus says:

    Calvinism sucks.

  3. strayan says:

    Don’t read this article unless you’re prepared to be horrified:

    http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2011/04/orleans-city-jail-police

    • DdC says:

      Its out a control…

      The Vengeance of the Neocons. Racists still pounding Storyville for bringing the heathens to America. VooDoo, Jazz and Marihuana. Boosh had no intention of fixing the infrastructure, levies or conditions. Remember they opened fire on several citizens. GOP blames the mayor. Pre and Post Katrina is an embarrassment and hypocritical of any flag jerking drug worrying gestapo quick to whip out their slogans of Freedom and Liberty.

      The History of Music and Marijuana (Part One)
      The 20th century stories of music and marijuana both begin in Storyville, the red light district of New Orleans. This is where Louis Armstrong was born in 1901, and where the first recorded American use of “marihuana” occurred in 1909.

      Can America End Up With Civilian Prison Labor Camps?
      Our American Army units are legally authorized to establish civilian prisoner labor camps on the very lands of military installations that our taxes pay for. These actions are authorized by a little known regulation which permits these acts under the request of the Bureau of Prisons. This regulation is Army Regulation 210-35. This is not a newly established law laid out by the Obama administration but rather one that was defined under the Bush administration when they were expanding the presidential powers during any emergency situation.

      Shoot to Kill (In case of Martial Law)

      “To date, there are more than 11,000 members of InfraGard.” “From our perspective that amounts to 11,000 contacts . . . and 11,000 partners in our mission to protect America.” He added a little later, “Those of you in the private sector are the first line of defense.”

      He urged InfraGard members to contact the FBI if they “note suspicious activity or an unusual event.” And he said they could sic the FBI on “disgruntled employees who will use knowledge gained on the job against their employers.”

      One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law.
      InfraGard is “a child of the FBI,” says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.

      Berga Labor Camps
      Prisoners at Dachau were greeted with with the words “Arbeit Macht Frei” — work makes freedom. Berga experience in a variety of media.

      “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 J. Anslinger,
      testimony to Congress, 1937

      • DdC says:

        Think 4/20 Is a Waste of Money? Try the War on Drugs
        But when it comes to wasting money, 4/20 isn’t even a blip on the monetary radar compared to the failed war on drugs. Already this year, the federal government has spent almost $5 billion on the war on drugs. Last year it spent $15 billion.

        Medical Marijuana Bill Re-Introduced in Pennsylvania
        A bill to legalize the use of medical marijuana for qualifying patients and to create a statewide system of “Compassion Centers” has been introduced in the Keystone State. full story

        Toking vs. Drinking Challenged Issued To Liberal Leader Matt Mernagh
        Cannabis constitutional challenger Matt Mernagh is issuing a toking vs. drinking challenge to Liberal leader Micheal Ignatieff. Mernagh, a medical marijuana patient at the heart of Ontario court ruling striking down possession and cultivation, who becomes functional after inhaling, will smoke two joints for every glass of wine Iggy guzzles. The Liberal leader has been making serious boneheaded comments regarding cannabis on the campaign trail.

        Call for Action: Hawaii Medical Marijuana Patients Under Attack!
        Republican Senator introduces bill to disqualify a majority of the Islands’ medical marijuana patients full story

    • Malcolm Kyle says:

      Here’s one of the comments:

      CriticalEye21
      23 April 2011 at 07:55
      I knew US democracy has been in stark decline become nothing more than an empty shell, but this article is just beyond belief. Europe should slowly decouple itself from the USA economically and socially. The USA is a disgrace to the West’s ideals such as democracy, human rights and peaceful coexistence. When will people wake up to the true nature of this rogue state and shun it?

      http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2011/04/orleans-city-jail-police

    • darkcycle says:

      The post Katrina response was intentional. The government sent in mercenaries and thugs with guns, in response to pleas for help. People were shot for trying to feed their families. People were shot for sport. The government was asked for food and water and assistance and instead sent killers with orders to shoot, or worse, no orders at all. People were rounded up and kept in cages, unable to phone their families and tell them where they were. This was the organized response, intentional and driven by the proponents of “disaster capitalism”. That every American isn’t shouting at the top of their lungs for justice is testament to just how detached from reality the American public is. Oh well, just one more atrocity accepted as a facet of ordinary life. One more set of highly placed criminals not prosecuted for their crimes and allowed to retain the positions that allowed them to commit those crimes. Just another day in a life.

  4. DdC says:

    Archeology discovered Hashish incense in the temples, did Jesus inhale?

    12-23-2010 Pat Robertson, voice of sanity in the Drug War
    “We’re locking up people that take a couple of puffs of marijuana and the next thing you know they’ve got ten years – they’ve got mandatory sentences and these judges, they throw up their hand and say ‘What can we do, it’s mandatory sentences.’ We’ve got to take a look at what we’re considering crimes, and that’s one of them. I mean, I’m not exactly for the use of drugs, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of just a few ounces of pot, and that kind of thing, I mean it’s costing us a fortune, and it’s ruining young people. The young people go into prisons, they go in as youths, and they come out as hardened criminals.”

    Ganjabars

    Blasphemy

    Clergy Speak Out Against the War on Drugs U2b

    Protestant Ethic? Is that like Military Intelligence or Political Morals or Peace Officers or Sane drug worriers or corporate citizens or Compassionate Republicans? Sounds like Rush on Oxycontain, I mean an Oxymoron.

  5. kaptinemo says:

    The comments concerning the CU theology professor’s blinkered view of his students utilizing their Constitutional rights to protest an unjust law are more revealing of the professor’s motivations than anything else.

    It would seem he’s misrepresenting himself as being a history teacher. No history teacher I ever knew would have glowingly extolled the ‘virtues’ of Calvinism, given its’ inherent elitist tenets…and the misery implementing those tenets caused. Like some of the bloodiest wars in Human history.

    But then, you learn that said theology prof is apparently a member of the kind of right-wing coteries (backed by corporately funded ideologues with very suspicious agendas) springing up in campuses all over the country to battle what they view as being an overly ‘liberal’ academic environment. Sort of a Protestant version of Opus Dei, I guess. And just as dangerous.

    The prof reminds me of that old Billy Joel song The Angry Young Man; in this case, it would seem the ‘angry young man’ only grew old, not up.

  6. darkcycle says:

    Well. As long as he’s pining for the good old days…Some “Poor Houses” could take care of those “Homeless People” he thought he saw. And an eighteen hour, seven day work week, or a little indentured servitude would have taken care of the rest of the no-account hustlers and Ne’er-do-wells littering that quad. Maybe we could just bring back “Impressment”, and simply have “press gangs” that wander about the campus, looking for anybody who looks like they have nowhere to go. These gangs could drug (did I say that?)class-skippers and hustle them aboard Navy ships, and when they woke up, they’d be in the Navy and out to Sea.
    Some unrestricted child labor would get those younger urchins off the streets too. Ah, a perfect world. If you’re some kind of repressed, fearful and domineering White Protestant Male.
    Who the hell gave this guy a job teaching anyway?

  7. darkcycle says:

    Too priceless: R.I. Republican who voted against de-crim and was later arrested in Conn. for possession gives his side of the story: It was my medical marijuana. When it is pointed out that HE DOES NOT HAVE A DOCTOR’S RECCOMENDATION, his response (I’ll paraphrase, then give his words) was essentially “I’m entitled to break the law because of my position”:
    “Now I know that the Department of Health prides itself on the confidentiality of that program. But let’s face it,” Watson said. “I am a public official, as we all are. We’re a small state, and I am not certain that my privacy wouldn’t be compromised were I to do this medical-marijuana treatment in the proper form and fashion.”
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/news/2011/apr/27/ri_state_rep_watson_presents_his

  8. DdC says:

    And on faith…

    “Faith in what, where? Pie in the sky? Or the man who stands up and tells us this is the only faith, and the next one says no, my faith is the faith, and others say no, no, my way is it. Everyone having his idea of what is the faith and no one agreeing. It’s been a better life for me without the organized faiths. Like burned toast, you have to scrape a long time to find what’s left of the original white bread…Living is my religion, being me, doing no harm to people, not judging too much, not saying that this joker you can talk to, and this cull you can’t. If I have a creed, it’s that I keep my word, I pay my way, I’m not lovable, I’m not kind to fools. I want full weight for what I pay for. Whatever I am I still want to be me and die me.”

    And as for Storyville… “I loved the goddamn place.”
    Quotes from Nell Kimball,
    a Storyville Madame January 2, 2011

    Freedom is the Distance between Church and State

    In Order to Insure the Quality of Your Patriotism,
    Your Conversation May Be Monitored.

    You Measure Democracy
    By the Freedom it Gives it’s Dissidents,
    Not the Freedom it Gives it’s Assimilated Conformists.
    ~ Abbie Hoffman

    Pro Life? Not even anti abortionists…

    • DdC says:

      Ed Rosenthal For President in 2012
      Folks, I didn’t want to have to do this, but as a patriotic American, seeing this country going to hell under the bipartisan watch of both Democrats and Republicans, I have decided to set up a presidential exploratory committee and we will seek the endorsement of the Party Party, which at present doesn’t exist formally, but which meets regularly at bars, cafes, raves and peoples homes, amongst other places.

      Clear The Air on U.S. Pot Policy
      CN Source: Denver Post April 27, 2011
      The Internal Revenue Service’s audits of medical marijuana businesses in Colorado and elsewhere around the country seem to be within the agency’s legal authority, but prompt a larger question for the Obama administration. What is the federal government’s over-arching policy on state-approved medical marijuana activity?

      Damn Liberals!

      ACLU Bids To Reinstate Suit Over Walmart Firing By Tresa Baldas
      CN Source: Detroit Free Press April 27, 2011 Michigan
      The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal appeals court to revive its lawsuit that claims Walmart wrongfully fired a Battle Creek employee who used medical marijuana to treat a brain tumor and cancer. U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker dismissed the ACLU’s lawsuit in February, holding that Michigan’s medical marijuana law does not require companies to accommodate employees who are medical marijuana patients, nor does it prohibit them from firing employees for drug use.

      GOPerverts!

      Christie Blowing Smoke
      CN Source: Philadelphia Inquirer April 27, 2011 Trenton
      The Christie administration has found yet another way to delay implementation of New Jersey’s medical marijuana law. Enough already. The measure was debated for years and thoroughly vetted by the state Legislature. It was finally adopted and signed into law by Gov. Jon S. Corzine more than a year ago. But Christie has sabotaged it at every turn. The law took effect last October, but it’s still unclear when medical marijuana will be dispensed.

      Fascists Pigs!

      THC driving limits could cause more innocent people to spend months in jail, attorney says
      On Monday, the Colorado Senate will take up HB 1261, a bill that sets THC driving limits at five nanograms per milliliter of blood — a level to which many critics object. Indeed, even its sponsor, Representative Claire Levy, now thinks this number may be too strict. But attorney M. Colin Bresee says the problems run much deeper — including test results that can take months to come back and prosecutors who don’t understand them when they do.

    • DdC says:

      What War Has Wrought
      US MI: Column: Sinclair, John Metro Times 27 Apr 2011

      War on Drugs a Lost Cause
      US WV: Edu: Column: Nash, Bishop The Parthenon 28 Apr 2011

      Drug War Destroying the Moral Fabric of America DdCybrary

      Drug Kingpin or Political Prisoner?
      US HI: Johnson, Cameron Honolulu Weekly 27 Apr 2011
      last July, Christie was indicted for allegedly committing three felony marijuana crimes: conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 or more marijuana plants; manufacturing marijuana; and possession with intent to distribute 240 marijuana plants. He was taken into custody July 8 and judged to be a “danger to society” by three federal judges, whose decisions to continue his incarceration pending trial have been upheld by federal appeals courts.

      Medical Marijuana Could Become Legal in Illinois
      US IL: Wilson, Todd Chicago Tribune 28 Apr 2011

  9. vicky vampire says:

    Jesus f***ing Christ Pete there is plenty of great stuff to digest today Cool your the best Pete.

    Yeah I agree, Servetus Calvinism totally Sucks, yeah I’m Catholic and that’s a crazy bat religion but at least our priests used to smoke and I hear around my neck of woods I have a good source that some toke regularly, and has a Catholic we are not anti – alcohol. at least not in parishes I’ve. attended wine served at dinners and such. No no defending just what iIhave experienced.

    WOW, MALCOLM,Duncan, Darkcyle excellent points refuting that
    WATSON CALVINIST chap yeah, he is baffled by pro-pot protest, you sir I’m baffled beyond belief by folks like you stuck in some narrowed minded Ivory Tower that can not see why MILLIONS OF RESPONSIBLE HARDWORKING NO NOT HOMELESS people like you refereed to many there are in full force to promote and support the legalization of an incredible
    shockingly amazing medicine. get your head out of the bible for a moment and read some science,Oh yes sir there are religious spiritual people who believe in God and still understand why Cannabis being illegal is travesty of major porportions. I’m one of them.

    Yes I know that link from Pat Robertson,Ddc oh he had a moment of clarity good for him,but he is still a fucking bubblehead on a whole bunch of other stuff.

    Yes Strayan,that article you linked on New Orleans is shocking,sad,and sick America people keep saying Oh no we are going to become a third world country wake people its here this is despotic. Shame.
    Yeah Donald Trump maybe an idiot,but like Obama released his Birth Cirtificate, I just wish Donald Trump or someone with enough balls like him would bring attention to and make Obama and both Dems and Repubs to deal with Pot in country in a way they could not offiscate it or not allow full disclosure and evidence from both sides and make DEA accountable, I know I’m just dreaming like that will happen.

    • Windy says:

      Yeah, Obama released A birth certificate, but there is one nagging problem with it, it lists his father’s “race” as “African”. Back then, it would have listed his race as “Negro”, not “black”, and “African” would only be listed as his father’s nationality not his race. So many are considering it a forgery. I wouldn’t even bother with this (I am not truly a “birther”, I really never had much concern over his birth certificate, until they released this one) except that I am a libertarian Constitutionalist, and it clearly states in the Constitution that the president MUST be a native born American, not a naturalized American; so, if he was not born in the US (even if his mother was and is a US citizen), he is not native born American, which would make his entire administration for the past two years and some months illegitimate. Such an occurrence would undermine the Constitution even more than it has been undermined over the years by politicians and the courts, it might just put the final nail in that document’s authority over government (Lincoln placed that first nail), and that scares the hell out of me.

      • darkcycle says:

        George Bush was given the presidency when the supreme court stopped a legal re-count of the votes in Florida. The Florida vote count was clearly manipulated and highly suspect. Jeb Bush, his brother was Governor. Large numbers of votes from precincts that were minority were “lost”. In George Bush’s second election, electoral irregularities in Ohio and HIGHLY suspect voting machines from Diebold, a huge Bush-backer, helped throw a SECOND election where he clearly LOST the popular vote. If you wanna go down the “Illegitimate Presidency” road, it really started with George. I think the birthers are just doing the “turnabout is fair play”. If being born outside the U.S. makes him illegitimate (e.g. not natural-born) then John McCain had the exact same problem: he was born in Panama I believe.
        This birther nonsense is a distraction. It focuses attention on unimportant trivia, and keeps the eyes of the public off the policies being implemented. Policies which are substantially the same as his predecessor’s. Does anybody really think that Obama will step down if his B.C. isn’t real? Does anybody really think the Supreme Court or the Congress will DO anything about it? Besides maybe tie up the machinery of government for a few months with a drawn out impeachment that WON’T lead to him stepping down or losing the Presidency?
        When I was bitterly complaining about the Florida count, then four years later about the Diebolt conspiracy, all I ever got from Bush and Bush backers was: “Suck it up, that’s how it is.”. Conservatives should take heart, though, regardless of his origin, Obama has continued every single one of Bush’s atrocities. Gitmo open, torture, illegal spying on American citizens, the lot. So really, I hope this nonsense paralyzes him for the rest of his administration. I’m not an Obama supporter, but this ‘birther’ stuff is just rediculous.

  10. David Marsh says:

    Here’s one for ya:

    http://littlevillagemag.com/content/2010/12/03/high-crime/

    This man is in halfway house custody for felony conspiracy when he bought cannabis from dealer that was under surveillance. This is interesting considering possession under one ounce is a misdemeanor in Iowa.

    • darkcycle says:

      David, I’d be willing to bet my bottom dollar he refused to testify against the guy who sold it to him.

  11. vicky vampire says:

    Yeah Dave this guy had simple possession charge should have paid small fine but since home of that guy was under surveillance,no he is know entangled in major crime in limbo. Christ, We are all in danger here in USA IT’S an old style commie state be careful what you say wrong place at wrong time tons of extra laws for simple possession can make you into a mass felon. Jesus no justice we must have complete legalization or we will just continue to be slaves like we are now to Government industrial complex.

    Yeah a few more thoughts on that New Orleans story what person says there were innacuracies, maybe a few. but come on how many tapes have we seen lately through past years, of Cops beating people treating them like dogs for now reason trying and other law breaking come on, it’s almost rampant these days, no I’m not Fucking exaggerating I know Sean Hannity would probably think so, God have you heard him lately he makes Rush look Liberal.

  12. Peter says:

    check out this prof watson guy’s profile at colorado christian college
    http://www.ccu.edu/admissions/spotlight/spotlight.asp?iSpotID=322
    explains his judgmental and bigoted views on cannabis: christian fundamentalist
    sample: “What do you like best about CCU students?:
    Their enthusiasm and their potential to serve God’s Kingdom around the world…”
    By the way Pete, you flatter him with the false link to CU….it is actually the unaccredited CCU

  13. ezrydn says:

    If you want to see “Prof. Wiggins” really come unglued, mention “pre-Adamite Concept” to him. Dude should have lingered in the Quad just a tad bit longer.

  14. Tim says:

    Another politician that doesn’t get it.

    Ignatieff responded, “I just mean I don’t want to send you to jail if you’re caught with a couple of joints of pot in your pocket. But legalize marijuana I think takes us into a place which I just think may have some bad consequences. I want you folks going to school, getting a job, going to work. I don’t want you sitting around smoking pot all day. I’ll be frank with you. You’ve got better things to do with your time.”

    “I have smoked pot as a young man, yes. And it’s one of the reasons why I urge young people not to repeat the experience. It did not ruin my life but I just think there are a lot more important and interesting things to do with your life, including a glass of wine after dinner, eh? Let’s all relax here.”

    Probably election posturing, and I’m still going to vote for him (lesser of the evils) but really boneheaded for a Harvard professor. Wonder if he’s been comparing notes with Obama on this file?

    • Windy says:

      Instead of voting for him as the “lesser of the evils”, why don’t you vote NOTA (none of the above) and actually live up to your convictions and principles? Too many people are doing the “voting for the lesser of the evils” thing instead of the more principled “I will NOT give my vote to ANY of these assholes”. Enough people making “NOTA” votes and politicians might begin to actually GET the message!

      • Julian says:

        Or run yourself as an independent. You will most likely not win but at least you could stand by your convictions and bring awareness to what you believe.

      • Tim says:

        Because we have had a terrible government since 2006, and not voting would be to their advantage. Also, my local member of parliament “stood by” her “convictions” by calling out the Health Canada medical marijuana program, describing it as “fascist,” and the Liberal Party of Canada has opposed the mandatory minimum bill S-10.

        Pragmatism. It’s not a dirty word.

  15. Peter says:

    Here’s the “Lifestyle Expectations” from Colorado Christian University, to put the prof’s remarks into context:

    Members of the CCU community are expected to refrain from engaging in, advocating, teaching, supporting, encouraging, defending, or excusing homosexuality, transvestitism, transvestite behavior, transgenderism and transgender behavior.

    It is expected that all CCU employees will adhere to the University’s policy opposing the use, possession, or distribution of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, or illegal drugs on any of the University campuses, centers, or facilities. It is also expected that CCU employees will not in any way initiate such aforementioned activities in the presence of any CCU student(s).

  16. vicky vampire says:

    Yeah Ddc good link I’m sick of Gov. Chris Christie,I don’t even care if I agreed with him on other issues and even if he did run and become President by chance and gas prices were only a dollar I’m sorry this man woulds still be total crap in my book, along with any other politicians WHO ARE ANTI-POT there are no more excuses left with issue fini folks, prohibition is failing at every conceivable level.
    Maybe I have become those one issue voters,but there to much at stake now millions of citizens are harassed,arrested,incarcerated enough already. END OF FRAKING STORY.

    Oreilly is on right yeah I’m still a recovering conservative still addicted to these idiots,but its funny Bill can not figure out with Dennis Miller has his side kick quest why oh why Denmark registers has having happiest folks in world maybe its cause they are not so hung up on bugging you about Cannabis,not legal there but decriminalized somewhat pot cafe’s flourishing with out to much hassle. no fucking DEA THREATENING AND THROWING AND ARRESTING FOLKS THERE EVERY MINUTE MAYBE THAT’S WHY THEY ARE HAPPY.

  17. Ben says:

    http://trueslant.com/ethanepstein/2010/04/24/drug-war-failure-is-not-an-argument-against-the-drug-war/

    “It seems self-evident that the criminalization of hard drugs has at least done something to reduce their use. Does anyone believe that if heroin and cocaine were available at the corner convenience store, no more people would use them than do now?”

    One of the least thought out articles I’ve ever seen. Who actually expects heroin to be at the corner store? This guy is just spouting the same crap that all prohibitionists say, with no logic in his own argument, and complete bias in his attitude towards the drug war in general. Some of you may want to attempt to contact and debate this with him, I’m sure someone could shed some light into his nearly empty brain.

  18. James Little says:

    Top Mexican Drug Lord: I Trafficked Cocaine For The U.S. Government

    http://www.newsdag.com/Top-Mexican-Drug-Lord-I-Trafficked-Cocaine-For-The-US-Government-822.html

    Not really surprised with this if it is true.

  19. DdC says:

    Dutch Can Grow Five Marijuana Plants, No Problem

    Medical-Marijuana Firms Hold High Hopes for Fund Raising
    In what was once a pipe dream, medical-marijuana companies are courting private investors and even planning public stock sales. full story

    Medical Marijuana Bill Could Pass in Illinois
    Balance Shifts As A Leading Republican House Member Supports Medical Marijuana full story

    ‘GOOD FAITH’ DRUG MEASURE WILL HELP PROTECT BUSINESSES
    Companies often impose either random drug tests or drug testing after an accident to determine whether workers are impaired. But the state’s new medical marijuana law says use of the drug cannot be the sole indication of impairment and that companies must prove by other means that the person is impaired. The new law the governor is considering – HB 2541 – defines impairment and how it can be determined in more detail and provides some “good faith” protections for companies that use impairment criteria to determine disciplinary action, even if it involves someone who is certified to use medical marijuana. full story

  20. Duncan20903 says:

    It sure looks to me like the Obama administration has decided to attack medicinal cannabis. They’ve been sending warning letters to Colorado lawmakers using the cudgel of Federal law to intimidate them into leaving it alone. The interesting thing is that the Colorado legislature is trying to implement restrictions, not to expand the freedom to use whole plant cannabinoid medicine.

    http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_17936371

    The State of Washington’s lawmakers are getting the same message. Unfortunately Governor Gregoire is a Federal government sycophant. Some say she’s jockeying for an appointment in the Obama administration. Perhaps drug czar since Mr. Kerliefries is fed up with the job?

    • darkcycle says:

      Duncan, I think they’re trying to hold the advance where it stands ’til they can re-schedule whole cannabis extracts for G.W. Pharma. I think the problems holding them back are patent-related. Sativex is in no way a novel medication. Sub-lingual Cannabis tinctures have been used for hundreds of years at LEAST.
      But you’re right, they are going after medicine bigtime right now. I think it may just be Leonhart’s doing though. She hates them potheads, hates, them, yes precious, hates them like Bagginses she does.

      • Duncan20903 says:

        .
        .
        The USPTO returns 5,396 items in a search of its database for the keyword cannabinoid.

        http://www.patentstorm.us/search.html?q=cannabinoid&s.x=0&s.y=0&s=s

        Back in December when I first stumbled onto the USPTO search there were 4,917 items. That’s 479 patents issued in the last 4 months alone. It sure doesn’t seem to me that they’re having a hard time getting patents.

        http://www.drugwarrant.com/2010/12/were-not-lying-to-teens-enough/comment-page-1/#comment-53627

        That’s a long post, and the search is mentioned closer to the bottom than the top.

        It also notes Bayer Schering’s Canadian patent for Sativex.
        http://www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca/english/View.asp?x=804
        I can’t recall, don’t we have some kind of reciprocity with other countries when they issue patents?

        Searching the USPTO for the keyword Sativex returns 77 items.

        Hmm, now isn’t that cute. GWP announced that they received a US patent for Sativex on 4/20/2011. That might be why the stock is up almost 40% in the last week.

        “The patent, entitled “Pharmaceutical Compositions for the Treatment of Pain”, provides an exclusivity period until April 2025. The patent specifically covers a method of treating cancer related pain by administering a combination of the cannabinoids cannabidiol (CBD) and delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the two principal cannabinoids in Sativex®. In addition to this newly granted patent, Sativex® is protected by a number of other patents related to different aspects of the product.”
        http://www.gwpharm.com/US%20Patent%20Granted%20for%20Sativex%20in%20Cancer%20Pain.aspx

        Why is it that it annoys me when non-potheads do that? Every time I type SB-420 in reference to California law it grates on my nerves. It really did give me a warm fuzzy when the DC Councilman David Catania gave this precious look of cluelessness when asked why the DC Council voted DC’s medicinal cannabis law on 4/20/2010. “The third Tuesday of every month is when we take care of that kind of business, it just happened to be 4/20.” Warm fuzzy happened because they did not plan it that way. Still, that’s a pretty remarkable coinky dink. Maybe someday a DC patient will actually get some medicine because of that law.

        Has anyone come up with another reason to patent a cannabinoid other than for medicinal use? I ponder that quite a lot and still haven’t come up with anything.

      • darkcycle says:

        USG Dept. of Health was issued a patent that was later retracted, as I recall, for cannabinoids as neuro-protectants. I was thinking of the delivery system being difficult to patent. Patenting the medicinal uses is a different animal. But you’re right, it looks like they did land their patent. Maybe that has something to do with the DEA stepping up raids on dispensaries. Clearing the field of competition. Yes, I’m cynical. Yes, I fully believe this government is now textbook fascist, and would use the police apparatus for just such a purpose.

      • Duncan20903 says:

        .
        .
        You say that as if everyone would scoff at you. Most people will, but their unaware the the number of bald faced lies and manipulations of people to feed their own end. Christ on a crutch I think of the fans of magic bullets, income tax is illegal, that it wasn’t the Freedom Fighters terrorists from the Taliban that took out the World Trade Center and never thought that I’d be in a group of people that could be mistaken for the tin foil hat crowd but here I am.

        Please remember that the reason the government forced Reynolds to switch from tin to aluminum is because aluminum doesn’t block the CIA’s mind control radio waves. :} Remember, demand genuine tin foil to avoid the remote brain washing apparatus of the Federal government:!:

  21. This is not my America says:

    Hummm. preaching to the choir huh…well yes its good to have morals and such…its another thing to practice them the right way…such as letting people live thier own lives and not forcing your ways upon others?! …Thats also another form of blowing smoke..

  22. denmark says:

    Interesting word that applies to politicians and prohibitionists alike:

    pantywaist

    PRONUNCIATION: (PAN-tee-wayst)

    MEANING: noun: An weak or effeminate man.
    adjective: Weak; cowardly; effeminate.

    ETYMOLOGY: A pantywaist was formerly a child’s undergarment in which a shirt and pants were buttoned together at the waist. Earliest documented use: 1910.

    USAGE: “The question on many people’s minds: Will the genteel Mr. Creel, more comfortable buried in legal briefs than in the trenches of hand-to-throat political combat, be able to respond in kind? He doesn’t see himself as a political pantywaist.”
    Peter Fritsch and Jose de Cordoba; Would You Fall into Line for This Man?; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Jan 11, 2001.

  23. DdC says:

    Ohkiehomeboyz are out wingnutting Texas…

    Life in Jail For Making HASH? WTF! U2b

    Oklahoma: Will Foster 93 Years For Cannabis 11/17/00

    Oklahoma: James Geddes-47
    90 YEARS-5 PLANTS! Released July 28, 2003

    Cover-Ups, Prevarications, Subversions & Sabotage

    We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
    We don’t take our trips on LSD
    We don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
    We like livin’ right, and bein’ free.

    I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
    A place where even squares can have a ball
    We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
    And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all

    We don’t make a party out of lovin’;
    We like holdin’ hands and pitchin’ woo;
    We don’t let our hair grow long and shaggy,
    Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.

    And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
    A place where even squares can have a ball.
    We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
    And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all.

    Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear;
    Beads and Roman sandals won’t be seen.
    Football’s still the roughest thing on campus,
    And the kids here still respect the college dean.

    We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
    In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.
    ~ Merle Haggard

  24. Duncan20903 says:

    Some people have been known to come to their senses.

    Merle Haggard Defends Willie Nelson, Marijuana Legalization

    Posted Dec 27th 2010 3:00PM by Gayle Thompson

    Merle Haggard isn’t one to keep his opinions to himself. The outspoken 73-year old is still making music, winning awards and defending causes in which he strongly believes — including the legalization of marijuana.

    “There are some people in this world that have no idea what the real deal is,” he told the Bakersfield Californian newspaper, when asked about buddy Willie Nelson’s recent drug arrest. “I think it’s silly to put someone in jail for [marijuana possession]. I think it’s a threat to the pharmaceutical industry that you can go to the garden to grow something that might keep you from having to use Lipitor.”

    /snip

    http://www.theboot.com/2010/12/27/merle-haggard-willie-nelson-arrest/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBootCountryMusic+%28The+Boot+Country+Music+Blog%29

  25. denmark says:

    They’re after us Pete. Third paragraph down.
    I’m still very physically sick but getting better because of medical marijuana use. My quality of life has returned in that I can Function better during the day and actually take care of myself and do some chores.
    Pharmaceuticals are out of the question for me, I’ve tried them all nearly, every pill made me sicker and caused more pain and suffering.

    ………….
    SPOKANE, Wash. — Authorities are raiding several medical marijuana dispensaries in Spokane in what Assistant US Attorney Tom Rice is describing as “Official Law Enforcement Action.”

    Rice confirmed a raid was taking place at the THC Pharmacy in the South Perry District on the South Hill. Club Compassion, located at 1004 E. Bridgeport, is also being raided by police.

    Rice would not comment on the nature of the “enforcement action” except to stay that is illegal to possess or sell marijuana in the United States.

    There are other locations being raided by authorities, but Rice would not confirm how many and where those locations are.

  26. Duncan20903 says:

    Surprise, surprise, young Cash Hyde has moved to Washington.

    http://www.kxly.com/news/27728174/detail.html

    Perhaps not so surprising though when we see the mockery made of human medicine by Know Nothing prohibitionists of the Montana legislature.

  27. allan420 says:

    … aaah, do I hear a Thud coming?

    NAACP Taking Steps to Call War on Drugs a Civil-Rights Issue [VIDEO]

    Los Angeles will host the 2011 NAACP Conference in late July, where NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous is now expected to officially call the war on drugs (or just marijuana?) a civil-rights issue, according to Mondesire.

    And then there are those pesky submarines… (and all they imply)

    Grim outlook for S. America war on drugs as submersibles multiply

    Until recently the organized crime submersible transport vehicles were dismissed by law-enforcement agencies as crude contraptions. Not anymore. The drug gangs are seen as fully resourced corporations with vast networks among manufacturers, communications experts and dealers in paramilitary equipment. [emphasis mine]

    And, with Latin America’s economic growth surpassing our own (or our lack of) the nations of Central and South America are becoming positioned to thumb their collective noses at the US paper tiger…

    I though the news of NAACP’s purported embrace of an anti-WOD agenda might be welcome…

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