cannabisnews.com: Politics of Pain










  Politics of Pain

Posted by CN Staff on January 04, 2006 at 19:54:58 PT
By Ian Donnis 
Source: Boston Phoenix 

Rhode Island -- When it comes to the legalization of medical marijuana in Rhode Island, the question has generally been when — not if — it would happen.Sure, Republican governor Donald L. Carcieri, whose vetoes have withstood the Democratic-controlled General Assembly in the past, could cite a litany of concerns, from distribution to the fear that legalizing medical marijuana will make it far more available to children. But by resoundingly overriding Carcieri’s veto in a 59-13 vote, the Rhode Island House of Representatives on Tuesday embraced the compassionate theme long sounded by proponents.
The vote, capped by enthusiastic applause from supporters, makes Rhode Island the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana — and the first to do so since the US Supreme Court ruled last June in Gonzales v. Raich that the federal government can prosecute sick people who use the drug to ease their discomfort. Showing a distinct lack of anxiety about crossing the feds, the Rhode Island Senate voted in support of medical marijuana less than 24 hours after the high court’s decision last summer. And while such legislative support might seem unusual in a place with a strong strain of social conservatism, it reflects the intimacy of a state where everyone, it seems, knows someone who would like to use medical marijuana to better cope with such debilitating illnesses as cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis."Two years ago, it probably wouldn’t have been an issue with me," said Representative Thomas C. Slater (D-Providence), the lead sponsor of the legislation in the House. But after watching a brother, an uncle, and his father die from cancer, the representative — who has himself has been treated for the disease — sees things very differently. Speaking with reporters before Tuesday’s vote, he noted, "There are a lot of other people out there who have friends and family who have been sick."A three-fifths majority was needed in the 75-member House to override Carcieri’s veto, and the outcome never seemed in doubt as the chamber took up the matter before officially starting the new legislative session. Opposition came mostly from Democratic rivals of House Speaker William J. Murphy and from Republicans, like House Minority Leader Robert Watson, a medical-marijuana proponent, who voted with the governor in partisan solidarity.In a statement, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal warned, "This bill appears to violate federal law. Consequently, it will subject Rhode Islanders to prosecution by the federal government. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that state laws permitting the medicinal use of marijuana do not trump federal laws criminalizing marijuana. The consequence is that Rhode Islanders who rely on state law can still be prosecuted criminally by the federal government."But as Anthony Pettigrew, the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England spokesman, told me last year, "The DEA has never targeted the sick and dying, but rather criminals [involved] in drug cultivation and trafficking. We’ll target major trafficking organizations and take them apart." See "Rhode Trip," News and Features, July 8, 2005: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20937.shtmlRob Kampia, executive director of the Washington, DC–based Marijuana Policy Project, which aggressively lobbied for the Rhode Island law, hailed the vote, saying, "[It] proves yet again that the movement to protect medical-marijuana patients from arrest is unstoppable. Last June, White House drug czar John Walters proclaimed ‘the end of medical marijuana as a political issue’ . . . but he couldn’t have been more wrong. . . . We will continue to roll back the government’s war on the sick and the dying, and the White House drug czar can’t stop us any more than he can make water flow uphill."As for Massachusetts, the public seems to be in favor of medical marijuana — all five non-binding medical-marijuana initiatives on ballots across the state in 2004 passed by at least a two-to-one margin. There are two medical-marijuana bills now sitting in committee in both the House and the Senate. And if one of them does wind up on Mitt Romney’s desk, it’s likely the legislature will be pushing to override him as well.Note: Rhode Island follows through on medical marijuana. Source: Boston Phoenix (MA) Author: Ian DonnisPublished: January 6 - 12, 2006Copyright: 2006 Phoenix Media Communications GroupContact: letters phx.com Website: http://www.bostonphoenix.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/ Legislators OK Medical Use of Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21443.shtmlRhode Island Becomes 11th State To Legalize http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21442.shtmlPot Veto Not Enough http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21441.shtml

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Comment #22 posted by FoM on January 05, 2006 at 12:56:18 PT
Off Topic
Rush To Return Lobbyist Fundshttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/05/politics/main1181161.shtml
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on January 05, 2006 at 09:32:10 PT
Whig
We are an issue based and sharing views type web site here at CNews. If we weren't interested in news which touches on politics we wouldn't be here. Of course it is ok.
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Comment #20 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 09:28:24 PT
FoM
I hope it's okay to be an observer of politics, because I do that. I like to pay attention to what is going on in the world that can affect me and my family, and I try to read the trends to be able to figure out what is likely to happen. I also find that since other people pay attention to this stuff it's a good way to be able to talk about important things. I'd rather help people understand what is going on in the world as well as I understand, which is certainly imperfect, and others can help me to understand better.It's also more interesting to me than football, so take it as a spectator sport if you like.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on January 05, 2006 at 09:23:18 PT
whig 
Politics will corrupt. Maybe that's why I believe that people who are into politics aren't my kind of people. I like people who care about their families, children, friends and in general society but not politics.
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Comment #18 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 09:22:00 PT
kaptinemo
The author of that article has a really fascinating website of stuff your psychologist friend might like (I haven't read all of these essays yet, just skimmed a bit, but he seems to be dead-on accurate by my own lights.http://www.awakeninthedream.com/html/
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Comment #17 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 09:18:41 PT
FoM
I used to be politically active, even ran for office a couple times in my younger days, until I realized how I was being corrupted by it, and stopped.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on January 05, 2006 at 09:11:12 PT
Whig
I don't like politics and if I didn't do CNews and see how things are I wouldn't pay attention to politics at all. I never did. 
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Comment #15 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 09:05:01 PT
FoM
I understand that we may have different opinions of things, and if I were politically active we might express them by voting differently. But by abstaining, I do no harm to you. I do not mean to tell you what you should do, but I can speak of my own decisions and why I make them.If I voted, I would feel a participant in doing wrong by my friends, and I would certainly hope to consider you one of my friends.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on January 05, 2006 at 08:59:42 PT

Whig
I liked Kerry and I didn't think he made a fool of himself. He would have been good for us but that's my opinion and there is nothing that will change the fact we have Bush. I am not a voter either so I get what you saying. I won't vote for any minor party until the laws make it fair by changing campaign finance laws.As far as Waco goes no one was right.
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Comment #13 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 08:46:21 PT

FoM
Do you mean in 2000 or in 2004.I abstained from voting in both elections (as I have deliberately done since before then). However, this brings up an important point as to WHY I do not.Had I voted in 2000, and had I restricted my choice to Bush or Gore, I would have voted for Bush. Glad I didn't, aren't you? So am I. Well, I suppose it didn't make a difference for the country, but it certainly lets me sleep better at night, and I can speak with clear conscience about him, without it being partisan opposition or support.Why? Clinton. I deliberately abstained in the 1996 election too, though I probably voted for the Libertarian in 1992. Anyhow, remember Waco? I do. I wasn't going to support Gore under any condition. Bush portrayed himself as being against "nation building" and proposed a "modest foreign policy." Etcetera. The normal lies politicians make when they are out of power and want you to trust them with authority. The party out of power is always pretending to be standing up for your rights.In 2004, I have to tell you, Kerry made a clown of himself, supporting the war in Iraq rather than opposing it, trying to nuance every issue, and he basically THREW every issue.One of my very dear friends decided to vote for Bush in 2004 anyhow, because she decided that it was what America deserved, because we as a country had to learn our lesson. I don't agree with that and I wouldn't do it, but even she didn't foresee how bad he would become in just the first year of his second term.All this is beside the point if the allegations of vote manipulation by Diebold etc. are true. (They are, btw. The only purpose of getting people to vote in national elections is so they think they actually participated in choosing these people, so they will meekly submit to it.)
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Comment #12 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 08:26:16 PT

Potpal: about khat
Just FYIhttp://www.erowid.org/plants/khat/khat.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 05, 2006 at 08:11:03 PT

mayan
I am a simple person. I look at issues for a black and white explanation. I almost cry when I think of what the neo-cons have done to us. People on CNews that voted for Bush have never said why and lord knows I want to know why. I don't like to be confused and if people said why they love Bush maybe I would understand better. The only reason I can think of is they hate the free thinking of the northern state people. 
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Comment #10 posted by mayan on January 05, 2006 at 07:55:25 PT

Deteriorating
I just don't understand why the neo-cons aren't in prison right now. Look what they've done to Iraq. Some of our commanders over there say Iraq is on the brink of a civil war. And how can the American people put up with this sh*t?110 Iraqis, 7 U.S. soldiers die in bombings - Deadliest day of violence in months:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10703607/from/RSS/
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Comment #9 posted by potpal on January 05, 2006 at 06:30:53 PT

black market
Let's create another one...doh!http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4615415.stm 
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Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on January 05, 2006 at 06:07:53 PT:

Thanks, Whig
Damned scary stuff, indeed. I sent the link to a psychologist friend of mine to get his opinion. He has had to deal with some very disturbed people in his practice, and has already let slip that he thinks ol' Georgie is a few eggs short of a dozen...and what's left is cracked. Needless to say, I think it's much worse than that.
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on January 05, 2006 at 04:51:09 PT

mayan & siege,
mayan,“Bush supporters are literally mentally ill”I believe it is less mentally ill, and more, “Man of Lawlessness” in 2 Thes. 2, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=60&chapter=2&version=49&&& - “Cannabis-like compound prevents bone loss”We’ve only just begun to understand cannabis and bones.THCU Notice where this info is coming from:JERUSALEM-0-The Green Collar Worker

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Comment #6 posted by mayan on January 05, 2006 at 04:23:08 PT

whig
We are in the matrix. Bush supporters are literally mentally ill. How else can one explain such willful ignorance that is so obvious to the objective mind? They are the victims of the government's "psy-ops" and they haven't even the slightest clue about it. It is beyond simple denial. Here's a link to an article I posted on the previous thread regarding the government's psy-ops and 9/11. It has always been so obvious to me that 9/11 was an inside job but many brainwashed folks still buy the government's official line which is just amazingly absurd. Even the date of 9/11 was well thought out. I recommend this piece to evereyone... Apocalypse of Coercion: Why We Listen to What “They” Say About 9/11:
http://mujca.com/apocalypse.htm
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Comment #5 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 02:14:22 PT

Madness of George
 If you read nothing else today, read this: http://baltimorechronicle.com/011305PaulLevy.shtml ...Bush supporters are not merely disinterested in seeing that they are in denial of reality; on the contrary, they actively don’t want to look at this, which is to say they resist self-reflection at all costs. Bush and his supporters perversely interpret any feedback from the real world which reflects back their unconsciousness as itself evidence that proves the rightness of their viewpoint. All of Bush’s supporters mutually reinforce each other’s unconscious resistance to such a degree that a collective, interdependent field of impenetrability gets collectively conjured up by them that literally resists consciousness.People who don't recognize Bush's illness and support him are unconsciously colluding with and enabling in the co-creation of the pathological field that is incarnating itself into the human family. People who support Bush become unwitting agents through which this non-local disease feeds and replicates itself. By supporting Bush they are collaborating with and becoming parts of the greater, interconnected and self-organizing field of the disease.ANALAGOUS TO GERMANS IN THE TIME OF HITLERThe situation is very analogous to when seemingly good, normal, loving Germans supported Hitler, believing he was a good leader trying to help them. The German people didn't realize that the virulent pathogen malignant egophrenia had taken possession of Hitler and was incarnating itself through him. By not seeing this and supporting Hitler, they became agents used by this non-local, deadly disease to propagate itself. This was a collective psychosis, and this is what is taking place in our country right now...GENUINE COMPASSION AS ACTIVISM...Compassion is sometimes fierce, though. Sometimes it says "no," and sets a boundary. Genuine compassion is not always smiley-faced, otherwise known as "idiot compassion," which just enables and reinforces asleepness. Genuine compassion is not passive. It propels us to act for the benefit of all beings. True compassion demands us to be willing to consciously step into our power, mediated through the heart, and to find the courage to speak our true voice: The malignant egophrenia epidemic has induced a form of criminal insanity in the entire Bush regime that we are all complicit in by allowing it to happen.With Bush as president it’s as if we’re in a car going over the speed limit being driven by a drunk adolescent who has fallen asleep at the wheel. It’s our responsibility to recognize the extreme danger of our situation and come together to do something about it, whatever that might be. If not, if we continue to passively and helplessly watch what is playing out in front of our very eyes, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. To quote Abraham Lincoln, "We--even we here--hold the power, and bear the responsibility." Now is the time to join together and creatively express our true voice. As the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. says "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Our only limitation is in our own imagination.Malignant egophrenia is a true ‘reconciling symbol,’ in that it unites the opposites. Malignant egophrenia is both a deadly disease and the highest blessing co-joined in one phenomenon. Is it a wave or a particle? It is a true ‘coincidentia oppositorum,’ a conjunction of opposites, an expression of divinity. The question is, do we recognize what is being symbolically shown to us by egophrenia, or not?The inner meaning of the word apocalypse is ‘something hidden being revealed.’ Will these apocalyptic end times we are in be an initiation into a more expansive part of our being? Or will it destroy our species? The choice is truly ours. All that is needed is for enough of us to recognize what is being revealed, and to creatively act out of this realization. 
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Comment #4 posted by whig on January 05, 2006 at 01:39:37 PT

Don't you think he looks drunk?
I was watching CNN yesterday, and George W. Bush was shown walking and he looked completely fried. I even asked my wife if she thought he looked messed up. Turns out there is real speculation he's been drinking alcohol again.
Click for article
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Comment #3 posted by siege on January 05, 2006 at 00:34:57 PT

Cannabis-like compound prevents bone loss
http://tinyurl.com/79oz9JERUSALEM, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Israeli researchers have developed a prototype drug to prevent osteoporosisusing substances produced in the body that act like those found in cannabis.Researchers from the Bone Laboratory of the Hebrew University found that endocannabinoids, which are produced mainly in the brain, are present also in the bone and other tissues and have similar effects to those of the active components in hashish and marijuana, produced from the cannabis plant.The study, published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.), says endocannabinoids bind to and activate two receptors, CB1 and CB2.A study of genetically engineered mice lacking the CB2 receptor found that the CB2-deprived mice developed severe osteoporosis, similar to that which appears in humans. 

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Comment #2 posted by siege on January 05, 2006 at 00:15:39 PT

Cell Press
In an article in the January 5, 2006, issue of Neuron, the researchers reported experiments showing how the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) protects brain cells from inflammation. Such a role in the brain's immune system is distinct from cannabinoids' effects on neuronal signaling that produce the behavioral effects of marijuana.When Ullrich and colleagues analyzed brain tissue from people with MS, they found elevated levels of AEA, compared to healthy tissue. And in studies with mouse brain slices, they found that inducing damage with a brain-cell-exciting chemical, called NMDA, caused an invasion of the brain's immune cells, called microglia, and an increase in AEA levels.Importantly, they found that adding AEA to such damaged brain tissue abolished inflammatory damage to the brain cells, but did not reduce the primary "excitotoxic" damage from the chemical. They found similar effects of AEA when they damaged the brain tissue by depriving it of oxygen and glucose.http://tinyurl.com/8e2rg

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Comment #1 posted by ekim on January 04, 2006 at 20:09:11 PT

John Walters debate Norm Stampler i dare ya
Feb 10 06 Las Vegas Futurists 06:00 PM Norm Stamper Las Vegas Nevada USA 
 Members of the Las Vegas Futurists group welcome Speaker Norm Stamper to Borders Books for discussion and a book signing of Norm's truth telling new book "Breaking Rank". In this book, Norm states that "tens of thousands of otherwise innocent Americans incarcerated, many for 20 years, some for life; families ripped apart; drug traffickers and blameless bystanders shot dead on city streets; narcotics officers assassinated here and abroad, with prosecutors, judges, and elected officials in Latin America gunned down for their courageous stands against the cartels; and all those dollars spent on federal, state, and local cops, courts, prosecutors, prisons, probation, parole, and pee-in-the-bottle programs. Even federal aid to bribe distant nations to stop feeding our habit." Norms telling of the failures of drug prohibition on local, national and world scenes is sure to open the eyes of anyone that is interested in the truth. 

http://www.leap.cc/events
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