Santa Barbara, CA -- A group has formed in Santa Barbara to put an initiative on the November ballot that would legalize cannabis for industrial and nutritional products, medicinal preparations, and for recreational and euphoric use. The group announced the California Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative Campaign on Friday at a press conference on the steps of Santa Barbara City Hall. The initiative would also include clearing all criminal records for people involved in non-violent cannabis, hemp and marijuana offenses.
The group, headed by Jack Herer — called by Dr. David Bearman the man responsible for the rejuvenation of the U.S. hemp industry — argues that not only does cannabis serve as a medicine to many sick, but that cannabis is the only way to reverse the greenhouse effect and can be used as paper, fiber, and food as well. The U.S. government, they say, is hiding these facts.
“I can know about cotton, flack and nylon,” said Herer at the press conference, “but there’s not a word of hemp in the schools.” Herer, who ran for president of the United States twice as a member of the Grassroots party, said that for 5,000 to 6,000 years 60 to 80 percent of the world’s production of fuel and clothing was made from hemp. The group is hoping that the dialogue will begin to introduce the idea that a hemp cultivation program can eliminate greenhouse gasses while replenishing the atmosphere and replacing fossil fuels with hemp bio-fuels.
The press conference unknowingly coincided with an announcement on Friday by the American College of Physicians that endorsed cannabis as medicine. The college, which is the second largest physician group in the United States and includes 124,000 members, also advised the government to stop hindering research on the drug and to repeal its prohibition.
For the Santa Barbara-based efforts to get the legalization initiative on the California ballot, valid signatures from roughly 434,000 people are needed. The group is also looking to bring the discussion to Congress this summer via the Government Oversight Domestic Policy Subcommittee, which is chaired by former presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-OH, a supporter of marijuana decriminalization.
Hemp cultivation is illegal in the United States, but because of California’s Proposition 215, state law allows marijuana use for medicinal purposes. However, federal law supersedes state law, which has caused problems for many dispensaries in California. No dispensaries have been busted by federal agents in Santa Barbara, but many owners received threatening letters from the federal government, and some closed their shops. Still, the number of shops in Santa Barbara and Goleta hovers around one dozen.
“We have a failed drug policy,” said Bearman on Friday. “We need to change the policy for the sake of the economy, for the sake of health, for the sake of people, and for the sake of peace.” Bearman, who is a candidate for the open 3rd District Board of Supervisor seat in Santa Barbara County, said it is “obscene” that laws prevent people from getting medication that can help them, and that the present day drug laws “eviscerate the Constitution.”
A discussion and debate on the ballot initiative will take place on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Public Library’s Faulkner Gallery.
Note: Jack Herer Leads Santa Barbara Group’s Attempt to Get Marijuana Legalization on the November Ballot.
Source: Santa Barbara Independent, The (CA)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Medical marijuana dispensaries may visit East Coast
Authorized patients benefit from obtaining government regulated drug
Marijuana has become one of the most widely used recreational drugs, the debate over whether or not to legalize, decriminalize or provide medical marijuana has grown significantly over the years.
According to cnn.com, in 1996, California was the first state to approve the use of medical marijuana. MedicalMarijuanaProCon.org said12 states have also created laws legalizing marijuana for patients who qualify, the latest one being New Mexico in 2007.
Not only is California making marijuana legal, it is also making the drug easy to obtain. USA Today reported Marijuana vending machines are offering a quick fix for those with authorized medical and prepaid cards. In order to ensure people aside from patients are not taking advantage of the machines, fingerprints will also be tested.
One of the machines, which will operate and dispense marijuana around the clock, is located at the Herbal Nutrition Center located in Los Angeles. According to The Guardian, the center is one of two that offers legal marijuana dispensary through a green colored machine.
The vending machines, dubbed Prescription Vending Machines (PVM), will not dispense more than an ounce each week. Each purchase will offer a registered customer either one eighth or two eighths of an ounce. By eliminating the vendor, the drugs are sold roughly $20 cheaper than if they were obtained at a pharmacy. Once the card and fingerprints are verified, a bright green envelope containing marijuana is dropped down a slot.
The website for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) includes a state guide outlining marijuana laws and informing readers of differences of each state's drug laws. The laws in California are considered more lenient than New York, in regards to either possessing or selling marijuana.
If any Californian is in possession of 28.5 grams or less, it is considered a misdemeanor, with a $100 fine and no incarceration. In the state of New York, possession of 25 grams or less, at first offense, is a $100 fine with no incarceration. This, however, is considered a civil citation. The second offense does not lead to incarceration, but does include a civil citation and a $200 fine. The third time, one will either be sent to jail for five days or pay a $250 fine for committing a misdemeanor. More than 28.5 grams in California will result in a misdemeanor, six months of jail time and a $500 fine.
The state of New York has five different laws when it comes to possessing more than 25 grams of marijuana. One can go to jail from three months to 15 years and be fined up to $5,000, with felony charges.
Even though the state of New York has harsher rules in comparison to California, Albany, New York passed one of its first legislative hurdles in 2004 that would legalize medical marijuana, according to StopTheDrugWar.org. In 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer of Albany said he was open to the idea of medical marijuana.
New York has had some history involving medical marijuana. According to thevillagevoice.com, "Between 1982 and 1989, the New York State Department of Health handed out almost 6,000 joints, to more than 200 people. Eventually the availability of Marinol capsules-which contain THC, the active ingredient in marijuana-decreased the demand for the cigarettes." However, the program was shut down.
Source
Marijuana has become one of the most widely used recreational drugs, the debate over whether or not to legalize, decriminalize or provide medical marijuana has grown significantly over the years.
According to cnn.com, in 1996, California was the first state to approve the use of medical marijuana. MedicalMarijuanaProCon.org said12 states have also created laws legalizing marijuana for patients who qualify, the latest one being New Mexico in 2007.
Not only is California making marijuana legal, it is also making the drug easy to obtain. USA Today reported Marijuana vending machines are offering a quick fix for those with authorized medical and prepaid cards. In order to ensure people aside from patients are not taking advantage of the machines, fingerprints will also be tested.
One of the machines, which will operate and dispense marijuana around the clock, is located at the Herbal Nutrition Center located in Los Angeles. According to The Guardian, the center is one of two that offers legal marijuana dispensary through a green colored machine.
The vending machines, dubbed Prescription Vending Machines (PVM), will not dispense more than an ounce each week. Each purchase will offer a registered customer either one eighth or two eighths of an ounce. By eliminating the vendor, the drugs are sold roughly $20 cheaper than if they were obtained at a pharmacy. Once the card and fingerprints are verified, a bright green envelope containing marijuana is dropped down a slot.
The website for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) includes a state guide outlining marijuana laws and informing readers of differences of each state's drug laws. The laws in California are considered more lenient than New York, in regards to either possessing or selling marijuana.
If any Californian is in possession of 28.5 grams or less, it is considered a misdemeanor, with a $100 fine and no incarceration. In the state of New York, possession of 25 grams or less, at first offense, is a $100 fine with no incarceration. This, however, is considered a civil citation. The second offense does not lead to incarceration, but does include a civil citation and a $200 fine. The third time, one will either be sent to jail for five days or pay a $250 fine for committing a misdemeanor. More than 28.5 grams in California will result in a misdemeanor, six months of jail time and a $500 fine.
The state of New York has five different laws when it comes to possessing more than 25 grams of marijuana. One can go to jail from three months to 15 years and be fined up to $5,000, with felony charges.
Even though the state of New York has harsher rules in comparison to California, Albany, New York passed one of its first legislative hurdles in 2004 that would legalize medical marijuana, according to StopTheDrugWar.org. In 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer of Albany said he was open to the idea of medical marijuana.
New York has had some history involving medical marijuana. According to thevillagevoice.com, "Between 1982 and 1989, the New York State Department of Health handed out almost 6,000 joints, to more than 200 people. Eventually the availability of Marinol capsules-which contain THC, the active ingredient in marijuana-decreased the demand for the cigarettes." However, the program was shut down.
Source
Supporting Research into the Therapeutic Role of Marijuana
Marijuana has been smoked for its medicinal properties for centuries. Preclinical, clinical, and anecdotal reports suggest numerous potential medical uses for marijuana. Although the indications for some conditions have been well documented, less information is available about other potential medical uses.
Additional research is needed to further clarify the therapeutic value of cannabinoids and determine optimal routes of administration. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana, and the debate over legalization. ACP believes the science on medical marijuana should not be obscured or hindered by the debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana for general use. In this paper the College lays out a series of positions on research into, and the use of, marijuana as medicine.
Download Full Paper
Additional research is needed to further clarify the therapeutic value of cannabinoids and determine optimal routes of administration. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana, and the debate over legalization. ACP believes the science on medical marijuana should not be obscured or hindered by the debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana for general use. In this paper the College lays out a series of positions on research into, and the use of, marijuana as medicine.
Download Full Paper
Why Is Marijuana Illegal? [VIDEO]
The first video in the Short Cuts Documentary Series that asks the question: Why is marijuana illegal? Check it out and see what members of the public have to say compared with the experts. For more on how we can make marijuana legal, check out the story here.
Video
Video
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Physicians Group Urges Easing of Ban on Marijuana
Sacramento, CA -- A large and respected association of physicians is calling on the federal government to ease its strict ban on marijuana as medicine and hasten research into the drug's therapeutic uses.
The American College of Physicians, the nation's largest organization of doctors of internal medicine, with 124,000 members, contends that the long and rancorous debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that has demonstrated the benefits and medicinal promise of cannabis.
In a 13-page position paper approved by the college's governing board of regents and posted today on the group's website, the group calls on the government to drop marijuana from Schedule I, a classification it shares with illegal drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value and a high likelihood of abuse.
The declaration could put new pressure on Washington lawmakers and government regulators who for decades have rejected attempts to reclassify marijuana.
Bush administration officials have aggressively rebuffed all attempts in Congress, the courts and among law enforcement organizations to legitimize medical marijuana.
Clinical researchers say the federal government has resisted full study of the potential medical benefits of cannabis, instead pouring money into looking at its negative effects.
A dozen states including California have legalized medical marijuana, but the federal prohibition has led to an enforcement tug of war.
In California, federal agents continue to raid cannabis dispensaries, and the small cadre of physicians specializing in writing cannabis recommendations so that people can use medical marijuana has come under regulatory scrutiny.
Given the conflicts, most mainstream doctors have steered clear of medical marijuana.
The American College of Physicians' position paper calls for protection of both doctors and patients from criminal and civil penalties in states that have adopted medical-marijuana laws.
"We felt the time had come to speak up about this," said Dr. David Dale, the group's president. "We'd like to clear up the uncertainty and anxiety of patients and physicians over this drug."
Medical-marijuana advocates embraced the position paper as a watershed event that could help turn the battle in their favor.
Bruce Mirken, a San Francisco spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the ACP position is "an earthquake that's going to rattle the whole medical-marijuana debate."
The group, he said, "pulverized the government's two favorite myths about medical marijuana -- that it's not supported by the medical community and that science hasn't shown marijuana to have medical value."
But officials at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said calls for legalizing medical marijuana were misguided.
"What this would do is drag us back to 14th-century medicine," said Bertha Madras, the agency's deputy director for demand reduction. "It's so arcane."
She said guidance on marijuana as medicine ought to come from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is unlikely ever to approve leafy cannabis as a prescription drug.
Two oral derivatives of marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, THC, have won FDA approval, and the agency is also in the early stages of considering a marijuana spray.
An FDA spokeswoman declined to comment on the group's position and referred inquiries to a 2006 media advisory noting that the agency has never approved of smoked marijuana as a medical treatment
In the 12 years since California voters approved the nation's first-ever medical marijuana law, several medical organizations -- including the American Nurses Assn. and the American Public Health Assn. -- have urged Congress to make cannabis a legal medicine.
But the ACP is second in size only to the American Medical Assn., which has about 240,000 members.
The AMA has urged research into medical marijuana but opposes dropping it from Schedule I. Backers of the ACP's position expressed hope that it could help nudge the AMA to adopt a similar stance.
"This could be a sea change," said Dr. Abraham L. Halpern, a professor emeritus at New York Medical College.
Halpern said he intends to petition the AMA to endorse rescheduling marijuana and to push for changes in federal regulations that would prevent federal anti-drug agencies -- the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse -- from having virtual veto power over cannabis research.
The ACP position paper urges the use of non-smoked forms of cannabis as well as further research to identify the illnesses best treated with cannabis and the proper dosages for specific conditions.
It also calls for study of new methods of dispensing the drug and scientific work to further isolate and synthesize the constituent chemicals that could pack the most medicinal value without unwanted side effects.
While calling for more study, the ACP said marijuana already is scientifically proven be an effective appetite stimulant and anti-nausea drug for treatment of AIDS conditions and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. Cancer patients found the drug to be equivalent or superior to prescription anti-nausea drugs, the paper said.
"Given marijuana's proven efficacy at treating certain symptoms and its relatively low toxicity, reclassification would reduce barriers to research and increase availability of cannabinoid drugs to patients who have failed to respond to other treatments," the report said.
It called for further research into cannabis as a pain reliever for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and as an aid in treatment of neurological and movement disorders such as spasticity, pain and tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries and other trauma. But it cast doubt on marijuana's efficacy for treating epilepsy and intraocular pressure caused by glaucoma, conditions that cannabis specialists in California routinely recommend be treated with pot.
The biggest effect of the report could be symbolic. With a presidential campaign under way, the ACP's stand could gain traction on the campaign trail or in a new administration.
"It's going to depend on how the wind is blowing -- how we the people are thinking and reacting, where we stand on this," said Dr. Jocelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general during the Clinton administration and a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine. "I think we've come a long way in the last decade or so."
Note: It calls on the government to drop pot's shared classification with drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value.
Source: Los Angeles Times
The American College of Physicians, the nation's largest organization of doctors of internal medicine, with 124,000 members, contends that the long and rancorous debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that has demonstrated the benefits and medicinal promise of cannabis.
In a 13-page position paper approved by the college's governing board of regents and posted today on the group's website, the group calls on the government to drop marijuana from Schedule I, a classification it shares with illegal drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value and a high likelihood of abuse.
The declaration could put new pressure on Washington lawmakers and government regulators who for decades have rejected attempts to reclassify marijuana.
Bush administration officials have aggressively rebuffed all attempts in Congress, the courts and among law enforcement organizations to legitimize medical marijuana.
Clinical researchers say the federal government has resisted full study of the potential medical benefits of cannabis, instead pouring money into looking at its negative effects.
A dozen states including California have legalized medical marijuana, but the federal prohibition has led to an enforcement tug of war.
In California, federal agents continue to raid cannabis dispensaries, and the small cadre of physicians specializing in writing cannabis recommendations so that people can use medical marijuana has come under regulatory scrutiny.
Given the conflicts, most mainstream doctors have steered clear of medical marijuana.
The American College of Physicians' position paper calls for protection of both doctors and patients from criminal and civil penalties in states that have adopted medical-marijuana laws.
"We felt the time had come to speak up about this," said Dr. David Dale, the group's president. "We'd like to clear up the uncertainty and anxiety of patients and physicians over this drug."
Medical-marijuana advocates embraced the position paper as a watershed event that could help turn the battle in their favor.
Bruce Mirken, a San Francisco spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the ACP position is "an earthquake that's going to rattle the whole medical-marijuana debate."
The group, he said, "pulverized the government's two favorite myths about medical marijuana -- that it's not supported by the medical community and that science hasn't shown marijuana to have medical value."
But officials at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said calls for legalizing medical marijuana were misguided.
"What this would do is drag us back to 14th-century medicine," said Bertha Madras, the agency's deputy director for demand reduction. "It's so arcane."
She said guidance on marijuana as medicine ought to come from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is unlikely ever to approve leafy cannabis as a prescription drug.
Two oral derivatives of marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, THC, have won FDA approval, and the agency is also in the early stages of considering a marijuana spray.
An FDA spokeswoman declined to comment on the group's position and referred inquiries to a 2006 media advisory noting that the agency has never approved of smoked marijuana as a medical treatment
In the 12 years since California voters approved the nation's first-ever medical marijuana law, several medical organizations -- including the American Nurses Assn. and the American Public Health Assn. -- have urged Congress to make cannabis a legal medicine.
But the ACP is second in size only to the American Medical Assn., which has about 240,000 members.
The AMA has urged research into medical marijuana but opposes dropping it from Schedule I. Backers of the ACP's position expressed hope that it could help nudge the AMA to adopt a similar stance.
"This could be a sea change," said Dr. Abraham L. Halpern, a professor emeritus at New York Medical College.
Halpern said he intends to petition the AMA to endorse rescheduling marijuana and to push for changes in federal regulations that would prevent federal anti-drug agencies -- the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse -- from having virtual veto power over cannabis research.
The ACP position paper urges the use of non-smoked forms of cannabis as well as further research to identify the illnesses best treated with cannabis and the proper dosages for specific conditions.
It also calls for study of new methods of dispensing the drug and scientific work to further isolate and synthesize the constituent chemicals that could pack the most medicinal value without unwanted side effects.
While calling for more study, the ACP said marijuana already is scientifically proven be an effective appetite stimulant and anti-nausea drug for treatment of AIDS conditions and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. Cancer patients found the drug to be equivalent or superior to prescription anti-nausea drugs, the paper said.
"Given marijuana's proven efficacy at treating certain symptoms and its relatively low toxicity, reclassification would reduce barriers to research and increase availability of cannabinoid drugs to patients who have failed to respond to other treatments," the report said.
It called for further research into cannabis as a pain reliever for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and as an aid in treatment of neurological and movement disorders such as spasticity, pain and tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries and other trauma. But it cast doubt on marijuana's efficacy for treating epilepsy and intraocular pressure caused by glaucoma, conditions that cannabis specialists in California routinely recommend be treated with pot.
The biggest effect of the report could be symbolic. With a presidential campaign under way, the ACP's stand could gain traction on the campaign trail or in a new administration.
"It's going to depend on how the wind is blowing -- how we the people are thinking and reacting, where we stand on this," said Dr. Jocelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general during the Clinton administration and a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine. "I think we've come a long way in the last decade or so."
Note: It calls on the government to drop pot's shared classification with drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value.
Source: Los Angeles Times
NORML Responds To Media Claim: “Pot As Addictive As Tobacco” -- Widely Reported Study Based Its Findings On Only 12 Subjects, Is Contradicted By The I
Baltimore, MD: The results of a recent study from Johns Hopkins University suggesting that quitting cannabis can trigger withdrawal symptoms as severe as those associated with quitting cigarettes are based on subjective reports from only twelve individuals, and are in sharp contrast to findings reported previously by the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM).
The widely reported study, published last week in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, evaluated the behavior patterns of twelve participants selected at random to cease their use of marijuana and tobacco for five days. Participants reported their symptoms using a checklist that indicated scores for anger, aggression, anxiety, appetite change, irritability, restlessness, sleep difficulty, and other common withdrawal symptoms. Investigators found that subjects reported experiencing withdrawal symptoms of a similar nature and magnitude regardless of whether they were abstaining from tobacco or cannabis. "These results … suggest [that] cannabis withdrawal is clinically important," researchers concluded.
... follow link
NORML
The widely reported study, published last week in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, evaluated the behavior patterns of twelve participants selected at random to cease their use of marijuana and tobacco for five days. Participants reported their symptoms using a checklist that indicated scores for anger, aggression, anxiety, appetite change, irritability, restlessness, sleep difficulty, and other common withdrawal symptoms. Investigators found that subjects reported experiencing withdrawal symptoms of a similar nature and magnitude regardless of whether they were abstaining from tobacco or cannabis. "These results … suggest [that] cannabis withdrawal is clinically important," researchers concluded.
... follow link
NORML
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Making Pot Legal: We Can Do It -- Here's How
Changing public opinion about pot isn't easy. Changing America's anti-pot laws is even harder -- here's a blueprint to get it done.
This month marks my 13th year working for marijuana law reform. During this time I've witnessed many successes and many more signs of progress. Nevertheless, it remains frustratingly clear that despite sincere efforts and millions poured into campaigns, very little headway has been made toward attaining the larger, essential goals of the movement -- specifically, abolishing the criminal laws that result in the arrest and prosecution of more than half a million Americans every year for possessing even small amounts of herb and establishing a framework for regulating legal access to marijuana to adults.
Is either one of these goals achievable? Certainly. Is either goal realistic? Not until we as a movement instigate significant shifts in both public attitude and political opinion.
Identifying the problems
For several decades, various organizations have pushed for the establishment of a legal and regulated market for adult cannabis use in the United States. Yet, despite extensive educational efforts and millions poured into various legislative campaigns, it's consistently been shown in opinion polls and at the voting booth that only between a third to 46 percent of Americans endorse legalizing the personal use of cannabis for adults.
As a result, the marijuana law reforms that have been enacted over the past several decades have been limited in scope. Specifically, these legal reforms fall into two distinct categories: "decriminalization" (exempting adult cannabis users from incarceration, but not necessarily arrest, under specified circumstances) and "medicalization" (exempting certain state-authorized medical marijuana patients from state-specific criminal sanctions). To date, 12 states -- almost one-third of the U.S. population -- have enacted limited versions of "decriminalization." Twelve states have also adopted various versions of "medicalization." ...
... follow link for continuation of article:
Alternet DrugReporter
This month marks my 13th year working for marijuana law reform. During this time I've witnessed many successes and many more signs of progress. Nevertheless, it remains frustratingly clear that despite sincere efforts and millions poured into campaigns, very little headway has been made toward attaining the larger, essential goals of the movement -- specifically, abolishing the criminal laws that result in the arrest and prosecution of more than half a million Americans every year for possessing even small amounts of herb and establishing a framework for regulating legal access to marijuana to adults.
Is either one of these goals achievable? Certainly. Is either goal realistic? Not until we as a movement instigate significant shifts in both public attitude and political opinion.
Identifying the problems
For several decades, various organizations have pushed for the establishment of a legal and regulated market for adult cannabis use in the United States. Yet, despite extensive educational efforts and millions poured into various legislative campaigns, it's consistently been shown in opinion polls and at the voting booth that only between a third to 46 percent of Americans endorse legalizing the personal use of cannabis for adults.
As a result, the marijuana law reforms that have been enacted over the past several decades have been limited in scope. Specifically, these legal reforms fall into two distinct categories: "decriminalization" (exempting adult cannabis users from incarceration, but not necessarily arrest, under specified circumstances) and "medicalization" (exempting certain state-authorized medical marijuana patients from state-specific criminal sanctions). To date, 12 states -- almost one-third of the U.S. population -- have enacted limited versions of "decriminalization." Twelve states have also adopted various versions of "medicalization." ...
... follow link for continuation of article:
Alternet DrugReporter
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