cannabisnews.com: Is the Nation's Marijuana Policy Misguided?










  Is the Nation's Marijuana Policy Misguided?

Posted by CN Staff on August 01, 2007 at 06:52:24 PT
By Russell Goldman 
Source: ABC News 

USA -- Since the Marijuana Tax Act - the first anti-marijuana federal law - was signed by President Roosevelt 70 years ago Thursday, the debate over the drug's effects, dangers and criminalization has raged unabated. The Bush administration has made marijuana its prime target in the war on drugs, spending billions of dollars on education campaigns and law enforcement activities. Critics, however, contend that the war on pot has allowed for the proliferation of other more dangerous drugs like methamphetamine and crack cocaine.
Unsurprisingly, much of the criticism of federal law comes from pro-marijuana lobbying groups that believe the drug should, in some instances, be decriminalized. More surprisingly, however, is criticism from politicians and law enforcement officers, in areas ravaged by meth use, who say the government's war on marijuana is being fought at the expense of the battle to rid the country of methamphetamine. As security at the nation's borders tightens, more marijuana busts are related to domestic growing operations - illicit businesses that are increasingly hidden in suburban homes, called "grow houses." A spate of large-scale busts in recent months from South Carolina to California has allowed John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, to reiterate the government's position that marijuana is extremely dangerou, and a gateway to more deadly drugs. There were 322,438 kilos of marijuana seized in federal operations in 2006, up from 283,344 the year before. "Marijuana is the only illegal drug where we have to try and explain to people that what we've found, and what the statistics [show], and what the consequences are, are worse than they think,'' Walters told ABC News. "Nobody thinks [methamphetamine] is a soft drug. Nobody talks about heroin or cocaine as 'OK, we can just tolerate it.''' "We understand the disease of addiction in a way nobody understood it in the 1970s, the 1960s, even the early 1980s," Walters said. "Science, investments in brain imaging, and millions and millions of dollars of study have helped us understand what happens here." It is just those sorts of statements that rile marijuana advocates. The effects of marijuana pale in comparison to the dangers of other drugs, and federal policy, they say, should reflect those dangers. "The folks running drug policy in the Bush White House are pretty clearly obsssesed with marijuana," Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, told ABC News. "Officials from ONDCP have more than once said it is the most dangerous substance. It is, however, vastly less dangerous than drugs like methamphetamine." "Marijuana is mildly toxic compared to most recreational and pharmaceutical drugs, and yet there has been this all out demonization," Mirken said. Senator and Police Want Action on Meth Perhaps the most surprising critic of the Bush administration's marijuana policy is Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley is chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. In 2005, he sent a letter to the White House, urging the Bush administration to spend resources to combat meth rather than marijuana. "While we agree that any drug use is harmful to users and those around them, the problems associated with marijuana are not comparable to methamphetamine in terms of cost to society," Grassley wrote to drug czar Walters. "We know that different drugs have different rates of use. Marijuana is a much more popular drug in terms of the number of people who use it," Grassley wrote. "However, methamphetamine causes much more destruction in a much shorter period of time than marijuana. "We believe that reducing drug use is not just about reducing the number of users of a drug, but reducing the overall harm to society caused by the drug." Iowa has been one of the states hardest hit by methamphetamine. Local police say more money and manpower is needed to fight meth and not marijuana. "Marijuana is old news," said Bob Doran, a spokesman for the Iowa Association of Chiefs of Police and Peace Officers. Doran dismissed the ONDCP claim that marijuana is a gateway drug that leads people to harder, more deadly drugs. "The longtime argument has been that marijuana is the first step into drug use, but I think that argument has gone by the wayside," Doran said. "We're finding many kids skipping the pot and going straight to meth." Doran added that meth was particularly dangerous, not only because of the effects on the user, but from the dangers created in its production. "With marijuana, we're concerned with sale and use, not the manufacture. The toxic effects are nowhere near those of meth production." The federal government, for its part, maintains that fighting meth and fighting marijuana are two separate battles. The money and resources used to combat marijuana is different from those used to fight meth. "All the criticism of policy winds up being a grab bag of ideas and conspiracies," said Tom Riley, an ONDCP spokesman. "It is an interesting public policy discussion, but what does that discussion have to do with local law enforcement?" asked Riley. "The money used to go after heroin in Afghanistan isn't the same money used to go after marijuana, and the money for marijuana isn't the same money needed to go after meth." Is Pot Really a Gateway Drug?The ONDCP, which sets the nation's drug policies, is literally an office in the White House. Some experts have raised questions about the impartiality of an office so linked to the politics of the executive branch. "The ONDCP is not a neutral office that rationally evaluates the drug war," said Matthew Robinson, a criminal justice professor at Apalachian State University, and co-author of "Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made By the Office of National Drug Control Policy." After examining the office's annual national drug control policy report for seven years, Robinson said he "found a consistent effort to manipulate data to make marijuana seem more dangerous than it really is." Robinson added that when crunching ONDCP's numbers, he found inconsistencies, claims that did not jibe with their own data, manipulation of statistics, reliance on anecdotal evidence, and a failure to recognize other independent research. "What they say simply doesn't match reality," Robinson said. "They claim it's a gateway drug - they say we have to stop people from using marijuana - but the vast majority of marijuana users don't go on to use harder drugs. The typical drug user uses marijuana for a few months and then gets over it. "People who go on to other drugs start with alcohol and tobacco, not marijuana. They can't say that, because then people would question why they're going after marijuana." The ONDCP expects people to come after them, challenge their research, and accuse them of playing politics for one simple reason: people like to get high. "There are lots of people who are not enthusiastic about drug policy," said Riley. "There are 15-to-20 million marijuana users in the U.S., and they don't like the idea that their drug is illegal. "Everyone knows meth is really bad and coke is really bad," added Reiley, "but marijuana is a more serious drug than most people realize. But, there isn't an activist group that is pro meth or pro heroine." Note: Critics Contend the Government Is Fighting Pot at the Expense of Battling Meth.Source: ABC News (US Web)Author: Russell GoldmanPublished: August 1, 2007Copyright: 2007 ABC News Internet VenturesContact: http://tinyurl.com/2mnz5xWebsite: http://www.abcnews.go.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml

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Comment #49 posted by FoM on August 03, 2007 at 17:31:26 PT
MikeC
I'm glad you like it here. What is special about CNews is we don't think the same but we don't fight about it. No one should fight over politics or religion. Terrible topics for good vibrations. We handle it with grace and that makes it special to me.
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Comment #48 posted by MikeC on August 03, 2007 at 16:35:38 PT
Thank you Hope!
You are all special people! I like it here.
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Comment #47 posted by Hope on August 03, 2007 at 11:02:20 PT

MikeC 
I'm so glad you're ok. Bridges have figured in my night terrors and phobias always. I can all too easily imagine the terror of it. I approach bridges with dread...and if I am forced to cross one...I skitter across as absolutely quickly as I can. My Republican and I have actually had fights about bridges. "I'm not crossing that!" "Yes, you are!" "No. I'm not. Let me out of this car!" "No! You're crossing this bridge. I'm not driving twenty miles around it!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" and other stuff it wouldn't be nice to write down. Grrrrr. 
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Comment #46 posted by FoM on August 03, 2007 at 10:45:00 PT

Hi Paul
You're welcome. I stopped following Aids when my son passed away because it was over and I didn't want to follow it any longer but I remember how opportunistic infections seemed to change and I honestly don't think that KS is as prevalent in Aids patients now. HIV is a virus and the OI can vary from person to person. One thing cannabis will do is help stop Aids Wasting Syndrome and that will prolong life.
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Comment #45 posted by paulpeterson on August 03, 2007 at 10:03:05 PT

FoM: Thanks for post about Kaposi's Sarcoma
Fascinating cite to that Kaposi's Sarcoma article-It seems the internal structural component genes they are reporting on are the same ones implicated in THC actually causing endoplasmic relitulim (sp) scaffolding collapse in pancreatic cancer cells-which makes me wonder if this is flawed science-perhaps taking human skin cells out of the body and culturing them in a petri dish might trigger some precancerous changes-ie: where there is a weakened immune system, etc., Kaposi's Sarcoma, can indeed be an opportunistic cancerous "infection". Watch for this "Kaposi's" doom and gloom article to make it to the mainstream media, soon, compliments of the ONDCP-without also publicizing the fact that all over the world, about a dozen cancers have been found to be treatable with THC rather than causing it.This sounds like another example of junk science-where the study has been purposely set up with false parameters and corrupted variables-to accentuate minute details while disregarding the major good aspects of this miracle plant.How many Kaposi's Sarcoma patients are there that have been saved by THC from worse ills? I'll bet none.Just like that UCLA study found, nicotine multiplies the lung cancer deaths by 20 fold-whereas pot use actually decreases it from non-smokers.Thanks again for the heads up on this junk science article. PAUL PETERSON
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Comment #44 posted by FoM on August 02, 2007 at 17:58:25 PT

MikeC
That is an amazing story. I'm glad your friends are ok and I really am sorry for the people who were hurt and for the families that lost loved ones. I have been quiet today and it is because of this terrible tragedy.
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Comment #43 posted by MikeC on August 02, 2007 at 16:24:51 PT

Thank you...
FoM and Had Enough!There were a few people out of work today but not because they were involved in the tragedy but because the road closure would have made their drive very difficult. One lady that works in a department on one of the lower floors in my building had an amazing story. She had stopped at "Home Depot" on her way home from work to buy rope to hold a branch in place that was breaking off from a tree in her yard. She was about ten cars behind the cars that went down with the bridge. She and several other good samaritans then used the rope that she just bought to lift people out of the wreckage. Wow! I don't know her all that well but she was everybody's favorite person in the building today.Thanks again.
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Comment #42 posted by Storm Crow on August 02, 2007 at 08:34:03 PT

Please feel free....
To give my list away to anyone who needs it! I put it out on the web to be used! Give it to your doctors, politicians and friends. I think I gathered enough evidence about cannabis' healing power to convince ANY fair-minded person that cannabis IS medicine! And in California we also had a bridge collapse. No fatalities, but a UPS driver was severely injured. We have lots of money for bombs and prisons, but not enough to give our people universal health care, fix our infrastructure and fund education! (A free government funded spay/neuter program for pets wouldn't be bad either!) We cannot wage war and provide for the welfare of our people! Not without raising taxes to an intolerable level!War wastes money and lives. Think about it! How much does each bomb cost? Every bomb that explodes is like burning YOUR money (you pay for each bomb with your taxes). How many did we drop today? The "shipping and handling" cost us too. Every bomb has to be freighted over there. The human cost, however, is far greater. For every soldier killed, there are 9 or 10 who are injured. Head injuries are becoming common with IEDs exploding every day. Missing legs, eyes and arms will become everyday sights as our soldiers return. The psychological damage is less visible, but even more prevalent. Ex-soldiers who "snap" will be in the news- they already are, in fact, and it will only get worse. I remember my friends who returned from Nam. They were troubled, nightmare-haunted kids. Scarred physically and emotionally. What nightmares will this war give our young men and women? What nightmares will they cause, both in Iraq and at home? This war must stop!
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Comment #41 posted by Had Enough on August 02, 2007 at 03:40:09 PT

MikeC
Glad your still with us.Gets kinda spooky when things like that hit close to home…

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Comment #40 posted by Toker00 on August 02, 2007 at 02:45:39 PT

This is terrible.
Where is all the tax money that was suppose to go for repair and maintenance of our infrastructures? In Cheney and Co.'s pockets. In Iraq. In Afghanistan. Being given to the DEA to arrest pot heads instead. Black Water Security has a major chunk of it. Homeland Security will be using it to hire police officers to arrest us when we complain about it. They build Prisons to Protect Corporate Interests while Human interests are being ignored. Compassionate? As a people, we have been completely and totally ripped off by our own government. We have been deceived and pushed around by bully Fascists for too long. A republic for the people? Horse Feathers. Do you really think things will ever be different? Have any of our efforts over the last ten years had any effect at all on the number of people being arrested for Cannabis Prohibition? That number has done nothing but increase. Overwhelming evidence that Cannabis is medicine ignored for the protection of Corporate Greed. I am not trying to sell our efforts short, either, but we need to do MORE. GET UP! STAND UP! STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS! How long must we wear these tire tracks on our backs? How long will we cower in fear as the Elite fluff their pillows and ring their service bells? We are allowing them to create our reality then we complain about that reality. It's our own fault. I'll have to stop blaming the Elite. They are just doing what we allow them to do. Who can blame them for taking advantage of Suckers and Cowards? For THAT is what we have representing us in Washington. If we want to be REPRESENTED, then we'll have to do it ourselves. Toke.  
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Comment #39 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 21:17:22 PT

MikeC
I hope they don't find many cars with victims tomorrow. I can't imagine how this happened. I saw a few bridges after the North Ridge quake that didn't look safe but they were open. It would have been a terrible experience for anyone who went down with the bridge today. 
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Comment #38 posted by MikeC on August 01, 2007 at 20:48:15 PT

FoM
Thank you and don't worry about getting back to me. I am glued to the tv watching the uninterrupted coverage. Just trying to catch a glimpse of a familiar face...maybe a co-worker or a friend. I am hearing seven dead now. Terrible, but I am surprised that it is not higher. I sure am grateful however that it's not. That bridge is what separates Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was bumper to bumper in rush hour traffic and it is high above the river. I can't imagine the horror of driving in your car and having a bridge collapse out from under you high above a river. It's the type of thing that you'd see in a horror movie. Just a sad, sad thing to happen.Thank you FoM 
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 20:35:12 PT

MikeC
I was away from the computer or I would have responded faster. I am glad you are ok and I'm really sorry for those who have been hurt by the bridge collapse. I guess it will take some time to figure out what happened. The bridge was only 40 years old. 
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Comment #36 posted by MikeC on August 01, 2007 at 18:30:58 PT

Than you FoM...
I just feel bad for those who happen to start work an hour later than I do. It is not my normal way home however. I had to drive downtown this afternoon to meet some vendors for work. It's very sad.
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 18:25:12 PT

MikeC
Oh my I am glad you are ok. That was to close for comfort. 
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Comment #34 posted by MikeC on August 01, 2007 at 18:20:47 PT

Bridge collapse...
Terrible situation. I live in Wisconsin and work in Minnesota. I drove over that bridge this afternoon about an hour before it fell. Traffic here is going to be an absolute nightmare for many years as a result of this. I am hearing three confirmed dead so far. Just terrible.
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 17:21:34 PT

whig
It is terrible. Stick stopped going over one bridge that goes into Chicago a couple of years ago because it looked so shakey.
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 17:13:47 PT

More Info on Collapse
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge.collapse.ap/index.html
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Comment #31 posted by whig on August 01, 2007 at 17:13:01 PT

FoM
I just turned on the TV and saw. How terrible. Our infrastructure needs to be repaired.
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 17:10:01 PT

Picture of Collapse
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1338294-a1338404-t3.html
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 17:07:05 PT

mayan
I agree with you. Our roads, bridges, and cities are crumbling. I've seen it with my own eyes.
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Comment #28 posted by mayan on August 01, 2007 at 17:04:56 PT

FoM
On the radio they just reported 30 injured so far but no deaths reported yet. We have plenty of money to wage wars and build prisons but our nation's infrastructure is in real bad shape. If our priorities aren't shifted we will likely see more of such accidents.
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 16:56:26 PT

whig
A big bridge collapsed and cars and trucks fell into the Mississippi river. It's terrible.
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Comment #26 posted by whig on August 01, 2007 at 16:54:07 PT

Toker00
We have a lot we can learn from Ayurvedic medicine, I think.
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Comment #25 posted by whig on August 01, 2007 at 16:53:02 PT

FoM
I haven't seen anything about an accident yet. What happened?
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Comment #24 posted by mayan on August 01, 2007 at 16:52:15 PT

The Real Reason
"People who go on to other drugs start with alcohol and tobacco, not marijuana. They can't say that, because then people would question why they're going after marijuana."The answer to that question...SHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA: The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization:
http://www.hempfarm.org/Papers/Shadow_of_the_Swastika.htmlTHE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...History Channel Special: "The 9/11 Conspiracies" August 12, 2007: 
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/august2007/010807_b_history.htmYOU can stop the next 9/11!
http://mujca.com/defazio.htmWBAI takes on False Flag Terror:
http://911blogger.com/node/10350Burning Man Says Yes To TruthBurn:
http://911truthburn.blogspot.com/2007/07/burning-man-says-yes-to-truthburn.htmlPhilip Zelikow and the 9/11 Commission Report (video):
http://911blogger.com/node/103449/11 Proof:
http://www.911proof.com/9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB - OUR NATION IS IN PERIL:
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 16:47:12 PT

Off Topic
What a terrible accident in Minnesota. I hope there aren't many casualties. 
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 16:28:51 PT

RevRayGreen 
That does my heart good to see so many comments. 
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Comment #21 posted by Toker00 on August 01, 2007 at 15:58:47 PT

ABC comments.
Thanks, rev. I posted right after you as someofus.Toke.
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Comment #20 posted by Toker00 on August 01, 2007 at 15:33:35 PT

Hey, Johnny Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Some people just ain't listening to your bull*.Cannabis: A History. Martin Booth:'The potential of hemp as a healing plant has been known for centuries wherever cannabis was grown and it is still a folk remedy in many countries. Chinese herbal doctors frequently prescribe huo ma ren, which is hemp seed, as a laxative and to lower fever. Hemp oil is also a common laxative in China and used on open wounds and burns as an antiseptic as well as being ingested as a cough remedy. Others claim that it eases rheumatic pain and migraine and suppresses internal pain caused by peptic ulcers and cancer In India, cannabis is extensively used in the traditional Ayurvedic ('Knowledge of Life') system of medicine which is allied to the Hindu religion. A tenth-century medical treatise, the Anandakanda, which is commonly referenced today by Ayurvedic doctors, calls cannabis either vijaya or bhanga and suggests it's inclusion in many standard preparations. The list of ailments it is used to treat ranges from diarrhoea to diabetes, tuberculosis to elephantiasis, asthma to hemorrhoids, anaemia and even rabies. This is to give it an almost miraculous capability but it must be realized that it is often seen as not a cure but as a palliative addressing some of the symptoms, easing the patient rather that healing them.Elsewhere, cannabis features in Islamic Unani Tibbi medicine to be found in most Muslim countries or communities and in Africa where many sub-Saharan tribes still use it as a painkiller in childbirth or even as a treatment for snake bites. In the latter, it does not work as an anti-toxin but as an antiseptic at the site of a wound.'Cannabis IS medicine. They can't change that but we CAN change the Laws that say it isn't and we will.Toke.
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Comment #19 posted by RevRayGreen on August 01, 2007 at 15:23:40 PT

The comment section
is off the hook over there.........check it out.
ABC NEWS Forum
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Comment #18 posted by Toker00 on August 01, 2007 at 14:49:31 PT

FoM
Thank you FoM! Right back at ya! ;) at Stick.Misguided Cannabis Policies? You don't mean...Erroneous Cannabis Policies now do you? They are very guided. They are guided first hand by John Pee Walters and with reckless abandonment, straight up the American Citizens Anus by the DEA. (Defenders of the Elite Assholes). It's time for those Policies to be guided first hand up the DEA's Anus by the American Citizens. Same goes for the FDA and NIDA. They are all pharmaceuti-mafioso and need to be taken before a REAL US Supreme court, prosecuted, sentenced and reformed into agencies that look out for the interests of American Citizens and not the Profit of the Fascists. Toke.
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Comment #17 posted by whig on August 01, 2007 at 12:58:05 PT

Storm Crow
Thanks and happy birthday to you! Hope you won't mind if I copy your list.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 10:05:12 PT

Toker00 
Happy Birthday friend. You are just a youngin' to me. You're adorable too.
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Comment #15 posted by Toker00 on August 01, 2007 at 10:03:33 PT

Storm Crow
That is most definately a bookmark. Thank you and Happy Birthday! Mine was last Sunday and I turned 53! This is like a late BD present. Thanks again. Here's to Longivity!http://www.treatingyourself.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23136Toke.
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Comment #14 posted by Toker00 on August 01, 2007 at 09:48:20 PT

Change the Congress 'til they change the laws.
Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. Control? CONTROL???? You must mean the Prison Industrial Complex that this "Caucus" feeds. That's where the only "Control" takes place. There is only Punishment for Profit. There is only Destruction of Liberties for the Preservation of Corporate Control. There is only misery and mental illness and broken families and broken hearts and other broken things...but no CONTROL of Narcotics. That's just the illusion they present. How can so many people stoop so low as to take jobs that do this to their fellow countrymen and, indeed, the People of the World? Because people will do anything for a paycheck. ANYTHING. All you have to do is convince them it is for the good of our Society, and for the protection of the children. They don't realize that by protecting it/them they are killing it/them. Some of them. Too many of them. Way too many of them.The Drug Laws must be changed in this country if we are to succeed in changing any other laws that hinder our liberties. The raids and forfeiture have gotta go and Cannabis must be re-scheduled and reg. like tobacco and alcohol. How many times do we have to keep saying this? How do you get three hundred million Americans on the same page of the Constitution? After it's dug out of the trash of the Bush Administration, that is. Most people don't even realize we have lost anything at all. Our "gument" will protect us. Yeah. Good luck with that one.Dear Creator. Please send some of that beautiful California Kind Bud to the TEXAS gulf coast area. This brick sh*t is getting older than dirt. Thanks in advance!Toke. Wage Peace on War. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!  
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Comment #13 posted by dongenero on August 01, 2007 at 09:43:04 PT

Great archive!
Thank you Storm Crow
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 09:34:58 PT

Storm Crow
Happy Birthday to you. You go girl! What a great research page you have made. Thank you.
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Comment #11 posted by Storm Crow on August 01, 2007 at 09:28:45 PT

Funny thing about that study....
Seems like I have a study that says EXACTLY the opposite! http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040923092627.htmAnd if you liked that, please check out a post I made. Lots of good stuff....http://www.treatingyourself.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23136Hope you enjoy my post. 
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 08:55:14 PT

MBC
Thank you very much for the compliment. The solving of this problem will take many roads to be accomplished. This is complex and everyone should do what they feel is best for them to do and then just maybe we can end the insanity.
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Comment #9 posted by mai_bong_city on August 01, 2007 at 08:51:42 PT

merci, FoM :)
your approval is the highest compliment to me - i will forge on with the mighty pen indeed.....channeling energies the best way we know how.all the best, 
mbc
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Comment #8 posted by dongenero on August 01, 2007 at 08:51:06 PT

Excellent mai-bong!!
Great letter, great points and succinct!
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 08:45:25 PT

MBC
Please keep writing. Good job.
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Comment #6 posted by mai_bong_city on August 01, 2007 at 08:42:51 PT

i'm writing my rear off.
given the recent defeat again of the hinchey ammendment, i'm on a lte binge, i'm going to send a different one weekly until at least every publication i contact prints one. thought i'd share.Facts: The federal government ships 300 marijuana cigarettes to seven patients in seven different states every month. That's 2,100 joints, shipped by the government, across state lines, month after month.
That same government sends the DEA into states that have voted to allow medical marijuana to pursue the sick and infirm, who abide the law as written, and don't import across state lines.
There has never been an overdose on marijuana.
Approximately 75% of medicines prior to 1934 were based in tincture of cannabis.
Every human being, every animal, save for insects, has an endocannabinoid system in their brain.
The newest weight-loss drug acts by blocking the endocannabinoid receptors in the brain, and has been shown to cause depression, suicidal ideation, and multiple sclerosis, which reversed when the drug was discontinued.
I have a perfect driving record and I use cannabis daily.
You're allowed to drive on Oxycontin, morphine, Fentanyl.
The FDA continues to allow pharmaceutical drugs to remain on the market even after proof they cause heart trouble, stroke, and death.
Nicotine is an addictive drug. Yet it is not regulated by the FDA nor the DEA - it comes under the category of alcohol (another addictive drug), tobacco, and firearms.Just thought you ought to know.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 08:34:23 PT

Commonsense 
Kaposi Sarcoma was the first I think opportunistic infection that was killing Gay men years ago. It seemed to be prevelant in HIV infected people and then it started to die out and other opportunistic infections became the killer. Pneumocystis pneumonia then became the killer. I know that many HIV people use Cannabis for nausea and to be able to eat so why isn't there more Kaposi Sarcoma if they say Cannabis contributes to it? PS: Because my son died of AIDS I followed it closely.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 08:19:52 PT

Commonsense 
I meant they are fishing for anything to put down cannabis.
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Comment #3 posted by Commonsense on August 01, 2007 at 08:10:15 PT

FOM
I don't understand your post. Why would the ONDCP be scared to say that using marijuana increases the liklihood that one would contract Kaposi’s sarcoma and that "[o]nce a cell is infected, the presence of THC may also promote the cellular events that turn it cancerous...?" That sounds like exactly the kind of thing they'd want to use. Are you sure you put the right link up? 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 01, 2007 at 07:46:23 PT

They Must Be Scared To Say This
Note: The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.Marijuana Component Opens The Door for Virus That Causes Kaposi's Sarcomahttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/aafc-mco080107.php
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on August 01, 2007 at 07:39:01 PT

Have Mercy! Pull the plug on the ONDCP
"It is an interesting public policy discussion, but what does that discussion have to do with local law enforcement?" asked Riley. "The money used to go after heroin in Afghanistan isn't the same money used to go after marijuana, and the money for marijuana isn't the same money needed to go after meth."Gee, now I get it! The sooner we all realize that ALL tax dollars should go to the ONDCP, the better off we'll all be. 
Just throw money! Hey, it's all funny money anyway. China is loaning us lots of money so we can do this and fund wars and not have to sacrifice while we're doing it! Don't worry about the payments, just sign here. It's the global version of the home loan crisis.Spoken like a true Fed, Mr. Riley.
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