cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Advocates Target Rep. Baca





Medical Marijuana Advocates Target Rep. Baca
Posted by CN Staff on November 28, 2003 at 14:27:39 PT
By Brenda Gazzar, Staff Writer
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 
Ontario -- A local congressman has been targeted by a medical marijuana advocacy group who opposes his record on the issue. Registered voters in the district of Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, have received calls in recent days from the Berkeley-based Americans for Safe Access to criticize the congressman's vote against ending federal raids on medical marijuana patients and providers. The organization, which ended the phone campaign Monday, is now preparing to start a letter-writing, e-mail and holiday card campaign against him and other politicians, which could begin as early as next week.
"This is an education campaign, not a political campaign,"said William Dolphin, the group's communications director. "There's been a tremendous amount of disinformation put out on marijuana over the last 20 years. Science is clear but official policy does not yet reflect it."Baca's Washington D.C.-office released the following written statement Tuesday. Baca "feels that all Americans should have access to lifesaving medicines. As a Member of Congress, a father, and grandfather, I will not send mixed messages to our law enforcement and to our nation's children about the use of marijuana. Marijuana has not proved medically necessary and can also be abused," the statement said. Baca was one of four congressmen in California and Oregon targeted during the campaign for voting against the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment to a federal bill in July that would have taken away funding of investigations or prosecutions of medical marijuana patients in 10 states with medical marijuana laws. The four congressmen were also selected for the campaign because patients in their districts have been prosecuted for using medical marijuana, Dolphin said. Both drug enforcement officials and medical marijuana advocates claim science is on their side.A 1999 Institute of Medicine report "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Bias" determined that marijuana's medical effects are generally modest and said there were more effective medicines on the market."For patients who do not respond well to other medications, however, short-term marijuana use appears to be suitable in treating conditions like chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, or the wasting caused by AIDS," said John Benson Jr., a principal investigator of the study, in a news release about the report. Any use of marijuana is illegal under federal law, which classifies the drug as having no medicinal use. California's Prop. 215, passed in 1996, legalizes the possession and cultivation of medical marijuana with a recommendation from a physician. A state Senate bill recently signed into state law, SB420, adds limitations to quantities of marijuana allowed for medical purposes and requires the state to establish and maintain a voluntary program issuing identification cards to qualified patients. The cards would establish procedures under which such patients may use marijuana for medical purposes.According to a 2002 Time/CNN poll, 80 percent of those surveyed think it's OK to dispense pot for medical purposes. Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (CA)Author: Brenda Gazzar, Staff WriterPublished: Thursday, November 27, 2003Copyright: 2003 Inland Valley Daily BulletinWebsite: http://www.dailybulletin.com/Contact: brenda.gazzar dailybulletin.com Related Articles & Web Sites:Americans For Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccessnow.org/The Debate: Hinchey - Rohrabacher http://freedomtoexhale.com/dofcomm.htmCampaign Targets Lawmakers Who Oppose MMJhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17854.shtmlMedical Marijuana Campaign Targets Congress http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17844.shtml
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Comment #16 posted by Max Flowers on November 30, 2003 at 13:50:03 PT
Let me change my tone
In reviewing my comments perhaps I was a bit extreme regarding HT. Only time will tell whether it was a mistake or not, as someone pointed out. I guess it looked like a hostile takeover to me at first or something. I'm sure we'll learn more as time goes on. The tone was always sort of rebellious and goofy and I think that was one thing they wanted to change for sure. I for one always thought their pandering to sex impulses (all the 1-900 numbers and other porn stuff) was a little insulting, demonstrating as it did that they engaged in stereotyping just like "straights", figuring their average reader to be immature, porn-obsessed (and for the past several years, hip-hop obsessed) young men when I think their reader demographic was actually extremely varied. Thus they turned a lot of people off. I always felt that were I in their shoes, I would do the opposite and aim for a more sophisticated feel and give people a chance to feel more dignity as stoners without any sleazy add-ons.MF
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on November 29, 2003 at 19:17:23 PT
mayan
You could be right and it might be available but I still don't think so in our local town. They still have and use hitching posts for the horse and buggy shoppers at the local IGA! LOL!
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Comment #14 posted by mayan on November 29, 2003 at 19:04:12 PT
FoM...
You may soon have HT in your area as they will not have the obvious "bud shots" on the cover anymore. Some news stands and book stores were unwilling to carry HT for fear of upsetting customers or being harrassed by leo's. In this current climate of fear and oppression, HT may be aiming for a more discreet presence and a more mainstream appeal. Besides, Cannabis Culture,Heads(both CN) and Weed World(UK) are more focused mags without all the trashy ads and non-cannabis related material. Maybe HT just felt they couldn't compete and had to find their own niche? I wish them the best, anyhow.Max, I hope you do well with your virtual publication! 
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on November 29, 2003 at 15:42:55 PT
afterburner 
I'm not sure what High Times wants to do and what direction they are going but in time if it is going to work it will. We still won't be able to get the magazine because of where it must be bought in our area. We don't have adult bookstores. 
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Comment #12 posted by afterburner on November 29, 2003 at 15:04:24 PT:
FoM
Ditto on the bizarre   High Times. Maybe it's time to grow the high beyond just cannabis, pulling all the psychedelics up by their bootstraps together, at least in the comments and in the home. Another ally to cannabists?
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Comment #11 posted by Cannabis Enthusiast on November 29, 2003 at 13:26:52 PT
Max Flowers: "Heads" is also a HT competitor
I read it at Barnes & Noble...
Heads
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on November 29, 2003 at 11:36:59 PT
Max Flowers 
I wish you good luck with your idea. It's ideas that make it all work. Let me explain why I do CNews the way I do. It's been 5 years since I started doing cannabis news. When I started posting news there wasn't very much to find that had any value. Now almost 18,000 articles later CNews has evolved into what it is today. I don't know what the future will bring but no one knows that who has an interactive web site. One thing I have learned that what is the most important issue in your own mind concerning your site must be kept in the front of your mind always. The layout of a web site determines alot about how you direct the site too. Very important consideration must be made day after day. This is a 24 hour a day job. I fall asleep thinking about what I should do or not do tomorrow. I only post NORML's weekly press release because they asked me if I would. I stopped posting news that wasn't cannabis related or special news like the school raid some time ago. I came to those conclusion because of checking out how often articles were accessed. I don't have many options to vary too much so I geared towards what features I do have and try hard to stay within those boundaries. What is the hardest part of operating an interactive web site is being true to yourself and your goals and not upsetting people. That is very hard and the most difficult problem I face. I wanted a web site where I could communicate with others who were like me and wanted to help bring change. You make friends and you make enemies and I wish it wasn't that way but it is. Remember some of these things and it will help you to make your site a success. We are growing and that is how I measure success. I think of us here on CNews as the little site that could. We are achieving our goals and thank you and everyone for making it possible.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on November 29, 2003 at 10:52:01 PT
Thanks afterburner 
I'll check out all the links. Trying to find a High Times Magazine around here is almost impossible. I gave up on trying to buy the magazine years ago when it got bizarre. When a web site has a name and the name says something it's hard to vary from the name and not confuse people but that's just my opinion. I wish them good luck. 
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Comment #8 posted by afterburner on November 29, 2003 at 10:25:20 PT:
FoM
I'm no great fan of the prohibitionist backlash. High Times seems to be covering their rears in the aftermath of Operations Pipedreams and Headhunter. However, the following articles from the High Times website indicate some continuing interest in cannabis and cannabis culture:"THIS MONTH: JANUARY 2004 
  "OUTLAW POLITICS 
BY PETER COYOTE
Not only did we as a generation not stop imperialism and unferrered capitalism, but we have been surrounded, seduced, subsumed, and sucked off, to some degree or another, by materialism on a global scale. 
[ 2003-10-29 ] [ HT Politics Exlusive ] http://hightimes.com/mainsite/Politics/content.php?bid=17&aid=2
 
  "SMUGGLER'S BLUES 
BY ALAN MCTEER
It's not easy bringing large amounts of marijuana from Canada to the US anymore. What was once a nearly unchecked border is now a battleground in the War on Terror. 
[ 2003-10-29 ] [ HT News Exlusive ] http://hightimes.com/mainsite/News/content.php?bid=23&aid=2
 
  "THE MAN WHO WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD 
BY KYLE KUSHMAN
Proprietor Eddy Lepp has an almost Zen-like attitude towards his battles with the Feds. 
[ 2003-10-29 ] [ HT News Exlusive ] http://hightimes.com/mainsite/News/content.php?bid=24&aid=2 
  "DRUG WAR ENEMIES 
BY ASHLEY KENNEDY
If you're a recreational drug user, they want to put you in jail (or worse), if you're a simple law-abiding taxpayer, they are lining their pockets with your money. 
[ 2003-10-29 ] [ HT News Exlusive ] http://hightimes.com/mainsite/News/content.php?bid=36&aid=2
" 
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Comment #7 posted by Max Flowers on November 29, 2003 at 10:19:26 PT
FoM
The new High Times is a big mistake, is what it is. Norman Mailer's son is now chief editor and money man behind it, they basically bought it out and have decided to make it a somehow more mature and political type of magazine, without such a focus on the cannabis plant.It is going to die an agonizing death, of course. I can already tell that it is a fatal move and the new version is boring as anything. This is great for Cannabis Culture magazine, their main competition... they must be ecstatic over there. A lot of High Times' core readership will probably move over to CC now. HT had a great and influential 30 year run, but it's over and they were getting old with their same old riffs anyway.This is great timing for me too. I have always wanted to do something even more focused than HT, which has always frustrated me with the superficiality and shortness of their articles. I am thinking of starting an internet newsletter/magazine (subscription-based) with intense focus on both the plant and its joys, and the political issues surrounding cannabis and the drug war, with no space drained by silly articles on the latest music trends etc... other magazines do that much better and I will leave that to them.There are some stellar minds and writers on this site and I want to invite anyone who would be interested in contributing writer roles to contact me at kamandha hushmail.com I have a great name and concept for it, and I think it could be something great. Even if I don't take it to any lofty heights, it will be something really fun to do, a contribution to be proud of, but I believe that with the passion/obsession I and others have it will grow into a very popular and profitable virtual publication.This announcement is sort of buried in this commentary on the fizzling out of High Times FoM, so I hope you don't mind if I post a more obvious announcement seeking contributing writers for my project soon in another post.cheers
MF
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Comment #6 posted by Nuevo Mexican on November 29, 2003 at 08:50:27 PT
Kucinich stops Diebold! Whose the man?
Its Dennis Kucinich! cause he eats his spinach, he's Dennis Kucinich the MAN! (sung to Popeye).Hot tip to lurking Journalists! Headline I'd like to see:Kucinich: THE ONLY DEMOCRAT THAT OPPOSES THE WAR ON DRUGS! And the war in Iraq! (silence from the peanut gallery)www.kucinich.us'Diebold Withdraws Legal Threats' 
http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/1128-02.htmWho alone is stopping bush and his Diebold boys from outright stealing the next election? That's right folks, the one and only Dem with cajones, Dennis. Who is the only Dem calling for a 90 day withdrawal from Iraq, (why are the Dems sooooo absent from their role as 
a check to bushes balance? Because the impotent American public doesn't hold those elected to ANY standard of behavior, so it is our fault, no one elses. Period.Look in the mirror America, you do get what you deserve, is bush what we deserve? Based on the genocide of native Americans and Blacks, our karma has given us 'bush'. Why do we 'deserve' bush? Because we sit around and and shake our heads, while the rest of the world hits the streets and puts fear in the hearts of corrupt politicians.Making them quake from the sounds of pots and pans clanging throughout the cities, the voices of the people chanting, 'Our people united, will never be defeated!'While we bemoan our fate and shrug, oh well, they're crooks but what can we do, oh my! People throughout the world are on the crappy end of the stick, and have been for ages, the world is fed up with the U.S. and finally, the crows have come home to roost, as our shame elections are exposed for what they are: Sign the resolution on Electronic Voting:http://www.verifiedvoting.org/add_endorsement.aspONE MAN OPPOSES THE DRUG WAR, AND THE IRAQ WAR, ALL OTHERS SUPPORT BUSHES WAR IN IRAQ, WIMPISHLY, OUT OF FEAR (WELLSTONING):http://www.kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_112503.php'Kucinich Alone Against an Occupation'In Monday's presidential debate only Congressman Dennis Kucinich spoke out in favor of ending the occupation of Iraq. Only Kucinich spoke, and received applause for speaking, for disarmament and the work needed to create peace.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 28, 2003 at 19:09:02 PT
What Is The New High Times Magazine?
I just checked out the site and couldn't find anything I wanted to read. Is this for young people and they get it and I just don't?
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 28, 2003 at 19:04:18 PT
New High Times Web Site
http://hightimes.com/mainsite/
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on November 28, 2003 at 17:55:57 PT
MMJ Litmus Test
We are going to have to start targeting everey one of these dolts individually! If they would keep a sick or dying person from their medicine they sure won't get my vote. Medical cannabis will be the new litmus test for millions of voters. Are the pols humane or are they not? It's really that simple.BTW, I was watching CNN Headline News earlier and they ran a segment about eco-friendly gifts for the holidays. They displayed hemp pillows,backpacks,candles and some other items! The girl said who made them but I couldn't make out the company. I was shocked & surprised to see hemp being plugged on CNN HLN! The times are certainly changing!The way out is the way in...9/11 Relative Mariani Vs. Bush (Full Amended Complaint) http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0311/S00224.htmA Historical Whitewash?(Insight Magazine Cover-Story!!!) http://www.insightmag.com/news/565658.htmlCompromised 9/11 Investigation a Looming National Scandal: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0311/S00206.htmFailure & Crime Are Not the Same - 9/11's Limited Hangouts: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/112203_failure_crime.htmlThe Kennedys,Physical Evidence, and 9/11 - by Michael C. Ruppert: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/112603_kennedy.html
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Comment #2 posted by observer on November 28, 2003 at 15:36:05 PT
the old ''Any use is illegal'' canard
''Any use of marijuana is illegal under federal law, which classifies the drug as having no medicinal use.''"Any"? Except for the exceptions, that is.read about the US Federally legal pot-smoking medical patients ... they have their grass mailed to them from that US Gov't pot farm in Mississippi ... 
http://www.google.com/search?q=george+mcmahon+marijuana
http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/
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Comment #1 posted by jose melendez on November 28, 2003 at 14:44:25 PT
so what?
"Marijuana has not proved medically necessary and can also be abused," Neither of which are legitimate reasons to criminalize any substance.
Criminalize THIS!
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