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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday the United States was ready to give blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng a visa "right away" and warned Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney would be weak on the international stage.
In a wide-ranging interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Biden also signaled he was open to legalizing gay marriage and said Secretary of State and former first lady Hillary Clinton has not decided whether to seek the presidency again in 2016.
"I think we may run as a team," he joked in the interview, stoking expectations that Clinton may be contemplating another run at the White House. "I don't know whether I'm going to run. And Hillary doesn't know whether she's going to run," he said.
The vice president, who has been a main point of contact with China for the Obama administration, said the United States expected China to stick to its commitment to let Chen go abroad and take up a fellowship at New York University.
"I think his future is in America," Biden said. "He has an opportunity to go to NYU ... and we're prepared to give (him) a visa right away. He's going to be able to take his family."
Biden argued the United States' relationship with foreign powers including China, Russia and other countries have improved under President Barack Obama's leadership and said there could be some backsliding if Romney were elected.
Romney issued a warning about the risks of appeasing the United States' "No. 1 geopolitical foe" Russia after Obama was overheard telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Seoul that he would have "more flexibility" to deal with contentious issues after the November 6 election.
"If that's his prism through which he views our national security interest, I would say it would not be as strong," Biden said when asked whether the country would be less safe if Romney were president.
Pressed on social policy, Biden declined to specify whether the Obama administration would legalize gay marriage in a second White House term but said he personally was open to the change.
"The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties," Biden said.
Obama has said his views on gay marriage were "evolving" but has also said individual states should set policy related to it.
The Democrat is not expected to advance legislation that could alienate independent voters ahead of November's election, and has not said whether legalizing gay marriage would be among his second-term priorities.
On Sunday, Biden also debunked rumors that Hillary Clinton may take his place as vice president on the 2012 Democratic ticket, saying: "there's no way out. I mean, they've already printed Obama-Biden."
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This article is about our VP & his thoughts on dissident Chen Guangcheng, and gay marriage. I'm not saying gay marriage isn't an important issue. What I AM saying is why is the legalization of marijuana a non-issue? Are there more gay people than there are marijuana smokers? Are gay people being locked up? Is the Federal, State and Local governments spending billions of tax dollars to track down & prosecute gay people? This is a travesty. Why is our issue not being heard? Why is discussion of this issue always tainted with incorrect information, prejudice, hostility, baseless fears and dire unfounded predictions while totally ignoring the findings of current research and the desires of millions of Americans who merely want to be left alone? I can't state it strongly enough. This is the pitts.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday the United States was... more
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By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 17:13 EDT
R. Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Tuesday denied there was any reason the United States should regulate marijuana the same way it regulates alcohol.
“There are no good reasons to legalize marijuana,” he said at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress.
“I often hear about tax, regulate and control as an answer,” Kerlikowske continued. “And then I look at prescription drugs — which as I mentioned take over fifteen thousand lives a year, let alone the number of people who come into emergency departments and the number of people that are treated — and prescription drugs are already taxed, are already regulated, are already controlled and we do a very poor job of keeping them out of the hands of abusers and young people.”
“So I don’t see that we would do a very good job with a substance that can easily evade the tax scheme because it doesn’t take rocket science to grow marijuana.”
Residents of Colorado and Washington will vote on a ballot initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in November. A similar ballot initiative failed in California in 2010.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/02/drug-czar-there-are-no-good-reasons-to-legalize-marijuana/
Watch video, clipped by the Marijuana Policy Project...
"I don't think he ever answered the question, and Yes, we just may legalize marijuana here in Colorado in November!!!" =)By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 17:13 EDT
R. Gil Kerlikowske, the director... more
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A couple of days ago we posted a piece about the importance of purchasing your marijuana from a local source to decrease the chances of your purchase supporting cartels. The author of the article, Chance Campbell stated, ‘Every product, every purchase-vote, carries consequences. The computer I write this from was fabricated in a factory famous for its roof-jump suicides. Making computers sucks so much that Foxconn had to install safety nets so that workers couldn’t even kill themselves. But the difference between computers and weed is similar to the difference between 14 dead and 50,000. And while you’d be hard pressed to find an affordable computer that wasn’t fabricated at Foxconn, marijuana that isn’t sourced through a drug war is relatively easy to get your hands on. It just takes intention.’
Our guest post by Chance Campbell stimulated a question in the comments section from a reader asking how can you tell if your marijuana comes from a cartel. The reader wrote, ‘Most people just cop from their connect, and nobody really knows where it came from. When I lived in Florida I just got the quap and smoked it. Everyone said they had that Cali kind but who really knows?’ That’s a really good question that I think is worth discussing. It’s not as important out West where we grow most of our own or purchase it directly from a grower, but as you go East it becomes much harder to find locally grown marijuana, especially in the ruthless states.
I think it’s important to discuss ‘what is a cartel’ for starters. I think there is a difference between cartels and ‘organized crime’ which I feel is a less accurate term. When I get two people to grow marijuana illegally and sell it to me so I can sell it to other people that I’ve been friends with my whole life, is that a cartel? It involves crime, which is clearly coordinated, but I don’t think the ‘cartel’ label fits. I don’t even think ‘organized crime’ fits, but I’d at least entertain the statement. However, no one is getting their heads cut off when someone buys a pound from a grower and sells an ounce to 16 friends on payday, no matter how coordinated, which is the case with cartels.
When I think of a cartel, I think of enormous organizations who’s sole purpose is to profit, almost always at the expense of innocent people. Cartels are bloodthirsty, they provide no benefit to anyone except themselves, and they are a cancer to the world. Supporting them in anyway should be avoided at all costs. Marijuana purchases especially. For a veteran on the West Coast, it’s probably pretty easy to spot cartel marijuana. However, if you live in the Midwest or back East, it’s a lot harder because you don’t see locally grown marijuana as much. Below are some things that my friends and I came up with to look for. These are obviously not all the tips on the planet, so if you have anything to add, please do so in the comments section below.
Where did the marijuana originate?
As I hinted to earlier, where you are at geographically will dramatically increase the chances that you will see cartel marijuana. If you live along the Mexico border, you are much more likely to see cartel marijuana than if you are in Cave Junction, Oregon (lots of local marijuana is grown there). It’s not easy to know exactly where your marijuana originated from unless you bought it from the grower. But if you know your marijuana originated in a border town, then chances are it is cartel marijuana. A border town is not exactly a good place to set up a garden by the way…
How fresh is the marijuana?
Freshness, or lack thereof, is a great indicator that marijuana came from a cartel. The marijuana is grown far away, it is smuggled in various packages that don’t always keep the marijuana fresh, and the marijuana no doubt sits at the border decaying for a period of time. Ever get marijuana that smells like hay? That’s not because it was packed in hay, it’s because old decaying marijuana that wasn’t given air for a couple months smells like hay. This is not to say that there isn’t old local marijuana around. I know a guy in Eugene that sells three year old outdoor. My advice – if marijuana is old, don’t buy it. It either came from a cartel, or a greedy grower, and either way you don’t want it…Unless you know it’s from the local grower, and he/she gives you one heck of a deal.A couple of days ago we posted a piece about the importance of purchasing your... more
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By Jon Ber
Dear Barack Obama.
I will always remain your admirer, but find it heard to reconcile this conviction, with my bewilderment at your unwillingness to confront the issue of ending the insane 99 year-old-war on Marijuana.
And my dearest ever Mr. president. As fantastically incredible as it sounds, yes you can swiftly, simultaneously, give peace a chance, the economy an historical high, the budget relief and better yet, a mortal blow to both terror and corruption. Globally.
Please read the Guardian's appeal to Obama -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/07/drugs-obama-latin-america?commentpage=last#end-of-commentsBy Jon Ber
Dear Barack Obama.
I will always remain your admirer, but find it heard... more
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By Stephen C. Webster
Friday, April 6, 2012 11:14 EDT
Colorado’s Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has just fired its first big advertising salvo, and it looks to be an effective one.
A new billboard unveiled Thursday by the group just blocks away from Mile High Stadium in Denver shows a smiling woman with her arms folded, next to the text: “For many reasons, I prefer… marijuana over alcohol. Does that make me a bad person? RegulateMarijuana.org.”
“That’s what we want to talk to Coloradans right now,” Betty Aldworth, advocacy director for the campaign, told Raw Story on Friday. “We’re trying to educate them about why it is that marijuana is safer than alcohol. If you look at every objective study comparing the safety of the two, you’ll see that marijuana is clearly safer than alcohol.”
Not only is the billboard near Mile High Stadium, it’s also right next to Mile High Liquors. The group said on its website that the location was optimal because it will force some drinkers to confront their bias toward marijuana users. It was also a good deal, too: the campaign told Raw Story that their sign only cost $5,000.
Their claims aren’t just a clever pitch for the drug, either: Marijuana has in fact been shown to be less addictive than alcohol, and its more enthusiastic users tend to exhibit fewer adverse health effects than alcoholics. It is also impossible to overdose on marijuana, which its adherents see as an advantage over the relative ease of alcohol poisoning.
That’s the message the campaign is trying to bring to Coloradans, and Aldworth explained that they’ve only just begun. “We’re asking volunteers to talk to their neighbors, their family members — and particularly aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents, people in the next two generations up,” she said. “Young people, for the most part, get it, they’ve seen their friends use marijuana and alcohol, and how they affect people. They understand… There is no logical reason to punish people for marijuana.”
She added that volunteers have seen “almost exclusively positive reactions so far,” but noted that their educational campaign has only just begun.
That campaign will directly support the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, which has secured a spot on the state’s 2012 ballot. It would allow for the limited possession and cultivation of cannabis by adults age 21 and over. It would also allow the state and local governments to enact regulations on the commercial production and distribution of marijuana, as well giving local governments the option to prohibit marijuana sales altogether.
“This could be a watershed year in the decades-long struggle to end marijuana prohibition in this country,” Art Way, Colorado manager of the Drug Policy Alliance, explained in a statement. “Marijuana prohibition is counterproductive to the health and public safety of our communities. It fuels a massive, increasingly brutal underground economy, wastes billions of dollars in scarce law enforcement resources, and makes criminals out of millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens.”
It’s not yet clear if Colorado will become the first state to legalize marijuana, but that is a distinct possibility. Even moreso than California in 2010, which defeated legalization by a double digit margin, Colorado leans heavily toward favoring marijuana regulation, and lawmakers there became the first in the nation last year to begin directly licensing medical marijuana businesses. The state’s Department of Revenue has even sent a formal letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency asking that it recognize the plant’s inherent medical value.
If the old thinking holds true and these lawmakers truly are a reflection of their constituents, Colorado just may be on track to buck the trend and embrace regulation this fall.
With prior reporting by Raw Story associate editor Eric W. Dolan.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/06/regulate-marijuana-billboard-goes-up-near-mile-high-stadium/
"Very Coool, this is the second item I have posted this week on my home State, I do agree with this post much more than the last!!!" =)By Stephen C. Webster
Friday, April 6, 2012 11:14 EDT
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By Eric W. Dolan
Monday, February 27, 2012 17:43 EST
Residents of Colorado will have the opportunity this November to legalize marijuana possession and allow regulated sales of marijuana in their state.
The Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler on Monday certified a ballot initiative for the state’s November general election after Denver-based activists gathered more than 170,000 signatures.
If approved by voters, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act would allow for the limited possession and cultivation of cannabis by adults age 21 and over. It would also allow the state and local governments to enact regulations on the commercial production and distribution of marijuana, as well giving local governments the option to prohibit marijuana sales altogether.
“This could be a watershed year in the decades-long struggle to end marijuana prohibition in this country,” said Art Way, Colorado manager of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Marijuana prohibition is counterproductive to the health and public safety of our communities. It fuels a massive, increasingly brutal underground economy, wastes billions of dollars in scarce law enforcement resources, and makes criminals out of millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens.”
Last year, Colorado became the first state in the nation to begin issuing licenses for businesses that sell medical marijuana and marijuana-infused products and also formally asked the Drug Enforcement Agency to reclassify marijuana. Currently, the DEA classifies marijuana as a schedule I drug: the most restrictive classification reserved for dangerous drugs with no real medical value.
Although Colorado has legalized medical marijuana, those who distribute the drug still risk running afoul of federal law. The Obama administration’s Department of Justice has made a practice of not prosecuting medical marijuana patients in states where the drug has been approved, but it still considers distributors to be fair game for arrest.
In January, U.S. Attorney John Walsh sent letters to 23 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, warning them that they faced legal repercussions if they did not close down within 45 days.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/27/coloradans-to-decide-marijuana-legalization-in-november/
"It's High time we Free the Weed!!!" =)By Eric W. Dolan
Monday, February 27, 2012 17:43 EST
Residents of Colorado will... more
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By Eric W. Dolan
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 19:23 EST
Texas Rep. Ron Paul praised the industrial crop hemp during a campaign stop in North Dakota on Monday.
“There is no reason, in a free society, that farmers shouldn’t be allowed to raise hemp,” Paul said, according to the Associated Press. “Hemp is a good product.”
Hemp, a crop related to marijuana, is grown in Canada and other countries to make textiles and numerous other goods. But in the United States the cultivation of hemp is prohibited by federal law, even though it has little to no psychoactive effects.
Paul and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced legislation in 2009 that would have legalized the cultivation of hemp. But the bill never made it out of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
“It is unfortunate that the federal government has stood in the way of American farmers, including many who are struggling to make ends meet, from competing in the global industrial hemp market,” Paul said in 2009.
“The founders of our nation, some of whom grew hemp, would surely find that federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited, restrained federal government.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/21/ron-paul-hemp-is-a-good-product/
"About the only thing I agree with as far as Ron Paul is concerned..."By Eric W. Dolan
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 19:23 EST
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By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, February 20, 2012 15:07 EST
Authorities said this week that hundreds of out-of-state residents have flocked to Oregon in recent years to obtain medical marijuana cards, which the state will issue to anyone with a doctor’s recommendation.
Speaking to a reporter with The Oregonian this weekend, state health officials said that hundreds of people from out-of-state have made the annual pilgrimage since 2010, when they began issuing medical cards to anyone who meets their criteria. State officials finally acknowledging that the little-known loophole has sprung a leak in the law represents a unique trend that’s sure to grow — no pun intended — some additional business for the state’s dispensaries.
The practice of narco-tourism is one that U.S. officials have long warned of when critiquing other nations’ drug laws, particularly the Netherlands, but many would be surprised to hear of the practice occurring between the states. Even so, it’s not nearly at the rate some lawmakers have feared in other situations: just 600 out of approximately 72,000 Oregon medical marijuana cards issued since 2010 went to out-of-state residents.
Oregon’s policy is unique in the nation, though not widely known. For U.S. citizens, it effectively means that it’s easier for an outsider to get pot in Oregon than a coffee shop in Amsterdam, which used to be one of the best known spots in the world for narco-tourism due to its mostly libertarian drug laws. And for prohibition advocates like the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), that actuality is akin to rhetorical “proof” that medical marijuana is a sham cover for interstate drug smuggling and a hidden legalization agenda, which they’ve long argued (PDF) is the case.
On the contrary, even before the Netherlands fought back against narco-tourism by banning outsiders from purchasing cannabis, it had less than half the rate of marijuana use as the U.S. The World Health Organization found in 2008 that just 19.8 percent of the Dutch population reported past marijuana use, versus 42.4 percent of Americans.
Plus, it may not be quite accurate to describe all of the 600 as “narco-tourists.” Many medical marijuana patients have legitimate medical conditions that are alleviated by components of the cannabis plant, whereas the term “tourists” might imply that the trip was made just for fun. Oregon law further restricts doctors from giving marijuana to just anyone, unlike other states. That aside, traveling across state lines with an illegal substance is a federal crime investigated by the DEA, and each one of these individuals is now registered with the state as possibly doing just that.
Though selling marijuana is still technically illegal in Oregon even under state law, growers may be “reimbursed” by the patient for the costs of producing the drug, and caregivers may “deliver” up to 24 ounces at a time to card-carrying patients, who are also permitted to grow their own supply. Similarly, Oregon dispensaries are allowed to place street level signage, buy advertising and even offer delivery services. Conversely, the Netherlands only allows sales of up to five grams of marijuana at a time, and venues that sell the drug are forbidden from placing signage in public.
Proponents of medical marijuana reform in Oregon have argued that the drug should just be treated like any other medicine, suggesting that the awkward and porous nature of the state’s law ultimately attracts criminals from elsewhere (PDF), who can obtain multiple cards to legally transport large quantities of the drug through the state.
Despite numerous patent requests by major drug-makers and other groups, the DEA insists that marijuana should remain a Schedule 1 substance, meaning that the government does not acknowledge its medical value.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/?p=386753
"Nor will the government Ever acknowledge it's Medical Value!!!" =(By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, February 20, 2012 15:07 EST
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By David Edwards
Monday, February 13, 2012 11:40 EST
A Colorado medical marijuana grower was sentenced to six years in Illinois state prison after he was caught with a shipment of 42 pounds of marijuana in Chicago.
Former Chicago mortgage broker Ryan Bailey had moved to Colorado as a part of the “green rush” of young entrepreneurs going west to make money in the cannabis industry.
A Chicago Police sting caught Ryan Bailey in a home on the Northwest side with dozens of pounds of medical pot on March, 9 2010.
A drug-sniffing dog had located a box with Tupperware containers filled with 42 pounds of weed at a UPS facility, according to The Chicago Sun-Times. Labels on the package indicated it had been shipped from a California law firm to a design company in Chicago.
An undercover officer posing as a UPS worker delivered it to the home, where it was signed for by Jason Duda. Authorities claim that Bailey had paid Duda $200 to accept the package.
After obtaining a search warrant, police allegedly found Bailey in the home holding a package of marijuana, which he quickly tossed into a box.
“Some people in the industry have gotten lucky,” he told the Sun-Times last year. “Other guys like me have gotten caught in the system.”
Bailey is being held in Stateville Correctional Center after being sentenced to six years last week, CBS Chicago reported.
He also faces separate charges in Colorado where he is accused of growing more than 670 marijuana plants.
Under Colorado law, medical marijuana patients can grow up to six plants for personal use. “Caregivers” can grow additional plants for up to five other patients.
North Metro Task Force commander Jerry Peters said there was some wiggle room in the law that could allow patients to grow more plants if they can demonstrate a need.
“But six people could not possibly consume 670 plants in a month,” he added.
Bailey’s wife, Amber Cook, operates the Grass Roots Organica marijuana dispensary in a small Denver home. She is not accused of any wrongdoing.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/13/colorado-medical-marijuana-grower-sentenced-to-six-years/
"Awww Bailey, I thought you lived in Texas???" LOL!!! =)By David Edwards
Monday, February 13, 2012 11:40 EST
A Colorado medical marijuana... more
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By David Edwards
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 10:09 EST
Authorities in Tennessee are being accused of a coverup after marijuana was found at the house of a state official.
Tennessee police reportedly found marijuana in plain view when they entered the home of Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) Director Danielle Elks to check for intruders.
The commission is in charge of eradicating marijuana in the state in addition to regulating alcohol sales.
An unnamed ABC employee came forward to tell WSMV that it was unfair Elks had not been investigated.
“I grant you, if that had happened to any of us (ABC employees), we would have been made an example of,” the ABC employee said. “We would have been in headlines in the papers, the news, and everywhere else.”
“Do you think this was a cover up?” WSMV’s Jeremy Finley asked.
“It sure appears that way,” the ABC employee replied. “It stayed mighty quiet for a long period of time.”
A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper and two Dickson County deputies had gone to Elks’ home on the night of Oct. 12 to inform her that her husband, Joel “Taz” Digregorio, a keyboardist with the Charlie Daniels Band, had been killed in a car crash. The officers entered the home after they discovered that the back door was open.
Police summaries obtained by WSMV showed that officers saw what they suspected to be marijuana on a table, describing it as a “green, leafy substance.” They also allegedly found rolling papers and a Governor’s Marijuana Eradication Task Force sticker.
“We’re all sympathetic of her loss, of her husband, I would not wish that upon any person at any time,” the ABC employee told Finley. “It’s illegal despite the circumstances behind it.”
For their part, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said they had asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to investigate. The file was later forwarded to District Attorney General Dan Alsobrook, who declined to pursue the case.
View Video at link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/08/tennessee-police-ignore-pot-at-state-officials-home/
Watch this video from WSMV, broadcast Feb. 6, 2012.
"Hey Folks time to realize the Law only applies to the 99%, get used to it!!!"By David Edwards
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 10:09 EST
Authorities in Tennessee... more
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New debate: When is medical marijuana “usable?”
Marijuana legalization could benefit economy, reduce debt
5-Story Marijuana Farm Is Raided in BronxNew debate: When is medical marijuana “usable?”
Marijuana legalization... more
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By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 13:48 EST
A five-story building in New York City was raided by police this week, revealing that the entire structure was being used as a multi-tiered marijuana farm.
Police said that four of the floors appeared to be designated to individual stages of the plants’ growth, with the most mature on the top floor.
The building also had expensive filtration and watering systems to keep plants healthy and nosy neighbors about their own business, according to NBC New York.
Officers recovered almost 600 marijuana plants, along with 75 pounds of buds that had been prepared for sale. In total, some 1,550 pounds of illegal plants were pulled out of the building.
Three men, ages 23-25, were arrested in the raid. It is not clear if they were solely responsible.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/01/police-entire-nyc-building-was-pot-farm/
This video is from NBC New York, broadcast Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.
"Hooray!!! Young Entrepreneurs Rock!!!!" =)By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 13:48 EST
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By Reuters
Saturday, January 28, 2012 10:01 EST
(Reuters) – Supporters of legalizing marijuana for recreational use have submitted enough signatures to put the matter to voters in Washington state in a bold move that, if successful, could put Olympia on a collision course with the federal government.
The group New Approach Washington submitted nearly 278,000 valid signatures for the measure, more than required to put it on the November ballot, David Ammons, a spokesman for the Washington Secretary of State’s office, said in a statement.
The move comes as federal prosecutors have sought to crank up pressure on several mostly western states, including Washington, that have legalized medical marijuana even as cannibis remains classified as an illegal narcotic under federal law.
The proposal, if approved by voters, would allow marijuana sales to people 21 and older, permit state taxes to be collected on the drug, ban pot advertising and prohibit driving under the influence of cannabis.
Supporters of legalizing marijuana, who include acting Seattle city attorney Peter Holmes, say the federal prohibition on the drug has not curbed use and that it enriches drug cartels.
“This is the grown-up approach to regulating a relatively harmless drug,” Holmes said.
Opponents of legalization say it would lead to more abuse of the drug, including by young people, and that underground sales would continue.
“There will always be a black market. That’s been proven with cigarettes with the tobacco industry,” said Calvina Fay, head of the Florida-based Drug Free America Foundation. “Even though tobacco is legal and it’s regulated, there’s still a huge global black market.”
Washington is one of 16 states that, along with the nation’s capital, have decriminalized medical marijuana. But federal agents have raided medical marijuana dispensaries in several states, including Washington, in recent months.
Under state law, the recreational legalization initiative next heads to the Washington State Legislature, which has the option of avoiding a popular vote by itself enacting the proposal to legalize marijuana, Ammons said.
The legislature could also allow the measure to go to the ballot alongside an alternative from lawmakers, Ammons said.
Alison Holcomb, campaign director of New Approach Washington, has said she did not expect the legislature would enact the proposal on its own, but would leave the issue for voters to decide.
In 2010, a measure to legalize marijuana in California lost at the ballot box when less than 47 percent of voters approved it.
No modern, affluent nation has ever legalized commercial production and distribution of marijuana, according to research organization RAND Corp.
In the Netherlands, famous for its Amsterdam cafes where guests buy and smoke marijuana, authorities allow adults to buy the drug but the country officially has a policy that commercial production of it is illegal, said Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.
(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/28/washington-state-marijuana-legalization-headed-for-ballot/
"I have yet to see a case of Lung Cancer that was due to marijuana use!!!"By Reuters
Saturday, January 28, 2012 10:01 EST
(Reuters) – Supporters of... more
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By Muriel Kane
Sunday, January 22, 2012
A British pharmaceutic firm is completing clinical trials of a drug derived directly from marijuana and hopes to receive approval to market it from the Food and Drug Administration by the end of 2013.
The drug, which contains both THC and cannabidiol, has already been approved in Canada, New Zealand, and several European countries to relieve muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis. In the US, however, it would be sold to relieve cancer pain.
The FDA began approving drugs based on synthetic equivalents of the active ingredients in marijuana in 1985, but this would be the first drug derived from the plant itself. This is significant because, as the Associated Press points out, “The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes pot as a dangerous drug with no medical value, but the availability of a chemically similar prescription drug could increase pressure on the federal government to revisit its position.”
“There is a real disconnect between what the public seems to be demanding and what the states have pushed for and what the market is providing,” the president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society told the AP. “It seems to me a company with a great deal of vision would say, `If there is this demand and need, we could develop a drug that will help people and we will make a lot of money.’”
Some marijuana advocates, however, worry that government approval of marijuana-based prescription drugs could become a new argument against legalization of medical marijuana. “That’s the race against time,” Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access told AP, “in terms of how quickly can we put pressure on the federal government to recognize the plant has medical use versus the government coming out with the magic bullet pharmaceutical pill.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/22/pot-based-prescription-drug-could-receive-fda-approval/
"Legalize It!!!!!!"By Muriel Kane
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Gary Johnson "In 1997 Newt Gingrich Proposed The Death Penalty For Possession Of Marijuana" 5:35 into clip.
If I had a voice, I would ask Newt if his views have changed? I would ask him if he knows the 'true' history of cannabis hemp. One can hide the facts, contained in our history, but they can't change the facts.
Cannabis hemp has history. Positive's which go ignored. I would ask him if he has the courage to have a discussion about cannabis hemp? We have had a war on our shores for too many years. We have more people in prison than any other country, basically due to the war on cannabis. He should be able to state verifiable facts. If not, why not? It's time to end the war.
I would ask him if he has invested in 'private prisons'? The Office of President is too important, to allow them to claim ignorance, as though they don't know. I recommend, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes", by the late Jack Herer. The first half of the book, contains the facts. The second half of the book is copies of the documentation to back up the facts in the first half.
It's our history! It's time to hold politicians accountable! Do they know the facts? If not, why not? If you haven't seen the book, it's available to read on line, http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/ It can be used as a history test, for those who want to lead. Do they know the facts? Only accept 'the truth and nothing but the truth'. Opinions can be spun, no spinning allowed. Facts lead to truth. Spin distorts the truth, to distract from the facts. We're deserve better than that! We are the 'We the People', our Constitution represents!Gary Johnson "In 1997 Newt Gingrich Proposed The Death Penalty For Possession Of... more
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By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that the founders of the United States would have dealt violently with marijuana growers, despite the fact that they grew the plant for commercial purposes themselves.
He said at an town hall event in New Hampshire that decriminalizing drugs like marijuana would increase the rate of addictions and increase crime.
“In general, I’d like us to be as drug free as possible and I think that it requires a much more serious approach.”
Gingrich was later asked if former Presidents Thomas Jefferson or George Washington should have been arrested for growing marijuana.
“I think Jefferson or George Washington would have rather strongly discouraged you from growing marijuana and their techniques with dealing with it would have been rather more violent than our current government,” he responded.
Both Washington and Jefferson grew marijuana on their Virginia farms. At the time, the plant was used to make a number a products, such as rope and textiles. It did not become a widely-used recreational drug in the United States until the 20th century, but some academics have claimed that at least seven early U.S. presidents used the drug in the form of hashish.
Gingrich has previously called for a more aggressive drug policy, including the death penalty for drug smugglers.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/04/gingrich-founding-fathers-would-have-violent-reaction-to-pot-growers/
Watch this video from CNN, uploaded Jan. 4, 2012.
"WTF???" Who made Newt a Historian???" I Highly Doubt the Founding Fathers would have done or said anything about the Hemp back in that day, in fact I am sure they used quite a bit of it for ropes, clothing etc....By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that the... more
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This is a must-watch video featuring some of the top researchers on the healing effects of Cannabis (Marijuana) in it's raw form, eaten or juiced.
Eating raw cannabis as medicine, dietary essential: new research
Cannabis is a dietary essential that helps all cell types function more effectively.
Is a medicine: anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, probably has some direct activity against cancerous cells.
This plant can do phenomenal things, but not if [you aren't taking a high enough dose].
Cannabis is the most important vegetable in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0VUsak2o9E&feature=player_embeddedThis is a must-watch video featuring some of the top researchers on the healing... more
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By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, December 29, 2011
The state of Colorado has become the third in the nation to formally ask the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to reclassify marijuana in such a manner that would recognize its potential for medical value, similar to drugs like morphine and cocaine.
The letter, sent just before Christmas by Colorado’s Department of Revenue, was required by a law passed in 2010 that set up a state regulatory framework for medical marijuana. The law required the state to petition the DEA for reclassification of the drug before Jan. 1, 2012.
Current federal prohibitions mean “[there] is a lack of certainty necessary to provide safe access for patients with serious medical conditions,” director Barbara Brohl wrote.
The state became the first in the nation earlier this year to begin licensing businesses that sell marijuana and products containing the drug, a move that potentially puts them at odds with federal officials.
The Obama administration’s Department of Justice has made a practice of not prosecuting medical marijuana patients in states where the drug has been approved, but it still considers distributors to be fair game for arrest.
Colorado also allows people who’ve been given a doctor’s recommendation for marijuana to grow their own plants inside their home.
Read More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/29/colorado-asks-dea-to-recognize-marijuanas-medical-value/
"I live here, so I agree!!! Even though I do not participate in the Medical Marijuana card, I still think those who need MM should be free to purchase and grow their own!!!"By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, December 29, 2011
The state of Colorado has become... more
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There is a great editorial in a Southern Oregon newspaper today called “Legalize pot: It’ll dry up drug cartels’ market, save forests“. It’s well done and deserves a read, but today my muse comes in the form of a comment on the piece.There is a great editorial in a Southern Oregon newspaper today called “Legalize... more
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