Medical Marijuana: Connecticut Bill Passes Legislature
The Connecticut legislature has passed a medical marijuana bill. Now it's up to Gov. Jodi Rell (R) to sign it, veto it, or just get out of the way. If she does nothing, the bill becomes law.
This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
Well, thank goodness for crooked prison guards! If it wasn't for them, all we would have is blank space here this week.
Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy
In addition to the weekly reporting you see here in the Chronicle, DRCNet also features daily content in the way of blogging, news links, redistributed press releases and announcements from our allies and more.
Book Offer: Lies, Damn Lies, and Drug War Statistics
An important new book debunks literally years of statistical legerdemain by the nation's central drug policy office -- and is DRCNet's latest premium for our members.
Feedback: Do You Read Drug War Chronicle?
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Feature: Fireworks at Book Forum in Washington as "Lies, Damn Lies, and Drug War Statistics" Authors Confront ONDCP Official
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) came under withering criticism at an event hosted by the Cato Institute last Thursday -- and hit back. Here's a taste.
Feature: Canadian Mom Searching for Missing Daughter Denied Entry to US Over 21-Year-Old Drug Conviction
Canadian Glendene Grant's daughter went missing in Las Vegas last year. Now, US officials won't let her entry the country to look for her because she has a two-decades old drug conviction.
Feature: Congress Moves to End Ban on DC Needle Exchange Funding
In 1998, ideologically driven congressional Republicans barred the District of Colombia from using even its own money to fund needle exchange programs. Now, congressional Democrats are moving to end that ban.
Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Bill Vetoed, Override Anticipated
Last week we reported in Drug War Chronicle that Rhode Island's medical marijuana bill, to make the law passed last year a permanent one, had passed both houses of the legislature. As anticipated, Gov. Carcieri (to be referred to henceforth as "The Blue Meanie") vetoed the bill. He vetoed the last one, and the legislature overrode the veto and made the bill law anyway, and it's expected that that will happen again this time. But the status at the moment of this writing is that it's vetoed.
Here's a Google news link to coverage of the bill.
Also, a shout out to whoever sent our story around on StumbleUpon: thank you, it got us tons of hits.
Rudy Giuliani Doesn't Care About Sick People
Via Reason, Don Murphy of Republicans for Compassionate Access asked Rudy Giuliani about medical marijuana:
MURPHY: You talked about abortion rights and how you trust people to make their own choices. Do you support the choice of cancer patients to use medical marijuana?
RUDY: No, I don't think a cancer patient should use marijuana. There are other options.
Other options, he says. Well that's no surprise coming from a hired consultant for Perdue Pharma, manufacturer of Oxycontin. Rudy even helped Perdue fend off the DEA when Oxycontin became linked to widespread abuse.
To be fair, OxyContin can be a very effective option for many patients and there isn't necessarily anthing wrong with Rudy sticking up for Perdue in this context. Unfortunately, he fails to recognize that medical marijuana should be defended for all of the same reasons. Lots of sick people say it helps, and that's really all that matters.
If widespread abuse and even death associated with OxyContin don't bother Rudy, what's his beef with medical marijuana? The problem might be that Rudy Giuliani is a horrible person.