cannabisnews.com: Nip Pot Clubs in The Bud










  Nip Pot Clubs in The Bud

Posted by CN Staff on September 28, 2004 at 21:36:01 PT
By Rick Reiss - For The Californian  
Source: North County Times  

The Temecula City Council recently voted to temporarily ban the operation of marijuana dispensaries within the city. A San Francisco Bay area group, Compassionate Caregivers, had inquired about opening up shop here in Temecula for issuing "medicinal" marijuana to medical patients under Proposition 215.Fortunately for Temecula, our sober City Council saw through the smoke and voted to nip this goofy idea in the bud. The city council will consider making this ban permanent in the near future. 
Despite the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, the city should oppose these cannabis "clubs" because the sale and possession of marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. While many outsiders may deride our Golden State as the People's Republic of California, we still remain part of the federal republic and subject to the laws of our nation.Temecula receives much federal support, including federal Homeland Security funding for our Temecula Citizens Corps and the presence of the U.S. Border Patrol. For our city to sanction businesses that dispense illegal and unproven drugs against federal law would be hypocritical at the least.The notion behind Prop. 215 is a risky one. Financed by billionaire left-wing philanthropist George Soros, the proposition allows for the use of marijuana by seriously ill patients. Of course, the definition of "seriously ill" is in the eye of the beholder, or any agenda-driven medical caregiver.Local pot-smokers Martin and LaVonne Victor found themselves in legal trouble for cultivating their own dope to "treat" headaches and backaches after having it prescribed by a doctor. She has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and he with optical edema. But consider this: Who doesn't wake up with an occasional backache or experience headaches caused from busy and stressful lives?While Timothy Leary was a doctor of sorts, turning on, tuning in and dropping out is hardly a prescription for good health.In fact, marijuana use is dangerous to your health. A few years ago, a study published in the Journal of Immunology by UCLA researchers indicated that smoking marijuana has greater cancer risks than smoking tobacco. Marijuana is higher in tar and has over 400 known carcinogens.You don't need a medical degree to figure out that these carcinogens do nothing to improve the health of cancer patients.There are those who will say that Temecula needs to be more progressive and compassionate by implementing such policies. They will cite other cities such as San Francisco as their vision for Temecula.Don't fall for this smokescreen. San Francisco promotes other "compassionate" social policies like generous welfare to homeless bums. The homeless problem in San Francisco has gotten so bad that public urination and defecation is now considered a human right. The streets of San Francisco resemble open cesspools.Even public nudity has been decriminalized. The San Francisco district attorney recently declined to prosecute a yoga enthusiast for exercising in tourist areas while naked.Such "compassionate" cities are not the models that Temecula should try to emulate. Many Temecula residents moved here to escape such nonsense.The values of billionaire George Soros have no place in our community.Rick Reiss is a regular columnist for The Californian. Source: North County Times (CA)Author: Rick Reiss - For The Californian Published: Tuesday, September 28, 2004Copyright: 2004 North County Times Contact: editor nctimes.comWebsite: http://www.nctimes.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml

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Comment #25 posted by FoM on October 04, 2004 at 22:55:27 PT
Related Published Letter To The Editor
Column Distorted Facts on MarijuanaBy Lanny Swerdlow - Commentary Monday, October 4, 2004 Rick Reiss' column opposing medicinal marijuana ("Nip pot clubs in the bud," Sept. 29) is beyond the pale both in its distortion of facts and its insensitivity to patients who use marijuana to treat their ailments.Mr. Reiss' comparison of a person with a backache to a person with multiple sclerosis is akin to comparing someone with a pimple to a person with a malignant melanoma. Not only does he display his ignorance of disease and medicine, but his total lack of compassion and empathy for people with illnesses is symptomatic of people who place their personal peccadilloes over any concern for human suffering. Further exposing his lack of medical understanding, he cites a study that marijuana has more carcinogens than tobacco, but conveniently omits the fact that no one smokes a pack of marijuana a day, thereby reducing the amount of carcinogen exposure. Unlike tobacco, which is directly responsible for more than 450,000 deaths in the United States every year, the reduced carcinogen exposure from marijuana smoke is one of the main reasons that there is not a single fatality ever recorded in medical literature from the use of marijuana. 
If Mr. Reiss would like to educate himself on the medicinal uses of marijuana, a good place to start would be the 1999 study issued by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base." Besides debunking many of the myths about marijuana's dangers, the report concludes in its executive summary that "we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting."Mr. Reiss also displays his lack of understanding of the law. He claims that marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law, but if he would spend a few minutes doing research before putting pen to paper, he would have learned that this is not true in California. In December 2003, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law the federal government had used to arrest and prosecute medical marijuana patients was an unconstitutional interpretation of the U.S. Constitution's Interstate Commerce Clause. Until the U.S. Supreme Court decides the issue next spring, the only law regulating the use of medicinal marijuana in California is state law.I am sure Mr. Reiss is well-intentioned in his comments, but good intentions cannot substitute for good information. If Mr. Reiss or any of your readers would like to learn more about the medicinal use of marijuana, there is a wealth of information on the Internet as well as in your local library.If readers would like to meet some medical marijuana patients, I invite them to attend one of the meetings of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, Riverside County's only support organization for medical marijuana patients. We meet the first Sunday of every month at 3 p.m. in the Cathedral City Public Library. For more information, give us a call at (760) 799-2055.Lanny Swerdlow of Palm Springs is director of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project.http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/10/05/opinion/commentary/10_4_0420_34_29.txt
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Comment #24 posted by Hope on September 29, 2004 at 17:10:46 PT
Dongenero, Patrick, EJohnson
Excellent letter, Dongenero. Absolutely excellent! Dongenero, you also wrote, "I also love how he equates LaVonne Victor's Multiple Sclerosis with all of our occasional backaches and stress of daily life."That stunned me, too. That seems an insane comparison. Certainly, it lacks compassion, to say the least.Patrick, you wrote, "Temecula is the heart of American consumerism! I had a friend just this weekend who lives up there say what a materialistic neck of the woods it is." Funny that you should mention that. I've been thinking about materialism and love of money and extra toys and "keeping up appearances", lately. I've been thinking that a large percentage of neo-cons and prohibitionists appear to fall into the category of "idol worship" that is materialism. Many would and do sacrifice a lot of people to their penal system god for the sake of their materialism...the greed we so often speak of here. I mean as long as the sacrificed isn't them or someone important to them. Relative to their words and actions, I am beginning to suspect that they are wanting the rest of us to be the neo-serfs!EJ, your news is so encouraging. Thanks for sharing it.
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Comment #23 posted by Hope on September 29, 2004 at 16:44:38 PT
Overwhelmsman, you are very likely right
You wrote, "This Is One Of Those Scared Little Guys".Scared people can turn into dangerous people at the drop of a hat.
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on September 29, 2004 at 16:28:40 PT
Kap, "fear behind such bitterness"
Just not getting what they want can make some people bitter, too. Sort of explosive intrinsic pouting. Maybe, it’s some sort of jealousy. Perhaps he's pouting about something way back in his life. Maybe some hippy yoga poetry freak stole the woman of his dreams eons ago. Maybe he could, down deep, in some dark corner of his being, be jealous, because he wants to sit naked in public and smoke pot and pee on the sidewalk.Lot's of "maybes" there. Yet, I can't help but wonder about someone who is so vitriolic about something that really isn't hurting him or anyone else...(except, the excretions, what with disease and germs and smell and all)...but he dang sure wants to hurt them...as much as he can...it seems. Perhaps there need to be some porta potties in the areas he describes. The naked guy…he needs to go home…he’s getting some sort of thrill from naked yoga in public that he and others could probably live without. Prohibiting a plant that isn’t even poisonous in any way and is actually hugely beneficial to some people, and caging, handcuffing, robbing, beating, raping or even brow beating any one who disobeys their stupid man made prohibition rule is obviously wrong. They do the greater wrong. There is no doubt in my mind.Bitterness, no doubt, is also one of those side effects of hatred that most of us want to avoid.
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on September 29, 2004 at 15:48:06 PT
Maybe, the scariest thing Reiss wrote
"The values of billionaire George Soros have no place in our community."
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Comment #20 posted by Nuevo Mexican on September 29, 2004 at 14:28:05 PT
On those ONDCP ads......
As a listener of the only Solar powered Radio station in the World, I have requested that they drop the Dan Akroyd House of Blues Hour (for 5 years, without success) as it is packaged and sponsored with ads from ONDCP. After reading EJs post about the success story (dropping the ONDCP banner on a web site), I decided to restart my campaign to drop the ad, and/or the show.
The people who work the station agree, but the owner, whom I know, refused to listen, so I've threatened a boycott. Easy in this town, just make some bumper stickers, Boycott KTaos/ONDCP or something like that, and boom, you have a controversy, and who knows! Here is their email addy if you'd like to express your feelings! Ktao newmex.com
Tell you heard it first at Cannabisnews.com!
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Comment #19 posted by mayan on September 29, 2004 at 14:04:51 PT
Rick Reiss
Have you read Your Constitution yet? It's a good place to start!
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Comment #18 posted by BigDawg on September 29, 2004 at 10:30:02 PT
Thanks for the heads up E_J
That is the kind of story that keeps me filled with hope.The people spoke... and the powers that be actually listened.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on September 29, 2004 at 09:29:14 PT
Bravo EJ
I like reading things like that!
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Comment #16 posted by E_Johnson on September 29, 2004 at 09:23:40 PT
The community is standing up all over!
I watch a silly TV program called Startuing Over about six women trying to do a makeover on their personalities and lives.On the show's web site, they were running those ONDCP anti-pot banner ads. I don't know why, maybe because the show is in California, maybe because NBC owed the government something.The marijuana users on the site started complaining, and a discussion started about legalization.The ads were removed! They are gone! No more!
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Comment #15 posted by Sam Adams on September 29, 2004 at 08:55:37 PT
Interesting...
This guy is actually pretty honest about himself. As I read the article, I found myself saying "it wasn't Soros, it was 56% of the voters in your state that decided to legalized medical MJ" - but then I realized, that's exactly this guy's point.He's saying, we're not a "people's republic", we're part of the federal republic that persecutes bohemians, regardless of what the majority of those pinko commies think!  He welcomes totalitarian rule. At least he doesn't sugar-coat it. He's a "true believer" type prohib, the tiny fraction of those supporting prohibition that are driven by instinctive hatred. These guys are almost always responding to some deep-seated inadequacy or perversion. They can't come out in public and live out their twisted lifestyle, so they don't want anyone else to have pleasure or live a free life.He'll get sick & his health will go down someday; everyone's does. The he'll either come around, or meet death as an empty, bitter, shell of a man
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Comment #14 posted by Agog on September 29, 2004 at 08:48:53 PT
Please look at the California Constitution
I think I will write them a letter from sunny SD just down the road from Temecula. First I will review the article about Eddy Lepp and read first hand the constitutional citing that he provided regarding the enforcement of state laws until they are proven/declared in violation of applicable Federal law.Ignorance and fear such as this leave me so........ Agog
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 29, 2004 at 08:12:48 PT
Just a Note
So far I haven't found any news to post. I'll keep looking.siege, I removed the post for you.
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Comment #12 posted by dongenero on September 29, 2004 at 07:37:02 PT

I couldn't resist writing these jerks
Dear Editor,
I am writing with regard to the Rick Reiss article titled Nip Pot Clubs in the Bud. I write with some degree of embarrassment in that I would not normally give an dolt like Reiss such credence to warrant a response. However, I find some of his comments so repugnant that I feel I must respond.Anyone who suffers from MS or who has a friend or loved one suffering from MS should be rightfully outraged by Reiss' following comment:
"She has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and he with optical edema. But consider this: Who doesn't wake up with an occasional backache or experience headaches caused from busy and stressful lives?"
If the idiocy of that statement doesn't stand on its own I am lost for words.Additionally, Reiss states that the values of George Soros have no place in his community. I would like to point out that while Reiss may disagree with Soros' opposition to our failed and misguided "Drug War", Soros is likely the greatest and most influential individual supporter of Democracy in Eastern Europe, the Baltics and around the World. Including the U.S.
I'm beginning to get the picture on Reiss' intolerance now, and why he would deride such a philanthropist and supporter of Democracy.What saddens me is that there is an audience for such ignorant drivel.
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Comment #11 posted by Patrick on September 29, 2004 at 07:15:48 PT

Temecula
First of all nobody moved there to escape anything except high realestate prices everywhere else in Southern California. I know I just live down the road from Temecula. Yes, if you have friends you can find cannabis in Temecula along with high heat, some nice golf courses, and shopping till you drop. Temecula is the heart of American consumerism! I had a friend just this weekend who lives up there say what a materialistic neck of the woods it is. He is planning on moving back closer to the beach. Yep Temecula has great border patrol agents too. Funny thing is it's well over 100 miles from the border so can you really call them the border patrol? Should be the illegal alien/break the law employer patrol? Why don't they ban illegal aliens instead of cannabis in Temecula. Oh I know, who doesn't wake up in the morning in Temecula needing a cheap landscape worker? I thought we debunked most of the propoganda crap in this article years ago?
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Comment #10 posted by dongenero on September 29, 2004 at 07:10:28 PT

good work kaptinemo
It often helps to out this kind of village idiot journalist for what they are. Without the history of his bitter article one might give him more credence than is due.Great how he states Soros values have no place in his community. Let's see, Soros is probably the greatest individual supporter of democracy in Eastern Europe. I guess I can see where that wouldn't be a good fit for Rick Reiss.I also love how he equates LaVonne Victor's Multiple Sclerosis with all of our occaissional backaches and stress of daily life. What a jackass. I hate to say this kind of thing but, maybe M.S. would be a good life lesson for this ding-a-ling "journalist", Rick Reiss.
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Comment #9 posted by siege on September 29, 2004 at 07:08:06 PT

         FoM
 Post Comment # 8 Take it down I missed read the date sorry.
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Comment #7 posted by lilgrasshoppah77 on September 29, 2004 at 06:24:05 PT:

only in amerikka... 
would "Philanthropist" be spoken of negatively!
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Comment #6 posted by Overwhelmsam on September 29, 2004 at 06:23:05 PT

This Is One Of Those Scared Little Guys
Who thinks marijuana is the Devil, and buys the ONDCP propaganda. I guess he's trying to say that if it weren't for Soros, marijuana would forever be illegal. There are a lot more people than Soros working for legalization, and there's nothing he can do about it. Surely people read his drivel and realize he is an extremist. About eye of the beholder, I think he should pull the log out of his own eyes before he judges another.
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Comment #5 posted by siege on September 29, 2004 at 06:05:30 PT

federal
 
What type of Censorship by your self and the Temecula City Council are you working for if it is to stop**Medical Marijuana** this will be a good **court case**, It is UnConstitutional that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. This looks like your driven-agenda!
 Temecula receives much federal support, including federal Homeland Security funding for our Temecula Citizens Corps and the presence of the U.S. Border Patrol  SO the federal told you not to let** Medical Marijuana** into your CITY.
The Jack Boots have taken over your Home Town.
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on September 29, 2004 at 05:05:38 PT:

Ain't the Internet wonderful?
After reading this, I deceided to look up Mr. Reiss's works on the Internet:http://www.google.com/search?q=Rick+reiss+californian&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=NNot residing in California and never hearing about Mr. Reiss before, I thought it best to sample his writings before commenting.I figure his own comments on various issues will do more than I ever could to explain him:http://peaceworksintv.org/archive/001350.php (Mr. Reiss's comments immediately follow the main article about a bunch of peace protesters. It contains anti-cannabis slurs.)Ground zero in culture wars
By: RICK REISS - For the Californian (an anti-gay article)
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/02/18/opinion/commentary/2_17_0421_40_33.txtI learned may years ago that for all the rage displayed up front in many disagreeable people, you must always consider that there is fear behind such bitterness. And that all too often, the things they fear outside themselves, they actually harbor within.
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Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on September 29, 2004 at 04:58:58 PT

To turn on, tune in and drop out
IS a presciption for good health. If you can observe what 'Murkan Life' has become, turning on, tuning in and dropping out is the only thing left to do.Mr. Reiss' reifications are blatant nonsense.
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Comment #2 posted by Had Enough on September 29, 2004 at 04:16:41 PT

Agenda-Driven
Fortunately for Temecula, our sober City Council saw through the smoke and voted to nip this goofy idea in the bud. The city council will consider making this ban permanent in the near future. Don't fall for this smokescreen. (the rest of the paragraph tries to group cannabis users with naked people peeing all over the place.The notion behind Prop. 215 is a risky one. Financed by billionaire left-wing philanthropist George Soros, the proposition allows for the use of marijuana by seriously ill patients. Of course, the definition of "seriously ill" is in the eye of the beholder, or any agenda-driven medical caregiver.Sounds like Mr. Riess has his own agenda.Register & Vote, for I have had enough, and I’m sure you have too.

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Comment #1 posted by global_warming on September 29, 2004 at 01:29:33 PT

A Little Dope
"You don't need a medical degree to figure out that these carcinogens do nothing to improve the health of cancer patients."I guess if you have the Big C, does it matter about all those studies, does it matter in the short haul, if facing grim death as opposed to all those carcinogens, all those lawyers, judges, policemen, and other compassionless human beings who agree that it is better to lock a sick person in a cage untill he comes to his senses and agree's with us that "marijuana use is dangerous to your health", not to mention all the hassle's of being locked up.I hope that Rick Reiss someday will realize before he ever becomes ill, the benifits of marijuana and I hope that he see's that he and people like himself cause more damage to people than the "dope" that he is so passionate about.

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