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The truth about "addiction"
I have limited time, but will expound on this later, and clean it up.
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Obama Appoints Temporary Drug Czar
Amidst the inauguration fanfare, we failed to notice that Obama immediately appointed ONDCPâs general counsel Ed Jurith to serve as acting director, i.e. drug czar. You can read Jurithâs bio here and my thoughts on him here.
This is interesting because itâs a definite improvement over Bushâs last minute appointment of Patrick Ward, another ONDCP insider, to run the office upon John Waltersâs departure. Jurith is hardly a friend of reform on any issue Iâm aware of, but his background is in law, while Ward has been directly and heavily involved in interdiction programs.
With Jurith being the preferable choice, Iâm wondering if Obama actually did this for the right reasons as he looks for a permanent candidate to fill the position. Thatâs impossible to say, but itâs a small step in the right direction. Letâs hope for a bigger one soon.
This is interesting because itâs a definite improvement over Bushâs last minute appointment of Patrick Ward, another ONDCP insider, to run the office upon John Waltersâs departure. Jurith is hardly a friend of reform on any issue Iâm aware of, but his background is in law, while Ward has been directly and heavily involved in interdiction programs.
With Jurith being the preferable choice, Iâm wondering if Obama actually did this for the right reasons as he looks for a permanent candidate to fill the position. Thatâs impossible to say, but itâs a small step in the right direction. Letâs hope for a bigger one soon.
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Mexican Drug Cartels Dissolve Corpses in Vats of Acid
Lately, the drug war is sounding less and less like an actual government policy and more like a distopian future from a science fiction movie:
They call him "The Stewmaker" and his henchmen attacked the police station with machine guns after he was captured.
Does any of this sound like the story of a drug policy that works? How much more of this unfathomable gory mayhem do we feel like putting up with? Weâve crossed the line into some seriously dark territory here and itâs way past time something is done about it, something completely different from everything weâve tried before.
As the nation's drug war rages on, with its weekly tallies of headless torsos, it is getting harder to produce a shock wave in the Mexican media. But the gruesome recipes of "The Stewmaker" have gripped public attention here, as authorities describe how a "disposal expert" working for a Tijuana drug cartel boss allegedly got rid of hundreds of bodies by dissolving the corpses in vats of caustic liquid. [Washington Post]
They call him "The Stewmaker" and his henchmen attacked the police station with machine guns after he was captured.
Does any of this sound like the story of a drug policy that works? How much more of this unfathomable gory mayhem do we feel like putting up with? Weâve crossed the line into some seriously dark territory here and itâs way past time something is done about it, something completely different from everything weâve tried before.
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In The Trenches
Obama and Medical Marijuana
You Can Make a Difference |
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Dear friends, Less than two days. That's how long it took ex-President Bush's cronies inside the federal government to strike out at President Obama and use taxpayer money to undermine him. Last Thursday the DEA raided a medical marijuana dispensary in California, putting the lives of cancer, HIV/AIDS and other patients at risk. But we can show President Obama that the American people will stand with him in this fight and hold him accountable for his campaign promise to end these raids. As you may know, President Obama promised to end the Bush administration's cruel and costly raids on medical marijuana patients and caregivers in states where marijuana is legal for medical use. He's in the process of replacing Bush officials who are the source of the problem, but that takes time. Quite frankly, what the Bush loyalists inside the DEA did in South Lake Tahoe is the equivalent of giving President Obama the finger. Now is our chance to urge President Obama to protect at-risk patients. If he doesn't stand up forcefully to Bush's cronies, they will continue to undermine his presidency. And terminally ill patients will suffer. Sincerely, Bill Piper |
In The Trenches
NH Compassion Newsletter: Medical Marijuana, We've Got Your Number...
Dear friends,
CONCORD, N.H. -- The NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy today announced its support for HB 648, a bill that would protect seriously ill patients from arrest if their doctors recommend marijuana. The group also announced the launch of NHCompassion.org, a new Web site featuring New Hampshire patients, which will serve as a home base for the effort to pass medical marijuana legislation.
"HB 648 simply acknowledges the obvious fact that some seriously ill New Hampshire patients benefit from their medicinal use of marijuana," observed Matt Simon, the organization's executive director. "There is no moral justification for continuing a policy that criminalizes patients for trying to relieve their suffering."
Simon said he's optimistic about the bill's chances, and noted that New Hampshire voters support medical marijuana reform by a wider margin than they supported most successful candidates in the 2008 election.
Simon cited a poll conducted last April by Mason-Dixon Research, which found that of New Hampshire voters, 71 percent supported "changing the law in New Hampshire to allow seriously and terminally ill patients to use and grow medical marijuana for personal use if their doctors recommend it." Only 21 percent of voters said they opposed the reform, with 8 percent undecided. Details on the poll are available at nhcompassion.org.
A similar bill, HB 774, was narrowly rejected (186-177) by the House in 2007, but Simon said he believes support will be much stronger this year. "In the past two years, the consensus for allowing medical marijuana has grown. Michigan and New Mexico enacted medical marijuana laws, and now 25 percent of Americans live in medical marijuana states. In addition, the prestigious American College of Physicians issued a paper supporting marijuana's medical value. And, the new U.S. president has pledged to end the federal raids on medical marijuana providers, which had been a concern for many legislators."
The bill's prime sponsor is Rep. Evalyn Merrick (D-Lancaster), joined by co-sponsors Sen. John Gallus (R-Berlin), Sen. Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth), Rep. Tom Donovan (D-Claremont), Rep. James "Doc" Pilliod (R-Belmont), Rep. Trinka Russell (D-Stratham) and Rep. Don Petterson (D-Brentwood). An initial hearing for the bill has not yet been scheduled.
If the effort to pass HB 648 succeeds, New Hampshire would become the 14th state since 1996 to pass legislation protecting medical marijuana patients, joining Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
# # #
Thanks,
--
Matt Simon
Executive Director
NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy
NHCompassion.org
[email protected] [4]
(603) 391-7450
"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of the substance."
- Francis L. Young, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge, 1988
In The Trenches
Employment Opportunity with The Sentencing Project
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In The Trenches
Drug War News 01/26/09
4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston and dozens of radio affiliates in the US, Canada and Australia & on the web at www.kpft.org.
4:20 Drug War NEWS 01/26/09 to 02/01/09 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net
Sun - Cliff Schaffer discusses financial meltdown & the drug war
Sat - Doug McVay returns with Drug War Facts
Fri - Howard Wooldridge of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition & horse Misty featured in Horse Connection magazine
Thu - Phil Smith of the Drug War Chronicle returns with Corrupt Cop Story
Wed - Terry Nelson reports for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Tue - A new documentary "Tulia, Texas" will premier on PBS on Feb 10
Mon - Mexico drug war escalation per Hou Chron & El Paso Times
Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed
- Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: "Tulia Texas" producer Cassandra Herman + Tulia Defense Attorney Jeff Blackburn
- Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT, 9:30 AM PT: UTEP Professor Kathleen Staudt
Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, and www.audioport.org Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker
Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform.
"Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer
Dean Becker
713-849-6869
www.drugtruth.net
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Letter to Barack Obama
This is the letter I've just mailed to our new president. As I've said before, I'm just one little voice, and each person reading this is just one little voice.
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The World's Smallest Marijuana Joint
Police donât just get the facts wrong about the dangers of marijuana and the impact of commonsense reforms like decriminalization. Frequently, theyâre wrong about marijuana itself, making wild claims about the street value of the latest bust or exaggerating plant yields to make small growers sound like major traffickers. If you think youâve heard it all, hereâs a cop from Massachusetts who says an ounce equals 200-300 joints:
This is just shockingly crazy and wrong. Researchers have estimated the average size of a joint between 0.4 and 0.9 grams, which would equal 30-70 joints per ounce. If you roll more than 70 joints from an ounce, theyâll be empty toothpick-sized joints with more paper than pot. They wonât even work and no matter who you are, Iâm sure you know someone who can assure that this is true.
Claiming that you can roll up to 300 joints from an ounce is a total lie. Itâs hilarious to anyone whoâs ever smoked or even seen a joint. Itâs like claiming a bag of skittles will serve 300 people, when thereâs actually only 70 Skittles in the bag and most people donât find an individual Skittle very satisfying anyhow.
So what the hell is this guy talking about? Heâs angry that voters in Massachusetts decriminalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, and heâs trying to pretend thatâs a huge amount of pot. It isnât. His lie, on the other hand, is enormous.
According to Lt. Danny Maguire of the Weston Police Department, "The biggest challenge we have is to convince people that, just because the law has changed, marijuana has not become 'legal,' and that the problem of drug addiction is still just as severe as always. There is also the danger that people will think itâs actually OK, under the new law, to smoke a joint or two and get behind the wheel of a car."
â¦
One ounce of marijuana is the equivalent of 200 to 300 joints, according to Maguire.
This is just shockingly crazy and wrong. Researchers have estimated the average size of a joint between 0.4 and 0.9 grams, which would equal 30-70 joints per ounce. If you roll more than 70 joints from an ounce, theyâll be empty toothpick-sized joints with more paper than pot. They wonât even work and no matter who you are, Iâm sure you know someone who can assure that this is true.
Claiming that you can roll up to 300 joints from an ounce is a total lie. Itâs hilarious to anyone whoâs ever smoked or even seen a joint. Itâs like claiming a bag of skittles will serve 300 people, when thereâs actually only 70 Skittles in the bag and most people donât find an individual Skittle very satisfying anyhow.
So what the hell is this guy talking about? Heâs angry that voters in Massachusetts decriminalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, and heâs trying to pretend thatâs a huge amount of pot. It isnât. His lie, on the other hand, is enormous.