American Green Signs Five Leases in Kentucky for CBD-Only Shops; Ordering an Additional Twenty ZaZZZ Age-Verifying Medical Marijuana Machines
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, CBD/Hemp Oil, Hemp, Latest News, Marijuana	hemp, kentucky, medical marijuana	0
ZaZZZ is the world's First Consumer Automated Medical Marijuana Vending Machine. Improved second generation 3D touch screen machines will be delivered to Michigan and Arizona. American Green's ZaZZZ machines in Kentucky will be the first of it's kind to vend Hemp products directly to the consumer. American Green will also be ordering an additional 20 ZaZZZ from VE Global for distribution throughout the country.
Tempe, AZ, March 02, 2015 –(PR.com)– American Green (OTC: ERBB) — With the signing last week of an additional five ZaZZZ leases, American Green is ordering the next twenty machines built by VE GLOBAL. These new 3D touch screen ZaZZZ vending machines will join the other eighteen machines currently under various stages of public release into Medical Marijuana approved states. The two machines carrying Hemp products will be brought online in Arizona at Hempful Farms and the other in Michigan with the Michigan Hemp Company. All 28 machines represent a multi-state effort that meet regulatory compliance while creating a process for broader expansion with the forward-thinking companies who have, or expect to be ordering, the new Consumer operated ZaZZZ Medical Marijuana Vending Machines.
Annual sales for the United States vending industry are estimated between $19 Billion and $29 Billion. The income produced by a single Zazzz vending machine can vary depending on the kind of products being dispensed and the location of the machine.
"We are very happy to bring a new technology to Kentucky so we can offer exceptional hemp products to our consumers and are excited to build long term relationship," says Chris Smith of Vice President of Green Remedy whose home office is in Bardstown, KY. "We share American Green's vision to deliver quality products in the safest possible way using 21st century capabilities. Green Remedy is proud to be the first company in Kentucky to embrace this technology."
American Green is expanding national operations of the second generation ZaZZZ into its 6th state. The Kentucky machines are the first machines to carry Hemp products along with products from American Green including it's vape pen, ogtea, and clothing line. Further distribution of ZaZZZ into Medical Marijuana approved states will continue throughout the year.
"We are constantly improving ZaZZZ with our own in house R&D. We are also using real life data from our from our existing machines in Colorado and Washington State to help improve ZaZZZ. We have recently integrated our proprietary Tomassi patent into ZaZZZ and have added a 3D touchscreen for ease of use," say Carl Kaiser, Director of ZaZZZ Logistics.
"ZaZZZ will always be improving with every day bringing more requests, opportunities, accomplishments and, most of all, a one day closer to our goal of creating the safest, consumer automated, verified vending system in America. I'm extremely excited to be part of making this happen," Kaiser concludes.
Company and Contacts:
Americangreen.com
American Green, Inc.
Mr. Stephen Shearin
1221 W Warner Rd Suite 103
Has Uyar
Tempe AZ 85284
More About American Green, Inc.
Founded back in 2009 as one of the first publicly-traded medical marijuana-related companies in the world, American Green is proud to have the largest certified shareholder base which now numbers well over 50,000. The Company is keenly focused on developing, retailing, branding, and establishing commercial cultivation solutions under its proprietary American Green name along with our partners who are licensed retail medical marijuana dispensaries. American Green believes that the renewal of the legalized cannabis industry in the United States will aid in getting our economy back on its feet through increased employment in all related sectors — retail, real estate, contracting, farming and more. Additional revenues, fueled by taxing cannabis sales, and the decreased cost of housing prisoners who are no longer in prison for possession of cannabis should contribute to the renewal. Hard work and a clear vision propel American Green into the future. The centerpiece of our company is ZaZZZ, our unique automated vending solution designed specifically around American Green's licensed proprietary patent technology.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in American Green's and/or Greenhouse Solutions' ("the Company" or "the Companies") business plan(s). The joint venture for the use of CBDs should not be construed as an indication in any way whatsoever of the future value of the Company's common stock or its present or future financial condition. The Company's filings may be accessed at the SEC's Edgar system. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place reliance on such statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, we do not undertake, and we specifically disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement.
American Green
Click here to view the list of recent Press Releases from American Green
Southern Oregon medical marijuana growers fear industrial hemp could ruin their crops
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Corporate Cannabis, Hemp, Latest News, Marijuana, Medical Cannabis	cannabis, drug war, farming, Industrial Hemp, medical marijuana, Oregon	1
Southern Oregon marijuana growers want to ban industrial hemp production from the region out of fear that hemp may pollinate their crops and render them worthless.
Some outdoor marijuana growers want industrial hemp cultivation to be limited to eastern Oregon – far from their lucrative marijuana crops. At the very least, they don't want hemp in Josephine, Jackson and Douglas counties.
Compared to Oregon's marijuana legalization movement, the effort to launch an industrial hemp industry in Oregon has been an understated one propelled by a small but passionate group of advocates. When one of them, Edgar Winters, of Eagle Point, got a permit this month to grow industrial hemp on 25 acres in the heart of the state's outdoor marijuana growing region, his neighbors were alarmed.
Allowing industrial hemp in an area known for churning out high-grade marijuana could undermine the industry, growers argue.
"You don't come into the middle of cannabis growing country and try to put up a hemp farm unless you don't know about it, unless you really don't know how far hemp pollen can travel," said Casey Branham, a Jackson County medical marijuana grower who supports industrial hemp but wants it grown elsewhere in the state.
"It basically makes the medicine worthless," he said.
Branham and his neighbors worry hemp pollen will find its way to their unpollinated female cannabis flowers, known as sensimilla, slowing their growth and leading to seeds. The result: weak, seedy marijuana.
"No one will buy seeded flowers, period," said Cedar Grey, a Williams medical marijuana grower. "The flower market is so competitive these days. You have to have world-class flowers. Anything that is seeded is reminiscent of the 1960s or pot from Mexico. No one is interested in that at all."
And it's not just southern Oregon's outdoor marijuana growers who are worried about hemp's implications. Portland's indoor marijuana growers worry about hemp pollen drifting into their warehouses through ventilation systems or being tracked into their operations on workers' shoes.
Shane McKee, a medical marijuana grower who owns two Portland dispensaries, said the potential complications posed by industrial hemp have caught cannabis growers by surprise.
"Nobody really saw the repercussions," said McKee.
Hemp and marijuana are different types of the same species, Cannabis sativa. But hemp lacks marijuana's most coveted component: THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. In hemp's case, the gene that fires up marijuana's high THC production is essentially turned off. So while hemp's sturdy stalks provide fiber for textiles and its seeds can be added to yogurt and smoothies, the plant is a lousy choice for people seeking marijuana's high.
Anndrea Hermann, a hemp advocate who lives in Canada and teaches a course on the crop at Oregon State University, said marijuana growers' concerns are legitimate.
"Is there a risk? Yes, there is a risk to the marijuana growers," said Hermann, who also serves as president of the Hemp Industries Association and owns a hemp products company. "And I will tell you it's a hard pill to swallow."
Winters is the first to obtain a license to grow industrial hemp from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Another three people have applied, said Ron Pence, operations manager for commodity inspection for the agency, which oversees the state's new industrial hemp program.
Pence said the agency has authority to limit where some agricultural crops, such as rapeseed, are cultivated. But it does not have that authority when it comes to industrial hemp.
"It would need a legislative fix," he said.
Oregon lawmakers have taken note of marijuana growers' objections. Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, said growers peppered his office with emails once Winters' plans became public. He said lawmakers are exploring potential solutions to protect both crops.
"Nobody wants one crop to endanger another crop," he said.
Oregon's robust outdoor marijuana growing culture sets it apart from places like Kentucky, which also has a state hemp program. Oregon's outdoor growers are organized, have an attorney and even a lobbyist. While Kentucky's agriculture officials are enthusiastic boosters of industrial hemp, marijuana remains illegal.
"Marijuana growers are not so vocal" in Kentucky, said Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a national hemp advocacy group. "They are not in a position to be able to call up their legislators to ask for a bill protecting their crops."
Winters, for his part, doesn't see a major problem cultivating hemp near marijuana crops. He said the growing cycle for hemp is shorter than the one for outdoor marijuana and that an earlier harvest means it would not pose a threat to cannabis.
"It's been doable all over the world," said Winters, who's also a medical marijuana grower. "People have misconceptions about industrial hemp."
He said marijuana growers need more "education and training and knowledge" about hemp and that he plans to meet with outdoor growers to address their concerns.
He said he's received strong criticism from marijuana growers and even personal threats since word of his plan spread.
"It's a viable crop," he said. "There is no way we are going to be forced out of the county. I can tell you that. We are here to stay."
— Noelle Crombie
Op-Ed Cannabis crazy: It doesn't just describe the move to legalize weed. It could happen to you.
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Latest News	Addiction, cannabis, CBD, Cocaine, Crack, Dope, heroin, Ice, marijuana, Methamphetamine, THC	1
By Susan Shapiro
An author who had 'an extreme addiction' to marijuana asks society to consider: Is the high worth the lows?
In 2014, our country went cannabis crazy, bringing to 18 the number of states decriminalizing pot. Colorado opened boutiques selling "mountain high suckers" in grape and butterscotch flavors and posted signs that proclaimed the state is "where prohibition ends and the fun begins." In my New York home, I'm glad that someone can carry up to 50 joints and no longer get thrown in the joint. Yet I worry that user-friendly laws and such recent screen glorifications as "High Maintenance" and "Kid Cannabis" send young people a message that getting stoned is cool and hilarious.
I'm ambivalent about legalizing marijuana because I was addicted for 27 years. … I saw how it can make you say and do things that are provocative and perilous. –
I know the dark side. I'm ambivalent about legalizing marijuana because I was addicted for 27 years. After starting to smoke weed at Bob Dylan concerts when I was 13, I saw how it can make you say and do things that are provocative and perilous. I bought pot in bad neighborhoods at 3 a.m., confronted a dealer for selling me a dime bag of oregano, let shady pushers I barely knew deliver marijuana, like pizza, to my home. I mailed weed to my vacation spots and smoked a cocaine-laced joint a bus driver offered when I was his only passenger.
Back then Willie Nelson songs, Cheech and Chong routines and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High's" Jeff Spicoli made getting high seem kooky and harmless. My reality was closer to Walter White's self-destruction from meth on TV's "Breaking Bad" and the delusional nightmares in the film "Requiem for a Dream." Everyone believed you couldn't get addicted to pot.
Turns out I could get hooked on carrot sticks. Marijuana became an extreme addiction for me. I'm not alone. Nearly 17% of those who get high as teenagers will become addicted to marijuana, according to the 2013 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that up to half of daily marijuana smokers become addicted — an estimated 2.7 million people in the U.S.
The years I toked, I struggled with love and work, sometimes feeling suicidal. The brilliant addiction specialist who helped me give up pot a dozen years ago taught me that addicts self-medicate because underlying every substance problem he'd ever seen "is a deep depression that feels unbearable." One-on-one therapy helped me untangle what I was getting wasted to escape. Being drug-free saved my health, marriage and career. Within a year, my income tripled. I came to believe my doctor's adage: "When you quit a toxic habit you leave room for something beautiful to take its place."
In writing classes I teach in New York and L.A., students from many backgrounds confessed that they "smoked a bowl" or "got ripped" and then got in a car accident, fell on subway tracks, had a wallet or cellphone stolen, were sexually assaulted or had a physical altercation that landed them in the hospital or jail. My undergraduates loved the series "Weeds" and "Harold & Kumar" films and joked about being "cross-faded," simultaneously imbibing on alcohol and marijuana.
Yet I warn them that getting stoned greatly increases the likelihood of something bad happening, reminding them that pot blurs reality, reduces inhibitions — and regularly leads to tragedy. Consider two deaths in 2014 in Colorado that police linked to pot: a 47-year-old man who ate marijuana-infused candy and fatally shot his wife, and a 19-year-old student who ingested a marijuana cookie and jumped to his death.
The weed of today is far stronger than in the past. President Obama admitted smoking marijuana as a teen and said it's no worse than alcohol but hopes his daughters will avoid "the bad habit." The new edible pot products can be 10 times stronger than a traditional joint, says a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. The strength of pot varies, and it's impossible to predict its effect. How you react to marijuana depends on your size, what you've eaten, the medications you take. As I tapered off, one hit from a pipe or bong could leave me reeling, as if I'd had five drinks.
Marijuana use doubles the risk of being in a car accident if you drive soon after smoking it, and it causes more car accidents than any other illicit drugs, according to Columbia University researchers. They found it contributed to 12% of traffic deaths in the U.S. in 2010, triple the rate of a decade earlier.
The medical side effects are also significant. Smoking pot increases the risk of lung cancer 8%, according to British and New Zealand studies. It's associated with bronchitis, respiratory infections and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, concluded a New England Journal study. Another 2014 study found frequent use by teenagers and young adults causes cognitive decline and decreases IQ. Marijuana essentially fries your brain.
Being a stoner was easy. Quitting was hard but gave me more to live for. Before jumping on the buzzed bandwagon in the new year, throwing a pot dessert party or voting to lift all restrictions across the nation, ask yourself and your kids: Is the high worth the lows? We shouldn't send pot smokers to prison, but they don't belong on pop-culture pedestals either.
Susan Shapiro is coauthor of the bestseller "Unhooked: How to Quit Anything" and author of the memoir "Lighting Up."
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion
Dr. Bronner's Year-End Report from the Front Lines of the Fight for Cannabis Reform and GMO Labeling
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Hemp, Latest News	cannabis, Dr. Bronner, food, GMO, GMO labeling, hemp	0
Both cannabis policy reform and the movement to label genetically engineered foods in the United States made huge strides in 2014. Major battles were won, some narrowly lost, but ultimately victory is inevitable. Our company Dr. Bronner's has devoted significant financial, staff and other organizational resources to both movements, and it is instructive to analyze them side by side.
First on the cannabis front, 2014 saw victories in DC (Measure 71: 70 to 30), Oregon (Measure 91: 56 to 44) and Alaska (Measure 2: 53 to 47), continuing the incredible momentum from victories in Washington (Initiative 502: 55 to 45) and Colorado (Amendment 64: 55 to 45) in 2012, themselves set up by the narrow loss in California in 2010 (Prop 19: 47 to 53) that triggered the first serious national and international debate on ending cannabis prohibition. Only Florida "lost" with 58% of votes in favor of medical marijuana, 2% short of the needed 60% (Measure 2). As most Huffington Post readers understand, by any rational measure of analysis marijuana use is much less problematic than alcohol, while its prohibition has caused untold harm to otherwise productive nonviolent citizens and their families, wasting taxpayer dollars and law enforcement resources.
Dr. Bronner's Director of Social Action, Adam Eidinger, was campaign manager for the successful Yes on 71 campaign in DC. Adam and Dr. Malik Burnett of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) alongside other stellar staff, ran an incredible campaign educating local voters as well as the country's political elites nationally that prohibition is an unjust racist policy that disproportionately impacts communities of color. Despite blacks and whites using cannabis at similar rates, DC arrests over 8 times more black people than white people for cannabis possession. Saddling a young man with jail time and a record obviously compromises one's future as well as tears families apart. Dr. Bronner's contributed $100,000 directly to the campaign and $100,000 to Drug Policy Alliance, earmarked to help power Dr. Burnett's crucial work there.
Dr. Bronner's also contributed $100,000 each to Oregon's effort led by the New Approach team, as well as the Marijuana Policy Project's (MPP) effort in Alaska. The contribution to MPP for Alaska was arguably much more crucial given the relatively small overall budget and closeness of the race in a traditionally red state. However, we also gave $2 million to the Oregon Yes on 92 GMO labeling campaign, that coordinated closely with the marijuana campaign in registering and driving the youth vote, that benefitted both campaigns tremendously.
The Nation published a great article the week prior to the election that nails competing dynamics in play in the cannabis legalization movement. DC was the first legalization campaign to run primarily on a racial justice platform, and absolutely crushed it. Alaska's campaign was based on the MPP "safer than alcohol" playbook that won in Colorado, while Oregon was run on the similar "New Approach" strategy that won in Washington state. Clearly there's more than one way to win the fight for legalization. Looking forward to California and the four to five other states in play in 2016 we can draw from the best of all these efforts. California in particular will be important to write the model regulations that we want reflected at the national level, which will happen soon after the wins in 2016.
While the Oregon and Alaska victories are sweet indeed, victory in DC for us was the sweetest. In the recent Congressional "cromnibus" spending bill debate, the crushing DC victory helped open room for riders to pass into law that prohibit the DEA from interfering with state medical marijuana programs as well as state industrial hemp programs. These are huge long-sought victories for the movement, and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) deserves most of the credit for successfully passing the medical marijuana rider via majority vote in the Republican house over the summer. Dr. Bronner's has been a longtime supporter of ASA, having given close to $700,000 over the past ten years. Dr. Bronner's has also been closely involved in efforts to re-commercialize industrial hemp farming, being a longtime supporter of Vote Hemp as well as recently being a crucial partner to the amazing efforts in Kentucky that have inspired the entire Kentucky federal delegation, including Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul, to publicly support and help make hemp farming a reality in the United States again.
Unfortunately though, DC legalization itself seemed to be the sacrificial lamb in the spending bill debate, with Congress attempting to block implementation of DC's legalization initiative. However, DC has been so galvanized by the overwhelming mandate and outraged by Congressional meddling, that they are challenging Congress to a showdown that Congress is highly unlikely to win, and legalization will be the law of the land in DC come January. The Guardian provided a great overview of this latest struggle in their "Capital v Capitol" story. The high profile national and international political theatre of DC standing up to Congress for its right to determine its own cannabis policy is incredible.
What also makes the victory in DC extra special for Dr. Bronner's, is that Washington Post Magazine ran a frustrating cover story on our own Adam Eidinger in January, and editorialized against Yes on 71 with weak, out of touch drug war hysteria in September. Back in January, I wrote an unpublished letter to the editor standing up for Adam and our advocacy work, which the 2014 election has now vindicated.
My January 2014 Washington Post Magazine letter to the editor:
Your cover story on local DC activist Adam Eidinger chose to inaccurately portray him as an ineffective Don Quixote figure, belittling the causes he fights for as well as our company. As explained to the reporter, we cap executive compensation at five times that of the lowest paid warehouse worker, and no profits are distributed to owners for personal use. Profits not needed for business development are dedicated to the causes we support.
Adam is closely involved in how we strategically deploy resources to reform draconian drug laws that disproportionately target people of color; notably Washington, D.C. has the highest arrest rate for low level marijuana violations. Adam has also effectively helped build the national movement to label genetically engineered food crops. We are fighting the chemical industry machine that has enthralled much of our country's elites, to expose their agenda to engineer resistance to the toxic chemical herbicides they sell (Google "Agent Orange Corn" to see what's coming next).
There were moments when Adam's true stature was portrayed, but ultimately was undermined by a shallow and frivolous anti-activist caricature.
As a sign of the political and cultural turning of the tide, it's also worth noting that the New York Times called for ending cannabis prohibition nationally in a series of well-written editorials over the summer.
Pivoting to the fight for GMO labeling, the movement in its modern resurgent form is only a few years old, driven largely by widespread and growing alarm at ever-increasing amounts of toxic pesticides applied to genetically engineered crops. See for example Tom Philpott's article "How GMOs Unleashed a Pesticide Gusher" in Mother Jones. Over 99% of GMO crops in US soil are engineered to produce insecticide and/or tolerate heavy herbicide use, which like overdosing antibiotics in factory farms has rapidly created resistance in target weed and insect populations. GMO crops are being saturated with ever more toxic pesticides, including neonicotinoid insecticides banned in the EU due to suspected link to massive bee die-offs and Colony Collapse Disorder. While this is great for the chemical industry that both sells the GMOs and the pesticides used on them, our environment and collective health are paying the price. 64 other countries have the right to know if their food is genetically engineered, but the chemical and junk food industry have spent tens of millions of dollars to make sure Americans are kept in the dark.
In the face of record spending by pesticide and junk food companies, the GMO labeling movement gained huge momentum and strength from narrow losses to enact mandatory GMO labeling in California in 2012 (Prop 37: 49 to 51) and Washington in 2013 (Initiative 522: 49 to 51), and set up major victories in 2014. In May, Vermont became the first state to enact mandatory labeling, and Jackson county in Oregon banned planting of GMO crops due to GMO sugarbeet pollen contaminating and ruining neighboring fields (Measure 15-119: 66 to 34). Maui also banned genetically engineered crops because of massive pesticide spraying (See Maui County Genetically Modified Organism Moratorium Initiative: 51 to 49). And statewide in Oregon, the Yes on 92 campaign came within five hundredths of one percent of winning (Measure 92: 49.97 to 50.03), showing friend and foe alike how easily we can win in a bigger 2016 presidential electorate. An underfunded effort in Colorado did not fare well, unfortunately, but it serves as an important movement lesson for 2016.
Dr. Bronner's was a leading financial contributor to all these efforts, and also devoted significant staff time and other organizational resources, especially to the Oregon effort. Two great articles to review in particular are Katie Ayers' "Oregon Poised to Mandate GMO Labeling" in Reader Supported News that really dives into the heart of the matter; and also this thorough piece in the Register Guard "Even If Defeated GMO Issue Is Not Going Away."
Vermont, Jackson county and Maui are all currently being sued by the pesticide and junk food industries, and these industries are frantically lobbying Congress to pre-empt states' rights to enact mandatory labeling of GMOs. They know that the nationwide movement to label GMOs continues to surge and grow in strength even as their major GMO traits continue to fail and pesticide use goes through the roof. The USDA audits chemical inputs every five years for major crops, and in spring of 2015 will publish updated data on herbicide and insecticide use on GMO corn that will force even the most biased journalists and scientists to confront the truth that GMOs amount to a massive pesticide industry boondoggle that is not boosting yields.
I published a popular Huffington Post blog article about major mainstream media publications running interference and covering for the pesticide industry even as EPA and USDA rubber-stamped approval for their next generation 2,4 D herbicide tolerant crops. We expect, as with the movement arc of ending cannabis prohibition, that more and more major media will wake up and get a clue; but those that don't are just another obstacle on the way to inevitable victory.
The bottom line is, the GMO labeling movement is on fire and surging. We will likely prevail in one to two New England states legislatively in 2015, and as necessary in a major state in 2016 via the initiative process, as we keep bringing a bigger, better and more strategic fight. Like the narrow loss on the cannabis front with Prop 19 in 2010 in California, which educated and moved the debate forward setting up subsequent victories in 2012, the GMO labeling movement is poised to rack up major wins in 2016. But we are as likely to achieve victory through the market by 2016, as we are unleashing and fueling major cultural and market drivers and expect more and more food companies to flip and accept mandatory labeling just as they did in Europe. Chipotle is already disclosing and moving away from GMOs, as is Cheerios, Grape Nuts and other high profile brands. Whole Foods is mandating GMO labeling of all products by 2018 in its stores and many major mainstream retailers have refused to carry GMO salmon if or when approved.
Our experience with the movement to end cannabis prohibition over the past 15 years shows how much faster and stronger the modern movement to label GMOs is growing in a much shorter time. People are waking up that we have to transform our agricultural policies and dietary choices and eat more sustainably if we want to feed future generations, which requires as a first step that citizens are properly informed and empowered to make wise choices.
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bronner/dr-bronners-yearend-repor_b_6357178.html
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps Marijuana GMO GMO Labeling Marijuana Marijuana Pesticides Hemp Genetically Modified Food Justice
12 Of The Sketchiest Things The DEA Has Done While Waging The War On Drugs
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana	DEA, Human Rights, Justice Department, Nixon administration, WAR ON DRUGS	0
This is part one of a two-part series. Read part two here.
The Drug Enforcement Administration was established under the Justice Department in 1973 by President Richard Nixon. Its mission was to keep the nation off and away from drugs, which, at least according to the White House, were a moral evil and catalyst of criminal behavior. The agency was formed just two years after Nixon launched what became known as the "war on drugs." Congress and the rest of the nation remained convinced that the scourge of narcotics and drug abusers — and perhaps particularly those who were young, poor or black — was pounding at the gates. Over the next four decades, with most drug policy now firmly in the grips of law enforcement officials, the DEA's annual budget saw a fortyfold increase, going from a paltry $75 million to nearly $3 billion in 2014.
With more than 11,000 employees and a host of responsibilities, the agency's activity has expanded worldwide, all the while attracting scrutiny from critics of the drug war who contend that the DEA is an ineffective agency that uses controversial tools to enforce often misguided or unjust federal drug laws.
The catalog of controversies below helps explain why the public has often questioned the DEA's priorities, as well as the methods it employs to advance them. While the DEA does its best to keep many of its dealings out of the public eye — it regularly claims secrecy is imperative to the success of its anti-drug operations — here are some of the most sketchy, messed up things that we know it has done:
The DEA claimed Prohibition was a success.
Most historians believe the "noble experiment" of alcohol prohibition in the 1920s backfired, creating a myriad of negative unintended consequences and serving as a lesson about the hazards of governing public morals. The DEA, however, tells a different story. In 2010, the DEA and the International Association of Chiefs of Police released a report providing key arguments against drug legalization. In one passage, first highlighted by the Republic Report, the report set out to combat what it called the "myth" that "prohibition didn't work in the 20's and it doesn't work now." Its main argument was that the 18th Amendment didn't go far enough to restrict the manufacturing and consumption of alcohol at the onset of Prohibition.
Citing figures that suggest there was a decline in alcohol use during that 13-year period — statistics that are regularly contested and impossible to verify — the document argues that Prohibition was a successful policy. The report also downplayed the secondary effects of banning alcohol, such as the precipitous rise of organized crime, at one point suggesting that those effects were increasing before the enactment of Prohibition.
A sample of the DEA's report.
Unsurprisingly, the report made no mention of the clear negative parallels between early-20th century Prohibition laws and today's laws that target drugs. In both cases, strict prohibition has taken away resources from treatment for addiction and abuse, overburdened court systems and jails, fostered corruption in law enforcement, propped up organized crime and even, some argue, created a damaging disrespect for the rule of law. In return, these incredibly costly enforcement experiments have largely failed to actually limit people's consumptive habits.
The DEA imprisoned an innocent suspect in a holding cell for five days without food or water.
In 2012, 24-year-old Daniel Chong was detained by DEA agents in San Diego after his friend's house was targeted by a drug raid. Chong was told there were no plans to charge him and that he'd be released the same day. But he wasn't released, and agents who heard or saw him over the next five days did nothing, each believing he was somebody else's responsibility. Chong was trapped in a windowless 5-by-10 enclosure without food or water, all for the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When he was finally discovered, he was incoherent and required medical attention. He said he'd drank his own urine to survive, and at one point attempted suicide. At some point, Chong began to carve "sorry mom" into his arm with broken glass from his eyeglasses, which he ate before being released.
CONTINUE READING HERE…
Mummy Proves America Is 2,400 Years Behind On Medical Marijuana
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, History	Alabama, and Pennsylvania, Arkansas, florida, Georgia, Idaho, indiana, Iowa, Kansas, kentucky, Louisiana, missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming	0
Photo: Via Wikimedia Commons.
A 2,400-year-old "Siberian Ice Maiden" apparently knew something that not all US lawmakers do: Cannabis is a perfect palliative for cancer.
Discovered in 1993 by archaeologist Natalia Polosmak, the mummified remains of this woman, also known as the "Princess of Ukok," were recently examined by a team of Russian scientists. They found that the woman, who was heavily tattooed and died when she was between 20 and 30 years old, suffered from and ultimately succumbed to breast cancer.
"'I am quite sure of the diagnosis — she had cancer," one of the scientists told the Siberian Times. "She was extremely emaciated. Given her rather high rank in society and the information scientists obtained studying mummies of elite Pazyryks, I do not have any other explanation of her state. Only cancer could have such an impact."
The researchers also believe that the woman used cannabis to treat herself. A container of the herb was found in her burial chamber, along with a "cosmetics bag."
"Probably for this sick woman, sniffing cannabis was a forced necessity," another scientist said, noting that wine, hashish, opium, henbane, mandrake, aconite, and Indian hemp were all used at the time as painkillers. "And she was often in altered state of mind. We can suggest that through her could speak the ancestral spirits and gods. Her ecstatic visions in all likelihood allowed her to be considered as some chosen being, necessary and crucial for the benefit of society. She can be seen as the darling of spirits and cherished until her last breath."
Hey, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania: Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. (Siberian Times)
America needs marijuana bars
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana	alcohol abuse, Cannabis Bars, Government, marijuana, regulatations	0
For building a national pub culture, pot is better than alcohol
September 29, 2014 6:00AM ET
by Malcolm Harris @BigMeanInternet
Blogger-pundit Matt Yglesias really wants more bars. First at Think Progress, then at Slate and now at Vox, the commentator has waged a one-man rhetorical war on the country's urban liquor boards. The current licensing system, in which the number of bars is constrained by city bureaucrats rather than market demand, Yglesias has argued, leaves us with a paucity of public drinking spots where they're wanted. From New York's East Village to Adams Morgan in Washington, D.C., license limitations have caused bars to become rare, expensive, crowded and all around worse.
There's just one problem with Yglesias' more-bars plan: alcohol. America has a serious issue with responsible drinking, and increasing the number of sales locations probably won't help. Alcohol abuse already kills tens of thousands of Americans annually and costs hundreds of billions of dollars a year in lost productivity, health care and property damage. It's an especially big problem for college students and other young people; Jake New reported for Insider Higher Education that at least eight college freshman died in the first few weeks of school this year, most in alcohol-related accidents or overdoses. "Over the last 10 years, we've seen a fairly dramatic increase of alcohol-related hospitalizations in this age group," George Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at the National Institutes of Health, told New. More bars would contribute to what's already a public health crisis. Studies in Los Angeles and Cleveland suggest adding a bar is associated with about three additional violent crimes a year.
It's hard to imagine bars without alcohol. Caffeine is popular, but it's not what economists call a substitute good for booze. Luckily, those aren't our only options. In a post for Vox, German Lopez suggested that the strongest argument for marijuana legalization might be that people will use it instead of alcohol. Although prohibition has no doubt suppressed use, marijuana's social costs per user are negligible, especially compared with alcohol's. A recent National Institutes of Health study suggested that marijuana appears to fit the seven published criteria to be a substitute medication for alcohol, in the same way doctors prescribe methadone for heroin dependence. From a public health perspective, every drink we can replace with a toke is a victory.
Individual states, moved by a combination of hard evidence and shifting public opinion, are advancing with plans to legalize recreational marijuana use. So far, only Colorado and Washington have gone all the way to legalization, but the whole country is headed quickly in that direction. Despite all the new regulatory architectures for growing, distributing and using marijuana without violating the law, no states have been willing to propose what responsible common use in public could look like. Not one Amsterdam-style coffee shop has managed to keep its doors open. Still, there's a demand for marijuana bars or weed cafes or whatever we end up calling them, a demand that's being suppressed far more strongly than the demand for more alcohol bars.
Eventually Americans will have public places to go and get high with their friends.
Although federal law schedules marijuana with the worst of the worst drugs — for now, that is — small entrepreneurs have taken the first cautious steps toward establishing common spaces to get high. To do it, they have had to navigate webs of local regulations that were never written to apply to marijuana. In Washington, the Liquor Control Board banned weed from liquor-licensed establishments after a bar named Frankie's navigated the law and opened an upstairs smoking club. In Colorado a tea shop opened an after-hours marijuana co-op where patrons could take their own and smoke, until the town of Lafayette put the kibosh on use in business locations. One problem with weed bars is employees' right to a smoke-free workplace; even if cops allowed indoor marijuana smoking, no one would be allowed to work there. The Tacoma, Washington, pizza and rum bar Stonegate tried using vaporizers to get around this issue, but local authorities revoked his business license. Though owners seem willing to conform to whatever guidelines they're given, so far, no locality wants to be the first to host an American marijuana bar.
This is going to change. As the stigma around recreational marijuana use falls away, I'm confident that government prohibition will attenuate accordingly. Eventually Americans will have public places to go and get high with their friends. And given the way regulation is shaping up, they may be very different, depending on where you live. I think that's most likely a good thing, since I don't expect anyone is going to get it just right the first time. It's going to be a learning process, but we can't start until government at all levels relaxes a bit and allows the experimenting to proceed.
In his substantial writing on the topic of bars, Yglesias is predominantly concerned with economic growth in the service sector, but there's an equally strong argument to be made for increasing what's called parochial space. In his cultural history "Made in America," sociologist Claude S. Fischer documents the decline in bars, fraternal lodges, social clubs and neighborhood celebrations. Over the course of the 20th century, Americans retreated into their homes, off to the suburbs, broadcast entertainment and the nuclear family. Fewer and fewer people have a third place (not work or home) where everyone knows their name. These spaces promote community integration, friendship and extrafamilial networks of support; it's in the public interest to have more of them.
Legal marijuana bars would resolve all the problems Yglesias has with current licensing policies and give the U.S. a much-needed injection of parochial space, all without the harms that come with increased drinking. Not to be dramatic, but it's easy to see how making marijuana available as an alternative intoxicant could save lives. At very least, it's a socially healthier solution than more alcohol. And even if the author of "I Have Smoked Pot and Don't Really Care for It" won't be a frequent visitor, those of us who would rather get high than drunk will decamp and stop overcrowding Yglesias' neighborhood gastropub. Marijuana bars are an urban-planning win-win, and Americans will get them eventually. For stoners and drinkers alike, the sooner, the better.
Malcolm Harris is an editor at The New Inquiry and a writer based in Brooklyn.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera America's editorial policy.
Colorado rolling out 30 new tests to regulate marijuana industry
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, The Law	cannabis, Colorado, legal issues, regulatations	0
By Katie Kuntz Rocky Mountain PBS I-News – • Updated: September 29, 2014 at 5:37 am • 1
Medical and retail marijuana dispensaries in Colorado will receive about 30 new rules related to almost every aspect of their businesses.
The state Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) released the new rules Thursday. They change such things as the start-up licensing fees, and rules for cultivation, production, edibles, sales, employee training and product testing. Right down to a hand-washing requirement.
2 photos + caption
About a 1,000 show up in Colorado Springs for veterans marijuana giveaway
State officials have contended that Colorado's recreational marijuana industry is a work in progress, and these new standards underscore that fact.
"I think the new rules make a lot of sense," said Mark Slaugh, CEO of iComply, a cannabis industry compliance and consulting firm. "We're putting out consumer education and teaching business owners and workers how to be responsible vendors, from a business decision, it's a no-brainer."
Among the new rules is a revision of a proposal that caused an uproar at a hearing earlier this month, production caps on greenhouse or outdoor grows. The proposed rule would have allowed greenhouses to produce only half the amount of plants allowed at indoor or warehouse operations. The new rules do not make that distinction and allow the same number of plants, 3,600, for the first-level cultivation process.
"I think that the state really listened to the greenhouse workers and was responsive to the impassioned testimony," said Meg Collins, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association, and a member of the work group committee writing the production rules.
The enforcement division also established minimum "responsible vendor training" requirements along with minimum public health and safety requirements for anyone manufacturing edible marijuana products. The state has issued 18,666 marijuana occupational licenses. Each individual with a license will be required to meet new minimum training standards if hired by a shop, cultivation center, testing facility or product manufacturer. There are 496 licensed medical shops and another 242 recreational stores in Colorado. The state has received 177 additional applications for recreational stores and grow operations that could be approved by Oct. 1.
"I believe it's our responsibility to be as safe as we can be and make sure every bud tender and customer knows what to expect," said Brian Ruden, a retail and medical marijuana store owner in Denver, Louisville and Colorado Springs. "It's just better for the industry to err on the side of caution when the whole country is looking at the industry now."
Aside from safety and health training, new rules will normalize the amount of marijuana found in any edible – ensuring that a single serving size has no more than 10 milligrams of active THC, the intoxicating chemical in marijuana. "So that could be something as small as a peanut butter cup or bonbon or as large as a soda," said iComply's Slaugh. "If there is more than one serving in the product, it has to be easily identified."
The serving size rule is meant to ensure a more safe consumption of edible marijuana. Edibles have a greater risk for over consumption because the digestion of marijuana causes a later onset of the effects. Some people respond by eating more.
Testing requirements have also changed. MED will not only require testing for potency in edibles, but also for chemicals like pesticides and for the presence of fungi.
"I already spend a small fortune every month testing, and that is only going up because of all the other things they are testing," Ruden said. "I'm excited for more responsible regulation, but frustrated with the expenses, the licensing fees, taxes and testing."
Others expressed concern with what the new rules don't include.
Marijuana testing facilities will only test product from licensed cultivation centers, not home growers or medical marijuana caregivers.
"We're still not able to know how to dose," said Ashley Weber, medical marijuana patient and caregiver advocate. "From a caregiver's side, not being able to test means you don't know what you're giving your patient and you are never going to be able to be on a consistent level. And for parents with kids with epilepsy, (they) can't know if they are overmedicating their children (or) when (to) give the medication."
MED has not yet considered expanding testing services to caregivers.
Others were concerned that the mass of new regulations might mean more costs, and continuing competitions from the black or gray markets.
"The more rules you have the more challenging it is because we are driving up the price," Slaugh said.
"We can offer a consistent, safe product and a wider variety and you don't have to deal with a drug dealer – I think legitimate market will always drive away the black market – except for the price."
The Gazette brings you this report in partnership with Rocky Mountain PBS I-News. Learn more at rmpbs.org/news. Contact Katie Kuntz at [email protected]
Read more at http://gazette.com/colorado-rolling-out-30-new-tests-to-regulate-marijuana-industry/article/1538441#RihTWcE1DG3VEMAX.99
DEA Ratifies Spike in Marijuana for Research
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Health, Latest News, Medical Cannabis	cannabis, DEA, marijuana, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, NIDA	1
Production is going from 46.3 pounds to 1,433 pounds – but it's unclear where the extra pot is going.
Marijuana is seen in this 1999 photo at the University of Mississippi. The school cultivates and supplies research-grade cannabis in partnership with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
By Steven Nelson Aug. 26, 2014
The federal government affirmed Tuesday a large increase in the amount of marijuana it plans to grow for research this year.
The Drug Enforcement Administration offered the production bump – from 46.3 pounds to 1,433 pounds – for public comment on May 5.
One person submitted a comment, which was supportive.
"The DEA appreciates the support for this adjusted 2014 aggregate production quota for marijuana which will provide for the estimated scientific, research and industrial needs of the United States," a Tuesday notice in the Federal Register says.
"The DEA has taken into consideration the one comment received during the 30-day period and the administrator has determined," the notice says, the increase is appropriate.
[READ: Former Republican Governor Looks to Build the 'Microsoft of Marijuana']
The DEA gave preapproval to the increase in late April, citing urgent need for National Institute on Drug Abuse-facilitated research. But, the DEA said in a May notice, all comments from the public would be taken into consideration.
NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health, grows marijuana for approved research in partnership with the University of Mississippi.
The increase was necessary because the DEA underestimated researchers' need when it calculated the initial annual quota in September.
In its May notice the DEA said it simply couldn't wait for public comment before making the correction.
"Due to the manufacturing process unique to marijuana, including the length of time and conditions necessary to propagate and process the substance for distribution in 2014, it is necessary to adjust the initial, established 2014 aggregate production quota for marijuana as soon as practicable," the DEA said. "Accordingly, the administrator finds good cause to adjust the aggregate production quota for marijuana before accepting written comments from interested persons or holding a public hearing."
A spokesman for the DEA referred questions about the increase to NIDA. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the uptick in demand. It's unclear how much marijuana has been produced to date this year.
A NIDA official told The Washington Post in May the agency was funding more than 100 grants for marijuana research, including 30 studies of the plant's "therapeutic uses." Critics say the agency disproportionately funds research into the downside of pot use.
DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, who signed the Tuesday notice, is a critic of liberalizing marijuana laws. Leonhart refused to say during a June 2012 congressional hearing if marijuana is less harmful than crack or heroin. In January she criticized President Barack Obama for saying smoking pot is less harmful than drinking alcohol.
"Marijuana is so popular these days with voters, lawmakers and researchers that even the DEA can't continue to ignore it," says Marijuana Majority Chairman Tom Angell.
But Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the pro-medical marijuana group Americans for Safe Access, isn't cheering. He finds the increase "very fishy" and says he cannot recall a previous time the quota was offered for public comment.
[RELATED: House Votes to Protect Medical Pot From Feds]
Hermes also notes the annual pot-production quota was once higher.
In fact, throughout the Bush administration the quota was much higher. From 2005-2009 the annual quota was about 9,920 pounds, according to DEA fact sheets. Before that, from 2002-2004, the quota was about 1,852 pounds and in 2001 it was 1,100 pounds.
The quota hovered at 46.3 pounds beginning in 2010. Hermes says he doesn't know why the quota dropped so dramatically that year.
Editorial Cartoons on Pot Legalization
"They still aren't divulging why the quota is increasing and why it's not increasing how much it has in the past," Hermes says. "It's shrouded in secrecy."
About half of U.S. states currently allow marijuana for medical use. Two states, Colorado and Washington, have established regulated recreational marijuana markets. Alaska and Oregon voters may legalize pot under state law in November and Florida voters may adopt medical marijuana. Despite liberalizing state laws, marijuana remains an illegal Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Think Before You Smoke: 7 Things to Know About Marijuana Tourism
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Latest News	Colorado, marijuana, tourism, washington	0
Fox News.com Aug 28, 2014
By Mark Murphy
When you think about green travel, it usually means an eco-friendly resort or destination.
That's not the case anymore, as "green" has taken on a new meaning with the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington – and the corresponding increase in tourism to both states. For the purpose of this story, I'll focus on Colorado, but many tips cover both states.
Travelers looking for a ski vacation later this year may want to skip Utah or Tahoe, and head to Colorado instead. We are already seeing a direct spike in visitors tied exclusively to the legalization of marijuana, but the lure of legal marijuana could end up increasing tourism to all areas of the state.
Entrepreneurs are actively going after this market by packaging tours around the idea of getting high, but you can just as easily do it on your own. Land in Denver and the information desk will direct you to any one of the numerous outlets where you can legally purchase marijuana and enjoy a hazy break from the ordinary without worry of arrest.
Related: In Aspen, Even the Weed is Luxurious
Here are the seven things you need to consider before you head out on that stoner trip:
Know there is a limit: If you come from out of state you must be 21 years of age and hold a valid form of identification, most often a driver's license or passport. If you have that covered, the limit for your purchase is a quarter of an ounce. For in-state residents it is a full ounce.
Find a quiet spot to light up: You cannot smoke in public or in most hotels, so finding a legal spot to light up may be your biggest challenge. Ask your hotel front desk or concierge for smoking clubs, lounges, or a safe spot to smoke. If you are out in the mountains, find some open space and go about your business. It may be illegal and land you a fine, but there is a good chance you won't have any issues. Never smoke in your rental car since any intent to drive would lead to a DUI arrest, even if the car is not turned on.
Related: Where's the Weed? Amsterdam's New Breed of Coffeehouses
Don't overdo it: You can smoke it, but you can also eat it in packages resembling protein bars they sell at many health food stores. Instead of giving you a nutritional lift, they'll send you to a very different place. Look at the equivalent dose you might get from any pot bar to avoid getting yourself in trouble. Some bars have 10 times the average dose you might get from smoking a joint, sending you into an uncomfortable state or even the hospital.
Don't drive, period: Driving under the influence of pot can lead to arrest, even if you exhibit no indications of impairment. The express consent law in Colorado details that drivers automatically give consent to have their blood or breath tested if an officer has any probable cause to believe he or she is impaired.
Don't leave the state with any marijuana: Enjoy your legal marijuana experience in Colorado or Washington, but leave whatever you don't use in those states. If you bring back excess pot, it could result in a steep fine or, depending on the amount and any previous convictions, actual jail time.
Related: Smoke on a Plane: E-Cigarettes Ignite Controversy
Don't even think about selling your excess stash: Are you ready to head back home even though you are still sitting on some great weed? Give it away, but don't try to sell it. Trade it for a Rockies jersey or anything else. Asking for money in exchange of the drug is illegal and could result in fines or worse.
Look up state rules before heading out on your marijuana tour. These laws are subject to change, so make sure you have the latest information to make a safe, and legal, trip.
First Marijuana edibles store opens in Washington State
Marijuana compound may slow, halt progression of Alzheimer's
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Health, Latest News	alzheimers, cannabis, CBD, health, Journal of Alzheimers Disease, marijuana, THC	2
Neuroscientists found that extremely low doses of a compound found in marijuana may slow or halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease reported that neuroscientists using a cellular model of Alzheimer's found low doses of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) reduced the production of amyloid beta, and prevented abnormal accumulation, which is one of the early signs of the memory-loss disease.
"Decreased levels of amyloid beta means less aggregation, which may protect against the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Since THC is a natural and relatively safe amyloid inhibitor, THC or its analogs may help us develop an effective treatment in the future," said lead author Chuanhai Cao, a neuroscientist and PhD at the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute and the University of South Florida College of Pharmacy.
Neuroscientists also found THC enhanced mitochondrial function which is needed to supply energy, transmit signals and maintain a healthy brain.
"THC is known to be a potent antioxidant with neuroprotective properties, but this is the first report that the compound directly affects Alzheimer's pathology by decreasing amyloid beta levels, inhibiting its aggregation, and enhancing mitochondrial function," Cao said.
The research noted that the therapeutic benefits of THC at low doses appear greater than the associated risks of toxicity and memory impairment.
"Are we advocating that people use illicit drugs to prevent the disease? No," study co-author Neel Nabar said. "However, these findings may lead to the development of related compounds that are safe, legal, and useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease."
As many as 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease, with the numbers projected to reach 14 million by 2050, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cannabis Culture News LIVE: Marc Emery is Not Free Yet
shereekrider Cannabis Culture, Cannabis Media, Cannabis/Marijuana	Activism, cannabis, cannabis culture, hemp, jodie emery, Justin Trudeau, marc emery, marijuana	0
VIDEO HERE!
POT TV – Watch Cannabis Culture News LIVE for the latest news and views on pot politics and the marijuana community.
In this episode: Though Marc Emery's official prison release date has just passed, he has not actually been released and may not be for sometime. We discuss the details with Marc's wife Jodie Emery. Justin Trudeau's latest endorsement comes from none other than Marc Emery, the self-proclaimed "Prince of Pot" – what's he smoking? Facebook Post by the Conservative Party of Canada by CPC.
Also on the show: Cannabis Day 2014 and Redbeard's Great Canadian Glass Gathering!
Click here to watch PAST EPISODES of CCN LIVE.
Join the Pot TV Livestream chat to have your say during the show.
Jeremiah Vandermeer is editor of Cannabis Culture. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Legalized Marijuana: Companies Moving Now To Cash In On Cannabis
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Corporate Cannabis	banking industry, Colorado, marijuana, medical cannabis, medical marijuana inc., washington	0
Largely illegal in the U.S. for a century, weed became legal in Washington and Colorado at the start of the year after voters in those states gave the go-ahead in 2012. Further north, voters could decide in August whether Alaska will become the third state to remove prohibitions on the recreational use of pot. A poll released Monday by Quinnipiac University suggests residents of New York, a state notorious for its strict drug laws, are in favor of legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use by a comfortable margin of 18 percentage points.
Estimates of the total value of a legal pot industry in the U.S. are hard to establish in part because the current price of marijuana is artificially high; illegal substances, after all, are a significant risk to black market dealers and buyers, and with that comes a premium. A 2011 report by See Change Strategy, which focuses on growth in new markets, estimated that the value of medical marijuana alone would grow from $1.7 billion to about $9 billion by 2016.
Here are some companies that have begun positioning themselves to cash in on this cash crop: CONTINUE THRU THIS LINK!
By Angelo Young on February 20 2014 10:59 AM
Above: Nate Johnson, managing owner of the Queen Anne Cannabis Club, sells a marijuana strain called "Beast Mode OG", named after NFL player Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks, in Seattle, Washington January 28, 2014. Reuters
One night in 1839….
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, Health, Latest News	cannabis, epilepsy, healthcare, seizures	0
One night in 1839, a woman knocked at the door of a British Army doctor named William O'Shaughnessy who was stationed in India.
The woman's infant was having seizures and needed help. The doctor tried several 19th-century remedies, including opium and leeches, but the convulsions grew worse over several days until the baby stopped eating and was convulsing almost constantly.
Not knowing what else to do, the doctor tried hemp, which the locals used as medicine.
A few drops of a cannabis tincture under the child's tongue stopped the seizures almost immediately. Regular doses over the next few weeks brought the convulsions to an end.
"The child is now in enjoyment of robust health and regained her natural plump and happy appearance," O'Shaughnessy later wrote in a medical journal article, titled "On the preparation of Indian Hemp or Gunjah."
He concluded that, "In Hemp the profession has gained an anti-convulsive remedy of the greatest value."
When a few Colorado Springs families started treating their epileptic children with marijuana oil in 2012, the treatment was unknown to the modern medical establishment and the parents thought they were making the discovery for the first time. In fact, they were uncovering once widespread knowledge that had been lost or ignored during the decades-long nearly global prohibition against using marijuana as medicine.
Historical documents show that people have known for centuries that cannabis could quell seizures. In modern times, scientific studies have repeatedly shown its potential as treatment for epilepsy. But a combination of restrictive drug laws, stigma in the medical establishment and lack of funding for research caused findings to be stifled or dismissed for decades, cannabis researchers say.
The potential human cost of ignoring the evidence for so long is hard to overstate. Of the 3 million people in the United States with epilepsy, an estimated 500,000 are not helped by current medications, according to The American Epilepsy Society. About 50,000 die each year from seizures.
"Imagine if people could have had access to this in the '50s, or the '70s, when studies suggested it worked. Imagine how many people could have been helped," said Paige Figi, the first mother in Colorado Springs to treat her epileptic daughter with locally grown strain of marijuana. Five-year-old Charlotte had hundreds of seizures per day and had tried every available seizure drug without success. She was not expected to live long. The Figis had read some decades-old studies suggesting a compound in cannabis called cannabidiol could help. Desperate, they started giving Charlotte a local marijuana strain high in the compound. It reduced her seizures by 99.9 percent. She is now thriving.
Charlotte's success sparked a small movement, with dozens of families who have not been helped by trying traditional treatments moving to Colorado, where the oil is produced.
Media reports featuring the Figis were the first most of these families had heard of treating seizures with cannabis, but, in fact, reports of treating seizures with cannabis stretch back more than 500 years.
"I'm a mom, I don't have a Ph.D. Why did we have to stumble onto this?" Paige Figi said. "We feel like science has failed us. I think it's unfortunate it has to be parents figuring this out, and science has to catch up."
Cannabis is very useful
The first known reference to the anti-seizure potential of cannabis, according to a number of academic papers, comes from an Arabic treatise from 1464 that describes how the epileptic son of a high-ranking official in Baghdad was cured by regular administration of hashish.
After returning from India, Dr. O'Shaughnassy lectured extensively in Great Britain in the 1840s on the properties of hemp and its use as a medicine in Europe became widespread.
Sir John Russell Reynolds, the personal physician to Queen Victoria, wrote in The Lancet in 1890 on the many therapeutic uses of cannabis, saying "I have found hemp very useful" for treating epilepsy.
In America, a publication called the Philadelphia Medical Times ran an article titled "Cannabis indica in the treatment of epilepsy" in 1878.
By 1900, cannabis extracts were commonly found in American pharmacies.
But, as the 20th century progressed, cannabis fell out of favor, according to the book "Cannabis in Medical Practice." Unlike opium and cocaine, the active ingredients in cannabis were harder to parse, and were not isolated until the middle of the 20th century. Pharmacists were left with a whole plant extract that could vary greatly in makeup and potency. At the same time, states were increasingly passing laws tightening control on recreational use of the plant. It was effectively banned federally by the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act.
That year, during hearings in front of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the American Medical Association spoke against criminalizing cannabis, saying many of its members prescribed it. But the committee was swayed by the testimony of the assistant commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, who said, "Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind. Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes."
Medical advances stunted
The passage of the act ended the use of medical cannabis and led to a decades-long suppression of medical marijuana research that only started to lift with California's first-in-the-nation medical marijuana law in 1996.
"Looking back, a lot of this reefer madness stuff seems ridiculous but it is also one of the great tragedies of modern medicine," said Martin Lee, author of the book "Smoke Signals, a social history of marijuana." "It impeded all kinds of medical advances. Think of all the knowledge we lost. Think of all the time we lost. We have been forced to rediscover things that were there all along. And in the meantime, these poor kids."
Even in the most restrictive years of marijuana laws, scientific studies continued to show cannabis could treat epilepsy – especially cannabidiol.
In 1949, two doctors tested marijuana compounds with six severely epileptic children. The substance controlled seizures as well as traditional drugs with three of the children, and stopped or nearly stopped all seizures in two.
"The Future for epileptics appears very bright," an article about the findings in the Salt Lake City Telegram said. "Because of not only one new drug, but a whole field of new compounds to combat epileptic seizures."
But the research went nowhere.
Similar studies in 1974, '79, '80, '81, '82 and several times since showed cannabidiol's promising properties for regulating seizures, but each time they failed to bridge the gap from laboratory to medicine cabinet.
"There are a number of barriers to research," said Jeffrey Hergenrather, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, who studies the anti-cancer properties of cannabis.
First, he said, money is lacking because most research is funded by pharmaceutical companies, which have little to gain from a plant that can't be patented.
Second, because cannabis is a tightly controlled substance, he said, research involves extra regulatory steps, including having the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency inspections that discourage many researchers.
Third, the medical establishment long had a dismissive attitude toward the research, he said.
"It is seen by some as not serious. There is a stigma. It is difficult to get your findings published," he said.
In addition, he said, doctors are hesitant to recommend cannabis because many have little knowledge of how it interacts with the human body.
"There is a whole system of chemical receptors in the human body that interacts with cannabis, and they are not taught it in medical school at all," Hergenrather said. "That shows the profound effect prohibition has had."
Cannabis now drawing attention
Now that 20 states have some kind of legalized medical marijuana, anecdotal evidence of people using cannabis to treat a number of ailments is getting the attention of mainstream medicine, and attitudes toward cannabis are starting to change, he said.
Orrin Devinsky, a New York University neurologist who specializes in epilepsy, illustrates that.
In his 2012 book "Alternative therapies for epilepsy," he wrote marijuana was "not recommended to treat epilepsy." But in late 2013, after increasing anecdotal evidence of the therapeutic potential of cannabis coming out of Colorado Springs, he held a symposium in New York on the potential of cannabidiol and began a Food and Drug Administration-approved study of the treatment of epilepsy in children with the cannabis compound cannabidiol.
"At this time, medical marijuana products show great potential for helping patients with treatment-resistant epilepsy," Devinsky told The Gazette. "However, at the current time, we lack either good safety or effectiveness data on any product. Our focus should be to obtain scientifically valid data and to remain very humble about what we do and do not know."
Follow Dave Philipps on Twitter: @David_Philipps
1464: Arab historian Ibn al-Badri writes that when "the epileptic son of the caliph's chamberlain" in Baghdad was treated with cannabis "it cured him completely."
1839: British doctor Dr. William O'Shaughnessy, left, says experiments with cannabis in India "led me to the belief that in Hemp the profession has gained an anti-convulsive remedy of the greatest value."
1890: The personal physician to Queen Victoria, writes in The Lancet in 1890 on the medical uses of cannabis, saying "I have found hemp very useful" for treating epilepsy.
1900: Tincture of cannabis becomes a common medicine in American pharmacies.
1937: Medical cannabis effectively outlawed by Marihuana Tax Act.
1949: Two doctors give cannabis to five epileptic children. Three did as well as on other drugs. One had significant improvement, and one had seizures disappear entirely.
1977: Study of rats shows cannabidiol works as well as other anti-seizure drugs.
1980: Double blind study shows seven of eight human epileptics helped by cannibidiol, with seizures stopping entirely in half.
2003: British company GW Pharamaceuticals announces it plans to market a marijuana-based cannabidiol drug for epilepsy, with hopes of quick approval by the FDA. It has yet to be approved.
2012: Colorado Springs mom Paige Figi begins treating her 5-year-old daughter, Charlotte, with a marijuana oil rich in cannadidiol, sparking a small movement to make the treatment available to all epileptics.
– Colorado Springs-area mom Paige Figi on mission for medical marijuana
– 'Face of Cannabis' project aims to raise awareness, facilitate change
Read more at http://gazette.com/now-popular-in-colorado-marijuana-oil-has-long-success-history-thats-often-been-ignored/article/1513431#toEswLSou20ppmPH.99
Illinois cannabis patients cannot be discriminated against by employers
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana	cannabis, Dispensaries, hemp, Illinois, marijuana, Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, opium, pharmaceuticals	0
On December 10th the National Law Review
published an article written by Vedder Price in which
they give some clarification of the Illinois Medical
Marijuana Law.
On august 1, 2013 Governor Pat Quinn signed the
"Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot
Program Act".
One of the most disturbing provisions to me is the
fact that a patient CANNOT grow their own medicine.
It must be dispensed (and paid for) at a legally
licensed dispensary.
However, one good thing that is included in the
"Act" was in regards to an employment related
issue. Under the "Act" it would be unlawful to
discriminate against an employee or applicant based
upon their medical cannabis use, provided is legally
prescribed and obtained.
It would seem that legalization has opened up doors
in all commerce ventures across the country and
worldwide. The problem is the legalization itself has
opened up a whole new door for criminalization.
As the product of "Cannabis" is patented, grown,
produced, sold and exchanged over the stock
market all around the world, the doors of the new
prisons will be opening for those of us who might
not choose to abide by their "growing standards".
Each state law is markedly different and continuously
changing amid the stress of a newly marketed item.
But the bottom line is legalization equals regulation
and taxation which we are seeing now amid the
hustle and bustle of the "legalizing states".
There will indeed be much money to be made.
Jobs will be created. People will have access to
Cannabis – IF deemed necessary by thier doctor,
and the "law".
Just like the opiate wars which we are living in every
day, which would include all Pharmaceutical Opiates
which are marketed through Pharmacy's and
regulated by law therefore creating a black market
for them by law of supply and demand (via
addiction), so will the war on Cannabis continue,
long after it is "legal". The only difference is that the
Cannabis is not addictive like other opiates and that
is and will continue to be the saving factor in this
rude scenario of "legalization".
Below are some links of information on the legalization process.
HALF BAKED: THE FEDERAL AND STATE CONFLICTS OF LEGALIZING MEDICAL MARIJUANA (2012)
THE NATIONAL LAW REVIEW (2013)
FINDLAW.COM
5 Amazing Things You Didn't Know About Marijuana
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana	cancer, cannabis, health, hemp, jack grinspoon, medical cannabis	0
By Jack Grinspoon, Thursday at 6:51 pm
It's no coincidence that marijuana legalization support has surged with the growth of social media. The voices of the Reefer Madness era are silenced daily as studies and testimonials continue pouring in about this often misunderstood plant. Ignorance still remains, however, and this fight won't be won without continued education of the masses.
It takes one fact that hits home to sway someone's opinion. Maybe one of the following will do that for you. Here are five things about marijuana you may not have known:
1. THC and CBD, marijuana's primary cannabinoids, are both cancer killers.
No, I'm not talking about using marijuana to help manage cancer's effects. It's actually anti-cancer.
Recent research out of Spain suggests that THC, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, kills brain cancer cells. Study co-author Guillermo Velasco claims that when THC was applied to cancerous brain tissue, the cancer cells were killed while healthy cells were left alone.
CBD apparently does the same; a pair of scientists from California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco demonstrated the cannabinoid's ability to stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer.
Imagine if this plant were discovered in a jungle two weeks ago. What would the news be saying? The CBD article goes as far as to say the breakthrough could "potentially alter the fatality of the disease forever." The lack of media coverage for this is astounding, but that doesn't diminish the research.
2. Marijuana triggers neurogenesis. Layman's terms: It leads to brain cell growth.
Wait….marijuana is supposed to kill brain cells, right?
The roots of the marijuana-kills-brain-cells myth are deep despite the lack of credible evidence. The original study supporting this notion is questionable at best and recent research suggests exactly the opposite.
In 2005, a study showed cannabinoids' ability to promote neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, the brain region responsible for many important brain functions including mood and memory. The authors also cited anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effects that accompany the neurogenesis. This explains why people across California, Colorado, Washington and other marijuana-friendly states often turn to the herb for a mood-boost instead of pharmaceutical drugs. It also supports research that marijuana helps improve cognitive function in bipolar disorder patients. This brings us to our next fact….
3. Suicide rates are lower in areas where medical marijuana is available
A Denver state-level study analyzed the statistical trend of suicide after introduction of medical marijuana.
From the study:
"Our results suggest that the passage of a medical marijuana law is associated with an almost 5% reduction in total suicide rate, an 11% reduction in the suicide rate of age 20-29 males, and a 9% reduction in the suicide rate of 30-39 males."
It's interesting this hasn't become mainstream data in a country so focused on suicide prevention. Not surprisingly, one of the main reasons cited by the study's authors for the decrease was connected to the at-risk population (20 and 30-something males) replacing alcohol with marijuana. This data makes the strictness of Illinois' new medical marijuana policy even more laughable.
"Don't let usage get out of control! Less people might commit suicide!"
Speaking of marijuana's effects on well-being, I highly recommend this very personal, heart-wrenching article.
But what about the physical effects?
4. There is zero evidence that marijuana causes significant lung damage.
While vaporization is always touted as the safest method of marijuana ingestion, the largest study of its kind suggested marijuana-only smoking is harmless as well:
"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use. What we found instead was no association at all, and even some suggestion of a protective effect."
The above words come from UCLA Medical Doctor Donald Tashkin, author of the study and marijuana researcher of more than 30 years.
Considering the tar in marijuana smoke was found to contain as many harmful carcinogens as cigarette smoke, this study actually strengthens the notion that marijuana is anti-cancer. The plant itself seems to have an offsetting effect for the harmful properties of smoke.
5. There are two completely different types of marijuana, both with different effects on the user.
One of the biggest mistakes made by people who first try marijuana is immediately thinking that it's "not for them." It certainly isn't for everyone, but what if they just tried the wrong kind?
There are hundreds of different strains of marijuana, tagged with names like Blue Dream, OG Kush, Trainwreck or Pineapple. All of these are categorized as "Sativa" or "Indica." Here's a simple-as-possible explanation on the difference:
Sativas
are usually day-time strains, used to enhance the experience of social events, time in nature or listening to new music. Caregivers often recommend sativa strains for patients seeking relief from depression, PTSD, fatigue and some types of anxiety and pain. Some patients even report positive effects on ADHD while medicating with sativa strains. Although sativas produce an enjoyable effect, they usually are the culprit for an inexperienced user "tweaking out" during one of their first times smoking.
Indicas
are often smoked at night due to their narcotic effect on the user. Indica strains are perfect for users suffering from any type of pain, nausea or anxiety. They're also preferable for novice users as they acclimate themselves to the herb. This variety is popular for meditation or yoga due to its mind-calming qualities.
Here is a more extensive explanation on the two categories if you're interested.
Marijuana isn't for everyone. Nothing is for everyone.
But should we be throwing those it is for in cages?
I dare you to say yes.
Email me at [email protected] if there's anything in particular you'd like covered in this blog
Tags: brain cells, cancer, cannabis, CBD, indica, Legalization, marijuana, sativa, strain, suicide, THC, UCLA, weed
"I don't want to fucking give this United States government one fucking dollar of taxes…" — Jack Herer, "The Emperor of Hemp", September 12th, 2009
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana, CIVIL RIGHTS, Drug War, Farming and GMO, Hemp, History, Politics	cannabis, freedom, health, Herer, human, Jack, More…, prohibition, Repeal, Rick, Simpson	0
Rev. Mary Spears explains the legalization vs. repeal initiatives and why REPEAL is the only way to proceed.
"I don't want to fucking give this United States
government one fucking dollar of taxes…"
— Jack Herer, "The Emperor of Hemp", September 12th, 2009
(Portland Hempstalk Festival–his final speech.)
http://overgrow.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-fallacy-of-the-legalize-and-tax-cannabis-initiatives
By ElectroPig Von Fökkengrüüven in Overgrow The World v2.0
The Fallacy of the "Legalize and Tax Cannabis" initiatives.
Overgrow The World
I have listened and understood the words of the late Jack Herer, and I am amazed how few people who say they believe in what Jack was saying truly understand the real reasons why he so horrified at the idea of creating new cannabis taxes. Let me explain quickly: THEY ARE NOT NEEDED AT ALL! As a matter of fact, nothing could be further from the truth!
Now I'm sure that many of you don't believe me. If that is the case, then you also didn't understand what Jack meant, or perhaps you simply weren't paying attention, choosing to hear what you agreed with and ignoring what you didn't understand, or simply weren't interested in.
The first "ignored fact" is that the vast majority of the "illicit market" for cannabis is underground, hence, completely untaxed. There is a small fallacy to this statement, however, as even those "underground economies" still purchase their supplies, tools and equipment from "legitimate businesses" and those businesses all pay taxes of one form or another. Cannabis growers order pizza, buy gas, hire electricians and plumbers, et cetera. In this admittedly roundabout way, cannabis already is taxed, albeit to a very small degreee in comparison to the total size of the market as it stands, and to the potential which is known to exist.
Let's say that cannabis/hemp were re-legalized prohibition was repealed today, and it was done so without the creation of any new tax codes specifically for cannabis. Most think that this would be a bad thing, as it wouldn't be "exploiting the market" without creating new tax codes, new agencies, new enforcement regimes. Unfortunately, the people who believe that have been lied to, and it's time that they learned the truth.
In actual fact, if cannabis were re-legalized prohibition was repealed today and taxes weren't considered in the equation in any way, it would still be beneficial to society in terms of savings alone. We'd save money on policing, of which estimates range that between 40-60% of all police costs are directly due to "drug prohibition." Logic follows that with police not bogged down with grandmothers taking a puff to slow their glaucoma, they would then be able to concentrate their resources on combating real crimes. Things like rape, murder, fraud, home invasion and theft, assault and battery, arson, financial crimes, environmental crimes (of which cannabis/hemp prohibition is one of the leading causes, in fact), and many more REAL crimes with REAL victims.
Taken a step further, lawyers would then be freed up to work on real crimes as well. So would prosecutors. So would judges, court stenographers, prison staff and more. WIthout locking away non-violent "criminals" who have harmed noone else–and this is the scary part for corporations–the "warehousing of otherwise productive humans for profit" would suddenly become far less profitable for the prison-industrial complex to continue, and prohibitionary statute development might begin to fade. With less "legal reasons" to imprison people for essentially minding their own business, more people would not have the lives and futures destroyed.
So let's say that there were no new taxes created upon re-legalization of cannabis/hemp, and we ONLY consider the tens or hundreds of billions SAVED by no longer wasting time attacking people in their homes for posession or for growing a few plants for their own consumption. Are not those billions of dollars saved a tremendous enough benefit to justify the immediate repeal of cannabis/hemp prohibition? Could saving those billions of dollars not be immediately transferred into lower taxes, or public debt reduction? Would those savings alone not be of tremendous, immediate and long-term social value?
Now let's consider the tax idea on it's own merit.
With re-legalization repeal of cannabis/hemp prohibition, there would immediately follow the creation of new businesses to exploit what is widely known to be a global market for cannaibs and hemp products. Each of those businesses would be subject to business income taxes that currently do not exist. WIthout a single character added to business tax statutes, the net result would be the establishment of "new revenue" from those "new businesses."
Of course, those businesses would need people to man storefronts, deliver products, develop products, design packaging, grow the raw materials, process the raw materials, et cetera. These jobs would all be legitimate jobs in the real job market. Each of those jobs would be subject to existing income tax statutes. It's not hard to see how those "new jobs" would in turn be utilized as "new tax revenue sources" which previously did not exist. Again, without a single line of new codes written, a brand new revenue stream has been obtained.
Each of those new employees and businesses would need supplies, equipment, computers, energy sources, and services. All of those businesses and individuals would then use their incomes to purchase those items or services they needed, either to operate or enhance their businesses, or simply to make their lives at home a little better. All of those products would be purchased at existing retailers and/or wholesalers that exist in the current "legitimate marketplace." All (or the vast majority) of those purchases would be subject to sales taxes at state/provincial and federal levels. Again, not a single comma added to the existing statutes required, but "new revenue" has effectively been attained.
Now let's take the cannabis market ITSELF.
All of those newly created and legitimate businesses would provide products that people either wanted or needed, be they for medical purposes or for recreational uses. All of those products would then be subject to state/provincial and federal sales taxes. With each sale would then come "new revenues" which do not exist today. Again–are you starting to notice a pattern yet?–without the addition of a single line of code to any existing tax codes.
The Fallacy of "New Government Regulatory Jobs"
People keep being told that "new jobs" will be created in the "new regulatory framework" that "will be needed", but they haven't thought this through. Some have partly thought it through, thinking that since a percentage of those worker's incomes will be clawed back by income taxes–say 25%–that means that those jobs are "cheaper" than "real jobs". That's actually not quite right.
When you look the "real economy", or in other words, the economy from which all government income is derived via the millions of tax codes which exist to take our incomes from us all, any position in this "real economy" is one which is subject to taxation, and therefore, is generally to be considered a contributing position.
On the other hand, when you look at "government jobs" which are wholly funded by "real people" with "real jobs" in the "real economy", every government position which exists–no matter what country or what level of government–is a drain on society, and must be so, as "we hired them to work for us."
Now let's take a simple example that we've all heard a million times: "Joe The Plumber."
If Joe was working in his own shop, or for someone else in their business, he would be a contributing factor in the "real economy" in the amount of taxation on his income, we'll use 25% for illustration purposes. This means that 25% of his income is diverted to "public employees and projects" needed for society to function as it currently exists.
Now let's take Joe's situation if he were a government employee…let's say he's employed by the local Public Utilities Comission. Now Joe's income is wholly funded by tax dollars, and thus, is a drain on society. We've established an income tax rate of 25%, so we can now say that Joe is "cheaper" because now his services now only costs us 75% of what they would, had he remained in his private sector job.
Here is the "minor error" in that logic: Joe has moved from the "real economy" to the "government economy". In making that move, the "real economy" has lost 100% of a "real job", while the government has gained an employee "at a discount of only 75% of their private sector wages." When you add that up, you see quite clearly that Joe's "new job" is effectively now a 175% loss to society as a whole.
Joe's still making the same amount of money. We're still paying him the same amount of money when he does his work…but now he is NOT contributing to the "real economy" at all, while he is draining 75% of his wages from unnaportioned taxation of the people who are forced to pay his salary, whether they partake of his services or not.
Unfortunately, this also applies to every "equivalent government position" that exists in the world. Accountants cost 175% of what they would cost in the "real economy." So do welders, secretaries, cafeteria cooks, lawyers…ALL of them! If they work for the government, they are at a much higher cost than their equivalent "real world" positions in the real economy.
We need to keep this in mind whenever we hear talk of " new regulations" because that almost always means "new regulatory bodies", and that DEFINITELY always means "new government employees" which are going to cost us dearly if we allow such things to occur.
If we are forced to accept some form of taxation in order to move closer to the full repeal of cannabis/hemp prohibition, so be it…let's move a little closer…but the second we have a positive change under our belts, we must NOT become complacent! We must continue to fight for the full repeal of cannabis/hemp prohibition until the batttle is decisively won.
Once we have some "half-assed reasonable legislation" in place, we can guage what are the worst parts of those enacted bills and target them one by one until they're all gone, and then, we will have our ofn freedom, and freedom for what is arguably the most important plant known on this planet.
At the Hempstalk Festival, during Jack Herer's final public speech, he said (among other things):
"I don't want to fucking give this United States government one fucking dollar of taxes…"
Obviously, he understood my thinking…or perhaps, I simply learned enough to come to an understanding of his.
EDIT: I have since come up with the complete solution to the perils of prohibition in THREE WORDS:
1) DESCHEDULE.
2) REPEAL.
3) DONE!!!
If you remember only three words in your lifetime, THOSE are the ones that WILL end cannabis/hemp prohibition.
If we continue to be led by propagandists and prohibitionists into accepting ever-longer-names for prohibition, while believing we are "moving closer to freedom", we'll never get there…it'll just keep getting more complex, more costly, and more damaging to society as a whole…as it has for decades already.
If we allow our politicians to "reschedule" cannabis, this COULD mean an outright statutory BAN on ALL cannabis use, medicinal or otherwise, for the length of time it would take "to conduct safety studies." We already know that if they keep finding proof cannabis is non-toxic, anti-oxidant, neuroprotectant, et cetera, we also already know that these "safety studies" will be completed in an absolute minimum of 4-6 years, to an absolute maximum of…NEVER!
"Decriminalization" is NOT repeal. It's still illegal.
"Legalization" simply tells the politicians and courts that we believe the fix to bad legislation conveived of in fraud can only be fixed not by deleting it from the recored entirely, but by making it more complex…but keeping it all on the books for future "quick-n-easy" readoption when prison investors want higher revenues to do their profit-taking from.
"Re-legalization" is just two letters prepended to the above.
"Tax and regulate" tells OUR EMPLOYEES that "we owe them new taxes for not wasting our money attacking us." If we keep buying into the scam, they'll get it, too!
"Regulate like [insert commodity of the hour here]" is just another way to justify the creation of a new regulatory body, hire new "government employees", raise taxes, lower rights and freedoms, all while telling the wilfully ignorant population that "they are free." They ain't. They won't be.
"REPEAL" means: The statutes are GONE. Deleted. History. Erased. Terminated. Removed from the "law" journals. NEVER TO RETURN.
The ridiculous proposition that "if we want it legal again, we have to create new taxes" is also a prime example of idiotic propaganda foisted upon a wilfully ignorant population. Only two seconds of thought tells you the truth of the situation…we do NOT need to "appease our employees" when we finally force them to stop wasting our money. Not wasting all those billions of dollars every year should be, and IS, reward enough to everyone all on it's own!
When we find out we've got a crooked mechanic who's bee charging us for spark plug changes on every visit that we didn't really need, and were nothing more than a waste of OUR money…we don't praise them and give them permanent bonuses, do we? So where did the idea come from, that in order for our employees to simply do their job with a litle more brainpower behind their actions, that we need to give them more money and hire more people? Reality has to sink in eventually, folks! Even through the infinitely thick skulls of "politicians." They might be as dense as the core of a neutron star, but they still have ear holes! SO START SPEAKING UP!!!
Either we DEMAND the full repeal of prohibition, or we will continue on with it forever, just with a different name, and higher taxes…and let's face it, folks: OUR EMPLOYEES will be completely happy to rename what they're doing to us and call it whatever we want to call it, if we're dumb enough to allow it to continue. Are we really so blind as to STILL not see the truth for what it is?
Want it over? MAKE it over!
It really is just as simple as that.
* That solves prohibition on a national level…we still need to remove cannabis/hemp from the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in order to end prohibition GLOBALLY.
Tags: Herer, Jack, PROHIBITION, REPEAL, Rick, Simpson, cannabis, freedom, health, human, More…
Jack Herer's last speech at Portland Hempstalk Festival 2009–HIS FINAL SPEECH BEFORE HE DIED…MAY HE NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!
MY PERSONAL COMMENT: SOMETIMES (MOST OFTEN) OLD NEWS IS THE BEST NEWS – SMK.
Ending Marijuana Prohibition in 2013
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana	Congress, legalization, Maine, marijuana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Politics News, prohibition, Rhode Island, Vermont	0
Rob Kampia
Executive director, Marijuana Policy Project
Unless people have been hiding under a rock this past couple months, they know that more than 55 percent of voters in Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana on November 6. As a result, many people have grand expectations of how we're going to get closer to ending marijuana prohibition in the U.S. this year.
Here is what I think we can reasonably accomplish by the end of 2013:
1. Decriminalize Marijuana in Vermont: Gov. Pete Shumlin (D), a strong supporter of decriminalizing marijuana, partially campaigned on the issue and easily won re-election on November 6 with 58% of the vote. The Vermont Llegislature is poised to pass the bill he wants, so this legislation could become law by this summer.
2. Legalize Medical Marijuana in New Hampshire: Incoming Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) is a strong supporter of medical marijuana, so we expect her to sign a medical marijuana bill similar to those vetoed by former Gov. John Lynch (D) in 2009 and 2012.
3. Build Support for Legalization in the Rhode Island Legislature: We successfully legalized medical marijuana and decriminalized marijuana possession in Rhode Island in 2009 and 2012, respectively. There is now considerable momentum to tax and regulate (T&R) marijuana like alcohol, so we need to ensure that Rhode Island's state legislature becomes the first to do so.
4. Increase Support for Legalization in California, Maine, and Oregon: There will be a sincere effort to pass T&R bills through the legislatures in these three states. Should they fall short, MPP and its allies will pursue statewide ballot initiatives in November 2016, at which time all three will be expected to pass.
5. Build Our Base of Support Online: People have said that the Internet is marijuana legalization's best friend, and this could not have been more evident than it was last year. Campaigns mobilized their supporters, organizations raised funds, and the public was able to follow the progress in real time. Prohibitionists, who have depended on the government for its largess for years, are now at a disadvantage. Private citizens simply do not want to donate to them, and most information about marijuana is now reaching the public without being run through their filter.
6. Continue the Steady Drumbeat in the Media: National and local media outlets are covering the marijuana issue more than ever before. Communicating to voters through news coverage is the most cost-efficient way to increase public support for ending marijuana prohibition, so we need to keep the issue in the spotlight.
7. Build Support for Medical Marijuana in Congress: There are already approximately 185 members of the U.S. House who want to stop the U.S. Justice Department from spending taxpayer money on raiding medical marijuana businesses in the 18 states (and DC) where medical marijuana is legal. We want to reach 218 votes on this amendment, thereby ensuring the amendment's transfer to the U.S. Senate for an up-or-down vote.
8. Build Support for Ending Marijuana Prohibition in Congress: Last year, the first-ever bill to end the federal government's prohibition of marijuana attracted 21 sponsors. Our goal is to expand the number of sponsors to more than two-dozen during the 2013-2014 election season.
Looking outside our borders, we're also seeing progress in Colombia, Uruguay, and Chile, which have all been steadily moving away from marijuana prohibition. Although this is good news, most members of the U.S. Congress do not care much about what South American countries think on marijuana policy, so we should temper the wonderful developments south of the U.S. border with limited expectations of what will happen in our nation's capital.
Ultimately, the U.S. is the primary exporter of prohibition around the world. If we can solve the problem here, the rest of the world will have far more freedom to conduct their own experiments with regulating marijuana.
FOLLOW POLITICS
Look what FOX News did !
shereekrider Cannabis/Marijuana	cannabis, Civil RIghts, DEA, Federal, legal issues, marijuana prohibition, medical marijuana, Politics, prosecutor	0
Fox News created a news story with a test they designed to measure the accuracy of stoned drivers. I knew they would skew the truth of the test, so this video shows the undercover footage I took, to show how Fox News created this test to fail and reported false news to the state of Colorado on stoned drivers.