cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Hotbed Retreats on Medicinal Use 










  Marijuana Hotbed Retreats on Medicinal Use 

Posted by CN Staff on June 08, 2008 at 20:16:01 PT
By Jesse McKinley 
Source: New York Times  

Ukiah, Calif. -- There is probably no marijuana-friendlier place in the country than here in Mendocino County, where plants can grow more than 15 feet high, medical marijuana clubs adopt stretches of highway, and the sticky, sweet aroma of cannabis fills this city’s streets during the autumn harvest.Lately, however, residents of Mendocino County, like those in other parts of California, are wondering if the state’s embrace of marijuana for medicinal purposes has gone too far.
Medical marijuana was legalized under state law by California voters in 1996, and since then 11 other states have followed, even though federal law still bans the sale of any marijuana. But some frustrated residents and law enforcement officials say the California law has increasingly and unintentionally provided legal cover for large-scale marijuana growers — and the problems such big-money operations can attract.“It’s a clear shield for commercial operations,” said Mike Sweeney, 60, a supporter of both medical marijuana and a local ballot measure on June 3 that called for new limits on the drug in Mendocino. “And we don’t want those here.”The outcome of the ballot measure is not known, as votes are still being counted, but such community push-back is increasingly common across the state, even in the most liberal communities. In recent years, dozens of local governments have banned or restricted cannabis clubs, more formally known as dispensaries, that provide medical marijuana to patients, in the face of public safety issues involved in its sale and cultivation, including crime and environmental damage.“If folks had to get their dope, sorry, they would just have to get it somewhere else,” said Sheriff Mark Pazin of Merced County, east of San Francisco, one of the many jurisdictions to impose new restrictions.Under the 1996 law, known as Proposition 215, patients need a prescription to acquire medicinal marijuana, but the law gave little guidance as to how people were to acquire it. That gave rise to some patients with marijuana prescriptions growing their own in limited quantities, the opening of clubs to make it available and growers going large scale to keep those outlets supplied.In turn, that led to the kind of worries that have bubbled up in Arcata, home of Humboldt State University, where town elders say roughly one in five homes are “indoor grows,” with rooms or even entire structures converted into marijuana greenhouses.That shift in cultivation, caused in part by record-breaking seizures by drug agents of plants grown outdoors, has been blamed for a housing shortage for Humboldt students, residential fires and the powerful — and distracting — smell of the plant in some neighborhoods during harvest.“I naďvely thought it was a skunk,” said Jeff Knapp, an Arcata resident who has a neighbor who is a grower.In May, Arcata declared a moratorium on clubs to allow the city council time to address the problem. Los Angeles, which has more than 180 registered marijuana clubs, the most of any city, also declared a moratorium last year.“There were a handful initially and then all the sudden, they started to sprout up all over,” said Dennis Zine, a member of the Los Angeles City Council. “We had marijuana facilities next to high schools and there were high school kids going over there and there was a lot of abuse taking place.”But while even advocates of medical marijuana say they recognize that the system has problems, they question the bans. “I think there’s no doubt there’s been abuse, but there’s probably no system created by human beings that hasn’t been abused,” said Bruce Mirken, the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, which promotes the drug’s legalization. “But the answer to that is not the wholesale throwing out the baby with the bath water.”All told, about 80 California cities have adopted moratoriums with more than 60 others banning the clubs outright, according to Americans for Safe Access, which advocates for medical marijuana research and treatment. In addition, 11 counties have also adopted some sort of ban or moratorium.Such laws have led to a kind of Prohibition patchwork of “wet” and “dry” areas. In Visalia, a city of 120,000 in the state’s Central Valley, the local club was denied a permit on Main Street, so instead set up shop on a lonely section of country highway. Other clubs have retreated into people’s homes.Kris Hermes, legal campaign director for Americans for Safe Access, said that despite the bans, 8 counties and about 30 cities had also established regulations meant to legitimize the clubs.Mr. Zine said the moratorium in Los Angeles would allow city officials time to develop regulations and zoning, something advocates for medical marijuana say they welcome.“There’s tons of human behavior that you and I might not want to have anything to do with,” said Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or Norml, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington. “But if they are legal, there ought to be a legal means to purchase the commodity and do business.”Such regulations were passed in 2005 in San Francisco, which now has a 10-page application for a club permit.Kevin Reed, owner of the Green Cross, was the first owner to get a permit in January. But he said some of the city’s other two dozen clubs were struggling to get their paperwork. “It’s taking substantially more time to move through the permit process than was envisioned,” Mr. Reed said in an e-mail message. The city’s board just extended the permit deadline until next year.New regulations are also in the offing for local and state law enforcement, which has often found itself confused by the overlapping — and sometimes contradictory — federal, state and local laws. Under a state law that took effect in 2004, counties can set their own limits on the amount of medical marijuana; in Mendocino, for example, growers are allowed 25 mature plants, while most counties allow six.Jerry Brown, the state attorney general, plans to release guidelines this summer to clarify the differences.“These dispensaries aren’t supposed to be big profit centers,” Mr. Brown said. “This is supposed to be for individual use.”The 2004 law also recognized the right of patients and caregivers to cultivate marijuana as a group, something law enforcement officials say has been abused.Bob Nishiyama, the major crimes task force commander in Mendocino County, said there were places with 500 plants and 20 Proposition 215 letters tacked to a fence. “And technically, that’s legal because people can have 25 plants,” he said.By any measure, medical marijuana in California is a moneymaker. In March, a group of California club owners testified before the state Board of Equalization that their industry had pumped some $100 million in sales tax into state coffers, representing more than $1 billion in sales.Like many law enforcement officials, Mr. Nishiyama says he does not have a problem with medical marijuana, just with those who are exploiting it.“If you’re growing six plants and smoking it in your own house, I could care less,” he said.Most states that have passed subsequent medical marijuana laws have been more precise than California voters were in 1996. New Mexico, for example, allows only patients with seven medical conditions, including cancer, AIDS and epilepsy, to receive medical marijuana.“California is an aberration, because it does not designate specific disease types, it does not designate weights or plant source, and it has what might be the most fungible or elastic definition of care-giver,” said Mr. St. Pierre, of Norml. Every proposition after Proposition 215 has been “narrower and narrower and more restrictive in scope,” he said.Also complicating law enforcement’s job is that marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, which has been increasingly aggressive about prosecuting club owners they feel have crossed the line into commercial drug dealing.Among those recently convicted in California include a doctor and his wife from Cool who were given five years each in March for conspiracy to sell marijuana and growing more than 100 plants; a club owner from Bakersfield who pleaded guilty in March to possession of 40 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute; and Luke Scarmazzo, a 28-year-old club owner and aspiring rapper who faces 20 years to life in prison after a conviction last month for running a multimillion-dollar club in Modesto that the government called a criminal enterprise.And last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration threatened to seize buildings from landlords who rented space to clubs, resulting in some closings across the state.For all the federal and local opposition, marijuana as medicine has become an accepted part of life in many communities in California. Advocates say the drug helps patients with everything from the wasting effects of chemotherapy and AIDS to treatment of anxiety and headaches.But it is not cheap. At Med X, the raided Los Angeles club, the most expensive marijuana, called Blueberry Kush, was priced at $490 an ounce. That economic impact includes numerous ancillary businesses that serve the cannabis culture, including thriving horticulture shops, and Oakland’s Oaksterdam University, a trade school where students can sign up for semester-long courses on marijuana cultivation.For some, growing has become a second career. In Arcata, a 29-year-old man, who asked that his name not to be used for fear of arrest, said that he earned about $25,000 every three months from selling marijuana grown in a back room to club owners from Southern California.But others in Arcata are less welcoming. Kevin L. Hoover, the editor of the local newspaper, The Eye, has made a practice of confronting people he believes are growing marijuana. Their houses are easy to spot, he said — covered windows, tall fences, cars coming and going late at night. “Sometimes the whine of fans,” he said.Those fans, of course, are eating electrical power, something that also irks many.“We’re all trying to reduce our carbon footprint, but in these places the meters are spinning off the wall,” said Mayor Mark Wheetley of Arcata. “When do you say, enough is enough?”Jigar Mehta and Carolyn Marshall contributed reporting.Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Jesse McKinleyPublished: June 9, 2008Copyright: 2008 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/Related Articles: California Will Fight Court Ruling on Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23991.shtmlOfficials React To Reports of B's Passagehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23989.shtml

Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help





Comment #61 posted by Hope on June 18, 2008 at 14:36:55 PT
Granny's out of ICU
and doing pretty good.Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts... again.Yes, BGreen, I did read that about that Dutch lady having surgery at one hundred and surviving it.That's amazing and thank you for that article.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #60 posted by Hope on June 15, 2008 at 20:35:16 PT
FoM, thank you for being concerned.
I'm over the cold, really, although I was beginning to think it was going to last forever. It did last nearly two weeks. It was something my husband picked up when he went to the doctor for his checkup, we think, from what it seemed. A lot of people in town have been sick with it. He got it first. He even missed work with it and that's so rare for him.Just had a bit of an upset stomach this morning. I'm ok, though. Don't worry, please. Just didn't think I should be hanging around the hospital today. But of course, I could read and type... so I had to throw in my two cents worth here and there. My grandmother is getting better and probably will be out of intensive care soon. I'm very thankful and I appreciate all your prayers and good thoughts, very much. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #59 posted by Hope on June 15, 2008 at 19:56:59 PT
   :0)
BGreen, you're a joy to know. Thank you.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #58 posted by FoM on June 15, 2008 at 19:49:31 PT
Hope
You have had this cold a long time it seems. Maybe you need to go see your Doctor.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #57 posted by BGreen on June 15, 2008 at 18:42:39 PT
Hope, did you read the story from post #52?
That lady had surgery for breast cancer at age 100 and still lived another 15 years!There is a program called "Groomer Has It" on Animal Planet and this young man named Artist talked about hope.He said we have to have hope because hope was the thing that lifts us up, no matter how far down we are.Hope is so very important to us, but you already knew that because that's the name you chose for yourself.We need to have hope and Hope here at CNews so you need to get yourself well.That's an order!LOLBro. Bud
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #56 posted by Hope on June 15, 2008 at 18:18:36 PT
My grandmother is doing pretty good
under the circumstances. She's still in ICU though. I'm at home today quite a bit under the weather... but surviving.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #55 posted by BGreen on June 15, 2008 at 16:15:16 PT
How are you and your Grandma doing, Hope?
I see you're in the neighborhood posting like usual.How are things going?Bro. Bud
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #54 posted by FoM on June 14, 2008 at 12:24:48 PT
Pictures from Des Moines, Iowa
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #53 posted by FoM on June 14, 2008 at 12:14:35 PT
BGreen
It would take almost all the states east of us to totally flood before water would get to us. After living thru a devasting flood many years ago being on higher ground was important to us. We saw how bad it could be. Oil was picked up and mixed with the water and deposited in and on houses for over 30 miles all the way to Philadelphia.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #52 posted by BGreen on June 14, 2008 at 12:00:03 PT
We've had more than a year's worth of rain
already and half the year still to go.We had massive flash flooding yesterday but nothing compared to Iowa. The waters rose and fell within a few hours.We're very fortunate that our house and land sit high enough up that only a flood of Noah's proportion would get us.Stay safe, everybody.Hope, here's a story that will give you hope for your Grandma.Bro. Bud
Woman's 115-year-old brain 'perfect'
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #51 posted by FoM on June 14, 2008 at 11:22:52 PT
Hope
Paul is from Iowa too isn't he. I get Idaho and Iowa mixed up.I'm glad she is eating a little. That's a good first step.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #50 posted by Hope on June 14, 2008 at 11:08:32 PT
BGreen and FoM
I'm thankful your Dad is doing well. Heparin! We have plenty of pigs and pig intestines in the U.S.. Why in the world are they buying it from China when it's made under those barbaric, filthy, vile, and prehistoric conditions? We have real stainless steel here and people who need jobs. Why are the pharms doing that and the "beloved" and "trusted" FDA allowing them to do it? The pharms are doing it for profit escalation and pure greed, I know, but why is the FDA allowing that? (I'm assuming you saw those horrible pictures of how heparin is produced in China.)Granny is still in ICU and is eating a little.Those floods are awful, FoM! I'd sure like to hear from Ray Green and know he is alright.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #49 posted by BGreen on June 13, 2008 at 09:44:09 PT
Grim, close call, precarious, concerned
Those are some of the things we heard from the nurses in the Intensive Care Unit. They kept delaying when we could see my Dad because he was in such bad shape after the surgery. That was right at the time the news about the tainted Heparin came out and, since they gave my Dad Heparin during surgery and afterwards, I'd say there's a chance they gave my Dad the poisonous heparin and that's why he almost died.Dad is fine, he's back to work and the only pain he has is the residual pain from having his chest split open. Ouch!Mrs. Green and I are here for you, Hope, just the way you were there for us last August. You're a great friend and we love you!Bro. Bud and his better half
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #48 posted by FoM on June 13, 2008 at 08:22:45 PT
Hope
I'm sure you haven't seen much news but check out what is happening in Iowa. http://www.gazetteonline.com/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #47 posted by FoM on June 13, 2008 at 08:20:43 PT
Hope
I'm glad she is doing better today. We've all been very concerned.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #46 posted by Hope on June 13, 2008 at 07:47:31 PT
Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts....
She recovered from a drastic downturn. We thought we were going to lose her... but she rallied again.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #45 posted by FoM on June 12, 2008 at 08:08:20 PT
About Hope
Please keep Hope in your thoughts and prayers. She had to rush to the hospital last night. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #44 posted by afterburner on June 11, 2008 at 22:39:52 PT
Dankhank #41 & Hope #42 
"go, granny, go ..."Jan and Dean - The Little Old Lady From Pasadena
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf5V9F2LdsM"Go, Granny, Go!"
:0)
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #43 posted by fight_4_freedom on June 11, 2008 at 20:15:52 PT:
I'm glad to hear She's alright Hope
I hope she continues to improve.God Bless
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #42 posted by Hope on June 11, 2008 at 13:22:45 PT
Thank you, Dankhank.
"Go, Granny, Go!":0)
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #41 posted by Dankhank on June 11, 2008 at 13:06:52 PT
alright ...
great to hear, Hope ...go, granny, go ...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #40 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 11:44:43 PT
Hope
That's excellent.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #39 posted by Hope on June 11, 2008 at 11:31:51 PT
She's awake!
Off the ventilator, sitting up, and wanting to go home!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #38 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 10:24:19 PT
Hope
It doesn't matter how old or young or healthy or sick a person is. Life is always precious. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #37 posted by Hope on June 11, 2008 at 10:13:58 PT
Thank you for your prayers, so much.
She opened her eyes for a moment this morning in response to my mother's presence and she's responding with nods when questioned.I'm grateful that it looks like she's going to make it and amazingly, get another "lease" on life. It's always a "lease", isn't it, at any age?Some people might think she's not worth the effort and expense at her age, but I feel she is and I'm grateful that others manage to think so, too.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #36 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 21:43:17 PT
It's good to hear from you, Hope
Mrs. Green and I have been praying for you and your Grandmother. I was hoping you would post so we would know how everything was going.Try to take it easy if at all possible. You need to be free of stress and get some healing sleep so you can get healthy again.Bro. Bud
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #35 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 21:14:02 PT
Hope
I'm glad this day is coming to a close with a successful surgery and that your Grandmother is in the ICU being monitored very closely. I hope you can rest well tonight. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #34 posted by Hope on June 10, 2008 at 20:41:57 PT
Thank you, FoM, BGreen, and Sam Adams
My grandmother hasn't woke up from the surgery yet, as far as I know. She's going to be in ICU for a few days and then in a regular room. I couldn't be with her because I have a bad cold.It was more complicated than it was supposed to be and took so much longer than it was supposed to without us knowing what was really going on.We're told she's going to be fine. I was really scared. I'll feel better when she's awake and we know she's going to be ok.It was gallstones.Thank you, again, and anyone else, too, that sent good wishes or prayers our way. Thank you.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #33 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 18:33:03 PT
A Long, Strange Trip: Chef's Love of Hemp Oil
June 11, 2008Greg Perez has always hung out on or near the leading edge. Back in the early 1980s, he was one of the youngest executive chefs in town at the Mayfair Hotel. Thereafter he was among the first to introduce tapas-style dining to St. Louis through some of the dishes at the Blue Water Grill; he pushed the boundaries of the Delmar Loop eastward and lengthened by-the-glass wine lists at his critically and popularly acclaimed Painted Plates restaurant; and most recently, he turned St. Louis on to a "vapor bar" and a hemp-infused menu at his Grateful Inn in Maplewood.Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/4hhqjy
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #32 posted by Sam Adams on June 10, 2008 at 13:33:10 PT
The Time
Hope, my best wishes are with you and your Grandmother!As far as impeachment goes, what did Martin Luther King say "The time is always right to do what is right"Of course Bush should be impeached now, should have been impeached in 2002,2003,2004,2005,2006, and 2007. The day before he leaves the White House is not to late to start impeachment.Any excuse from the Democratic Party is just a lie for the truth: we're too much of a bunch of wusses to impeach, and we're corrupted by the same process and most of the same corporations as the Republicans are.Clinton was impeached over 1 oral sex incidence, and the entire Federal govt. was derailed from any progress for 18 months. There is NO valid reason not to impeach Bush immediately.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #31 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 12:48:28 PT
Take care, Hope. We need you here!
I pray that the Lord lifts up you and your family in this time of need, and wraps His loving and healing arms around you and your Grandmother.Let me know if there's anything I can do for you besides prayer and good thoughts.Bro. Bud
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #30 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 12:42:42 PT
It will be my pleasure, FoM
Anything for our dear friend, Hope.The Reverend Bud Green
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #29 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 12:29:23 PT
BGreen
Hope isn't feeling well and her Grandmother who is up in years is in surgery. Keep her in your prayers please. I don't think she will mind me mentioning it on CNews.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #28 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 11:56:37 PT
BGreen
I think you are right.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #27 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 11:45:48 PT
Bush, et al., WILL be Prosecuted for War Crimes!
George Bush will not be able to hide like a worthless coward when he's no longer the President.George Bush won't be able to travel anywhere in the world without risking arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity.If Obama will reverse the illegal policies of the Bush administration and renew our participation in the World Courts in the Hague, NL, the door will be open to treat this entire administration exactly as we did the war criminals of WW2.Impeachment is WAY too good for these criminals. Only criminal trials and possible execution upon conviction is good enough punishment until they're banished to the pits of Hell where they belong.The Reverend Bud Green
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #26 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 11:32:39 PT
Carbon footprint of Law Enforcement
The Nazi swat teams and "marijuana eradication teams" fly helicopters and waste massive amounts of fuel to detect outdoor cannabis plants, forcing growers to simulate the outdoor conditions indoors.The Nazi swat teams and "marijuana eradication teams" drive the largest gas guzzlers so they can haul way too many cops in to pull up carbon-scrubbing plants, only to pour diesel fuel on them and turn these carbon-scrubbing plants into CO, CO2, and numerous poisons resulting from burning diesel fuel.The Nazi swat teams and "marijuana eradication teams" are the biggest threat to the planet, and the Nazi swat teams and "marijuana eradication teams" are on their last throes before they're eradicated in the way they've failed to eradicate this miraculous, God-given plant.The Reverend Bud Green
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #25 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 11:25:01 PT
nuevo mexican 
I wanted to say that I don't know what others have said about this issue because I am not following it. We have been busy getting hay cut and work done around home. I believe that history will record Bush like other presidents. When you have the highest position in the USA justice and fairness will rule in the end. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #24 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 10:15:00 PT
nuevo mexican 
I only believe we don't have enough time. If this had been done a few years ago then there would have been enough time. Time seems to move very fast these days.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #23 posted by nuevo mexican on June 10, 2008 at 10:10:45 PT
This blogs for you!
I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because...FOM, you almost sound like you're repeating Democratic Party leadership 'talking points', against impeachment, have you thought about the ramifications of your over-generous, overly-tolerant approach.You DO realize this don't you?Here is the response to John Conyers request to 'rebut' 
5 reasons why we 'shouldn't' impeach.Time is NOT an issue, the PRESERVATION and HONORING the CONSTITUTION isn't something we ignore due to the lack of an attention span, another 'diversion' we just can't handle, and lame excuses to allow a Criminal in the White House to continue their crimes. You DO understand what I'm saying.I KNOW you do.I KNOW YOU don't think of yourself as having much influence here on your website, but you DO!Everyone that reads C-News should be calling Dennis Kucinich and Nancy Pelosi, John Conyers too, and YOUR Reps!Make this happen, or it is our OUR shoulders, that it didn't!Want to be proud of the country your were born and raised in?Get going! Do it now, Call, write, act and make yourself heard!So here are the rebuttals. Hope you enjoy them, and I encourage YOU to ENCOURAGE others to do what Dennis does, which is not unlike what you do here at C-News.YOU are amazing FOM, much like Obama, and I am just pointing out how important this is, to the future of legal Cannabis, as these UNstoppable Neo-cons have DESTROYED anything good that came from the Founding Fathers, and the original framers of the Constitution, which, as we all know, was written on hemp paper, to make a point!Summary: Yesterday, Kossack Elishastephens wrote a diary about Dennis Kucinich's attempt to impeach George W. Bush. The reaction to this measure was mixed. For posterity's sake, I intend to list the reasons given by my fellow Kossacks for why we should ignore the Constitution and let Mr. Bush get away with breaking the law.I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because... I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable has unscrupulous motivations.I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable diverts people's much-needed attention to getting a Democrat in the White House.I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable should have been made long ago, and since it wasn't, it's now most likely useless.I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable will play into the media's desire to not focus on things that matter, which impeaching Bush doesn't qualify as.I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable means nothing unless you go after other people first.I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable isn't realistic.I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable won't get enough Republican supporters.The list goes on.......let's DO IT!No fiddling about, no 'well, maybe, I don't know....NO more waffling, buying into the corporate medias' spin, NO more waiting for our 'leaders' to do OUR job!WE are the leaders, they WORK for US!Thanks for giving me space to rant!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #22 posted by Sam Adams on June 10, 2008 at 09:29:50 PT
preponderance
In a way, McCain is clarifying existing federal policy with this statement: we won't allow you to used medicinal cannabis until there's NO EVIDENCE that it's not effective. And of course, since the scientific research process in this country has been corrupted, that day will never come, they'll always have a few whored-out scientists willing to say marijuana has no medical value.
[ Post Comment ]

 


Comment #21 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 05:19:01 PT

ekim
I appreciate Dennis. The problem I see is we only have 5 months until we have a new President. I don't think they will tangle with this issue because we are in a crisis in our country and it would consume too much time. I believe that after he is out of power many books will be written and history will record how wrong these last 8 years have been. 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #20 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 10, 2008 at 05:01:17 PT

By The Way
It may be time for us as a whole to demand and insist on representation from our government elected and non-elected officials. 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #19 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 10, 2008 at 04:57:45 PT

Who Gives A Crap What You Think!
McCain states: "I still would not support medical marijuana because I don't think the preponderance of medical opinion in America agrees with the assertion that [marijuana] is the most effective way of treating pain."It's about time The People inform their potential and actual representatives, that we don't give a shit about their personal beliefs and opinions. Their fiduciary duty is to represent US, their constituients! Presidents, members of Congress and Judges are bound to advocate our opinions and beliefs, not their own personal bullshit. Who cares what they think, really?! They're elected to do a job, represent us, even and especially if we want marijuana to be legal. 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #18 posted by Sam Adams on June 10, 2008 at 03:46:54 PT

Evidence
what does the preponderance of evidence say about Annheuser-Busch and McCain's wife's fortune? Its says liver cancer pays!

[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #17 posted by ekim on June 09, 2008 at 21:52:21 PT

Dennis is giving it all he's got--
Dennis Kucinich just gave a five hour inditement of why the Pres should be impeached -- leasting 35 reasons why.it would be interesting to see how the list meshes with the drug war-=-4th-amendmentDennis had much to say about how studies have been supressed, 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #16 posted by afterburner on June 09, 2008 at 21:51:56 PT

Now it's 'preponderance'
"preponderance of medical opinion..." Prohibitionists like McCain are getting more nuanced in their attempt to deny that cannabis is an effective medical treatment since the American College of Physicians (ACP) released its report urging more research.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #15 posted by tintala on June 09, 2008 at 16:15:59 PT:

If it were hops for beer the neighbors were smell
If were hops being used to make beer in Home breweries, that wouldn't bother ANYONE! not even the local pastor, or let's say a case of MARLBORO was being off loaded into a house, that would be just fine, one day, cannabis will be a part of the infrastructure and will be naturally occuring item in the WHOLE GREEN economy with no quams.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #14 posted by FoM on June 09, 2008 at 15:26:30 PT

Barney Frank Ignites Congress for Common Sense
June 9, 2008Excerpt: In response to public pressure, scientific evidence, and a lack of fear, twelve states have passed marijuana legislation in conflict with federal law. In California, medical marijuana has been dispensed since 1996. Despite federal views to the contrary, the sky has not fallen down over the golden state's liberal herbal policy.In 1992, Bill Clinton admitted to having "experimented with marijuana a time or two." But, he famously claimed, "I didn't like it, and didn't inhale and I never tried it again." Challenges to twenty-first century America have warranted a new look at unwarranted fears: Barack Obama supports marijuana for glaucoma, cancer patients, and medical use. He has said, "the war on drugs has been an utter failure, we need to rethink it - decriminalize our marijuana laws."John McCain's moth-eaten, opposition to marijuana for medical use, is another signal his presidency would be a roadblock to a new America. McCain states: "I still would not support medical marijuana because I don't think the preponderance of medical opinion in America agrees with the assertion that [marijuana] is the most effective way of treating pain."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-gregory/barney-frank-ignites-cong_b_106142.html
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #13 posted by Hope on June 09, 2008 at 12:32:20 PT

Comment 11 GOOD GRIEF! HOW NASTY!!!
Once again, I'm compelled to recall what that nasty, lying government employed "scientist" said during the hearings in Alaska a year or so ago.He had the gall to say that marijuana (He, a scientist used the slang term) is a "Nasty, nasty drug."Mr. so called scientist...look at the production of your Heparin if you want to see what "Nasty" really is.Thanks, Sam. Everyone should look at those pictures and be enlightened about "nasty" drugs.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #12 posted by Hope on June 09, 2008 at 11:13:21 PT

another excerpt from revue Sam posted
"As Melody Petersen points out in "Our Daily Meds," a sobering, scrupulously researched polemic, medicines not only cost a bundle, they save far fewer lives than we think - in fact, it is estimated that one American dies every five minutes from a prescribed treatment. Doctors, she reports, are complicit in these deaths, as fully 95 percent take money from the drug industry."
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on June 09, 2008 at 10:04:31 PT

Pull up a chair
OK folks, let's watch DEA and FDA-approved medicine being made, I'd like to see this factory right next store to the uptight a-holes in this country that don't like the smell of their neighbor's flowers:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120352438415380201.html
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on June 09, 2008 at 09:55:59 PT

Big Pharma and death
I meant to post this yesterday - looks like a great book, you can read this free today:http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/06/08/prescription_for_disaster_drugs_lies_and_greed/Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies
Transformed Themselves Into Slick Marketing Machines
and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs
By Melody Petersenexcerpt from the book review:In mid-January, Merck and Schering-Plough announced that their cholesterol-lowering drugs Zetia and Vytorin, taken by 5 million people, may in fact increase the risk of heart attacks by encouraging the buildup of arterial plaque. Outraged critics accused the companies of delaying the release of a key study, a charge made compelling by the fact that sales of the two drugs were $5 billion in 2007, a full year after the study was completed.After the news hit, Merck and Schering-Plough stock prices spiraled down. The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations planned an inquiry. But Merck chief executive Richard Clark stood firm, saying he stood by the safety and efficacy of the "products," both of which remain on the market.Between 1980 and 2003, the amount Americans spent on prescription drugs quietly rose from $12 billion to $197 billion, a seventeenfold increase. But what all this spending has done for us is not entirely clear. A World Health Organization report released a few years ago put American longevity at 77.3 years, Canada's at 79.8, and Japan's at 81.9. Meanwhile, we spend substantially more on health care - and far more on drugs - than these and other longer-living nations.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #9 posted by Sam Adams on June 09, 2008 at 09:53:23 PT

Wheetly & others
Ah, the NY Times reveals itself! This apparently is how the faux-liberal, phoney bleeding-heart mainstream democratic media will handle medical MJ: one day writing about sick patients and the cruel legal situation of no medical MJ allowed; the next day condemning and propagandizing against the ONLY model currently available to get the medicine to the sick people.Where's the article following around Big Pharma executives in their jets?  Oh, what an article that would make. Bribing doctors, flying prostitutes around in the jet. Landing the jet in West Palm Beach for the party at the $15 million mansion. The $5 million ski house in Montana that's used twice a year.  The new 8,000 square foot mansion on Nantucket with new fences to keep the neighbors from accessing the beach.But then the NY Times doesn't want us to pay attention to the rapacious greed of the upper 1% that's ruining our health AND the world economy, does it?And I've written before about this new American fascism that expresses itself as NIMBYism. Anything that smells bad, attracts "healthy-looking young men" or traffic must be BANNED. Much better to have starving slave children halfway around the world gutting pigs in a dank hell-hole to make our medicine, eh? Out of sight out of mind, that's the American way.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #8 posted by dankhank on June 09, 2008 at 08:13:20 PT

cottonwood
not here, I'm sure ... if so we would be on our backs...got one in the front and back of the next house ...for us it's a light "snow storm" in June ... then clean it up ...glad to hear it works ...]never doubted it ....
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #7 posted by FoM on June 09, 2008 at 06:52:19 PT

Graphic From The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/06/09/us/20080609_POT_GRAPHIC.html
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 09, 2008 at 06:48:27 PT

Slide Show From The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/06/09/us/0609POT_index.html
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #5 posted by FoM on June 09, 2008 at 06:09:10 PT

Video: The Marijuana State
Twelve years after California voters legalized medical marijuana, it is being exploited as a cash crop and for recreational use.http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=b7e4529b7a3ac6b3ffbba2deeb447b5324e49b92
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on June 09, 2008 at 00:54:13 PT

Here's something for the Arcata mayor to ponder
Just one carbon-consuming plant -- cannabis -- is able to treat foru different problems of mine: severe cottonwood allergy, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis and PTSD.I bet using four (or more) different Big Pharm medications would leave a much higher carbon footprint than using one herb.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on June 09, 2008 at 00:48:31 PT

OT: does anyone have cottonwood allergy?
The cottonwoods are putting out their deadly cotton where I am now and I discovered today that a vaporizer hit up each nostril clears the sinuses amazingly well and zaps away that awful itching that feels like ants wearing athletic cleats crawling around beneath the skin on my face.

[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on June 08, 2008 at 22:56:42 PT

Here's the guy's number and email
Mark Wheetley
Mayor 
(707) 269-0332mwheetley cityofarcata.orgCall him up and ask him if he knows what the carbon footprint is of any typical Big Pharm medication that could replace medical marijuana.I mean really the guy is just stupid.There was meter running on every single bottle of aspirin sold in every single drug store in Arcata.Is he going to demonize the aspirin industry too?I think even if you grow indoors, the carbon footprint of medical marijuana is much lower than any of the Big Pharm synthetic medications that could (inadequately) replace it.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 08, 2008 at 20:35:14 PT

Just a Comment
If Cannabis was legal and it could be grown outside and that would save a lot of electricity. ***Excerpt: Those fans, of course, are eating electrical power, something that also irks many.“We’re all trying to reduce our carbon footprint, but in these places the meters are spinning off the wall,” said Mayor Mark Wheetley of Arcata. “When do you say, enough is enough?”

[ Post Comment ]





  Post Comment