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Reminder: Marijuana Already Exists

Via DrugWarRant, here's another concerned citizen who seems to think that marijuana was invented recently:

Al Martinez: Do we need one more drug to shield us from reality?

I predict that by the end of the year the sale of marijuana will become so common in L.A. that Mom will be able to say, "Timmy, run down to Vons and get me a quart of milk, a loaf of sourdough bread, a pound of tomatoes and two ounces of pot."

First of all, there has never been a point during the life of Al Martinez when there wasn't a phenomenal amount of marijuana available for purchase in Los Angeles. Also, no one is even advocating for marijuana to be sold in grocery stores, and that will never ever happen, not even if George Soros were put in charge of U.S. drug policy. No reform to marijuana policy can occur without significant public support, so please just spare yourself the anxiety of speculating about bizarre policy changes that aren't being considered by anyone anywhere.

This "do we need one more drug?" nonsense is embarrassingly stupid, yet manages somehow to gain popularity with the anti-pot crowd, due perhaps to the profound absence of more intelligent arguments such people might make.
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In The Trenches

Press Release: Britain Approves Liquid Marijuana as Prescription Medicine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

JUNE 18, 2010

Britain Approves Liquid Marijuana as Prescription Medicine

Already Legal in Canada, Sativex Now Approved for Treating Multiple Sclerosis Patients in Great Britain

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was announced today that Sativex, a cannabinoid-based liquid medicine sprayed under the tongue, has been approved for use in Great Britain to help treat the muscle spasticity suffered by multiple sclerosis patients. Sativex is a natural marijuana extract that is produced by British-based GW Pharmaceuticals. It has been approved for use in Canada to treat neuropathic pain since 2005. 

         “Once again, the scientific community has confirmed that marijuana is medicine and it can provide safe and effective relief to patients suffering from certain conditions,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “Sadly, our federal government, through the Drug Enforcement Administration, has blocked effective research into the therapeutic effectiveness of marijuana. The United States could be leading the world in the development of cannabinoid-based medicines, but instead our government has ceded this industry to the U.K., while intentionally prolonging the agony of patients in this country.”

         The Food and Drug Administration has already approved the pill Marinol, which contains marijuana’s main psychoactive component, THC, for medical use in the United States, but unlike Sativex, Marinol does not contain all of marijuana’s more than 60 different cannabinoids, and therefore doesn’t offer the full therapeutic potential of marijuana. Among patients, Marinol is notoriously ineffective.

         “The good news is that this announcement buttresses our argument that marijuana is an effective medicine. To have liquid marijuana legal for medical use but marijuana illegal would be like having coffee legal but coffee beans illegal,” Kampia added.

         Medical marijuana is currently legal in 14 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This year more than a dozen state legislatures considered or are considering medical marijuana laws. 

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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One Thing After Another for Pain Patient

My wife and I just solved a problem getting the 90 days of pain medication we need to go see the grand-kids in Oregon and Montana. It was just a mis-communication with the doctor.
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w h auden

this will help you live life! trough this you will remember the good things happened to you! w h auden
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There's Only One Argument Against Legalizing Marijuana (And It's Wrong)

Opponents of legalization routinely regurgitate an endless array of flawed logic, mindless speculation, and apocalyptic prophecy anytime they're confronted with the case for marijuana reform. But regardless of whatever head-spinning mouthful they deliver, it invariably rests upon the same grand assumption: that legal marijuana means many more people smoking much more pot.
 
Fortunately, we've made enough progress already to take that theory for a test-drive, and the results are delightfully underwhelming:

Marijuana use is not on the rise.

At least, that's the gist of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health done every year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2008 — the most recent data available — 6.1 percent of Americans 12 and older admitted using marijuana in the previous month.
…
And yet, during those same years, marijuana has been edging toward legitimacy. States with medical marijuana laws have made it possible for thousands of people to buy pot over the counter, in actual stores. Some police departments have started de-emphasizing marijuana arrests. [NPR]

Imagine that. After decades of debate, the first stages of reform have taken hold and all the trains are still arriving on time. More than a decade after the first legal marijuana sales began taking place on American soil, the consequences we were told to expect can be found nowhere other than the imagination of our dwindling opposition.

If rates of marijuana use aren't rocked by reform, then everything bad that's ever been said about marijuana is perfectly irrelevant to the legalization debate. The morons who think we're trying to "add a new drug into the mix" are shown to be badly confused, and we can move fearlessly towards dismantling the vast spectrum of nightmarish prohibition problems that we've brought on ourselves for no reason whatsoever.

If our opponents have any integrity, if they truly want safer communities and just laws, then they'll someday be very pleased to learn that we've been right all along.
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Chronicle

Drug Raids: Las Vegas Narc on Marijuana Hunt Kills Father-to-Be in Home

Well, we've got another questionable drug raid killing by police, this time in Las Vegas. A 21-year-old black man, Trevon Cole, who smoked a little pot, was about to become a father when Las Vegas police burst through his apartment door. Now, he's dead--shot by a narcotics detective--and not for any good reason that the police have so far provided. Oh, and the cop who shot him seems to have a bad habit of shooting people under questionable circumstances.
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Feature: Colorado Looks At Legalizing Marijuana in 2012

It looks very likely that Colorado will see a marijuana legalization initiative in 2012. The question is which one? SAFER's Mason Tvert already has one drafted and filed, but now other activists are saying they want to draft one, too.
Chronicle
Chronicle
Chronicle

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

And the beat goes on: A Phoenix cop gets busted for robbing drug couriers, a Texas deputy gets nailed for selling smack to prisoners, a Louisiana deputy goes down on hundreds of counts, and a former NYPD narc heads for federal prison.