Drug News: Drugs Addiction and New Drugs Effects // Current

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3 days ago

Mexico drug cartels go into the rehab business

Mexico's powerful drug cartels have been operating drug rehabilitation clinics, turning some into bloody killing fields and... more

xiola
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UG 45 Big Mike's Hardcore Grow Tips!

BIG MIKE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab9y6zhGLJc

N_Dank
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Obama’s new Drug Czar budget tilted 2-1 for law enforcement vs. treatment

It was not long ago when President Barack Obama's new drug czar, former Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske, swept into... more

underthebus
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Death toll in Mexican party massacre rises to 16

The mayor of a violent Mexican border city said Monday he fears a shooting that killed 16 students at a party may have been random... more

xiola
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In Mexico, drug legalization is a mixed bag

The decriminalization of drug use in Mexico is bound to have unintended consequences. Beginning last Friday, possession of small amounts of drugs, including cocaine, heroine, LSD, marijuana and meth, is permitted. Such wholesale legalization is crude, but may prove beneficial to the Mexican economy.

Having up to four joints on you (the legal limit is five grams) isn’t going to have a societal impact. Prosecutions for possession were already non-existent in Mexico. Studies commissioned under the tenure of Gen. Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton’s “Drug Czar”, concluded that marijuana is not a “gateway” drug. It is widely believed not to be addictive, and it is not known to induce violent behavior.

If anything, this law will undercut corruption among local police, as they will no longer be able to hassle those with a joint in order to get a bribe. Marijuana is one thing, but should Mexico have legalized cocaine? Crystal meth? Heroine? LSD?

I for one don’t think so. Little good can come of legalizing such powerful and addictive drugs. Drug-related violence may well increase, even if cartel violence decreases, as the desperation of addiction grows in Mexico’s cities and towns.

Portugal decriminalized drug use in 2001 in order to focus on rehabilitation. Unlike Portugal, Mexico does not have the facilities to treat a potential surge in drug addiction. The cartels, for their part, will continue to target America as the destination of their product. So if low-level violence and/or addiction-related deaths increase in Mexico, poorly crafted legislation will be to blame.

However, the Mexican economy stands to benefit. Tourism, the nation’s third-largest source of revenue after oil and remittances, is reeling from recession in the US and H1N1. Mexico relies on American tourists coming to its shores for bouts of sun-laden escapism. Knowing they do not risk arrest, they might now stay an extra day or two, aiding Mexico’s bottom line.

This law may mark the beginning of a new trend in Latin America, historically the world’s most socially conservative region. On Tuesday, Argentina’s Supreme Court decriminalized possession of marijuana for personal use. Other nations may soon follow. The Catholic Church, a bulwark of Latin American society for centuries, is quietly retreating from the public sphere. As it does, legislatures and courts would do well to remember II Corinthians 3.6: “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” Policy catching up to reality is one thing, but some drugs are illegal for good reason.The decriminalization of drug use in Mexico is bound to have unintended consequences. Beginning last Friday, possession of small... more

underthebus
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10 days ago

The Government Conspiracy to Prevent Medical Marijuana Research

It's impossible to rank in order of severity the numerous lies that have long formed the foundation of the federal government's position on medical marijuana. But one of the most calculated and audacious deceptions deployed in this debate is certainly the manufactured myth that insufficient evidence exists to demonstrate the drug's medical efficacy.

That's why this NYT article should be required reading for anyone in the habit of expressing opinions on the scientific merits of medical marijuana:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/health/policy/19marijuana.html?ref=us

"Marijuana is the only major drug for which the federal government controls the only legal research supply and for which the government requires a special scientific review.
…
But federal officials have repeatedly failed to act on marijuana research requests in a timely manner or have denied them, according to a 2007 ruling by an administrative law judge at the Drug Enforcement Administration."

What an impressively cynical and corrupt political strategy it is to literally block research while simultaneously citing the absence of said research as an excuse for prohibition. The whole situation is so maliciously dishonest that it's disturbing to think how many government agencies were complicit in manufacturing it.

Meanwhile, medical marijuana's enemies condemn state-level reforms by reflexively insisting that the ballot box is not the place to formulate health policy. Our response is pretty straightforward:

"The more it becomes clear to people that the federal government is blocking these studies, the more people are willing to defect by using politics instead of science to legalize medicinal uses at the state level," said Rick Doblin, executive director of a nonprofit group dedicated to researching psychedelics for medical uses.

We did what we had to do, and it reflects well on the American public that this issue has been so well understood despite a massive federal conspiracy to make it confusing.It's impossible to rank in order of severity the numerous lies that have long formed the foundation of the federal... more

samantha420
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10 days ago

Feds Won't Study Pot's Benefits, Only 'Negative Consequences'

One federal agency controls all the marijuana research done in the United States. And that agency has just admitted that it won't fund research into the benefits of marijuana -- only the supposed "negative consequences."

A spokesperson for the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told the New York Times last week that the agency "does not fund research focused on the potential medical benefits of marijuana."

"As the National Institute on Drug Abuse, our focus is primarily on the negative consequences of marijuana use," NIDA spokeswoman Shirley Simson told the Times.

Under federal law, the agency must approve all clinical research involving cannabis. NIDA tightly controls which investigators are allowed access to the federal government's one supply of marijuana for research, which is grown and stored at the University of Mississippi.

NIDA exercises a near-stranglehold on the research of illegal drugs, overseeing an estimated 85 percent of the world's research on controlled substances.

"NIDA has finally admitted to the world the 'Catch-22' that has been plaguing medical marijuana advocates and patients," said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano.

"Lawmakers demand clinical research regarding the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis, but the agency in charge of such research denies that these studies are even taking place," Armentano said.

"It's tragic that these public officials have let political ideology, not science, determine America's health decisions," he said.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner ruled in 2007 that NIDA's monopolization of marijuana research is not "in the public interest" and ordered the federal government to allow private manufacturers to produce cannabis for research purposes.

In January 2009, DEA Deputy Administrator Michele Leonhart set aside Judge Bittner's ruling.

If Leonhart's name sounds familiar, there's a good reason -- but it's bad news.

Leonhart has just been reappointed by President Barack Obama to head up the DEA (new administration, same old tired, morally bankrupt marijuana policies).One federal agency controls all the marijuana research done in the United States. And that agency has just admitted that it... more

samantha420
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26 comments

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11 days ago

Nebraska bill would require drug tests for welfare recipients

If you receive direct cash or medical benefits from the state, you shouldn’t be using illegal drugs. The premise seems... more

samantha420
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55 comments

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13 days ago

The WEED Report : Episode #22 Re-Edit

i was drooling the whole time i watched

N_Dank
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2 comments

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13 days ago

Why Isn’t There More Medical Marijuana Research? Because The Feds Won’t Allow It

just another reminder if anything, but hey keep the information alive right?

N_Dank
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1 comment

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14 days ago

Police Speak Out Against Marijuana Prohibition and the Drug War

WHEN THE Assembly's Public Safety Committee voted 12 days ago to approve the legalization and regulation of marijuana in... more

IMMININT
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24 comments

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15 days ago

Richard Brookhiser on Medical Marijuana

"Morality is not served by withholding help for the sick"

BILL MOYERS: I was struck, in the late 90s, when Buckley called for decriminalizing marijuana. I mean, he published an edition of his magazine announcing the war on drugs is lost. What led him to that conclusion? Because that was not in line with the conservative philosophy of the day.

RICHARD BROOKHISER: Well, he has been thinking about the drug problem, seriously, since the mid 60s. I mean, as early as 1965, when he ran for mayor of New York. And he had–

BILL MOYERS: When he was asked what would happen if he won, he said, “I’d demand a recount.”

RICHARD BROOKHISER: He also said he’d put nets outside the windows of “The New York Times” to catch the editors jumping out. But he made some sort of anti-drug proposal during that race. And Milton Friedman sent him a postcard, you know, with sort of a libertarian critique, you know, “Wars on drugs are futile.” And so on.

And this was a problem that Bill wrestled with. And he just saw, over the years, he came to see that resources were being wasted on this. It was a combination of the futility of it, and at a certain level, the injustice of it because enforcement has to be so capricious. You know, some people get it in the neck. Other people go blithely along. And so that’s why he wrote that issue and printed that issue.

BILL MOYERS: Just the other day on your blog, you saluted President Obama for deciding not to prosecute violations of federal laws against pot in those states where medical marijuana is permitted. What appealed to you about that?

RICHARD BROOKHISER: I think it was a recognition of the political reality that in 14 states, state laws have been passed to lift the penalties on medical use of marijuana. Now, this is something I had to do myself. I had cancer in 1992. And one thing marijuana can do is relieve the nausea that’s often an effect of chemotherapy.

So that’s a hobbyhorse of mine. I think it’s a very important issue. And voters in 14 states have taken that position. Now, federal law prevails over those state laws. But what President Obama decided was we will not use our resources of law enforcement to prosecute medical users in states where the state laws allow them to do that.

BILL MOYERS: And you wrote, “Law and order is not served by passing laws that bring the system into contempt. Liberty is not served by inserting the state between patients and their doctors. And morality is not served by withholding help from the sick.”

RICHARD BROOKHISER: Well, one of the things I was struck with, when I was going through chemotherapy is that every doctor and nurse I dealt with had had patients who had used medical marijuana. Everyone of them. And none of them had discouraged this. But, of course, you know, you can’t prescribe it. It’s illegal. So they said, “Well, you know, smoke it in the bathroom of your room. Don’t, like, do it out in the hall.” And that just struck me as a crazy situation."Morality is not served by withholding help for the sick" BILL MOYERS: I was struck, in the late 90s, when Buckley... more

samantha420
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1 comment

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15 days ago

Montel Williams - why we should legalize marijuana

We grow it here already, let's make it legal.

samantha420
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4 comments

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19 days ago

Is Plant Food the New Ecstasy?

Meow Meow (mephedrone) is easily, and legally, bought over the internet where it is often advertised as plant feed. When taken as... more

02yamahaR1
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21 comments

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20 days ago

Teddy Dupay Shoots For Legalized Marijuana

Teddy Dupay will never be uninteresting. He was a riveting figure at Cape Coral's Mariner High, setting a probably unassailable Florida state scoring record. ("It'll never be broken," Dupay says, "unless they add a five-point line.") He was a lightning rod for love and hate at the University of Florida first as a 5'10" sparkplug with range for days, then as a pariah whose career ended early after he got caught up in a gambling case.

He was intriguing as a pro basketball player in Ecuador, amusing as a telemarketer, and appalling as a man charged with rape. His life has not been dull. To paraphrase Kanye West, everybody feels a way about Teddy Dupay, but at least they feel something.

So I am curious to see how Dupay's new crusade to legalize marijuana is portrayed. There's certainly plenty to think about in his FanHouse profile.

Dupay talks about legalizing pot as an economic decision and a challenge, something he compares to choosing Billy Donovan's unproven Florida program as a prep star. He talks about clocking six figures as an educational sales representative. ("I was making $250-300K," he said, "without even breaking a sweat.") He talks about being charged with three felonies after whatever happened on that night in Utah, solemnly doing his eventual 30 days of time in prison, and coming out still in love with the woman he cannot contact.

Oh, and he talks about pot. He talks about pot a lot. He talks about smoking it in the past. About what he knew before launching his movement: "All I knew about pot was that Jason Williams smoked a lot of it." About how paying people to sign up other people to be part of this movement isn't a pyramid scheme: "We are the first advocacy group that will pay you to stand up for what's right." And about what the purpose of his push really is: ""This isn't about smoking it," Dupay said. "This is about finding solutions."

I'm sure there will be more than a few jokes about Dupay after this, and more than a few dismissals of him and his group. But I can't imagine he'll mind all that much.

"You know me," Dupay said. "Controversy is my middle name."

Indeed it is, Teddy. And I'll be watching you tote that name to every toker you can. It'll be interesting, no doubt.
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/52679/teddy_dupay_shoots_for_legalized_marijuanaTeddy Dupay will never be uninteresting. He was a riveting figure at Cape Coral's Mariner High, setting a probably... more

samantha420
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20 days ago

Boycott Starbucks & others sponsoring anti-marijuana lobbying

Law enforcement groups are fighting to maintain Marijuana Prohibition and their industry of arresting and prosecuting people for marijuana. SAFER is fighting back and we need your help.

According to a recent report in The Denver Post, state and federal law enforcement officials have been meddling in Colorado's legislative process in hopes of rolling back the state's progress toward safer, more rational marijuana laws. As a result, bills are being introduced on their behalf, which threaten to shut down every medical marijuana dispensary in the state and allow these officials to continue harassing medical marijuana patients.

We wish this weren't the case, but these law enforcement officials are not motivated by maintaining public safety or developing a workable system of medical marijuana regulation. They are motivated by one thing -- job security. Perhaps even more unsettling is the source of the financial support behind the arrest and prosecution industry's war on marijuana.

In particular, the Colorado Drug Investigators Association (CDIA), the group spearheading anti-marijuana lobbying efforts, is sponsored by several local and national businesses including Starbucks Coffee, Glock handguns, and -- you guessed it -- members of the alcohol industry! This might seem a bit odd, but when you consider the fact that their Web site and merchandise features the grim reaper and military helicopters, a skull motif, and the slogan, "Death on Drugs," it all makes a little more sense. These guys are not out to protect people; they're out to fight a literal war on marijuana, ensuring alcohol -- the substance that contributes most to the crime and violence that keeps them busy -- is the only legal recreational drug available.

It's no surprise that the Arrest and Prosecution Industry is determined to maintain the war on marijuana. But Starbucks and other companies' funding of this war should strike any marijuana consumer or reform supporter as truly appalling. It's time to stand up and send them all a message.

Please Take Action Today! (con't)

...Make no mistake about it, this is a battle over jobs. Supporters of medical marijuana want to create new legitimate, state-licensed businesses with hundred of new taxpaying employees. CDIA wants to ban these new businesses so that they can continue spending taxpayer money to arrest and prosecute people involved with medical marijuana.Law enforcement groups are fighting to maintain Marijuana Prohibition and their industry of arresting and prosecuting people for... more