cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - February 22, 2007





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - February 22, 2007
Posted by CN Staff on February 22, 2007 at 15:56:08 PT
Weekly Press Release 
Source: NORML 
Colorado: City Shelves Proposed Pot PenaltiesFebruary 22, 2007 - Lafayette, CO, USALafayette, CO: Lafayette City Council members have abruptly withdrawn a proposed ordinance that sought to significantly increase municipal penalties for minor marijuana possession.
Council members shelved the proposal late last week following the resignation of Lafayette Municipal Court Associate Judge Lenny Frieling, who stepped down to protest the measure. Frieling, who is a lifetime member of NORML's legal committee, told the Council that he would be "morally and ethically unable to sit as a judge for the city" if they enacted the law.As proposed, Ordinance No. 6 would have made minor marijuana possession offenses punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail. Under Colorado law, minor pot violations are punishable by a $100 fine and no jail time.The City Council was to have affirmed the ordinance this week. Council members instead elected to hold a public workshop on the measure in April. Last November, a majority of Lafayette voters decided in favor of Amendment 44, which sought to remove all criminal penalties on the possession of one ounce of cannabis.For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500. An interview with Attorney Lenny Frieling is available on the February 20, 2007 edition of the NORML Daily AudioStash.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7188Cannabis Poses Less On-Road Risk Than Alcohol, US Crash Data SaysFebruary 22, 2007 - Thunder Bay, OntarioThunder Bay, Ontario: US drivers involved in fatal crashes who had trace levels of cannabis in their blood or urine are less likely to have engaged in risky driving behavior than drivers who test positive for low levels of alcohol, according to case-control data published in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.Investigators at Ontario's Lakeland University, Public Health Program, reviewed drug and alcohol data from US drivers aged 20-49 who were involved in a fatal crash from 1993 to 2003. Researchers separated motorists into 'cases' (drivers who had at least one potentially unsafe driving action recorded in relation to the crash) and 'controls' (drivers who had no such driving action recorded). Investigators sought to determine whether drivers who tested positive for cannabis but negative for alcohol were more likely to have engaged in risky driving behavior than drivers who tested negative for both pot and alcohol. Over the ten-year period, 1,647 drivers tested negative for alcohol, but tested positive for the presence of THC in their blood or urine.Researchers concluded that alcohol-free drivers who tested positive for cannabis had a slightly elevated risk of engaging in a potentially unsafe action compared to sober drivers, even after controlling for age, sex, and prior driving record. However, investigators also reported that drivers who tested positive for low levels of alcohol (.05 BAC) possessed a significantly greater risk of engaging in such risky driving behaviors compared to sober drivers.Investigators wrote: "The findings point to cannabis as a potential risk factor in fatal crashes. Individuals who tested positive for cannabis but negative for alcohol had a 29 percent excess risk of having driven in a fashion that may have contributed to the crash, compared to drivers who tested negative for cannabis. ... Yet these estimates appear small compared to alcohol and some prescription medications."Motorists who had BAC of .05 percent, a threshold well below the legal limit for drunk driving in the US, had a 101 percent excessive risk of having driven in a risky manner compared to alcohol-free drivers, authors reported. Drivers with a BAC of .10, just over the US legal limit for drunk driving, had a 200 percent excess risk.Canadian researchers also determined that motorists who tested positive for cannabis were generally younger, male, and had a poorer driving record in the prior three years than drivers who tested negative for pot.Responding to the study, California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer said: "This is the latest in a long line of studies to show that marijuana is a lesser on-road accident hazard than alcohol. Yet, ironically, federal drug policy has been more geared toward exaggerating the minor on-road risks posed by cannabis and downplaying the known risks posed by alcohol."An analysis of French crash data published in the British Journal of Medicine in 2005 similarly reported that drivers who tested positive for cannabis in the blood were far less likely to have been involved in a fatal traffic fatality than drivers who possessed BAC levels of .05-.08. According to previous studies of on-road crash data, past use of cannabis (as indicated by the presence of marijuana metabolites in the urine) is not associated with an elevated risk of accident. By contrast, drivers who test positive for THC in the blood above 5 ng/ml (indicating recent use of pot) are typically associated with an elevated risk of accident compared to drivers who test negative for cannabis and/or test positive for very low levels of THC in the blood.THC blood levels typically fall below 5 ng/ml in recreational (non-chronic) cannabis users within 60 to 120 minutes after inhalation.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500 or Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858. Full text of the study, "The impact of cannabis on driving," appears in the January/February issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7189Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: February 22, 2007Copyright: 2007 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml 
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Comment #17 posted by Toker00 on February 24, 2007 at 11:44:55 PT
whig
I guess I just imagined a paper trail MEANT paper ballots. Maybe all "Machines" should be outlawed, and paper ballots with indelible ink only allowed. Simplify language on initiatives and give ALL Presidential candidates equal air/debate time with 10% pollings. Do away with Lobbyists and no contributions over $10,000 acceptable from ANY corporation or individual. If you can't get your message across with $10,000 donations, then you have a very weak message. That would at least allow small businesses and individuals a CHANCE to donate with equal dollar power to major (PUKE) korporations. It wouldn't remove all corruption, but it might be a reasonable beginning.FoM, do not despair. Miracles have occurred unexpectedly in the past, and I suspect they will continue in the future. It's always so gratifying when one happens and the people can rejoice and breath a little easier. 9-11 is just ONE lie we have to expose. There are many more in our past and being prepared for our future. All we have to fight with is the Truth. God help us, please.Toke. 
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on February 24, 2007 at 07:16:10 PT
Toker00 and Mayan
We are at a crossroad in time. If we can't stop this administration what could happen next is beyond my imagination. The agenda of the right is very scary to me. Many people are or were fundamentalist Christians (I was) and I learned that we should fear and stand against a one world order. I will never believe that we have the right to control and rule the world. I am following Senator Obama's campaign very closely. I see people that want the same thing as I do gravitating towards Obama. I know he will have to confront marijuana during his campaign and I hope he uses as much sense as he has been in everything he says when it comes to us. That's why I have hope. I am worried someone will kill him like they did JFK. If that would happen my last hope in our system will be gone and that will be that for me.Austin, Texas: Over 20,000 Gather For Barack Obamahttp://keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_054223608.html
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Comment #15 posted by Toker00 on February 24, 2007 at 06:51:54 PT
Mayan
That is what I worry about, too. It's clear to those of us who know that 9-11 was an inside job that they could very easily do it again. Have we spread the Truth far and wide enough to convince enough people we are nothing more than corporate slaves? Most people can't even imagine that life could be different, that another world IS possible. All we have to do is stop working for money and start caring and working for one another. Boycotts, Civil Disobedience and, yes, MARTYRDOM are the things we are not seeing and things will NOT change until we see these things in massive numbers. We have to make everyone realize that there are only two choices to make, either we conform and become willing slaves, or we bust the corporate chains and become natural Human Beings again. Are any of us even willing to sacrifice what it will take to actually take control of this nation for the People and not the Money? Money is arguably the most powerful substance on Earth. How do you neutralize it so it has no power? STOP BUYING. STOP WORKING. I don't know any other way. How many among us are realistically capable of pulling this off? Not near enough. They have forced us and brain washed us into believing we need the government in order for our country to exist. Bullshit. These powerful Money Mongers would wilt in place if enough of us GATHERED in front of the military bases and the police stations to demand REAL Democracy based of Human Rights and not Corporate Rights. We have to be willing to completely replace the system we have with a natural one. Any suggestions? How do you get 300 people on the same page at the same time? I've educated quite a few people with the dvds I circulate. But are enough of us doing that? Are we talking to our neighbors about it? Do we bring up the subject in town meetings or at popular events? As many people who know the Truth need to convince only one other person and that number is doubled. The problem with 9-11 is all the outrageous speculation about space energy weapons bringing them down, holograms, and such. Keep it simple. Controlled demolition explosions were heard by many, many people. Who benefited from these events and who was in place to bring it about? How do you get the MSM to report the Truth? The media is the key, I think. Protests should be outside major media outlets as well as city halls. Still, there will be a very large number of people who just WILL NOT get it.I hate to say it, but until the masses rebel, we are stuck.Toke. 
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Comment #14 posted by mayan on February 24, 2007 at 03:51:57 PT
Toker
What I worry about most is...let's say there was another "terror attack" today. Would Americans once again be whipped into a patriotic frenzy like they were after 9/11? You know the mainstream media would be beating the war drums once again, even if the attack was an obvious inside job. They are as complicit as the RepubliCrats. Would there be a U.S. flag on every other car that drove by? Would support for another war be popular? Would folks like us be rounded up and thrown into the Halliburton detention camps? Would the Constitution be suspended along with the next elections? Tommy Franks already said martial law would be declared. The ptb will do anything to advance their agenda and maintain their power. It's truly a race against time to expose 9/11 before the next king size 9/11 happens and I believe it will before Bush leaves office. I fear the next attack will be so big that the masses will likely fall for it again. I can see a medium sized or even a large city being sacrificed so the current regime can remain in power indefinitely. Time is running out for the PNAC crew as it is for us. 
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Comment #13 posted by whig on February 23, 2007 at 21:45:56 PT
Toker00
Paper trail is not good enough, you need actual paper ballots that can be recounted. The trails get munged and misprinted and lost and are incapable of being audited.
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Comment #12 posted by konagold on February 23, 2007 at 20:46:13 PT:
pot-economics-101,-yearly:
pot economics 101, yearly:USA cost to incarcerate pot users = $1 billion;value of contraband pot crop = $35 billioncost to enforce pot laws = $8 billion [DEA STATE and local];Arrest per year for pot possession = 700,000+;Lawyer fees for above arrest   $5000 per = $3.5 billion; 
[many pay 15,000 or more]ounce of contraband buds = $300 to $500value of commercially produced-non-contraband Cannabis = $2 per pound for unmanicured budscost of loss of civil liberties = PRICELESS
http://www.thereligionofjesuschurch.org
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Comment #11 posted by konagold on February 23, 2007 at 20:38:03 PT:
Toker00: the war on pot
Aloha Toker00THE WAR ON POT IS OVERPOT WONAlohaRev. Dennis Shields
http://www.thereligionofjesuschurch.org
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on February 23, 2007 at 20:03:01 PT
Toker00
I'm like you in that if I don't have hope I just wouldn't care. Hope keeps us going. Faith in something is like faith in much of everything. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. That's what I believe.
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Comment #9 posted by Toker00 on February 23, 2007 at 19:47:25 PT
Well, I like to hope mayan.
As worthless as it seems to some, I try to have hope even in hopeless situations. Short of throwing ourselves in front of the military battalions headed out of the gates of military bases and off to war, what can we do but do all we can do? Even if that is small and insignificant to some, it is hope to others. I don't have the answers and I don't know how to end any war, much less all of them. We are not going to change every-one's mind about 9-11, but I feel more and more people are coming around. Think about it. Who was really talking about 9-11 before the showing on c-span of the Scholars for 9-11 truth? That is when I went into full attention. A lot of people did. What you have to do is get people together and talk about it. Have parties, go to parties, or just go visit someone and take a few dvds with you. I've knocked a few unconscious people conscious with them. And the war on terror is losing on it's own. It's like with the candle of the War on Drugs being lit at both ends, the medical end and the industrial hemp end. We need to light the War on Terror at both ends, too. The world doesn't see justice in giving the U.S. world control even after 9-11. The world is cooling to the War on Terror. The MCA and the Patriot act are being challenged. 9-11 Truth on one end, anti-New World Order at the other end. If Bush is allowed to go ahead with (Cheney's) plan for escalation, it will be up to the People to get off their asses and put the fear of US into Congress, whether they be Dems, or Repubs, or whatever their "party". No, we haven't stopped the war in Iraq yet, but where would we be if we DIDN'T let them hear from us? We would have already been in Syria, Iran and/or Korea by now. Maybe I'm wrong, though. Maybe no matter what we do, the world is toast anyway. But I think we need to have hope in the American People. Maybe we should become the Jehovah's witnesses of 9-11 Truth. Just start going door to door with our dvds and invite ourselves into America's homes and force the Truth on them like Religion. I don't think it would fair any better than the Witnesses, but we could try, I guess. And I should have said we are TRYING to stop the war in Iraq. That much is True. But I don't think the people of the world are ready to lay down and let the US have it's WAY (New World Order) with them. It's not just up to us. Other people's of the world must resist, too.I understand where you are coming from and I don't disagree. But, we have to find hope to keep going in places that are not necessarily popular places. I have no faith in any politician, but who else is there for us to work with? Until there is a revolution and we somehow come up with a way to replace politicians with REAL people, where else do we find hope than in what we have? Toke.  
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Comment #8 posted by mayan on February 23, 2007 at 18:04:32 PT
Toker
We are stopping the war in Iraq? Could you please explain? As for Iran, that remains to be seen. If anyone thinks the democrats aren't bought by the exact same international corporations as the republicans then they are very naive. We can't expect help from them as we are on our own. When ALL Americans become enlightened about the 9/11 inside job they will drop ALL support of the "war on terror". If we fail to expose the 9/11 inside job for ALL to see then we will likely see another false flag attack to justify more wars,steal more liberties, and transfer more wealth. If that happens there will be no hope for us.There is no other way to stop the war of terror. 
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Comment #7 posted by Taylor121 on February 23, 2007 at 05:27:48 PT
Well
"This is not conspiracy theory. These are Conspiracy Facts."I call it speculation, but interesting stuff nonetheless. 
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Comment #6 posted by Toker00 on February 23, 2007 at 04:06:32 PT
Mayan
I only have a moment this morning to post so I just wanted to say the article about 9-11 and The Left will be re-read and I think we could have a discussion on that article alone. It makes sense. 9-11 was the perceived cause, but the War on Terror is the damage doer. Ending the War on Terror will have to be done for anything else to have a chance. Even telling the Truth about 9-11 itself. WE MUST STOP THE WAR ON TERROR. Period. We are stopping the war on Iraq, preventing the war on Iran, and we will stop this bogus War on Terror. That is our agenda. WE HAVE TO END ALL WARS. That includes the War on Cannabis/Drugs.Toke.
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Comment #5 posted by Max Flowers on February 22, 2007 at 19:00:11 PT
More 9-11 truth
I just read the following very succinct and eye-opening theoretical distillation of the 9-11 crimes on (the comments section of) rawstory.com. The second paragraph really got me, as I didn't know that the described Halliburton acquisition existed: ===================================9/11, first and foremost - was about making the Twin Towers go away.They were effectively condemned dinosaurs - a drag on the Port Authority and a liability on the books of Halliburton, who acquired the ASBESTOS LIABILITY CLAIMS when CHENEY PURCHASED DRESSER TO SAVE BUSH A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR LOSS.GHW Bush already tried to bring them down once using the FBI and his agent - Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.Chertoff ran the coverup.On 9/11, he partnered with Mossad to ensure their destruction.Cheney was at the controls, using Dov Zakheim's SYSPLAN (FTS) to guide the aircraft remotely to their targets, while Kobi Alexander's PTECH Software (a PROMIS knockoff) blinded NORAD.Norm Minetta walked in and caught Cheney in the act - and was fired for testifying honestly before the 9/11 Commission:
http://newsmine.org/archive/9-11...cheney-stand- do
http://www.9-11commission.gov/ ar...ommission_HeariCHERTOFF RAN THE COVERUP.Some of us can see the entire picture.
For those of you interested in knowing the ENTIRE TRUTH...all of the answers are available if you search them out.Rumsfeld acknowledge the theft of Trillions of Dollars of DOD funds by Dov Zakheim (sent to Israel). He also stated that flight 93 had been shot down, and that the Pentagon was hit by a "missile."Zakheim acquired civilian Boeing aircraft in advance of 9/11 to retrofit as fuel tankers. Remember the size of the fireball when the second tower was struck?That was a converted tanker.Larry Silverstein confessed to having brought down his building(s) with explosives.Raytheon was intimately involved in the entire operation.CHERTOFF RAN THE COVERUP.This is not conspiracy theory.
These are Conspiracy Facts.
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on February 22, 2007 at 18:25:25 PT
Driving While Young & Male
From the last article on the bulletin...Canadian researchers also determined that motorists who tested positive for cannabis were generally younger, male, and had a poorer driving record in the prior three years than drivers who tested negative for pot.Those young males could have just been driving carelessly, as young males often do. Who knows when they last smoked cannabis as it can be detected in the system for weeks if not months. Regardless, alcohol is obviously the more dangerous substance.THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Controversial 9/11 film draws curious crowd:
http://tinyurl.com/yqx8qb9/11 and The Left:
http://911blogger.com/node/6399911 Truthers - Time Is On Our Side:
http://rense.com/general75/time.htmSkepticism, Ideology and the 9/11 Controversy:
http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/ius/archives/002639.html9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB - OUR NATION IS IN PERIL:
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/
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Comment #3 posted by Toker00 on February 22, 2007 at 17:54:34 PT
OT: Let's help get rid of e-voting without a
paper trail.http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=9406781&type=COToke.
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Comment #2 posted by fight_4_freedom on February 22, 2007 at 17:10:49 PT:
Fundraiser in Flint tomorrow night.......
For all you Michiganders who want to come out and support proposition 1 or just our cause in general, this is an event for you. 
Friday night at Churchill's Pub in Flint there will be a fundraiser 
starting
at 7:30pm going until approximately 9:30pm. The Flint Coalition for
Compassionate Care project will be accepting donations all night long. 
They
are highlighting Proposition 1 which will be on the ballot in Flint 
Tuesday,
February 27th. There will be a keynote address given by George McMahon. 
In
addition to this speech there will also be a showing of the film 
"Waiting to
Inhale".Treetown Underground, from Ypsilanti, will be performing from 10pm 
until
11:30pm.Main Event will perform between Treetown Underground's set and Glowb's 
set.Glowb will hit the floor at Midnight sharp. Our show has the Mardis 
Gras
theme, so bring out your masquarade masks and beads. Tim Dziekan from 
The
Ragbirds will be sitting in all night with us on percussion. vj11 will 
be
projecting his psychedelic juju all over the back walls of Churchill's.This is going to be a great night of music and awareness!Hope to see you all there!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on February 22, 2007 at 16:48:47 PT
Medical Marijuana Issue To Be Decided Tuesday
By Rebecca TrylchVideo: http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=local&id=5059659Supporters of Proposal Gather Thursday.FLINT (WJRT) - (02/22/07)--Next Tuesday Flint voters will decide whether to legalize the use of medical marijuana in the city.While it would make using pot legal for medical purposes, it would still be illegal to possess it according to state and federal laws.Thursday supporters of the proposal came together trying to educate people about the drug's medical benefits.Supporters of the medical marijuana proposal say using the drug isn't criminal, but denying it to a suffering patient is.Supporters of the medical marijuana proposal in Flint hope Tuesday's vote will change their lives."There is nothing worse than lying in your bed suffering like that, with no help," said Barbara Hoos.Hoos does have help. Earlier this month she showed us how she smokes marijuana to ease her pain following breast cancer and a serious car accident.While she doesn't do it legally, George McMahon from Iowa does."Every month I get 300 cigarettes," he said.Those cigarettes are filled with marijuana and come from the government through his doctor. And he says he's been getting them for 17 years.They come from a program once run by the Food and Drug Administration. While the program no longer exists, McMahon says five patients across the country still get their medical marijuana.He says it's the only thing that works for them."Before, I was lying in a bed going, 'Oh, man, give me more morphine.' And you couldn't give me enough," he said. "They couldn't stop the pain."Charles Snyder III feels McMahon's pain literally."Every second I get a shooting pain like George said, like somebody's stabbing you with a fork," he said.He suffers from the same painful ailment, but is too afraid to smoke medical marijuana because it's illegal. That's why he's fighting to legalize its use in Flint by getting voters to take action on the issue next Tuesday.People against this proposal have said it sends the wrong message to kids about drugs. Four other cities in the state have passed similar laws, including Detroit, Ferndale, Ann Arbor and Traverse City.Copyright 2007 ABC Inc., WJRT-TV Inc. 
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