cannabisnews.com: San Francisco Has a Problem With Marijuana 





San Francisco Has a Problem With Marijuana 
Posted by CN Staff on July 02, 2006 at 15:19:44 PT
By Jesse McKinley, The New York Times
Source: International Herald-Tribune
San Francisco -- The newest attraction planned for Fisherman's Wharf, this city's most popular tourist destination, has no sign, no advertisements and not even a scrap of sourdough. Yet everyone seems to think that the new business, the Green Cross, will be a hit, drawing customers from all over to sample its sweet-smelling wares. For some, that is exactly the problem. The Green Cross is a cannabis club, one of scores that sell marijuana to patients carrying a doctor's note. The clubs have sprouted around California in the decade since the passage of Proposition 215, which legalized the use and sale of marijuana to those suffering from chronic pain, illness or infirmity.
San Francisco, a hot spot in the AIDS epidemic, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposition in 1996 and now has about 30 clubs that serve 25,000 patients and caregivers. But none of those medical-marijuana dispensaries, as they are formally known, have been opened in places anywhere as popular as Fisherman's Wharf, where most people come to enjoy chowder, Ghirardelli chocolate or cable cars. Now, with the opening of the new club just weeks away, some residents and merchants are fighting to keep it out. "The city is saturated with pot clubs," said T. Wade Randlett, president of SF SOS, a quality-of-life group that opposes the club. "Fisherman's Wharf is a tourism attraction and this is not the kind of tourism we're trying to attract." Emboldened by a series of regulations passed last autumn by the Board of Supervisors, some neighborhoods are resisting new marijuana dispensaries, which they assert attract crime and dealers bent on reselling the drugs. In the debate over the new rules last year, several neighborhoods successfully lobbied to be exempted from having clubs. Other neighborhoods managed to get clubs closed, including a previous version of the Green Cross, which was forced out of a storefront in the Mission District after neighbors said they had seen a rise in drug dealing, traffic problems and petty crime. Clubs in San Francisco now must go through a permit process, which includes public hearings, and the proposed dispensary at Fisherman's Wharf is the first to have done so. A hundred people packed a neighborhood meeting on June 13, peppering the club's owner, Kevin Reed, with questions. Outside, fliers were handed out imploring residents to "Stop Marijuana Store!" and listing the planned club's proximity to schools and hotels. Liz Naughton Moore, 33, a lawyer who lives about a block from the planned location, said she dreaded the thought of walking her 18-month-old son anywhere near it. "Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see this is not an appropriate location," she said. "I understand patients need to have access to it, but I think with 30 locations, they have options." All of this upsets Reed, who founded the first Green Cross in 2004. He said he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on security and other expenses to make his club a model for marijuana dispensaries. "I've changed so much and brought so much professionalism to the movement, but the public can't see that," he said. "I took it from the 1960s into the 20th century." The unopened dispensary at Fisherman's Wharf has all the trappings of modern retail: high-speed Internet access, high-tech security cameras and high-end merchandise. An ounce of marijuana will sell for $300, and Reed's outlet will have a whopping 55 varieties. "I would love to offer it out of a hospital, I would love to offer it out of Walgreen's, but the truth is, they're not allowing that," said Reed, who uses marijuana himself to ease the pain of a back injury. "So somebody has to open a place like this and show that it can be done right." What that includes, he said, is abiding by a batch of new rules. Chief among those is a stipulation that forbids clubs from opening within 1,000 feet of a school or a community center. "This wasn't our original location, nor was it our ideal location," Reed said, adding that tourism at Fisherman's Wharf had nothing to do with his decision. "But it was really hard finding legal areas." One of those legal areas happened to be at the wharf, which is zoned primarily for commercial use. But Christopher Martin, whose family owns the Cannery, a three-story retail and restaurant complex a block from the proposed club, said that the neighborhood had been trying to become more upscale and residential, and that a pot club did not figure into those plans. "We are trying to build a more stable, more interesting community here," Martin said. What local merchants said they feared most was the clientele's smoking in the neighborhood, congregating on the sidewalks or clogging streets with double- parked cars. Reed said that his security personnel would prevent loitering and that 16 security cameras would constantly monitor the club and the area. "Criminals that deal drugs don't want to come into a store where they are being recorded," he said. The pot clubs themselves, which are usually cash businesses with ample amounts of product, are sometimes targets of crime. Four in San Francisco were robbed in 2005, and a club downtown was robbed last weekend during the Gay Pride Parade. What both sides can agree on - in classic San Francisco fashion - is that the problem is really Oakland's fault. In 2004, the smaller, less glamorous city across the bay banned most of its cannabis clubs, pushing many to reopen in San Francisco. Many other cities in the state followed with bans or restrictions. Reed's proposed dispensary also comes at a time when medical marijuana's legal standing is murky. Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld federal authority to prosecute the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, despite voter-approved laws that allow medical marijuana in California and nearly a dozen other states. That decision prompted California to stop issuing identification cards to patients, for fear of opening state workers to federal charges of abetting a crime. (Patients, who need a doctor's recommendation to get marijuana, can still be issued cards by San Francisco and other California cities.) The rising neighborhood opposition to the clubs also stands in striking juxtaposition to the personal political beliefs of many in a city that prides itself on a progressive attitude. "Every single person I've ever spoken to and every meeting I've ever went to, if there was any opposition at all, the first words out of their mouth is, 'I voted for this,'" Reed said. Martin concurred: "Both the merchants and the residents - though philosophically we don't have a problem with medicinal marijuana being available, we all voted for it - we think customers are going to be better served in another location. We just think it's the wrong time, wrong place." Tourists seemed unaware of the controversy. "I think it's a pretty eclectic neighborhood anyway," said Tony Accardo, 54, a financial analyst from Dallas. "My only concern would be if it attracted clientele that might affect the neighborhood. You know, riffraff." Source: International Herald-Tribune (International)Author: Jesse McKinley, The New York TimesCopyright: 2006 International Herald Tribune Published: July 2, 2006Contact: letters iht.comWebsite: http://www.iht.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #52 posted by Max Flowers on July 05, 2006 at 12:39:04 PT
whig
Beards are as common as cars here in the bay area. You'd almost stand out more without one!
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Comment #51 posted by afterburner on July 05, 2006 at 07:42:39 PT
E_Johnson #28
Wonderful LTE! I too hope they publish it. They "gotta lotta 'splainin' to do."
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Comment #50 posted by Had Enough on July 04, 2006 at 15:26:50 PT
Are You Going to San Francisco
San FranciscoI was there some time ago. Went down to the Fisherman’s Wharf several times.Experienced the same as User123.But I loved the rest of it. Kind of wish I would have stayed, sometimes.San Mateo is beautiful.
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Comment #49 posted by whig on July 04, 2006 at 12:54:22 PT
user123
I wonder if they consider anybody looking kind of like a hippie to be "riffraff" though.I've been growing my beard out lately. So when I arrive in San Francisco I probably won't look quite as conservative as I pretended to be in Pennsylvania.
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Comment #48 posted by user123 on July 04, 2006 at 11:27:44 PT:
Business as Usual
I live & work in San Francisco. Been a club member for almost 5 years. "I think it's a pretty eclectic neighborhood anyway," said Tony Accardo, 54, a financial analyst from Dallas. "My only concern would be if it attracted clientele that might affect the neighborhood. You know, riffraff." 
Guess what? There are "riffraff" type characters all over the city & the proximity to a MJ club, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! I can't take a break at work & walk around the Van Ness area w/o being asked over & over for spare change. Oh, and the people asking for the change, you can tell that alot of them are in a homeless situation thanks to that legal substance - Alcohol.
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Comment #47 posted by FoM on July 04, 2006 at 09:45:52 PT
unkat27 
Yes I did understand. I understand music better then animations though. A song can open up a whole new world for me. 
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Comment #46 posted by unkat27 on July 04, 2006 at 09:39:40 PT
FoM
Thanks for the feedback on my animation.But what I'd really like to know is, did the satirical point get across? That is, after all, one of the main reasons for putting ideas into satirical animation, so that we don't have to explain it in words (and because it's easier to watch the characters move and read a few lines than to read a long, boring article).
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Comment #45 posted by Had Enough on July 03, 2006 at 20:44:11 PT
“Under the Influence” of Power
Good thing Ingraham, Malkin, & Coulter are not residing judges.Or could they be? Already?Hey!!! What's that sound???
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Comment #44 posted by FoM on July 03, 2006 at 18:06:08 PT
unkat27
Interesting animation. Thanks.
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Comment #43 posted by mayan on July 03, 2006 at 17:02:37 PT
Whig,Max
Whig, Karzai is likely getting rich off of opium. Isn't it strange how every new harvest sets a record while he's been in power? Max, I've listened to Ingraham's radio show before and it's not surprising. Some folks will do anything for the almighty buck! If she actually believes the cripe she spews then she is a very twisted individual. The simple truth is that the 9/11 Truth movement can no longer be ignored.Veterans for 9/11 Truth:
http://www.v911t.org/ 
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Comment #42 posted by Had Enough on July 03, 2006 at 16:43:33 PT
"Repulsive New Creatures"
I'm thinkin Michelle Malkin. This woman is a very unhappy individual.Kinda; “Unhinged”
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Comment #41 posted by Max Flowers on July 03, 2006 at 16:18:50 PT
mayan / laura ingraham
I just read that so-called interview of Fetzer that you linked to... oh boy, this Laura Ingraham person is another fine piece of work in the slimy Ann Coulter mold. That "interview" was a joke, she had Fetzer on her show for the sole purpose of trying to make him look bad. She had no interest in hearing anything he had to say and was just tossing insults at him and interrupting him.I am mystified by this new crop of extreme-right-wing, vicious, pro-war, hate-filled women! Where have they come from? Who/what is breeding this repulsive new creature?? 
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Comment #40 posted by whig on July 03, 2006 at 15:01:41 PT
mayan
Did you see in that article that Hamid Karzai declared a "jihad on poppies"?So we've got nothing against Jihadis as long as they are our Jihadis, right?
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Comment #39 posted by mayan on July 03, 2006 at 14:56:33 PT
Misc.
War on Drugs Targets Harmless Weed:
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=5&no=302525&rel_no=1On an unrelated note, it seems that Afghanistan is on it's way to producing yet another record opium crop. Yeah, the war on drugs has definitely been won...Two British soldiers killed as Afghan poppy crop booms:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1155183.eceTHE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Visibility 9/11 Interviews Kevin Barrett (mp3):
http://www.visibility911.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=106499&comments=onLaura Ingraham Interviews Jim Fetzer (transcript): 
http://www.scholarsfor911truth.org/IngrahamFetzer_30June2006.htmlFlight of Capital:
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=2006070315520640IS BUILDING SEVEN THE SMOKING GUN OF 9/11?
http://freedomforceinternational.org/printerfriendly.cfm?pffile=Bldg7_content.cfmChange in Venue or Date will not Alter Decision:
http://www.teamliberty.net/id273.htmlThe National 9/11 Debate:
http://www.teamliberty.net/id244.html
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Comment #38 posted by Had Enough on July 03, 2006 at 14:40:10 PT
Relative
Also, there's some BIG news today on new research backing the use of
pomegranate juice for slowing the growth of prostate cancer tumors:http://www.newstarget.com/019541.htmlJust one glass of pom juice a day works better for halting prostate
cancer tumors than any prescription drug ever invented. Amazing, but
true. Plus, it's perfectly safe (zero side effects) and a fraction of
the price of drugs.So why doesn't this receive more headlines? It's simple: Drug
companies can't patent pomegranate juice. There's no money to be made
in medicines provided by nature.To your health,
- Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
******These guys keep filling my inbox. I didn’t sign up, but they have been sending stuff for about 6 months.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #37 posted by FoM on July 03, 2006 at 14:14:01 PT
Off Topic: A Blast from The Past
The Beatles in Manila' 40 years ago today John, Paul, George and Ringo cry 'Help!' ***Monday, July 03, 2006Seemingly strange occurrences marked the circumstances surrounding the Beatles concert in Manila on July 4, 1966, the 40th year of which we are celebrating today. But when investigated considering the milieu, they turn out to be just madcap manifestations of the period's innocence and changing times. In this commemorative article, those circumstances are exposed to put them in correct perspective, enabling one to tell what really happened to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr when they had a taste of Pinoy people and culture for three days. Panic over briefcases at the MIA runway. The Beatles briefcases contained their stock of herbal drug, particularly marijuana. By 1966, the Beatles have turned into potheads. The recreational chemical habit was introduced to them by Bob Dylan during their first meeting at the Hotel Del Monico in New York in 1964. When those briefcases were left unattended on the runway when they disembarked from the Cathay Pacific plane and speeded up to the press conference at the Manila Yacht Club along Dewey Blvd. (now Roxas Blvd.), the Beatles panicked! Neil Aspinall, in charge of transfer of those bags, snatched and loaded them in his service car, immediately following the speeding car that carried the Beatles. They knew drugs were illegal items in most countries, the act being out-and-out drug smuggling.George stated in desperation, “This is it; we’re going to get busted.”Complete Article: http://maxwelledison.blogspot.com/2006/07/beatles-in-manila-40-years-ago-today.html
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Comment #36 posted by FoM on July 03, 2006 at 14:08:54 PT
NPR: In Alaska, Crisis over Pot Is One of Identity
By Annie Feidt Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:30 p.m. ET
 All Things Considered, July 3, 2006 · A Juneau, Alaska, Superior Court judge is hearing a case this week that could block enforcement of a new law penalizing marijuana possession for personal use in the home. The new law overturns decades of uniquely liberal marijuana statues in the state, all based on strict privacy rights enshrined in the Alaskan state constitution. From the Alaska Public Radio Network, Annie Feidt reports.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5531052
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Comment #35 posted by Hope on July 03, 2006 at 13:50:16 PT
Excellent, EJ
I so hope it gets printed.
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Comment #34 posted by lombar on July 03, 2006 at 13:44:45 PT
Buddy Cannaseed
Maybe there is a webpage idea there .. :)If you dig around...I bet you can find an executive order or somesuch that would permit the airforce to shoot the Buddy aircraft and you can BET there would not be any 'stand-down' orders. 
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on July 03, 2006 at 13:40:02 PT
MBC
That is too much. They really do think that anything representing a Hippie is horrible.hip·pie also hip·py  ( P ) Pronunciation Key (hp)
n. pl. hip·pies A person who opposes and rejects many of the conventional standards and customs of society, especially one who advocates extreme liberalism in sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles.
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Comment #32 posted by whig on July 03, 2006 at 13:24:40 PT
lombar
I love the Johnny Appleseed project, but given the state's behavior it shouldn't be over private property. If you could do the flight over a national forest and drop seeds like that it would be freaking awesome.
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Comment #31 posted by lombar on July 03, 2006 at 13:02:32 PT
Toker
As long as we are not the Cannabis Liberation Organisation, or Cannamas. Do you think the USA government would think it terrorism to drop buds on crowds? Exploding bags of chronic peppering people softly?Have you ever wondered how many cannabis seeds could fit in a c-17 cargo carrier? Could you see dropping b i l l i o n s of seeds every spring ??? Would that be an act of turr? :)
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Comment #30 posted by mai_bong_city on July 03, 2006 at 13:02:28 PT
worth a read.
this is a pretty cool piece i just read, that i thought y'all might like to see. isn't it ironic?
happy indy days, all.http://tinyurl.com/gsbzx
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Comment #29 posted by Dankhank on July 03, 2006 at 09:13:55 PT
EJ ,,, good one ...
EJyour short and to-the-point ltr is perfect.It should be sent everywhere ...
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Comment #28 posted by E_Johnson on July 03, 2006 at 08:32:18 PT
Here's what I wrote their public editor
Dear public editor,Why does the Times treat marijuana as if it is completely beyond the powers of science? You printed a huge article on the fight over a medpot club in San Francisco. Isn't that basically a local problem?Yet you ignored completely the two biggest science stories about marijuana this year:1. Dr. Donald Tashkin of UCLA, the world's most noted expert in smoking and lung disease, announced at a conference that his research shows even heavy pot smokers do not get lung cancer from smoking pot. This strange result can most likely be explained, he says, by the natural tumor killing properties of the active ingredients in marijuana.2. A team of cancer researchers in Italy has confirmed a result known since 1974 -- the active ingredients in marijuana kill breast cancer cells with great efficiency and zeal.Why is a local fight over zoning so important to your paper, yet lung cancer and breast cancer are not?Really, why do you make this choice? The science is there. You're just refusing to tell people about it. Why?
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on July 03, 2006 at 08:31:33 PT
Interesting Article from BuyBlue.org
Vegetables of Mass Destruction - Too Many Bushes, Not Enough Weed***July 3, 2006A while ago, I wrote about buying hemp pants. When you go looking for sustainable fibers for clothing, the answers are always the same (hemp, linen, bamboo, and organic cotton), and the clothing is almost always hard to find and/or expensive.The response I got to that diary led me to read more about the history and uses of hemp. One great use for hemp is...eating it.Now, there's more than one way to eat it. Before you start envisioning brownies, I am going to kill your fun by saying that I'd like to talk about eating hempseeds and hemp oil. You can't get high from hempseeds and hemp oil.Complete Article: http://www.buyblue.org/node/6399
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Comment #26 posted by unkat27 on July 03, 2006 at 08:13:34 PT
DEA meets Coast Guard
"Liz Naughton Moore, 33, a lawyer who lives about a block from the planned location, said she dreaded the thought of walking her 18-month-old son anywhere near it. "Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see this is not an appropriate location," she said. "I understand patients need to have access to it, but I think with 30 locations, they have options."This is either a woman who has bought all the federal DEA BS or a woman who doesn't like the idea of having so many sick people visiting her neighborhood.On the lighter side, it will give the DEA a chance to shake hands with the Coast Guard.
My latest political cartoon in gif animation
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Comment #25 posted by FoM on July 03, 2006 at 07:46:59 PT
Just a Comment
I hope everyone is having a fun holiday weekend. There isn't any news but maybe something good will surface later on. Have a wonderful day.My normal way to start the day these days is listening to Living With War. Soon the Freedom of Speech tour starts and I am looking forward to reading the reactions from other NY fans on a list I follow after they see it. 
CSNY: Freedom of Speech Tour
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Comment #24 posted by Toker00 on July 03, 2006 at 06:16:51 PT
We need to form a new world-wide Allegiance.
We have the United States and the United Nations. Are our states United? Really? Are the Nations of the Earth United? Really? We need to form the United People. The United People of Cannabis Nation. We must show the rest of the world what true unity is. We must show how a people, United, can never be Divided. The Elite are warring themselves into a corner. War doesn't bring people, states, or nations together for very long, if ever. But let me tell you what does. Without firing a shot, without torturing a soul, without telling a lie, we have succeeded in a movement that has, and increasingly will, cost governments of the world BILLIONS of dollars to TRY to stop. It can't be done. This plant has a destiny set by a far greater power than ever witnessed on Earth. Indeed, we are not a movement any longer, but a (world wide) Nation of Cannabists. We have become Cannabis Nation.Cannabis is alive and thriving in every Nation on the Earth. Some Nations are healing. Canada was healing until the hands of DEAth ripped the scab off. Like they do to us with every cannabis arrest, every medicine denial. Our movement has survived because with each wound the DEA inflicts, cannabis rushes in to heal. With every mind that acknowledges The Truth, cannabis begins it's healing. I'm so proud of the healing LEAP is going through. I believe Healing and Truth spread just like Disease and Lies. If you come in contact with any of these things, you become infected. Infect me with Truth and Cannabis God so I may help with the healing of the Nations.  As we celebrate (?) this National holiday, let's pledge our allegiance not to a government based on lies and war, but to a People infected with Truth and Healing. CANNABIS NATION.Let the healing begin. No one is forced to ingest cannabis. But everyone is required to acknowledge that cannabis, in it's natural form, is MEDICINE. Adulterated by the Poison Pill Pushers, it becomes a DRUG, and belongs to the DEAth, not the PEaceOPLE.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! 
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Comment #23 posted by charmed quark on July 03, 2006 at 05:50:41 PT
Description is at odds with what I have seen
The statement that the clubs attract criminals or that people are buying cannabis at the clubs for resale makes little sense.I've visted a few of the clubs in the Bay Area, including Oakland. You can't even get in the door without your membership card. I had to make special arrangements to visit the clubs - I was interested in seeing how they work so I could report people in the state where I live. And it wasn't easy. I never saw people smoking on the street near the clubs. And the idea that people would buy cannabis at a club for resale is silly. It's already pretty overpriced at the clubs. Why not buy directly from the "wholesalers" who are common in California?I think it's fine to take steps before there is a problem. There may be too many clubs in SF ( I don't know). And you certainly don't want people lottering outside near the clubs. So take reasonable precautions to prevent this.But most of the people I've seen at the clubs are sick and don't have the energy to lotter around standing up. Some of the clubs have small social areas inside where you can sit instead. This seemed like a good idea.Anyway - the fears presented int he article seemed a mischaracterization of what I've seen.
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Comment #22 posted by lombar on July 02, 2006 at 23:30:19 PT
US Approves New AIDS Pill for Global Relief Effort
US Approves New AIDS Pill for Global Relief Efforts
By VOA News
02 July 2006
	U.S. government regulators have given tentative approval to a new drug-combination AIDS pill aimed at making treatment easier.The tablet, made by a pharmaceutical company in India (Aurobindo Pharma), combines three active ingredients (lamivudine, zidovudine and nevirapine) already used separately in HIV treatment.The new pill is being distributed in 15 nations as part of President Bush's $15 billion AIDS relief program. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the pill, taken twice daily, will make it easier for adults in the most affected nations to maintain their drug treatment regimen.The tablet cannot be sold in the United States due to existing patents on the individual ingredients. 
US Approves New AIDS Pill for Global Relief Efforts
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Comment #21 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 20:56:33 PT
Christen-Mitchell
Hey I just dropped over your site and your explanation of the Church-Industrial complex was something I hadn't seen before and I thought it was pretty brilliantly explained."Corporations and wealthy patrons, feed and nourish certain pastors and churches --churches and pastors who espouse ideas that are not favorable to the material interests of people with money, over a long period of time, disappear from the ecosystem at a higher rate than those whose ideology coincides with them."Love of money is the root of all this evil.
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Comment #20 posted by Christen-Mitchell on July 02, 2006 at 20:38:38 PT:
War on Drugs/War on Terror - Frauds Both
Forty years on the wrong side of the War on Drugs, ok, the left side, has made me suspicious of the War on Terror from the start.My initial reaction to 911 was that our government was responsible. Years went by without a thought about it. Then the lack of plane debris at the pentagon bothered me. Then the demolition of World Trade Center Building 7 bothered me. And the craters that remained of building 6.In the middle of my Cannabis - Hemp - Marijuana site Hemptopia.org I've got 7 or 8 pictures which make a simple presentation of the fraud which resulted in the incredibly foul war our government has become entrenched in, at the price of the good name of the United States. 
Hemptopia - Don't Go Here
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Comment #19 posted by Sam Adams on July 02, 2006 at 20:26:11 PT
drugwatch
Mayan - I love the home page quotes from the IOM authors at the 1999 press conference. It's so obvious - they're already backing away from everything they said in the report, no doubt due to overwhelming pressure and facing the end of their careers as government researchers.  Personally, I'll trust what they originally decided to put in the report, not their desperate verbal backpeddling while under attack from the White House.
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Comment #18 posted by Sam Adams on July 02, 2006 at 20:23:43 PT
sonny boy
Ooops, I thought the kid was 18, not 18 months. Even more ridiculous. If she doesn't want the kid to walk by the dispensary, what is she doing in the middle of a huge city anyway? Why not move to the suburbs, get a few acres, no one will be able to bother you or your poor over-protected, spoiled toddler.The intolerance is really so primitive.  In Montreal, in the summer, you can walk down the street and see dozens of restaurants and clubs, the front parts open to the sidewalk, people inside drinking and dancing.  What is wrong with people in this country that we can't walk down the street and look in and see other people enjoying a drink or smoke together. That is mental illness.  It's pathological. Amsterdam is a beautiful city with dozens of coffeeshops open not just to the sick, but to everyone over 18. It is a city full of world-class art and music, and smart, hard-working businessmen and women.  The teenage MJ usage rate is HALF of America's. The oppression backfires completely! Kids in the US take one look at the repressive, intolerant future that awaits them, and desperately get high to escape. Who would want to be born into "The Scarlet Letter"??
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on July 02, 2006 at 19:45:34 PT
Prohibitionist Scum
Drug Watch International:
http://www.drugwatch.org/
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Comment #16 posted by mayan on July 02, 2006 at 19:37:43 PT
Hemp Basher
Jeanette McDougal, chairman of the Hemp Committee of Drug Watch, is bashing industrial hemp. However, she fails to give any reason why American farmers should not have the right to cultivate industrial hemp...VIEWPOINT: Supporters overrate the value of hemp:
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/opinion/14950137.htmTo respond with a LTE: tdennis gfherald.comTHE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Jessica McBride and Steve Nass Exposed as MUJCA Agents!
http://mujca.com/mujcaagents.htm9/11: What Happened, Why, and What can be Done about it?
http://www.mwsocialforum.org/node/589Lecturer backed on talk about 9/11: 
http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/index.php?ntid=89596&ntpid=1911podcasts.com presents Jessica McBride interviews Kevin Barrett: 
http://www.911podcasts.com/display.php?vid=128An Intro to the 9/11 Truth Movement:
http://bluesantaclarita.blogspot.com/2006/06/guest-post-intro-to-911-truth-movement.html
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Comment #15 posted by ekim on July 02, 2006 at 19:22:02 PT
walking her 18-month-old son anywhere near it. 
right on sam--------lets hope that when her son get to be a teen this persecution will have ended. I do wonder what kind of relationship the two will have at that time.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on July 02, 2006 at 19:13:06 PT
Marijuana Fight Envelops Wharf in San Francisco
This article is almost identical to the one already posted but it's in the New York Times and I thought I should post the link.New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/k3288
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on July 02, 2006 at 18:41:12 PT
Whig
Yes I agree.
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Comment #12 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 18:37:27 PT
FoM
I know some people are too sick to grow for themselves but keep in mind also some people aren't able to grow cannabis where they live if it's not a protected right for medical patients, because it could violate their rental agreement or something. You can't force sick people to move or to risk being evicted, so the dispensaries are very needed.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on July 02, 2006 at 18:32:19 PT
Well Whig
I agree but I don't think they will want to do that. I could be wrong though.
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Comment #10 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 18:32:08 PT
FoM
On rethought I don't want to get involved in forcing the insurance companies to do that. It's an ugly battle and we don't need to or want to rely on the state to provide us with cannabis. But we should be allowed to buy collectively for our own medical needs and have our own clinics paid for out of our own health care cooperatives.
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Comment #9 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 18:29:25 PT
FoM
You know if the insurance companies were required to pay for the medicine there would be a strong incentive to bring the price down, because the insurance companies wouldn't want to pay $300/ounce.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on July 02, 2006 at 18:28:53 PT
Whig
Some people are very sick and can't grow even if it was legal to do. If it was legal and people could grow their own it would be as inexpensive as SJW.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 02, 2006 at 18:26:49 PT
whig
I agree. It shouldn't cost much at all. I have bought SJW by the ounce and it was very inexpensive. The price would be in how much it would cost to pay for a dispensary ( rent, utilities) and staff. I was trying to figure in overhead.
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Comment #6 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 18:21:53 PT
FoM
It should cost about the same as any bunch of herbal material, which is to say it should be practically too cheap to care. What's an ounce of hops cost? Good quality will always be more, and there's plenty of room for higher priced varieties but a basic bud of standard quality should be a few bucks for an ounce, at most.That is, if cannabis were legal to grow.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on July 02, 2006 at 18:14:01 PT
Just a Comment
From the article: An ounce of marijuana will sell for $300.That is so much money. It shouldn't cost much at all. If they allowed people to grow and supply the clubs the price would drop very quickly. If it dropped down to say $100 or maybe even less think of the money that could be circulated by buying products instead of spending all their money on Medicinal Cannabis.
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Comment #4 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 18:08:04 PT
sam
So what they're saying is they'll let us help people but only if we do it in secret so other people don't find out that marijuana is medicine.
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Comment #3 posted by sam adams on July 02, 2006 at 18:02:25 PT
pretty funny
Fisherman's Wharf is the most cheesy neighborhood in all of San Fransisco! The people that I know in the city laugh at it and never go there. It's the ugly tourist trap in a city of great aesthetic and cultural beauty.The recurring "my teenager" vs. medical marijuana theme always infuriates me. The crass arrogance of the average American person is staggering. How dare some woman think that her son walking by a dispensary is more important than the suffering and constant pain of thousands of people who need to get medicine. What a disgrace. Take your spoiled teenage brat that you failed to raise correctly and stick him where the sun don't shine lady.
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Comment #2 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 18:01:14 PT
Clubs?
These are medical marijuana dispensaries. People who are sick go there for help. There should be a dispensary in every neighborhood because there are sick people who need cannabis every day and they should not have to travel across town all the time to get their medicine.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 02, 2006 at 17:50:52 PT
San Francisco
They sure are out there on the cutting edge. I hope someday all the states and cities will stand up and push like they do in San Francisco.
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