Odds and Ends

bullet image O’Malley gets it wrong on medical marijuana by Eric E. Sterling

On March 9, Gov. Martin O’Malleysaid he is likely to veto a medical marijuana law if the Maryland General Assembly passes one. His spokeswoman said he is concerned about a Feb. 9, 2012 letter from Charles Oberly, Delaware’s U.S. attorney, to Gov. Jack Markell, threatening to prosecute Delaware officials as common drug traffickers if they carry out their state’s medical marijuana law.

Governor O’Malley should look carefully at this letter. After reading the law and analyzing the letter, I believe Mr. Oberly dishonestly manipulated Governor Markell by threatening prosecutions he is forbidden to bring in order to block a valid state law he doesn’t like.

Then Eric really lays it down:

… an appointed federal official has misused the authority of his powerful office to dishonestly manipulate a state into not following its own laws. That violates the Constitution. Article IV, Section 4 provides that “the United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a Republican Form of Government.” Mr. Oberly made legally baseless threats in order to undermine Delaware’s “republican form of government.” He violated the Constitution in order to block Delaware from protecting medical patients whose doctors recommend marijuana.

The intimidation of Governor Markell, and now possibly Governor O’Malley, through a bluff about a prosecution that is actually barred by the federal drug law is outrageous misconduct that should be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility of the Department of Justice.

Go Eric!


bullet image Time for a truce in the war against drugs?

Arguing that a drug-free society is unattainable, a commission of global figures – including a former Swiss minister – are promoting a radical change in drugs policy. […]

In November 2011 came another controversial publication. Under the title War against drugs: intoxicating contradictions?, two doctors of law from Neuchâtel University proposed nothing less than the total legalisation of all illicit drugs.

Ludivine Ferreira and Alain Barbezat also support the view that the drugs war has totally failed. “Repression is ineffective, in Switzerland as elsewhere,” Barbezat told swissinfo.ch.


bullet image America Needs to Open Up the Debate on Decriminalization by Richard Branson

The laws against drug use cannot be enforced, and the failure of this approach continues to cause crime and suffering. With Mexican drug cartels operating in 230 American cities, prison populations beyond bursting, and addicts unable to get the medical help they need, it does not take an Einstein to see that it’s time for U.S. leaders to embrace drug policy reform and end the war on drugs.


bullet image Marijuana Must Be Legalized by Robert Corry

A government this large, this powerful, this intrusive, this belligerent, is necessary to fight this modern-day prohibition against a simple herb that approximately half of the American adult population has consumed at some point in their lives. There are so many reasons this must change: …

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26 Responses to Odds and Ends

  1. rodney williams says:

    i think they should make coffee, tea, alcohol and tobacco illegal,,that way the cartels could really get rich

    • Nebula says:

      The problem is that those substances are politically correct drugs. The prohibition of harmless cannabis is a cultural, religious and political issue (the control freak unholy trinity). In other words it’s all based on bullshit and not science. Not a health threat issue at all. Treating it like alcohol would not be a radical idea at all. It would be the rational, sane, sober thing to do.

      • TieHash says:

        It is by sheer historical chance that these substances are legal, caffeine is particularly addictive and can cause worse withdrawal symptoms than cocaine. I guess it comes down to euphoria as that seems to be the criteria scheduling.

  2. claygooding says:

    Stop the drug dogs
    Anonymous / 3,18,2012

    http://www.marijuana.com/threads/stop-the-drug-dogs.295747/

    “”Hey fellow tokers,,,,are you tired of the police using dogs to establish probable cause too search your cars?

    Then start making tea from left over stems and spray every car in your local Wally World parking lot,,,shouldn’t take long to make dogs a historical footnote!””

    Enjoy life,,it’s the only one you get!

    Pretty good discussion already going on this,,perhaps a vacuum job on the car in the morning would be a good idea.

    • tom says:

      The problem with your idea is that the cops don’t wait for the dogs to signal, they make them signal. I am sure you already know of the study about drug dogs and their accuracy. It is no fault of the dogs though.

      http://www.springerlink.com/content/j477277481125291/fulltext.html

      • claygooding says:

        I agree that if the dog doesn’t signal the cops just make him do so if they profile you as a likely target,,or say he does but now the dog should start signaling every time he gets close to a lot more cars with nothing in them,,and especially police cars,,,

        • tom says:

          It is an interesting idea. Maybe just go and spray all of the police cars.

        • Duncan20903 says:

          I’m sure the police prefer it when the dog actually alerts. I’ve been wanting to plant some trees in my yard but gosh, digging those holes is a bitch. I’ve certainly come to understand why murder victims are found in shallow graves.

          I’d skip the tea and go for oil. Have it in an alcohol carrier and spray it where I want to plant my trees. Then I’ll call the cops and tell them about this guy who has tons of cocaine, meth and heroin buried all over his yard 3 feet down. They’ll execute a search warrant and after they leave I’ll have the holes for my trees as well as a good laugh at their expense!

        • claygooding says:

          I am not worried that my cars will be sprayed,,it would require getting out of a chair,,preparing the spray,,walking around in public places with enough intelligence not to be ID’ed while spraying in a manner that wouldn’t get you caught,,a small water pistol,,,is my thought,,,it’s not like you would be able to make a difference over night.

          I am watching for the first traffic jam at a border crossing ;<)

    • Hope says:

      Walmart has cameras on the parking lots.

  3. primus says:

    This strategy of siccing the constitution on the feds might have some potential; if they start to fight each other instead of picking on us, the end is truly in sight.

  4. Matthew Meyer says:

    Parody or precious glimpse of the real motivation for prohibition?

  5. Duncan20903 says:

    .
    .

    Feds again warn Arizona on medical marijuana
    State fails to get immunity pledge

    by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
    Mar. 19, 2012

    The U.S. Department of Justice has reiterated its warning that state employees are subject to federal prosecution for implementing the state’s medical-marijuana program.

    One high-ranking state official pointed out that the letter exemplifies the tough position that Arizona authorities are in: Federal law says they can’t participate in the program, yet a judge has ordered them to follow through on the will of Arizona voters.
    /snip/

    • claygooding says:

      Good,,they wouldn’t be doing that if the state of AZ had elected a supporter of mmj instead of a prohib as governor.

      The feds think they have a foot in the door with a governor in place that will derail the mmj program at every opportunity. And will not spend any money on litigation to stop them.

      • Duncan20903 says:

        .
        .

        The problem with that theory is the order from the Federal Court which ties the Governor’s hands. That Federal Judge specifically ruled that there’s no credible evidence supporting the assertion that State employees will be prosecuted. It appears to be so cut and dried that Governor Brewer and her army of flying monkeys aren’t even bothering to appeal the ruling. That ruling is just making me shake my head. It’s one thing to believe that the Federal government will totally ignore reality but it’s a very disturbing feeling to watch it actually happening.

        There’s absolutely no precedent to presume that any State employee will be prosecuted for violating the CSA and already a ton of rulings that strongly support the assertion that it isn’t possible. A drug dealer does not need State permission in order to engage in drug dealing. In order to aid and abet you have to provide something of substance to the “criminal” that is at least marginally necessary to carry out his “criminal” act.

        City of Garden Grove v Felix Kha 157 Cal. App. 4th 355; 68 Cal. Rptr. 3d 656 (2007)
        http://iowamedicalmarijuana.org/documents/grove.aspx

        County of San Diego v San Diego NORML 165 Cal.App.4th 798, Cal.Rptr.3d (2008)
        http://www.lawlink.com/research/CaseLevel3/85901

        Both rulings saying State employees aren’t going to be prosecuted. In Kha the controversy was having the police return confiscated cannabis which of course requires an actual hand to hand transfer. IIRC the Court hung its hat on the immunity granted police under the CSA to enable them to conduct so called reverse stings so that one may not be directly on point.

        Like Mr. Sterling (sort of) said in the article Pete linked, the Feds are bluffing, and they don’t even have a pair of 2s.

    • Jose says:

      That would be an amazing sight if the Justice Dept’ made good on their stated warning. Obama and Holder could send in their storm troopers. I can imagine the DEA ripping state employees from their chairs, holding them at gun point on the ground then taking them into custody. The footage would at least be on par with Waco. For good measure they could stop over at the city pound and shoot any dogs in city/county custody while on their way to apprehend the Governor.

  6. Hope says:

    I love Eric Sterling. I truly do. He has worked so hard to right the wrongs of this prohibition. He’s one ex-prohibitionist that I trust, besides myself.

    • Hope says:

      Of course, I was just a go along sort of prohibitionist that didn’t know any better. Mr. Sterling was a powerful one. A very powerful and influential one. But I truly trust him. He hates this prohibition. He’s seen what it is and what it’s done and he’s tried his best to shut it down.

  7. Duncan20903 says:

    .
    .

    Cure for cancer? MS? MRSA? Ho-hum. How about late stage AIDS? But god forbid anyone should enjoy their medicine. It has to taste bad to be any good!

    Marijuana-like chemicals inhibit human immunodeficiency virus in late-stage AIDS
    March 20, 2012 in HIV & AIDS

    Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS, according to new findings published online in the journal PLoS ONE.

    Medical marijuana is prescribed to treat pain, debilitating weight loss and appetite suppression, side effects that are common in advanced AIDS. This is the first study to reveal how the marijuana receptors found on immune cells—called cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2—can influence the spread of the virus. Understanding the effect of these receptors on the virus could help scientists develop new drugs to slow the progression of AIDS.

    “We knew that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana can have a therapeutic effect in AIDS patients, but did not understand how they influence the spread of the virus itself,” said study author Cristina Costantino, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “We wanted to explore cannabinoid receptors as a target for pharmaceutical interventions that treat the symptoms of late-stage AIDS and prevent further progression of the disease without the undesirable side effects of medical marijuana.”
    /snip/

  8. Duncan20903 says:

    Who says there’s never any good news published in the MSM?

    Cops caught in bald faced testilies, dozens of cannabis growers to go free.

    • thelbert says:

      another good reason to have surveillance cameras on the yard.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      I wouldn’t be even mildly surprised if it turns out that’s how those despicable and soon to be unemployed oaficers got caught.

  9. Servetus says:

    Scientists determine for the first time the 3D atomic structure of the human opioid receptor in the brain. The receptor site is active in ‘pleasure, pain, addiction, depression, and psychosis’:

    http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/sri-tfa031912.php

    Structure of Salvia Receptor Reported:

    http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/uonc-so031912.php

  10. Duncan20903 says:

    Feds to Boulder DA: Keeping marijuana away from schools a ‘core responsibility’
    By Erica Meltzer, Camera Staff Writer
    Posted: 03/21/2012 12:43:59 PM MDT
    Updated: 03/21/2012 01:32:06 PM MDT

    Enforcing federal law to keep medical marijuana dispensaries away from schools is a “core responsibility” of federal prosecutors, and it will continue, U.S. Attorney John Walsh said in a letter to Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett.

    The letter comes in response to a request from Garnett to leave law-abiding Boulder area dispensaries alone.

    In the letter, Walsh said he made the decision to go after dispensaries that are close to schools himself and as a Coloradan with full awareness of local conditions.

    “One of (our) overriding interests — not just for the federal government, but for Colorado government and for local government — is the protection of children and young people from drugs and drug abuse, very much including marijuana abuse,” Walsh wrote in the letter.
    /snip/

    It looks like we’re headed for a show down.

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