Make Marijuana Matter // Current

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7 days ago

Medical Marijuana News and Reviews

HIGH TIMES new Medical Marijuana News and Reviews magazine hit newsstands yesterday... http://bit.ly/6pjG34 - video:... more

ras_menelik
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"President Calderon rushed into [the drug war], and now we’re paying the consequences:”

Mexico’s former Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda and Mexico's Consul General in New York Rubén... more

ras_menelik
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Marijuana Activists Stunned Over Obama's Bush-Era Pick For DEA

The administration of President Obama has told federal law enforcement to stand down when it comes to raiding legitimate pot... more

underthebus
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Bill in R.I. General Assembly would tighten rules for medical marijuana

http://www.projo.com/news/content/marijuana_loophole_01-28-10_HHH8NN8_v9.345e46a.html Two RI state Reps, who are former cops,... more

noxidereus
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Banks Wary of Marijuana-Dispensary Accounts

Wells Fargo & Co. — which medical-marijuana dispensary owners say is virtually the only bank in Colorado willing to take... more

copperdragon
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Oaksterdam University Los Angeles Graduates Second Harvest of Cannabis Students

On Saturday, January 30th 2010, Oaksterdam University Los Angeles graduated its second harvest of cannabis freedom fighters. The... more

devincalloway
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No Marijuana Question During Online Interview With Obama - Censorship?

http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/2009/0326/legalize-pot-obama-just-says-no-to-marijuana-twitterers-upset/article_photo1.jpg/5607778-1-eng-US/article_photo1.jpg_full_600.jpg

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that President Obama chose to ignore marijuana reform questions. The questions posed to him were selected by YouTube, which decided not to present the highest ranked questions to the president. This post has been changed to correct that inaccuracy.

YouTube’s CitizenTube forum concluded today with questions about ending marijuana prohibition receiving the most votes, by far. Yet, the questions about marijuana prohibition were not presented to the president this afternoon.

Last year, when marijuana reform questions topped the “Open For Questions” forum operated by the White House, the president did answer them — albeit without serious consideration to the issue. It’s unfortunate that YouTube would shelter the president from something that’s obviously on a lot of people’s minds.

Ending marijuana prohibition is not a fringe issue. Not anymore. The polls are showing rapid increases in support for reform nationwide (46% of Americans think small amounts of marijuana should be legal, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll), and at least three states are considering legislation or ballot initiatives to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the coming years. This issue will be addressed in a serious way, and it’s regrettable that YouTube would shy away from it.

Censorship on citizentube
http://www.casttv.com/video/eshr0f/censorship-on-citizentube-video
"Although the number one question asked by youtubers was "what will obama do to legalize marijuana" Citizentube figured it was inappropriate and censored it out. We do not have a voice, Our voice is what other entities think is appropriate. I do not use marijuana, but that does not mean I would censor people's question, just because I feel it is inappropriate. A question is a question. I have also noticed that the citizentube channel has set their email options to "FRIENDS ONLY" is this to prevent the mass of people from complaining about this?"

http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/obamaPot_Leaf(3).jpghttp://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/2009/0326/legalize-pot-obama-just-says-no-to-marijuana-twitter... more

underthebus
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32 comments

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9 days ago

US Politics Group Featured Member - Saladin

Guten tag! This is the third interview of our fellow US Politics members. Today's featured member is Salidin. I thank him for... more

current89
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33 comments

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9 days ago

Mexican Cartels Join DEA in Opposition of U.S. State Marijuana Laws

The DEA and other federal agencies want to incarcerate people and overly regulate this simple herb and you know who is on their... more

underthebus
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18 comments

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9 days ago

Tax and Regulate Cannabis 2010 California Submits 143k Signatures in Los Angeles

Jeff Jones, Co-Proponent, Judge James Gray, and Campaign worker Howard Dillon submit 143,000 signatures in Los Angeles for the Tax... more

devincalloway
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2 comments

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10 days ago

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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21 comments

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10 days ago

Judge James Gray on Medical Marijuana

Judge Jim Gray discusses medical marijuana in California.

underthebus
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10 days ago

Time to end marijuana prohibition - Judge James Gray

Recently retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray is on a crusade. You might think a conservative judge from a conservative county would advocate for the prohibition of marijuana, but – based on his experiences, he is adamantly pro legalization.

Witnessing first hand what he calls the utter failure of our current policies of drug prohibition – marijuana in particular – he cites unnecessary prison growth, increased taxes, increased crime and corruption, and loss of civil liberties as the unhealthy side effects of an anemic policy in need of drastic reform.

Regarding medical marijuana, he states:

“Does marijuana work [as medicine]? Well, there’s no direct evidence by a government study showing that marijuana is an effective medicine. And you know something? They’re right. However, it’s beyond hypocrisy for them because it’s the federal government that controls the marijuana. Numbers of reputable groups, the Centers for Disease Control, The University of California and others have requested to conduct the studies and they’ve been deprived of that authorization… The government affirmatively does not allow this research to take place and then they sanctimoniously say, ‘well there’s no research [showing marijuana is medicine]…’ it’s beyond hypocrisy, I view it as Chutzpah” (audacity).

A little more on the problems our government has created for medical marijuana research (source):

At present, the only way for medical marijuana to be properly evaluated by the FDA is for privately-funded sponsors to conduct FDA-approved clinical trials (like any other drug evaluation). [If any progress is to be made on the medical marijuana research front, we must first] remove the monopoly imposed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on licenses for the cultivation of medical-grade cannabis for research purposes. Currently, the DEA exclusively licenses the cultivation of medical-grade cannabis to the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), which primarily investigates only the negative effects of cannabis. This monopoly obstructs any investigation and research in the U.S. into the medical properties of cannabis and thwarts the normal drug approval process.

(Listen to Judge Gray speak on medicinal marijuana at link.)Recently retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray is on a crusade. You might think a conservative judge from a... more

underthebus
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20 comments

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12 days ago

Vote for Legalization on Change.org and Google Moderator!

Register an account at http://www.change.org/ideas?order=top and vote for legalization and any other cause that you support!... more

MirrorLake
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4 comments

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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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4 comments

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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