cannabisnews.com: Top Law Enforcers Call For 'No' Vote on Marijuana 





Top Law Enforcers Call For 'No' Vote on Marijuana 
Posted by CN Staff on October 31, 2008 at 08:44:10 PT
By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff
Source: Boston Globe
Boston, MA --  Local law enforcement officials began a final assault yesterday on Tuesday's ballot question to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying a "yes" vote would only empower drug dealers who resort to guns and violence in their trade."Drug use, drug abuse, and drug sales are synonymous with other types of criminal activity," Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said yesterday, pointing to a table of guns and bags of marijuana that, he said, are found in tandem in Boston's street crime.
"Where you find drug dealers, you also find guns and violence," he said. The ballot question "gives those dealers a loophole to enterprise while punishing the neighborhoods where they're going to do business."Davis spoke at a news conference yesterday at police headquarters in Roxbury, joined by local drug detectives and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless, and Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association.Today, state Attorney General Martha Coakley plans to join with Somerville officials in that city and health experts to decry the ballot question, known as Question 2.The proposal would decriminalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, making it a civil violation with a $100 fine rather than an offense warranting arrest.The question's supporters say state law would still maintain penalties for growing, trafficking, or driving under the influence of marijuana. Juveniles arrested with any amount of marijuana would have to undergo a drug awareness program.But the proposal would ensure that the possession of small amounts of marijuana will not taint a person's criminal record, punishment supporters say is too severe.Under state law, anyone convicted of possessing even a small amount of marijuana faces jail time, a fine, and a lifelong criminal record that could be accessed by potential employers, housing agencies, and student loan providers. People seeking a specific job, such as a teacher or law enforcement position, could be excluded because of a record.Yesterday, the group supporting the question with a $1 million campaign - the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy - released a statement saying its review of data shows that three-quarters of those arrested for marijuana possession in the state are 24 or younger. The group believes those young people are most likely to have their careers affected by a criminal record.But law enforcement officials say no amount of marijuana is insignificant considering the violence and potential for drug abuse that comes with it.Conley noted that Boston's black ministers sent letters this week to their counterparts across the state urging opposition to the ballot question, stating that the small amounts of marijuana found in suburbs are a product of the drug dealing and violence in Boston's neighborhoods.An ounce of marijuana, officials said, could sell for up to $600 on the street and could be sold as 50 to 60 marijuana cigarettes. The decriminalization of the drug would only empower drug dealers to continue in their trade, they added."Those retail-ready packages are available to anyone with an allowance," Conley said. "Question 2 is really the 'drug dealer's protection act,' " Conley said.Source: Boston Globe (MA)Author: Milton J. Valencia, Globe StaffPublished: October 31, 2008 Copyright: 2008 Globe Newspaper CompanyContact: letter globe.comWebsite: http://www.boston.com/globe/Related Articles & Web Site:Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policyhttp://www.sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/Going Green: An Alternative Culture Columnhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24266.shtmlHalf of Voters Want Marijuana Decriminalizedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24255.shtml 
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Comment #64 posted by FoM on November 04, 2008 at 05:54:38 PT
rchandar
Thank you for your comment. I already voted for Obama but I'm going with a friend who is a first time voter who is in her mid 40s. She is so excited to vote for Obama. Happy Happy Joy Joy!
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Comment #63 posted by afterburner on November 03, 2008 at 23:19:07 PT
rchandar #62
Good analysis and advice. I would like to add that the hollowing out of government under Bush, seen most prominently in the War on Iraq, with contractors controlling oil and even security (think Halliburton and Blackwater) continues to be a threat to good government. The deregulators, like McCain, are responsible for the Economic Meltdown, which has necessitated a massive transfer of wealth, billions of taxpayer dollars to private banks (corporate "socialism," "spreading the wealth around" to the financial institutions that engineered the housing boom-bust). Vote NO on more neo-con transfer of public tax dollars to private corporations (privatized outsourcing of government functions to contractors). Vote YES for change and good government, answerable to the Constitution and its checks and balances. Do "Drill, baby, drill" and "Alaska has billions of barrels of oil and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean, green natural gas onshore and offshore" sound like the change we want from the oil-soaked Bush years?Your choice people. Just get out and vote!
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Comment #62 posted by rchandar on November 03, 2008 at 22:01:59 PT:
Pot Smokers For Obama
Hello--I encourage everyone to vote tomorrow. And I hope that this information will be helpful to any of you concerned about our future--MJ and otherwise.I want to encourage you to vote for Barack Obama in tomorrow's election. Here are my reasons why this is the right choice:First, the collective example of George Bush's foreign policy has been a terrible disaster which can only be repaired if we rebuild precarious diplomatic relationships. Bush's foreign policy has considerably weakened America's diplomatic role and leadership of the world. The War on Terrorism was a classic example of this, with aggravated examples of terrorist success in Somalia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, and North Korea. America's diplomatic leadership of Europe and NATO has also considerably weakened, and many of the blunders of this administration have made it difficult for people around the world to trust or respect our people. Afghanistan has recorded another record opium crop, one which can supply the entire world for five years. Ahmedinejad, not a very able politician, repeatedly embarrased us and even held an international seminar contesting the Holocaust. Bush's record in Darfur is another striking example of racism and ineffectiveness which has cost many lives. Russia has graduated to rogue state status because of our negligence. And Benazir Bhutto's assassination can only be recorded as a huge victory for the terrorists. Bush and McCain had eight years to capture Osama bin Laden, but failed. Worst, our heavy handed diplomacies and military aggressions have warped the general public's perception of us and encouraged terrorism. We have squandered generations of leadership and diplomatic success; we have mortgaged our economy to the excesses of oil price gauging.Second, I cannot envision a greater mismanagement of drugs policy than that under Bush. Arrests increased for MJ by about 14%, yet MJ remains available and expensive. Drug policy in general has been irresponsible, continuing to persecute users while wealthy dealers retain the advantage of expensive legal support. This imbalance in policy must be addressed: an Obama drugs policy should give the offender more chances to life his life and be a part of society. I wish to reiterate the simple fact that jail time does nothing but encourage nonviolent offenders to live a life of crime. But the embarrasments of Bush's War on Drugs have become legend: the terrible violence of the Michoacan in Mexico, the rise of drug mafias in Morocco, Afghanistan, and parts of Africa, and the continued draconian standard for punishing the most innocent or powerless in these countries. Third, Bush--and John McCain--are thoroughly indifferent and lacking resolution in building the modern America which will be multicultural and diverse, to include all walks of life in the functioning of a 21st century democracy. The building of the Border Wall in particular is a great affront to that future: Mexicans comprise the largest body of immigrants, and the basic future of many sectors of our economy. Such a move is disastrous and encourages the cycle of exploitation and ruination: it embitters a considerable segement of our population at a time when these people are needed.Finally, economy. If you want your country to remain competitive with the rest of the world, Obama is a better leader. Allow me to put this in perspective: the United States is a nation of 300 million. India is 1.1 billion; China is 1.4 billion; the European Union is 700 million. These are people who are willing to work harder for less money; they do not require the lavish lifestyle we enjoy, but are intelligent, educated, and hardworking. They turn out more college graduates than we do. The effect could be twofold: one, our companies will be increasingly controlled by foreigners, who are less likely to be sympathetic or able in providing services for Americans; and two, the brain capital of the world will belong to us less and less. Obama stresses that necessity of a competitive edge in the world, just as Clinton had tried to do. If all Americans are inheritors of new technology and market sustainability, we shall remain the most important nation in the world. Should we elect another Republican and endorse the economic and educational sedimation of our society, our competitors will simply overhwelm us, and render our way of life and control of society meaningless.I want to state clearly, that the Bush Administration has been wrought with dangerous mistakes in all aspects of policy. Bush has also co-opted patriotism in an extreme fashion and sponsored legislation that attacks many parts of our Constitution, ignoring legal precedent and democratic jurisprudence. It is time for all of us to reclaim our democracy. It is also our time to make our best overtures for the sake of a more sensible, successful drug policy which will further the cause of decriminalization.Thank You.--rchandar
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Comment #61 posted by Hope on November 03, 2008 at 07:10:53 PT
Storm Crow
Looks as though providence chose you to be the one to do it... and you've done it well.Thank you.
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Comment #60 posted by Storm Crow on November 03, 2008 at 06:51:48 PT
I'm glad you all appreciate my list.....
Hope, I know it's on several "less than perfect" sites, but I have to get the word out! I'm not going to discriminate, even though I don't care for the "bodacious babes with buds" either. The MMP site made me (a total, "cut & paste" level, computer dummy!) a "mod" so now I can keep adding to the list, rather than wait 6 months to post a new list. I just added 2 more studies yesterday- it keeps growing! And ANYONE who can sort, copy and paste and manage a WORD file, could have done the list! I just don't know why nobody made a list like this before! It does take time and perseverance, but not much talent! Anyway, I'm glad you folks are using it! 
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Comment #59 posted by ezrydn on November 03, 2008 at 05:01:33 PT
True Cause
"Drug use, drug abuse, and drug sales are synonymous with other types of criminal activity," Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said yesterday"And they're considered "criminal" because? They're drugs? No. Because Prohibition exists? Most definitely! If you take away the Prohibition element, this comment has no meaning. Plus, one has to understand that this same comment could have been made during Alcohol Prohibition. Yet, P.C. Davis probably has a cold one after work.
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Comment #58 posted by Mike on November 02, 2008 at 20:30:52 PT
Storm Crow
I first ran across you at the IC Mag site. It's great you're here sharing your research.  I've passed along your IC Mag link many times. Thank you for the master link! This is fantastic. You've compiled what is truly the most comprehensive resource for medical cannabis - Ever. Your hard work and research has been well appreciated. I can't thank you enough! :)
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Comment #57 posted by Hope on November 02, 2008 at 08:36:20 PT
E_Johnson
I'm not so sure about that recovered alcoholic as a drug czar. Yes, he could be accused of being hypocritical, of course, for wanting to jail others for their involvement with cannabis, but ex, and recovered anythings, can be self righteous and harsh in their judgments of others, I think.Kucinich and Paul and Webb all seem to have sense when it comes to what the War on Drugs, this prohibition, actually produces, but they are sitting legislators... so they would not be eligible to be appointed as the czar.I think Ethan Nadelmann might be the man for the job, or perhaps, Dr. Joycelyn Elders is the woman for the job. 
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Comment #56 posted by Hope on November 02, 2008 at 08:19:07 PT
Well... maybe I spoke too soon
about that stand alone site.This site looks different. I thought it was in a Cannabis Culture forum or something. It looks different every time I check it. The last one I have bookmarked was at Cannabis.Com..There were naked ladies with cannabis pasties and genital covers. Stuff... which I felt dragged down and deemphasized the importance of your work.That's why I mentioned the stand alone site. Naked ladies for the gentlemen another place and time.This new placement of your list looks a lot more serious and sensible.
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Comment #55 posted by Hope on November 02, 2008 at 08:07:20 PT
Storm Crow
"I can't be the activist that I would like to be, but I do what I can."Good grief, woman! That work... and we know it is real work... you're doing in compiling that information is enormous. It's enormous. You've more than earned your full fledged activist badge of honor. It sure wasn't inactivity that compiled all that amazing information.You're doing a great job... and I consider you a major accomplisher in the field of activism against the lies and crap put out by the prohibitionists. You are definitely one of my heroes and I'm so thankful for the work you've done and are doing.I do wish you had a stand alone site for all that stuff. Something like FoM's Freedom to Exhale or something like that. Your information needs it's own website that can be easily linked to from C-News and DrugWarRant and other such sites that are fighting this foolish and deadly prohibition.
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Comment #54 posted by FoM on November 02, 2008 at 07:31:35 PT
Storm Crow 
How could I ever be upset with you. You are a dear lady. Post it as often as you like.
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Comment #53 posted by Storm Crow on November 02, 2008 at 07:24:04 PT
Mike.......
Guilty as charged! lol My little list sure has grown! 70+ pages now and I'm still adding stuff every week or so! I can't be the activist that I would like to be, but I do what I can. Glad you all are finding uses for it. I wish everyone would read even just the titles!GCW thank you for your kind words! FoM, I hope you won't get mad at me, but I'm going to post the URL again! This links to my "Master list" with all the NEW studies that most sites don't have yet. The "Master list" is at a very "innocent" MMJ forum- mild enough to show your granny or doctor. My hope is that all of you will show it to one of those "undecideds" and convince them that cannabis IS medicine! http://medicalmarijuanapatient.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65Everyone VOTE! 
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Comment #52 posted by FoM on November 02, 2008 at 05:48:19 PT
Paint with light 
On Tuesday night we will have a new President. On Wednesday morning I will wake up and finally take a deep breath. I know people have quit commenting out of fear of this current administration and I sure do understand. After President Barack Obama is sworn in and the reins are fully in his hands then we will know that John Walters won't be able to come and get us anymore and the new day will begin. I am nervous but feeling good that McCain won't win. Palin will then go back to Alaska and that will be over too.Mama Cass Elliot - New World Cominghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlOFN2SYaEk
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Comment #51 posted by The GCW on November 02, 2008 at 05:03:40 PT
Storm Crow
I meant to say the other day also,Your helpful medical info is always nice and that extended list You exposed with Us is truly something great to share.You keep that up and the world will move for the better.-0- -ALSO:I feel as though TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT is the low rung on the human being scale.TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT is among the punish one another crowd NOT the love one another crowd.Top level human beings would never consider for a moment to prohibit a sick fellow human being from using an herb given to Us by God.EVEN an herb created and given with the intention of healing the nations - (see Rev. 22:4 etc. THE LAST PAGE OF THE BIBLE)...FROM THE BEGINING (the FIRST page of the Bible) 
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Comment #50 posted by kaptinemo on November 02, 2008 at 02:50:01 PT:
Polishing my crsytal ball (Squirt, wipe wipe)
Sorry, fresh out of tea leaves.The economy will worsen, and as it does, demands for a shift in government spending away from the military/industrial complex and back towards 'social welfare' programs will become louder with each successive turn of the recessionary screw...and each thousand or so newly unemployed join the ranks of those already there.Of course, we can expect the M/I Complex and its' weak sister, the Prison/Industrial Complex, to scream bloody murder, but it's been 'crying "Wolf!"' for so long now, that people are sick of it.Joe Sixpack will not give a flying frak about 'threats' from drugs to his kids when those same kids may be facing hunger courtesy of Joe's job being sent to China and he being unemployed as a result. Joe will want that Unemployment Insurance, and fast. And he will have next to no patience when he hears some bureaucrat like Johnny Pee demanding more billions for his failed DrugWar.When some enterprising pol (or in the case of Dennis Kucinich, an honest one) gets his back up enough and starts denouncing the DrugWar as the 'right wing welfare' it is, more pols will begin to express publicly what they only dare do privately: that the DrugWar is has and always was a botch. When that happens, it's 'game over' for the prohibs, for the last thing that these guys want is to be facing a hostile Congressional committee. They won't be able to mouth their platitudes and dance away unscathed for much longer, and the more intelligent of them know this. For all their bluster, more and more the prohibs are fighting a 'rearguard' action...and traditionally, the rearguard gets chewed up by an advancing opponent. That's why ol' Johnny Pee is scurrying hither and yon, trying to plug holes in the prohib dikes. Michigan is a sign that the walls of that dike are cracking big time...and I can't wait to see the looks on the prohib's faces just before they get swept away by the deluge coming behind it.
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Comment #49 posted by Paint with light on November 02, 2008 at 00:23:54 PT
comment #31, About the future
I'd like to see a presidential commissision like Nixon had in the 1970's.The amount of research and actual success with different legal/decrim/medical models now in place would insure an even better result for cannabis consumers than the Shaffer group recommended.In the meantime I would like to see a suspension of federal raids on medical facilities and a stop order on the taking of more political prisoners in the war on cannabis.Long term I would like to see some form of apology(monetary compensation included) to those who have suffered prison or jail time at the hands of our government for cannabis crimes. I have no hope this last idea would ever happen, but it should.If we did have another commission, this time we will hopefully have a president that would listen.If Obama is elected then it is important that everyone who visits here increase their efforts to change the laws.I know a lot of you do as much as is physically possible, but there are others that for whatever reason have held back as long as our enemies have had control of our political process.If we have a democrat for president and a larger majority than exists now in both houses, there is true hope for some positive changes.I'm fired up, and ready to go.Legally, equal with alcohol is all I ask, for a start.
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Comment #48 posted by Mike on November 01, 2008 at 20:33:45 PT
Storm Crow
Are you *The* Storm Crow, who created Granny Storm Crow's List? http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=95659If so, your hard work has been well appreciated. I've passed this list on many times.
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Comment #47 posted by Hope on November 01, 2008 at 15:41:59 PT
There's a higher percentage of
such jumpers, I believe that are Pentecostal of some variety. After John Ashcroft, I don't want someone like that that high up in government. I think he was ... well I don't want to say it. But I don't want someone else like that with so much power over so many people.Brrrr. The man didn't feel like Love to me.He seemed like something else. Something hateful and mean.
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Comment #46 posted by Hope on November 01, 2008 at 15:38:26 PT
Too true and well said, Observer.
"That's what they said about coffee, too. Coffee made people hothead revolutionaries, so that's why we jail people for it. (Or did, in the 1700s in Germany.) How could anyone not see how coffee makes men insane, destroys their health and provokes them to rebellion. And we know that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, so there: coffee is as witchcraft. That's scriptural, brethren."I call these guys, "Jumpers". Jumper Alert! They start off with a concept, something to think about, perhaps... and jump... make great leaps, to such conclusions as, "So therefore coffee is as witchcraft".What you say is true though. Some seem to think medicine, any sort of "Drug", legal or illegal, is witchcraft.
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Comment #45 posted by Hope on November 01, 2008 at 15:29:18 PT
Hmmmm
"The sufferer is tremulous, and loses his self-command; he is subject to fits of agitation and depression; he loses his color and has a haggard appearance."The "Sufferer" would be the guy that 40 super-sized cops in black inhuman looking, storm-trooper gear,armor, helmets, grenades, bombs, jack boots, and nightmare weapons have just leaped into his bathroom "Suffering" under the influence of anything... or not. It's been known to kill be people.
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Comment #44 posted by observer on November 01, 2008 at 11:13:02 PT
Saving the Children
"Drug use, drug abuse, and drug sales are synonymous with other types of criminal activity,"That's what they said about coffee, too. Coffee made people hothead revolutionaries, so that's why we jail people for it. (Or did, in the 1700s in Germany.) How could anyone not see how coffee makes men insane, destroys their health and provokes them to rebellion. And we know that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, so there: coffee is as witchcraft. That's scriptural, brethren. 
The sufferer is tremulous, and loses his self-command; he is subject to fits of agitation and depression; he loses his color and has a haggard appearance. The appetite falls off, and symptom of gastric catarrh may be manifested. The heart also suffers; it palpitates, or it intermits. As with other such agents, a renewed dose of the poison gives temporary relief, but at the cost of future misery.(Brecher, E. M. Licit and Illicit Drugs, Boston: Little, Brown, 1972, p. 198)
Quaint, you say, but nobody believes such today, do they? Yes, they do.
“Thousands are in mental institutions today because of no greater matter than that of the use of caffeine. Psychiatrists are now publishing articles indicating that there are numerous cases of depression and anxiety in mental institutions who need no other treatment than to be taken off caffeine. It would seem that with such a simple remedy available, many thousands of people could be returned to their full usefulness promptly.“However, the use of caffeine is so traditional and firmly entrenched that it is almost impossible to remove caffeinated drinks from the diet of patients in the mental institutions. Soft drink machines, coffee dispensers, and the traditional coffee break are common pastimes in mental institutions, and with those who are mentally ill at home.”
(Calvin Thrash, M.D., Author, Food Allergies Made Simple)
Propagandists pound you with prohibition rhetoric, continually stoking fears of "cannabis psychosis" (aka "reefer madness"). Ever heard of caffeine psychosis? 
Caffeine-induced psychosis, whether it be delirium, manic depression, schizophrenia, or merely an anxiety syndrome, in most cases will be hard to differentiate from other organic or non-organic psychoses....The treatment for caffeine-induced psychosis is to withhold further caffeine." 
(Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose, Michael W. Shannon; 1998)
Of course, when coffee is illegal, coffee drinkers are "criminal" by definition. 
17th century The prince of the petty state of Waldeck pays ten thalers to anyone who denounces a coffee drinker. (Griffith Edwards, Psychoactive substances, "The Listener", 1972)
The prince of course "knew" he was merely saving the people from rebellion - and saving the children from drugs. If just one child is saved from coffee, they must have told one another, it is worth jailing many adults, as they jailed adults for the crime of coffee possession, and "seized" their property. All nice and legal. 
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Comment #43 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 10:50:19 PT
Storm Crow 
Thank you. You're way makes sense to me.
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Comment #42 posted by Storm Crow on November 01, 2008 at 10:44:09 PT
Fom, us po' Cali folks.......
Jest grow our own! lol We get to have our "6 mature plants"- even though that part of the law has been ruled unconstitutional, seems the local cops are still adhering to those out-dated numbers. No way I can afford those "big city" prices! But I've got my own little "well lit" closet. Total Pac Pow bill runs about $100 a month- that, I can deal with! 
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 10:38:43 PT
Thank You
My goodness those prices seem so high. Maybe people make a lot more money then other people who don't live in California. 
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Comment #40 posted by mykeyb420 on November 01, 2008 at 10:34:16 PT
prices
400-600 an oz is the average price for SOUTHERN california.
 Here in SF the average price is 300-400 an oz,,and the farther north you go the price is cheaper,,i.e. Mendocino or Humbolt the price is 200-300 an oz. these prices are for the HIGHER grade meds,,,, stemy, seady stuff is about 50 to 75 an oz(btw: the club I go to is 350 to 375 an oz)
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Comment #39 posted by E_Johnson on November 01, 2008 at 10:09:17 PT
If we had a recovering alcoholic for Drug Czar
Then the system would get a little more realistic.Alcoholics have to recover without the benefit of being locked in a cage every time they relapse.
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Comment #38 posted by E_Johnson on November 01, 2008 at 10:06:33 PT
Hmm
In LA I think it's about $400 or so per ounce.But the clubs have different ways of helping out people who are on disability and so on. 
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 10:01:54 PT
Street Price
EJ does street pot cost $600 an ounce? Isn't that about the price in a club? 
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Comment #36 posted by E_Johnson on November 01, 2008 at 09:59:26 PT
FoM why the cost in clubs ends up being so high
I remember challenging Scott Imler on this at the LACRC. Remember, Scott is a devout Methodist and also a bit of a socialist. But even he sold his medicine for about the same price it would fetch on the street, and that was not because he was trying to make a quick buck.He told me that two things could happen if a cannabis club were to sell its medicine at, say, half of the going rate on the street.1. Some patients would be tempted to resell a portion of their medicine on the street for a profit -- which would endanger the community's tolerance for the clubs.2. Recreational users would experience a very strong economic motivation to acquire phony medical recommendations to get their marijuana half price -- which means the club has to do a lot more work screening phony recommendations and the DEA is more likely to be able to slip through one of their own.When the DEA is able to slip a phony patient through the club screening process, they begin building a case to shut down the whole club and arrest the owner.That's why it's become standard practice at the medical clubs to keep the price of their pot close to the street price.
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 08:54:35 PT
Shops
The cost of Cannabis seems very high to me in California. I don't know how people on fixed incomes can afford it.
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Comment #34 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 08:52:01 PT
John Tyler
As far as the shops I don't know what will happen. The Pot Shops are far removed from states other than California. 
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 08:49:30 PT
John Tyler 
I think that would be a great start.
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Comment #32 posted by John Tyler on November 01, 2008 at 08:30:31 PT
for starters
I have heightened expectations, but I think change will be slow and incremental. I think if we see the DEA backing off of the raids on the compassion clubs in CA that will be a good sign. If Barney Frank’s legislation to decriminalize cannabis at the Federal level was to pass that would be a very good sign. I would also like to see the ONDCP budget cut way back. I would like to see the restrictions on hemp farming done away with, and legislation repealing all of those secondary repression laws related to cannabis.   
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Comment #31 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 07:57:00 PT
A Thought About The Future
Where does anyone think the drug war will go if Obama wins? Will marijuana still be high priority like with Bush and Walters? What I have noticed as far as drugs go a tremendous increase in legal prescription drug use and re-sale. That really worries me.
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Comment #30 posted by afterburner on November 01, 2008 at 07:25:46 PT
Sinsemilla Jones #27
Great vision!!!, except for "control of dangerous chemicals being turned over to Homeland Security." (If the federal government insists of classifying cannabis as a "dangerous chemical," I oppose giving enforcement authority to any federal agency.) I don't trust the unconstitutional powers granted to Homeland Security, nor their will to avoid abusing those powers. No point in exchanging one set of jackbooted neanderthals for another.
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Comment #29 posted by John Tyler on November 01, 2008 at 07:25:00 PT
Prohibition’s corrupting influence 
I saw this in the paper today. Some New York police officers were arrested for kidnapping and robbing local street dealers of their money and products. What about a Drug Czar and the ONDCP? How about cutting it completely out of the budget and shutting it down? 
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on November 01, 2008 at 06:52:42 PT
Just a Note
I haven't found any news to post so far. I am really excitied that we only have 3 more days and hopefully we won't need to hear or see McCain and Palin anymore. I turn the channel when they come on but they are usually on both news channels I watch. Have a great weekend everyone!
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Comment #27 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on November 01, 2008 at 02:54:26 PT
I know how to speculate!
It means naming people you'd like to see get appointed to the position, right?So, I'll speculate that for Drug Czar, Obama will either reward Democrat Rep. Dennis Kucinich, reach across the aisle to Republican Rep. Ron Paul, or go outside the political spectrum to appoint Harvard drug expert Lester Grinspoon.I also speculate that whichever of these three is appointed, they will recommend the abolishing of both the ONDCP and the DEA, with control of dangerous chemicals being turned over to Homeland Security (perhaps headed by William Bratton, also one of several names mentioned by Politico for that position), questions of what is medicine and the problem of drug addiction put under the jurisdiction of Surgeon General Andrew Weil, and the right to grow plants being returned to the people.I further speculate that this will happen because tens of millions of American citizens will mobilize immediately after Obama's speculative election to demand that he not appoint another political hack, willing to lie his ass off to keep his job, to what is the most wasteful, ineffectual, and dishonest cabinet level office ever created.
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Comment #26 posted by Mike on November 01, 2008 at 02:51:41 PT
ekim
This one made my blood boil. Proposition 5 in CA is a treatment vs. prison option. Schwarzenegger backs the prison guard union (who of course have no agenda but "protecting our kids") and says Proposition 5 "is a great threat to our neighborhoods... it was written by those who care more about the rights of criminals." What an absolute idiot.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-drugs31-2008oct31,0,6913370.story
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Comment #25 posted by E_Johnson on October 31, 2008 at 23:37:09 PT
You know who I'd choose for Drug Czar?
Someone who is a recovering alcoholic.
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Comment #24 posted by ekim on October 31, 2008 at 19:30:44 PT
o mike did you happen to see rnold tonight
seems he left the old country cause of socializimhe loved the freedom of USA where else could he make those iron pumping movies but when he couldn have signed a hemp bill he chose to turn his back on all that freedom he so much lovedin its place he chose the jackboots not the farmbootssticks and stones can hurt my bones but names will never hurt me
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 18:29:38 PT
Happy Halloween EJ and Everyone
Enjoy the night.
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Comment #22 posted by E_Johnson on October 31, 2008 at 18:04:26 PT
Happy Halloween everyone
Gotta go eat some candy!
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 17:04:40 PT
dongenero
We had company so I didn't get to respond until now. I want to look a little deeper when I have time. It's an open mind to different ideas I hope to see in a new drug czar if we must have a drug czar.
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Comment #20 posted by mykeyb420 on October 31, 2008 at 17:03:15 PT
fun time
he is an addicting thing a kid from summer camp sent me,,,its really KEWL and fun
pumkin
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Comment #19 posted by Mike on October 31, 2008 at 14:45:30 PT
Nazism alive and well in the Phillipines
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20081031-169560/Worker-gets-16-years-for-2-g-marijuana
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Comment #18 posted by dongenero on October 31, 2008 at 14:10:33 PT
wow FoM!
You're good! As if I didn't already know that.At least Bratton voices support for the concept of medical marijuana. I also don't expect we'll be seeing him as a member of LEAP anytime soon.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 14:04:45 PT
One Thought
So far from what I've seen he is against pot shops but not medical marijuana. I'll keep looking. 
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 14:01:55 PT
I Found This on Bratton
Bratton: Med Marijuana Guidelines Will Help 'Restore Some Sanity'http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=5572
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 13:59:32 PT
Drug Czar
I've been trying to find something on William Bratton. The little bit I found he doesn't seem to be against medical marijuana.
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Comment #14 posted by dongenero on October 31, 2008 at 13:58:35 PT
William Bratton
I see he's listed as a possible for Homeland Security too. It sure seems it would be of more benefit to address those broken windows with Mr. Bratton.For Drug Czar, how about Bob Barr. Now that he's apparently seen the light, it would be a god opportunity to put his new ideas into practice. We need some fresh thinking in that department as much or more than anywhere else.And while we're at it, why don't we scratch the concept of czars. We don't need autocrats in our government. Autocrats are unconstitutional.
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Comment #13 posted by Sam Adams on October 31, 2008 at 13:41:09 PT
obama
it won't take long to see what he does with the medical MJ raids in California. I don't expect much but I'll have my fingers crossed. How will it feel for Obama to look the next drug czar in the eyes, knowing that the man will be sending his minions out to jail as many black and latino people as possible.
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Comment #12 posted by paul armentano on October 31, 2008 at 13:23:07 PT
OT: Politico re: Obama's future drug czar
Politico speculates that Obama may tap William J. Bratton, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, as the next US Drug Czar. (Sorry FOM, my name apparently didn't make the cut.)http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15142.htmlBratton Bratton, like current Czar Walters, is a major proponent of
James Q. Wilson's 'broken windows' theory of policing. See below:http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bratton_kelling200602281015.aspFebruary 28, 2006, 10:15 a.m.There Are No Cracks in the Broken WindowsIdeological academics are trying to undermine a perfectly good idea.By William Bratton & George KellingWe've argued for many years that when police pay attention to minor offenses
— such as prostitution, graffiti, aggressive panhandling — they can reduce
fear, strengthen communities, and prevent serious crime. One of us
co-originated (with James Q. Wilson) this theory, which has come to be known as "fixing broken windows"; the other implemented it in New York City, first as chief of the transit police under Mayor David Dinkins, and then more broadly as police commissioner under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.... It's easy for academics to claim that they have "disproved" broken windows.
It fits nicely into a sound bite.... What particularly galls police about these critiques is that ivory-tower
academics — many of whom have never sat in a patrol car, walked or bicycled
a beat, lived in or visited regularly troubled violent neighborhoods, or
collected any relevant data of their own "on the ground" — cloak themselves
in the mantle of an empirical "scientist" and produce "findings" indicating
that broken windows has been disproved. Worse, they allege that police have
had little to do with the declines in crime. Police don't have time for
these virtual-reality theories; they do their work in the real world.
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Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on October 31, 2008 at 13:13:29 PT
UK cannabis
this proves once and for all that cannabis prohibition is nothing more than welfare for police and government:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5050871.ece
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Comment #10 posted by observer on October 31, 2008 at 13:01:14 PT
drug war propaganda analysis
[1]
Boston, MA -- Local law enforcement officials began a final assault yesterday on Tuesday's ballot question to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying a "yes" vote would only empower drug dealers who resort to guns and violence in their trade . 
(Sentence 1) re: "drug dealers", "dealers" - Drug war propaganda insinuates drugs are evil, because they are linked with hated groups. (Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 ) re: "violence" - Drugs, claim the prohibitionist, cause insanity, violence, and terrible sickness. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) re: "decriminalize" - With God on Their Side (prohibitionists assure us), only the continued rooting out of the sinful drug users (total prohibition) will do. All else is portrayed as the slippery slope to total legalization of all drugs for toddlers. (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme7.htm#7 ) 
 
 
[2]
"Drug use, drug abuse, and drug sales are synonymous with other types of criminal activity," Police Commissioner Edward F . 
(Sentence 2) re: "criminal" - Prohibition propaganda rarely misses an opportunity to link crime, violence, and insanity with "drugs". The propagandist insinuates that prohibited drugs cause evil, and if it weren't for "drugs" bad things would not exist. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) re: "drug abuse", "Drug use", "abuse" - "This strategy equates the use and abuse of drugs and implies that it is impossible to use the particular drug or drugs in question without physical, mental, and moral deterioration." [W.White,1979] (Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme4.htm#alluseisabuse ) 
 
 
[3]
Davis said yesterday, pointing to a table of guns and bags of marijuana that, he said, are found in tandem in Boston's street crime . 
(Sentence 3) re: "crime" - Drugs, scream prohibitionists, cause all bad things in life: crime, violence, insanity, etc. If not for prohibition (i.e., jailing drug users), then criminality, violence and psychotic behavior would explode upon the land, the prohibitionist assures us. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) 
 
 
[4]
"Where you find drug dealers, you also find guns and violence," he said . 
(Sentence 4) re: "drug dealers", "dealers" - Prohibition rhetoric often attempts to associate hated groups with targeted drugs. (Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 ) re: "violence" - It is prohibition, claim prohibitionists, that saves people from drug crazed, whacked out, high flying drug users. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) 
 
 
[5]
The ballot question "gives those dealers a loophole to enterprise while punishing the neighborhoods where they're going to do business."
(Sentence 5) re: "dealers" - Drug users are "those people" -- they are linked with groups that everyone agrees are bad. (Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 ) 
 
 
[9]
Under state law, anyone convicted of possessing even a small amount of marijuana faces jail time, a fine, and a lifelong criminal record that could be accessed by potential employers, housing agencies, and student loan providers . 
(Sentence 9) re: "criminal" - Prohibitionists claim use of currently illegal drugs causes crime, death, illness, lunacy, mania, melancholy, and all means of sin and degradation. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) 
 
 
[11]
But law enforcement officials say no amount of marijuana is insignificant considering the violence and potential for drug abuse that comes with it . 
(Sentence 11) re: "violence" - Drugs, the prohibitionist explains, are a wicked bane on modern man. Why if not for the noble drug war (i.e. jailing drug users), exclaims the propagandist, then people will run amok, and violence, death, psychosis, and plague shall cover the land. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) re: "drug abuse", "abuse" - Any use of an illegal drug is deemed to be "abuse," weasels the propaganda of prohibition. (After all - it is illegal!) (Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme4.htm#alluseisabuse ) 
 
 
[12]
Conley noted that Boston's black ministers sent letters this week to their counterparts across the state urging opposition to the ballot question, stating that the small amounts of marijuana found in suburbs are a product of the drug dealing and violence in Boston's neighborhoods . 
(Sentence 12) re: "violence" - Prohibitionist propaganda claims that horrible dangers are caused by "drugs." (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) 
 
 
[14]
The decriminalization of the drug would only empower drug dealers to continue in their trade, they added . 
(Sentence 14) re: "drug dealers", "dealers" - The rhetoric of prohibition will try to use labeling and guilt by association to link drugs and drug users with hated groups. (Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 ) 
 
 
[16]
"Question 2 is really the 'drug dealer's protection act,' " Conley said . 
(Sentence 16) re: "drug dealer", "dealer" - Prohibition propaganda often uses crude forms of name-calling to link a targeted drug with groups the majority dislikes. (Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 ) 
 
 
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on October 31, 2008 at 12:53:18 PT
Mykeyb420 comment 4
Sweet.Truly.Thanks.
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Comment #8 posted by dankhank on October 31, 2008 at 12:40:43 PT
check this ...
almost like an acid trip ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiBWkNFtrEg:-)
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Comment #7 posted by dankhank on October 31, 2008 at 12:23:08 PT
vote ...
I did, today ...lined up for an hour, here in SW OK.the kid is too cute, almost got up to go again ... :-)will medicate instead ...Peace to all who will vote today ... even repugs ...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe not ...
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Comment #6 posted by potpal on October 31, 2008 at 11:02:24 PT
words left out
"Where (you find prohibtion) you find drug dealers, you also find guns and violence...(and also corrupt leos)"More like it.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 10:56:26 PT
mykeyb420 
He is so cute! Thanks!
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Comment #4 posted by mykeyb420 on October 31, 2008 at 10:41:55 PT
daily funny
this kid is TOOOOOOOOO cute for words
stewart approves this message
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 09:47:57 PT
dongenero
The sky hasn't fallen. 
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on October 31, 2008 at 09:43:41 PT
Some things police don't say anymore.
We don't make the laws, We just enforce them.If You don't like the laws, change them.
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on October 31, 2008 at 09:13:50 PT
lots of hand wringing in Boston
over this civil penalty of $100 fine for possesion of an ounce.In Ohio, anything less than 100grams is a civil penalty punishable with a $100 civil fine. That is nearly 4 times the amount being proposed for Massachusetts. Up to 200 grams is a $250 fine. That is nearly half a pound. Has the sky fallen in Ohio yet? It's been over 30 years since these decriminalization laws were put in place. Is it mayhem on the streets of Ohio yet, I mean other than their voting difficulties?
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