cannabisnews.com: Recovery Plan Recovery Plan Posted by CN Staff on June 06, 2003 at 10:07:33 PT By J.K. Dineen of The Examiner Staff Source: San Francisco Examiner The day after the medical pot community celebrated convicted marijuana grower Ed Rosenthal's one-day sentence, a top Bush administration official came through town to offer the sort of stern condemnation of medical marijuana widespread among Washington Republicans but not often heard in this city. Dr. Andrea Grubb Barthwell, President Bush's Deputy Director of Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, called marijuana an "elixir" and compared it to smoking opium as a cure for pain. "It's really, really unfortunate that people look at that and believe that smoke-weed can help them as medicine," she said. "It is silly, even outrageous to suggest that a smoke-weed is medicine and that it would be more efficacious than other forms of medications that have been developed over time." She called the medicinal marijuana movement "a smokescreen for another agenda" and said Rosenthal message was never really about pot for the ill. "This is not about marijuana as a medicine," she said. "This is about an individual who has gone on the record with a program to legalize marijuana." Barthwell's comments were made at the Asian-American Recovery Services treatment center in the Western Addition, which she praised as the sort of culturally sensitive drug treatment center the Bush administration favors. She also outlined Bush's $600 million "Access To Recovery" program, a voucher system that would give recovering addicts the freedom to choose the suitable program most suitable for their addiction. The presentation was preceded by accounts of several San Franciscans who had found sobriety at AARS. Graduate Melvin Kon said he was living in Tenderloin hotels and was addicted to a gamut of drugs -- from weed to coke to speed -- when a judge gave him a choice between jail and a residential treatment program. He had been arrested between 20 and 30 times. "I definitely made the right move," he said. "I'm so grateful for this place." As a Japanese-American Kon said he basically ignored his family during 20 years of addiction. "I choose to hide out rather than deal with it," he said. "It's an Asian thing, you feel you have to keep quiet about it because the family name is at stake." Stated 17 years ago, AARS was the first recovery program to target Asian and Pacific Islander communities, long stereotyped as "model minorities" unencumbered by the sort of a serious drug addiction problems other groups wrestle with. AARS has both residential treatment programs and outpatient services as well as youth intervention programs.Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)Author: J.K. Dineen of The Examiner Staff Published: Friday, June 06, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Francisco ExaminerContact: letters sfexaminer.comWebsite: http://www.examiner.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmCooler Heads Rejoice - San Francisco Examinerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16542.shtmlPot Guru Walks - San Francisco Examinerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16541.shtmlMedicinal Pot's Leader Receives Lenient Sentence http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16538.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #15 posted by john wayne on June 07, 2003 at 18:30:57 PT The Grubb Speaks > "Dr. Andrea Grubb Barthwell, President Bush's Deputy Director of Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, called marijuana an "elixir" and compared it to smoking opium as a cure for pain."So you're saying it's quite efficacious, are you, Miss Grubb? [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Truth on June 07, 2003 at 07:27:09 PT smoke-weed O.K. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by SoberStoner on June 06, 2003 at 23:58:00 PT Smoke-weed??? Does she even realize how utterly moronic this makes her sound??Probably not, since she's most likely just reading from the cards they gave her.I dont know where this girl came from, but over the last few days, she has proved herself to be nothing more than a mouthpiece of stupidity. As much as her stupidity aggrivates me, I'll keep watch until someone who actually believes in journalism confronts this idiot with her lies and makes her bolt out of a news conference like Asa and Johnny P like to do.SS [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by John Tyler on June 06, 2003 at 22:04:59 PT smoke-weed II That smoke-weed phrase is very strange. Maybe she got it confused with pipe-weed that is used by the Hobbits in Middle Earth. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by mayan on June 06, 2003 at 18:29:36 PT Bumpin' Their Gums She called the medicinal marijuana movement "a smokescreen for another agenda" and said Rosenthal's message was never really about pot for the ill.Yes, the medical cannabis movement is a smokescreen for another agenda. That agenda is freedom. Freedom to live as one wishes as long as one is not harming the person or property of another. Cannabis is the medicine & material of this young millenium. Even the feds know that. They've always known it. They are simply looking out for their owners in the pharmaceutical & petrochemical industries. The more these bozos keep talking, the more they lose credibility. Let them keep bumping their gums because they have very,very little credibility left to exhaust.The way out is the way in... The Failure to Defend the Skies on 9/11: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/48/32/200306051312.263f1d60.html9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledgeMcKinney poised for political return: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0603/05mckinney.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on June 06, 2003 at 16:42:53 PT Dr. Grubb She should have spoken from a jail, not a treatment center. That's where the feds' funding priorities are. I'll bet this type of treatment gets 1/10th of the amount of funding devoted to prisons. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by The GCW on June 06, 2003 at 16:26:04 PT This is not about Marijuana... As God said all the green is good, on literaly the very 1st page of the Bible...This whole issue is for obedient Christians to know who is evil.It exposes the deluding influence and the self-condemned.Know it or not, We are all Christians, for We are marked by birth to a clock that’s run according to Christ God Our Father. So it’s better to be obedient Christians rather than disobedient Christians. We are all Christians! And there are only 2 kinds: Obedient Christians and disobedient Christians.Who that smokes pot would deny the simplicity that Christ requested in simplifying the commandments????He boiled it down to one statement:LOVE YOUR BROTHER. Cannabis aids in that department.That is a natural for cannapeople.If it is that easy, don't rebel. We already, tend in this direction.So, yes, Walters - Ashcroft & Bush etc. ARE Christians, it is the type of Christianss that they are, that is disappointing.Disobedient Christians, don't get it, in every facet. Many that disobey and deny Christ God Our Father, do it right away as soon as they get the chance, and that would mean disobeying on the very 1st page, to not put it off.Disobedient Christians expose themselves as evil working against the teachings of Christ God Our Father, The Ecologician.The Green Collar Worker [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by afterburner on June 06, 2003 at 14:41:35 PT: Thanks, byrd "Atlanta,Baltimore,Boston,Chicago,Cincinnati,Cleveland, Dallas,Denver,Detroit,Houston,Los Angeles,Miami, Minneapolis,New York,Philadelphia,Pittsburgh,Phoenix, Portland,Sacramento,San Diego,San Francisco,Seattle St. Louis,Tampa,and Washington, D.C." - A roadmap for peace: get ready cannabis activists to give the Drug Czar a Vancouver-style welcome.ego transcendence follows ego destruction when our truth grows bigger than their lies. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by byrd on June 06, 2003 at 14:09:57 PT John Walters Announces Summer Tour I found this on the ONDCP website today. My hope is he's hounded by massave protests. It would be a big momentum swing after Ed's court case and all that's going on up north.PeaceJune 6th, 2003 WHITE HOUSE DRUG CZAR LAUNCHES NEW 25-CITIES INITIATIVE AT CONFERENCE OF MAYORS 71st ANNUAL CONFERENCE(DENVER)–John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy and President Bush's "Drug Czar," today announced the start of a new 25-Cities Initiative. To help achieve the President's goal of reducing drug use among all Americans by 10 percent in two years and 25 percent in five years, Director Walters will visit 25 cities across the United States. While nearly every community, whether it be urban, suburban, or rural, has been harmed by the drug problem, America's cities have been hit particularly hard. In most communities in America, the drug problem is being actively addressed by federal, state, and local agencies and programs, but too often these efforts do not work in concert with each other. This initiative will seek to coordinate and focus these efforts in achieving shared goals."The experience of this nation has taught us that when we push back against the problem of illegal drugs, the problem gets smaller," said Walters. "Our cities are regional epicenters of talent, commerce, and opportunity. Unfortunately, illegal drugs all too often make them places of addiction, missed chances, and despair. We want to bring to the same table all of the state, city, and local organizations and leaders that are tackling the drug problem individually and then help coordinate and focus their energies."Many Americans are unaware of the significant progress that has been made recently in curbing drug use. In 2002, youth drug use dropped to its lowest levels in the past decade. This is largely because of the creativity and dedication of individuals at the local level. The White House is seeking to establish an on-going relationship with these cities to continue to identify and accomplish significant improvement in certain key measures of drug use in each city. By meeting with volunteers and developing teams of local citizens and officials to identify problems they can address and then setting up the mechanism to monitor results, the White House hopes to bolster cities' efforts to reduce substance abuse and addiction."In the coming months, I will personally visit each of America's 25-largest cities," said Director Walters. "Leaders in these cities are using innovative ways to confront their drug problems. We believe this initiative will not only help each individual city focus its efforts, but the successful programs and techniques we learn in one city can be shared with other cities also struggling with this problem."The 25 cities that will be included in the initiative are: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.The 25 Cities. Atlanta,Baltimore,Boston,Chicago,Cincinnati,Cleveland, Dallas,Denver,Detroit,Houston,Los Angeles,Miami, Minneapolis,New York,Philadelphia,Pittsburgh,Phoenix, Portland,Sacramento,San Diego,San Francisco,Seattle St. Louis,Tampa,and Washington, D.C. Press Release [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Max Flowers on June 06, 2003 at 11:21:12 PT Keep it up I move that we not let the criticism stop here... let's send this moron letters telling her the same things. Show her that when she says such stupid things, real people with critical thinking abilities are listening and will keep shoving her lies back in her face long after she's told them. She's insulting the intelligence of all decent poeple and getting paid for it with our tax money. Let her have it! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Morgan on June 06, 2003 at 11:03:37 PT Smoke-weed? I'm sorry, but I haven't seen or heard this term before. Is it a new 'scary word' the feds are going to use now, as the original 'scary word', MARIJUANA, has lost it's frightening effect from overuse?Or is it a term that is used by the Asian community, and she's trying to be 'homey' like? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by delariand on June 06, 2003 at 10:59:57 PT This is not about Marijuana This is about a bunch of self-righteous jerks in Washington, who would throw me in jail for my use of a plant. What kind of lunatic thinks that a "smoke-weed" could possibly do more harm than a criminal conviction, or jail time? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on June 06, 2003 at 10:57:47 PT Kaptinemo I just checked and copied your whole title but only previewed and didn't post it. I am using IE. It was " that caused it not to work so it did the same thing with my browser and thought you'd like to know. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on June 06, 2003 at 10:39:45 PT: I guess I'l have to stick with IE Opera cuts off text; my subject line was supposed to read "Silly and outrageous"? Ask a cancer patient...But you got the drift :) [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on June 06, 2003 at 10:31:05 PT: "Silly and outrageous" is it? As a cancer pat who's barfing their guts out and have their misery almost instantly relieved, safely, with a few puffs.Instead of hanging out with inmates (call 'em what they are; most didn't ask to be there but were PUT there on court order or accept a jail term) who know what would happen to them should they have the temerity to disagree with her, she should ask some compassion club people to sit with her and bring some patients along, too. The arrogance and close-mindedness of these people, supposedly on the Fed dime as public servants because they are purportedly intelligent specimens, is illustrative of Lysenkoism at it's worst. She should be ashamed to call herself a doctor when her acts are in direct violation of the Hippocratic Oath...namely, "First, do no harm." Because that's all these organizations like ONDCP do: harm. And she is supportive of that?This fool needs, not a pie in the face, but splashed with a bucket of fresh vomit from one of her victims. 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