Ok, if you're growing marijuana, don't harbor an illegal pet mountain lion:

	mountain lion

Russell Rexrode, a 41 year old Ft. Bragg resident, has been sentenced to 180 days in jail following his conviction by a jury of felony cultivation of marijuana. Sheriff's deputy Dustin Lorenzo testified during the trial that he weighed 119 pounds of processed marijuana and 142 pounds-worth of unprocessed marijuana plants found at Rexrode's residence. Sheriff's Lieutenant Rusty Noe testified that the wholesale value of the pot was $2,400 per pound.

Fish and Game Department Lieutenant Lynette Shimek testified that she led the search of Mr. Rexrode's property on Oct. 17, 2005, on the basis of evidence relating to "unlawful mountain lion possession." Superior Court judge Ron Brown presided over the case, and in addition to giving Rexrode the jail sentence, he ordered the defendant to pay $1,500 for the misdemeanor offense of having the mountain lion. [Ukiah Daily Journal]

Now, I understand why someone would grow marijuana. It's medicine. It makes people happy and creative. And I understand why someone would want a mountain lion. They are majestic. But this guy pushed his luck too far. As much as many of us may wish to live in a world where you can grow weed and raise mountain lions, we just don't. And if there's one thing that's going to generate more buzz around the neighborhood than a homegrown marijuana garden, it's a lion.

But here's what I want to know: how come the guy got 180 days in jail for growing pot, but only paid a $1,500 fine for the mountain lion?! It should go without saying that mountain lions are vastly more dangerous than marijuana.

In a shameless, yet brilliant, ploy to generate web traffic, comedy Central has compiled a list of their favorite drug-themed Stephen Colbert clips. It worked on me. Here's the link.

My personal favorite is when Stephen bids farewell to Marijuana Policy Project's Aaron Houston by saying "good luck destroying America." Aaron is the nicest guy you'll ever meet and the very notion that he's trying to destroy America is the perfect encapsulation of drug warrior paranoia.

The fact that Colbert has created a whole satirical routine surrounding the delusional mindset of the drug war cheerleaders is testament to the complete laughingstock that group has become.

I have been around the planet for a lot of years.I was one of the so called hippies of the 1960's that supposedly lived free and drugged daily.I won't even mention the sex except to say that it was be

Pete Guither has an excellent breakdown of why our policy towards the most dangerous drugs is just as flawed as our policy towards marijuana. It's a tricky subject that can be approached many ways, but he does a great job of hitting the most important points without writing a book. I think I agree with it in its entirety.

Pete's rant is enjoyable even if you already understand the argument, so go read it.

The latest outrage in Canada's heated harm reduction debate came at the hands of Health Minister Tony Clement who went off the rails by questioning the ethics of doctors who practice harm reduction:

MONTREAL — The association representing Canada's doctors rapped Health Minister Tony Clement on Monday after he questioned the ethics of physicians who support the use of supervised injection sites for drug addicts.
…

"Is it ethical for health-care professionals to support the administration of drugs that are of unknown substance, or purity or potency, drugs that cannot otherwise be legally prescribed?" Clement said.

He said that in any other medical setting, supervised overdoses would be considered "highly unprofessional." [Canadian Press]

Canada's doctors beg to differ:

The Canadian Medical Association's president responded to Clement by saying 79 per cent of members agree that safe-injection sites and harm-reduction programs work.

Dr. Brian Day said sites that allow addicts to inject their own narcotics under the supervision of medical staff have been successful in curbing illegal drug use and slowing the spread of disease.

"We specifically take issue with the minister using that phrase," Day told reporters after Clement's speech.

"The minister was off base in calling into question the ethics of physicians involved in harm reduction.

"It's clear that this was being used as a political issue."

Doctors are not politicians. They work to save lives and they are the experts on how to do that. If they all agree that existing programs are working, and some politician disagrees, then he is just wrong and he should shut up.

The drug war debate is ugly and that's not gonna change anytime soon. But one thing we can do without is politicians feigning moral superiority over the doctors who are saving lives every day. That's what this is about. Harm reduction shouldn't be a political issue and if you succeed in politicizing it for the wrong reasons, people will die.