cannabisnews.com: A Debate Half Baked
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A Debate Half Baked
Posted by CN Staff on February 12, 2010 at 06:00:40 PT
By David Harsanyi
Source: Denver Post
Colorado -- If like me you consider the war on drugs futile and destructive, don't be fooled by Colorado's new marijuana dispensary boom. It's bad news. And this bad news begins with a dishonest debate. Pot advocates — many of whom I have written glowingly about in the past — have no misgivings about claiming that ganja will alleviate suffering and sickness, scare away bedbugs and mow your lawn.
 The fact is there is little evidence proving pot has any real medicinal value — outside, perhaps, of helping with nausea or decoding the plot of "Battlestar Galactica." Pretending we know otherwise may elicit empathy from the public, but it is a flimsy way to build policy.What happens if in the near future an exhaustive Harvard medical study uncovers proof that the medicinal qualities of pot are piddling or even damaging? (As of now, the Drug Enforcement Administration refuses to allow much exhaustive research on the topic.)After examining the existing science, in fact, The New York Times recently concluded, "There is no good scientific evidence that legalizing marijuana's use provides any benefits over current therapies."Would overwhelming proof of pot's therapeutic impotence change my mind about an individual's right to seek the kind of treatment (even imaginary) he or she deems helpful and necessary?Of course not. I would argue that this should be a debate about the role of government in our private lives, not a case that is contingent on the vagaries of public perception, emotion and evolving evidence.It is equally grating — not to mention a full-scale assault on reality — for pot advocates to pretend that every one (or even most) of the thousands of Coloradans on the list for medical marijuana is in frantic need of Skunk Weed to ease grave physical suffering.Few believe it — nor should they. Many of those who voted for the 2000 Colorado constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana for people with serious ailments, in fact, might feel like their compassion has been betrayed.Though I sympathize with some incremental form of legalization, the transparently insincere debate and the anarchy of the present situation has allowed drug warriors like Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to scaremonger about "de facto" legalization and lawmakers to craft ridiculously intrusive legislation. Snipped   Complete Article: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14385266Source: Denver Post (CO)Author: David HarsanyiPublished: February 12, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Denver Post CorpWebsite: http://www.denverpost.com/Contact: openforum denverpost.comCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #20 posted by Had Enough on February 13, 2010 at 10:50:49 PT
Spotlights...
“”Agents at the scene Friday evening said the marijuana grower, Chris Bartkowicz, had been taken into custody. Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Denver, said the grower would be held over the long Presidents Day weekend before a decision on charges is made Tuesday."The U.S. attorney's office will review the evidence the DEA collected before we make a determination whether we will prosecute," Dorschner said.””Looks to me, they know they are treading on a fine thin line...the fine line being...exposing their BS to the public...and risking loosing their hold on their lucrative and ineffectual gravy train they ride on...all sponsored by the taxpayers who are having a hard time putting food on the table. All over a plant...These dinosaurs keep thrashing their tails...the more they thrash...the sooner they will land that tail in the wrong spot.************I caught the last few minutes of runruff on the Spaceman Show...about when the yoga classes were being mentioned.Very interesting...I would like to hear the whole thing though...Is it archived...or will it be aired again???They also play some very good tunes too!!!This was the first tune after runruff’s show...By the time the first verse was over, I should have wiped the tears off my cheeks...but I just let them flow...they flowed for the inhumanity that mankind has released on itself...R.E.M. Losing My Religionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XFMCgeI7c
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Comment #19 posted by runruff on February 13, 2010 at 05:35:09 PT
A message has been sent;
"Along with the raid, Jeffrey Sweetin, the Drug Enforcement Administration's special agent in charge of the Denver office, sent a message to anyone involved in Colorado's increasingly profitable medical-marijuana industry."The message I read is, the sponsors of these toxic beings is sending a message that they will not be giving up a billion dollar a day industry without a fight.The DEA is saying this stuff, "while we don't know what to call it, is not medicine"! "No we do not have to prove it," they say, they are THE drug authority in America and what they do not have to be factually correct!They are willing to kill or imprison to protect that agency! Even in the face of facts and overwhelming public opinion. They are seeming to ignore anything the AG said and it is obviously business as usual.
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Comment #18 posted by runruff on February 13, 2010 at 05:22:22 PT
The more things change the more they stay the same
"Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law," he said. "The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment."
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on February 13, 2010 at 05:12:39 PT
News From The Denver Post
Owner Who Bragged of Large Medical-Pot Operation Jailed in DEA RaidFebruary 13, 2010URL: http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_14393797***Covert Medical-Marijuana Growing Operations Surface in Suburban HomesFebruary 12, 2010URL: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14387412
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Comment #16 posted by runruff on February 12, 2010 at 20:12:09 PT
Hope
I don't know what time Spaceman plans to air my reading? He plays good music though!He is on from eight Pacific till eleven.I asked him to announce at the begining of the show what time he would air? 
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Comment #15 posted by runruff on February 12, 2010 at 20:07:51 PT
Hope
it is on right now!http://www.takilmafm.com/
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on February 12, 2010 at 19:46:27 PT
Runruff
You must be talking Mountain Time or something. Not PT or something.
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on February 12, 2010 at 19:31:13 PT
A clue...
If I only had a clue.... that Runruff would ever be reading on this show!
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on February 12, 2010 at 19:29:27 PT
Whatever this is
It doesn't sound like Runruff reading.I don't care for it. At all. All reverb, and echo, and stuff about Jack and the Beanstalk or something.So far... it's enough to turn me into a prohibitionist... nearly.Seventeen minutes in and nothing that I'd think was Runruff reading.25 minutes in. No Runruff.Grrrr.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on February 12, 2010 at 17:53:08 PT
Maybe it will work this time.
Picking up some good Viper music.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on February 12, 2010 at 17:50:47 PT
Takilma FM
Well, I'm trying. But it seems like I've tried this before and wasn't successful. I've got an hour to get it going. Maybe I can by the time Runruff starts reading.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on February 12, 2010 at 17:37:01 PT
It's nothing new
That Nicky Taylor thing done a year or so ago.
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on February 12, 2010 at 17:35:50 PT
Watching BBC America
Should I Smoke Dope?Duh.What a piece of ... well... propaganda.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on February 12, 2010 at 14:08:50 PT
Coming Sunday: MMJ in Northern Colorado
February 12, 2010URL: http://drugsense.org/url/pWdegQ74
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on February 12, 2010 at 09:47:59 PT
Off Topic: The Winter Olympics
I am really looking forward to watching the Winter Olympics. PS: runruff I would love to listen but the Olympics start tonight and I have been looking forward to them for quite a while. Do they archive the program?http://www.nbcolympics.com/
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Comment #5 posted by runruff on February 12, 2010 at 07:38:41 PT
To anyone interested?
I will be reading from my book "Tattoo Zoo" tonight on Takilma Radio on the Spaceman Show. Every Friday at eight the show starts and Spaceman will line out his show for the night for you.I will read the book in series. It is a journal of my days inside the belly of the beast, the BoP!It is here:http://www.takilmafm.com/
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Comment #4 posted by josephlacerenza on February 12, 2010 at 06:27:44 PT
DEA and Health Issues
The real reason there is no "real" research is not the fact that cannabis has no medical utility, but that there is no scientific evidence to the contrary. More accurately stated, who would cut their own throat? This is what would happen if more true research was done on the therapeutic effects of cannabis.The DEA would be holding a bag of BULL SH*T!! And, who in their right mind needs a bag of SH*T?!!!
Cannabis Potency Testing
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Comment #3 posted by runruff on February 12, 2010 at 06:13:07 PT
So a harvard med student......
may possibly prove the AMA of the first half of this century or 5,000 years of Chinese and Tibetian medicial practices, wrong!Where do they find these guys?"Harvard medical study uncovers proof that the medicinal qualities of pot are piddling or even damaging? (As of now, the Drug Enforcement Administration refuses to allow much exhaustive research on the topic.)"
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on February 12, 2010 at 06:07:15 PT
I'll take some please!
"alleviate suffering and sickness, scare away bedbugs and mow your lawn." 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on February 12, 2010 at 06:03:11 PT
Related Article From The Denver Post
Covert Medical-Marijuana Growing Operations Surface in Suburban HomesFebruary 12, 2010URL: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14387412
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