Pot long shot
Sunday, 2 March, 2008
Jamaica is considering the legalisation of marijuana, a drug revered by members of the island's large Rastafarian population who say smoking it is part of their religion.
A seven-member government commission has been researching possible changes to the Caribbean nation's anti-drug laws, which some police complain are clogging courts and jails with marijuana-related cases, a government official said.
"We have discussed it, and we are preparing a report to present to the prime minister," said Deputy Prime Minister Kenneth Baugh.
In 2003, a government commission recommended legalising marijuana in small amounts for personal use.
Backlash from US feared
But lawmakers never acted, saying legalisation might entail loss of their country's US anti-drug certification.
Countries that lose it face economic sanctions.
A US State Department report on Friday said Jamaica is the largest producer of marijuana in the Caribbean and a major hub for drugs bound for the US.
Members of the Rastafarian movement, which emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s out of anger over the oppression of blacks, have long lobbied for the legalisation of the drug that they say brings them closer to the divine.
There are an estimated 700,000 Rastafarians in the world, most of them among Jamaica's 2.6 million people.
Source
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Depression: Medical Marijuana is a Successful Therapy
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist. He has experience with 4,000 medical marijuana patients.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Merck manual includes Depression in Psychiatric and Mood disorders in which anxiety and PTSD are also included. They show several pages of the why and wherefores so I'm not going into a psychiatric tirade.
I do feel there is an extensive overlap in all of these psychiatric conditions and I hope my point will become clear to the reader.
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Plan, (OMMP) did not include any psychological medical conditions which I felt was a sad mistake. If a patient tells a doctor that marijuana works for ANY condition, it is best if the doctor listens and pays attention.
The old crap, "It's all in your head" is certainly active here.
Very few doctors have been recipients of an artillery or mortar barrage. It would alter their conception. At any rate, all of the above conditions are real AND in some patient's heads. The worst thing is they are difficult to dislodge and get over.
As far as depression itself is concerned, it seemingly was first noted by Doctor Tod Mikuriya who reviewed medical records of about 38,000 marijuana patients at the Oakland, California Cannabis Buyers Club database. He found that many interrelated psychiatric conditions according to patient's histories, were ameliorated with cannabis/marijuana.
He also found that VA doctors were treating these patients with a wild grabbag of psycotropic medications. (See Friedman, M.J. et al April 2006 American Journal of Psychiatry.)
Subsequent medical articles have indicated the abject failure of these medications. These include Serotonin, contraband drugs like Paroxetine, anti-depressants like Trazadone, MADIS like Phenetzine, Tricyclies like Amitriptyline, anti-analgesics like Propanalol, anti-convulsants like Gabapentin and anti-psychotics like Respiridone, Respiridone. I am flummoxed and wonder the rationale of these. They all have well-known BAD adverse side effects.
Early in my practice with marijuana applicants, I learned that Vietnam Veterans had discovered this herb while fighting the war. They told me that cannabis/marijuana worked well for psychic as well as physical medical problems.
Both Dr. Tod Mikuriya and Ed Glick R.N. found in history taking and reviewing medical marijuana and records that marijuana provided effective treatment. I ended up with at least 400 PTSD veterans who fortunately had other acceptable physical ailments so that I could help them get marijuana permits.
Got a question or comment for Dr. Leveque?
Email him: Newsroom@Salem-News.com
More information on the history of Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of Phil Leveque about his experiences in WWII.
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier.
If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.
Salem-news.com
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Merck manual includes Depression in Psychiatric and Mood disorders in which anxiety and PTSD are also included. They show several pages of the why and wherefores so I'm not going into a psychiatric tirade.
I do feel there is an extensive overlap in all of these psychiatric conditions and I hope my point will become clear to the reader.
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Plan, (OMMP) did not include any psychological medical conditions which I felt was a sad mistake. If a patient tells a doctor that marijuana works for ANY condition, it is best if the doctor listens and pays attention.
The old crap, "It's all in your head" is certainly active here.
Very few doctors have been recipients of an artillery or mortar barrage. It would alter their conception. At any rate, all of the above conditions are real AND in some patient's heads. The worst thing is they are difficult to dislodge and get over.
As far as depression itself is concerned, it seemingly was first noted by Doctor Tod Mikuriya who reviewed medical records of about 38,000 marijuana patients at the Oakland, California Cannabis Buyers Club database. He found that many interrelated psychiatric conditions according to patient's histories, were ameliorated with cannabis/marijuana.
He also found that VA doctors were treating these patients with a wild grabbag of psycotropic medications. (See Friedman, M.J. et al April 2006 American Journal of Psychiatry.)
Subsequent medical articles have indicated the abject failure of these medications. These include Serotonin, contraband drugs like Paroxetine, anti-depressants like Trazadone, MADIS like Phenetzine, Tricyclies like Amitriptyline, anti-analgesics like Propanalol, anti-convulsants like Gabapentin and anti-psychotics like Respiridone, Respiridone. I am flummoxed and wonder the rationale of these. They all have well-known BAD adverse side effects.
Early in my practice with marijuana applicants, I learned that Vietnam Veterans had discovered this herb while fighting the war. They told me that cannabis/marijuana worked well for psychic as well as physical medical problems.
Both Dr. Tod Mikuriya and Ed Glick R.N. found in history taking and reviewing medical marijuana and records that marijuana provided effective treatment. I ended up with at least 400 PTSD veterans who fortunately had other acceptable physical ailments so that I could help them get marijuana permits.
Got a question or comment for Dr. Leveque?
Email him: Newsroom@Salem-News.com
More information on the history of Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of Phil Leveque about his experiences in WWII.
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier.
If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.
Salem-news.com
States must tackle medical-marijuana issue
State legislatures around the nation have avoided approving medical marijuana laws — mostly out of fear they would be labeled as soft on crime.
Yet it's pretty clear the public has sympathy for those who truly need marijuana to treat diseases such as glaucoma or to ease the suffering caused by cancer. As a result, voters in 10 states — including Washington and Oregon — have taken the law into their own hands and approved medical-marijuana initiatives.Unfortunately, as can often be the case with voter-approved laws, there can be some unintended consequences. Sure, that happens when laws are made by elected legislators, but it happens less often. The legislative process provides for a debate on the issues that can expose potential problems.
One of the areas not always fully considered with voter-approved medical marijuana laws is the impact on workplace safety. It's now become an issue in Oregon.
Under Oregon's 1998 medical-marijuana law, employers do not have to allow workers with approved medical-marijuana cards to smoke on the job. However, there is no mention about accommodation of workers who smoke the drug at home before coming to work. What if these workers have dangerous jobs in which being physically and mentally sharp is critical to keeping themselves and their co-workers alive?
Two years ago, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled against a registered medical-marijuana user who was fired from his job after failing a urine test. However, the court's decision was extremely narrow and did not fully answer the question about the use of marijuana outside of the physical workplace.
This is clearly a tricky issue. The will of the voters as well as the needs of those with serious health problems need to be juxtaposed against worker safety. Oregon's Legislature took a run at coming to a consensus but failed. The matter will be looked at again next year.
Frankly, this is an issue that would be best addressed by Congress and federal agencies. We believe medical marijuana should be treated the same as any prescription medication. If the drug has side effects that put workers at greater risk of injury or death, workers should be reassigned to a safer job while on that medication.
We can't see that happening in the near future. Congress doesn't have the political courage needed to take action.
So, until that day comes, states will have to tackle the issue. Workplace safety has to be the top priority.
— Union-Bulletin, Walla Walla, Feb. 26
A small price to pay for a big investment
For a modest investment of $3 million, state lawmakers could help ease the shortage of primary-care physicians across Washington.
The South Sound, like Eastern Washington and other sectors of the state, has a shortage of primary-care doctors. New physicians can make more money by going into a specialty.
The shortage of primary-care doctors reduces the quality of care in a community, and it fills emergency rooms with uninsured patients who turn to the ER for primary-care needs such as sore throats and earaches. Cost of treating those patients is expensive, and the cost is shifted to patients with medical insurance.
Everybody loses.
Leaders of the Healthy Washington Coalition, a statewide lobbying group of 65 health-care agencies and associations, want to increase funding for the Washington State Health Professional Loan Repayment and Scholarship Program. With an investment of $3 million, the state would add opportunities for 100 physicians to receive school-loan repayment grants of up to $25,000 a year for three years. In exchange for having a portion of their medical-school costs covered, the new physicians would have to agree to serve as a family-care physician in an underserved portion of the state for three years. Experience shows most graduates of the program serve for six years.
That's a huge benefit for a small investment of state dollars. The $3 million wasn't in the original House budget. The Legislature should look favorably upon this proposal.
Editorial Seattle Times
Yet it's pretty clear the public has sympathy for those who truly need marijuana to treat diseases such as glaucoma or to ease the suffering caused by cancer. As a result, voters in 10 states — including Washington and Oregon — have taken the law into their own hands and approved medical-marijuana initiatives.Unfortunately, as can often be the case with voter-approved laws, there can be some unintended consequences. Sure, that happens when laws are made by elected legislators, but it happens less often. The legislative process provides for a debate on the issues that can expose potential problems.
One of the areas not always fully considered with voter-approved medical marijuana laws is the impact on workplace safety. It's now become an issue in Oregon.
Under Oregon's 1998 medical-marijuana law, employers do not have to allow workers with approved medical-marijuana cards to smoke on the job. However, there is no mention about accommodation of workers who smoke the drug at home before coming to work. What if these workers have dangerous jobs in which being physically and mentally sharp is critical to keeping themselves and their co-workers alive?
Two years ago, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled against a registered medical-marijuana user who was fired from his job after failing a urine test. However, the court's decision was extremely narrow and did not fully answer the question about the use of marijuana outside of the physical workplace.
This is clearly a tricky issue. The will of the voters as well as the needs of those with serious health problems need to be juxtaposed against worker safety. Oregon's Legislature took a run at coming to a consensus but failed. The matter will be looked at again next year.
Frankly, this is an issue that would be best addressed by Congress and federal agencies. We believe medical marijuana should be treated the same as any prescription medication. If the drug has side effects that put workers at greater risk of injury or death, workers should be reassigned to a safer job while on that medication.
We can't see that happening in the near future. Congress doesn't have the political courage needed to take action.
So, until that day comes, states will have to tackle the issue. Workplace safety has to be the top priority.
— Union-Bulletin, Walla Walla, Feb. 26
A small price to pay for a big investment
For a modest investment of $3 million, state lawmakers could help ease the shortage of primary-care physicians across Washington.
The South Sound, like Eastern Washington and other sectors of the state, has a shortage of primary-care doctors. New physicians can make more money by going into a specialty.
The shortage of primary-care doctors reduces the quality of care in a community, and it fills emergency rooms with uninsured patients who turn to the ER for primary-care needs such as sore throats and earaches. Cost of treating those patients is expensive, and the cost is shifted to patients with medical insurance.
Everybody loses.
Leaders of the Healthy Washington Coalition, a statewide lobbying group of 65 health-care agencies and associations, want to increase funding for the Washington State Health Professional Loan Repayment and Scholarship Program. With an investment of $3 million, the state would add opportunities for 100 physicians to receive school-loan repayment grants of up to $25,000 a year for three years. In exchange for having a portion of their medical-school costs covered, the new physicians would have to agree to serve as a family-care physician in an underserved portion of the state for three years. Experience shows most graduates of the program serve for six years.
That's a huge benefit for a small investment of state dollars. The $3 million wasn't in the original House budget. The Legislature should look favorably upon this proposal.
Editorial Seattle Times
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Hemp's an amazing plant
Hemp's an amazing plant
By Mary Lee Minor
Over and over again, I am amazed at the way most everything in life has a relationship to plants.
During the holidays, in an effort to bring comfort to hard-working hands, I passed along my silver tube of cream to my son. This soothing material had been a gift from my daughter, Danielle, when my own hands had developed painful cracks from the sides of my fingernails. You could call this a winter malady. Each night I would massage this ointment into the tips of my fingers. It offered relief.
In David's restaurant business, hands are continually cleansing, frequently immersed in chemicals. The reddened areas itch and are sore. He found that the cream called Hemp Chanvre eased the irritation. This is what led me to searching for more of the substance.
As I entered its name on the Internet, there was a heap of information about hemp, and photographs of it growing. There are hemp farmers worldwide.
Individuals are searching for organic hemp seeds. I could not help them out on that one. The hemp seed crop can produce as much as 300 gallons of oil per acre. Hemp fiber produces 1,000 gallons of methanol per acre.
Hemp is naturally resistant to pests and weeds. Farmers do not need to introduce toxins to reach happy harvests Hemp fibers are nearly 4 times stronger than cotton.
And guess which nation does not produce hemp. All around the world this crop is growing and being used to soothe. Okay, I am aware of the drug connotation. When my daughter gave me the Hemp Chanvre it was due to the presence of panthenol which can improve flexibility of nails and even reduce breaking. There is glycerin in hemp derivatives; it is an effective moisturizer, improving softness and maximizing hydration. We should mention the lanolin, too, which offers protection from rough, dry hands. Lanolin is a rich moisturizer -- no news here.
Hemp seed oil contains fatty acids which help repair the skin's moisture barrier restoring suppleness.
In the midst of checking out all of this pro-hemp material, there appears a print of the plant from 1815. It is identified as a drawing of male hemp (chanvre).
Now I know what the "chanvre" terminology on my tube means, sort of, kinda. I will infer that there is a female counterpart. There is a 1735 print by one Johann Wilhelm Weinman, obviously German.
And then, I recall that in the Black Forest region of Germany, on our Rhine River cruise, I strolled through a village and photographed hemp.
The journey has brought me on an interesting path over the garden fence. I did manage to order two tubes an even treated myself to a tiny bottle of essential lavender oil with a hemp base.
Mary Lee Minor is a member of the Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club, an accredited flower show judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, and a sixth-grade teacher.
bucyrustelegraphforum
I found this to be a refreshing article and it is folks like this fine lady that we need teaching our children, one with an open mind. Our children are our future and we should give them the best shot at it and we should start by telling them the truth in the first place.
By Mary Lee Minor
Over and over again, I am amazed at the way most everything in life has a relationship to plants.
During the holidays, in an effort to bring comfort to hard-working hands, I passed along my silver tube of cream to my son. This soothing material had been a gift from my daughter, Danielle, when my own hands had developed painful cracks from the sides of my fingernails. You could call this a winter malady. Each night I would massage this ointment into the tips of my fingers. It offered relief.
In David's restaurant business, hands are continually cleansing, frequently immersed in chemicals. The reddened areas itch and are sore. He found that the cream called Hemp Chanvre eased the irritation. This is what led me to searching for more of the substance.
As I entered its name on the Internet, there was a heap of information about hemp, and photographs of it growing. There are hemp farmers worldwide.
Individuals are searching for organic hemp seeds. I could not help them out on that one. The hemp seed crop can produce as much as 300 gallons of oil per acre. Hemp fiber produces 1,000 gallons of methanol per acre.
Hemp is naturally resistant to pests and weeds. Farmers do not need to introduce toxins to reach happy harvests Hemp fibers are nearly 4 times stronger than cotton.
And guess which nation does not produce hemp. All around the world this crop is growing and being used to soothe. Okay, I am aware of the drug connotation. When my daughter gave me the Hemp Chanvre it was due to the presence of panthenol which can improve flexibility of nails and even reduce breaking. There is glycerin in hemp derivatives; it is an effective moisturizer, improving softness and maximizing hydration. We should mention the lanolin, too, which offers protection from rough, dry hands. Lanolin is a rich moisturizer -- no news here.
Hemp seed oil contains fatty acids which help repair the skin's moisture barrier restoring suppleness.
In the midst of checking out all of this pro-hemp material, there appears a print of the plant from 1815. It is identified as a drawing of male hemp (chanvre).
Now I know what the "chanvre" terminology on my tube means, sort of, kinda. I will infer that there is a female counterpart. There is a 1735 print by one Johann Wilhelm Weinman, obviously German.
And then, I recall that in the Black Forest region of Germany, on our Rhine River cruise, I strolled through a village and photographed hemp.
The journey has brought me on an interesting path over the garden fence. I did manage to order two tubes an even treated myself to a tiny bottle of essential lavender oil with a hemp base.
Mary Lee Minor is a member of the Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club, an accredited flower show judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, and a sixth-grade teacher.
bucyrustelegraphforum
I found this to be a refreshing article and it is folks like this fine lady that we need teaching our children, one with an open mind. Our children are our future and we should give them the best shot at it and we should start by telling them the truth in the first place.
BBC film to show effects of injecting cannabis
The BBC is to break one of the last broadcasting taboos by screening footage of a woman injecting drugs.
Nicky Taylor, a journalist, is filmed smoking cannabis in cafes in Amsterdam before injecting the main ingredient of the stronger "skunk" variety of the drug in a laboratory.
The programme, provisionally called How High Can I Get?, was commissioned from an independent producer.
It will be broadcast on BBC3 in the next few months and comes as the Government considers increasing the penalties for cannabis possession.
Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of Sane, a mental health charity, said: "It is difficult to see what can be learnt from this experiment. Cannabis affects no two individuals in the same way.
"The majority of people may have little or no reaction, even to stronger forms of the drug.
"But for the 10-20 per cent of those who are considered to be vulnerable, taking it could lead to psychotic illness. "
David Davies, the shadow Home Secretary, said on Sunday night: "I very much hope that this programme will contain a strong anti-drugs message that will stop people experimenting rather than glamourising drugs use."
Miss Taylor was injected with THC, the main component of "skunk" cannabis, last October at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.
The experiment is legal as it takes place in a laboratory licensed to carry out such tests.
The scientists are running tests to analyse claims that skunk cannabis, which accounts for 80 per cent of the drug sold on the street, causes psychosis.
Miss Taylor was then filmed as the effects of the drug took hold. Dr Paul Morrison, one of the scientists in charge of the programme, told The Daily Telegraph: "I can't talk about the experiences of any of our participants without their say-so."
The BBC also declined to provide a detailed account of what happened.
However, one source who has seen the effects on Miss Taylor said: "The effect was dramatic. It was unpleasant."
The BBC is understood to be keen to show the film on the eve of a decision by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to recriminalise cannabis by upgrading it from C to B status. Her decision is expected in the spring.
A BBC spokesman said on Sunday that the programme would be screened after the 9pm watershed to discourage younger viewers.
She said: "Nicky fully researched the subject and undertook the trials under supervision, with medical advice. She has not suffered any ill effects since filming finished.
"The film unequivocally highlights the risks of consuming the drug and will be scheduled post-watershed.
"Nicky Taylor is a critically acclaimed journalist who becomes fully immersed in her subject, in order to highlight the risks of potentially dangerous activities.
"Her films have included investigations into plastic surgery, in which she undertook surgery, and binge drinking in which she drank large amounts of alcohol.
"Her approach has proved successful in highlighting important health risks with a younger audience."
The programme breaks one of the last broadcasting taboos. An episode of Panorama that featured a reporter taking LSD in the 1950s was not broadcast for more than 30 years because of fears it may encourage drug taking.
Telegraph
I think this might just be the first instance that I have ever run across of injecting Cannabis. I'll bet you they were disappointed that she didn't freak out or better yet, die. Just another attempt at scare tactics.
Nicky Taylor, a journalist, is filmed smoking cannabis in cafes in Amsterdam before injecting the main ingredient of the stronger "skunk" variety of the drug in a laboratory.
The programme, provisionally called How High Can I Get?, was commissioned from an independent producer.
It will be broadcast on BBC3 in the next few months and comes as the Government considers increasing the penalties for cannabis possession.
Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of Sane, a mental health charity, said: "It is difficult to see what can be learnt from this experiment. Cannabis affects no two individuals in the same way.
"The majority of people may have little or no reaction, even to stronger forms of the drug.
"But for the 10-20 per cent of those who are considered to be vulnerable, taking it could lead to psychotic illness. "
David Davies, the shadow Home Secretary, said on Sunday night: "I very much hope that this programme will contain a strong anti-drugs message that will stop people experimenting rather than glamourising drugs use."
Miss Taylor was injected with THC, the main component of "skunk" cannabis, last October at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.
The experiment is legal as it takes place in a laboratory licensed to carry out such tests.
The scientists are running tests to analyse claims that skunk cannabis, which accounts for 80 per cent of the drug sold on the street, causes psychosis.
Miss Taylor was then filmed as the effects of the drug took hold. Dr Paul Morrison, one of the scientists in charge of the programme, told The Daily Telegraph: "I can't talk about the experiences of any of our participants without their say-so."
The BBC also declined to provide a detailed account of what happened.
However, one source who has seen the effects on Miss Taylor said: "The effect was dramatic. It was unpleasant."
The BBC is understood to be keen to show the film on the eve of a decision by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to recriminalise cannabis by upgrading it from C to B status. Her decision is expected in the spring.
A BBC spokesman said on Sunday that the programme would be screened after the 9pm watershed to discourage younger viewers.
She said: "Nicky fully researched the subject and undertook the trials under supervision, with medical advice. She has not suffered any ill effects since filming finished.
"The film unequivocally highlights the risks of consuming the drug and will be scheduled post-watershed.
"Nicky Taylor is a critically acclaimed journalist who becomes fully immersed in her subject, in order to highlight the risks of potentially dangerous activities.
"Her films have included investigations into plastic surgery, in which she undertook surgery, and binge drinking in which she drank large amounts of alcohol.
"Her approach has proved successful in highlighting important health risks with a younger audience."
The programme breaks one of the last broadcasting taboos. An episode of Panorama that featured a reporter taking LSD in the 1950s was not broadcast for more than 30 years because of fears it may encourage drug taking.
Telegraph
I think this might just be the first instance that I have ever run across of injecting Cannabis. I'll bet you they were disappointed that she didn't freak out or better yet, die. Just another attempt at scare tactics.
End the war on drugs
Since the passage of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, drug enforcement policies have been a top priority for the federal government. The Nixon and Reagan years marked the beginning of the controversial war on drugs, arguably the most costly and narrow-minded piece of domestic policy to date. According to the Drug Policy Alliance Web site, the United States spent an estimated $40 billion financing drug enforcement legislation in the year 2000, with $18 billion being allocated to the National Drug Control budget and upwards of $20 billion being spent on the state level. The Drug Policy Alliances estimates that this amount will continue to increase annually in stark contrast to the budget allocated toward funding of other domestic programs, such as federal student loans for higher education.
Though our editorial board was unilaterally opposed to this senseless policy, opinions on how the nation ought to address the problem of dealing with illegal drugs and narcotics were many and diverse. Drawing comparisons to the prohibition era, some of us argued that such heavy-handed governmental control over the sale of illegal drugs will only facilitate the continued rise of petty street crime in urban centers, where organized crime syndicates are able to operate with a high level of anonymity, distributing drugs and contributing to the established states of mob rule in many the poorest of our nation's city districts. This quickly led to a rapid-fire discussion about the much-debated topic of drug legalization in America.
On this controversial topic, our editorial board overwhelmingly favored a modified national drug policy that would lead to the de-classification of marijuana as a schedule I substance. The Controlled Substances Act defines Schedule I substances as substances that have a high potential for abuse and have no established medical benefits. Other Schedule I substances include heroin, LSD and MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy. We find that it is difficult, in the current political climate, for the government to argue that marijuana poses a serious threat as an addictive substance and believe that enough evidence has been established to conclude that marijuana does possess legitimate medical benefits. There are currently 13 states with medical marijuana laws and Cannabis Club dispensaries, according to Cannabis.com's dispensary directory, and we believe it is high time that the federal government intervened to change the scheduling of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act.
Continued...
dailytargum.com
Though our editorial board was unilaterally opposed to this senseless policy, opinions on how the nation ought to address the problem of dealing with illegal drugs and narcotics were many and diverse. Drawing comparisons to the prohibition era, some of us argued that such heavy-handed governmental control over the sale of illegal drugs will only facilitate the continued rise of petty street crime in urban centers, where organized crime syndicates are able to operate with a high level of anonymity, distributing drugs and contributing to the established states of mob rule in many the poorest of our nation's city districts. This quickly led to a rapid-fire discussion about the much-debated topic of drug legalization in America.
On this controversial topic, our editorial board overwhelmingly favored a modified national drug policy that would lead to the de-classification of marijuana as a schedule I substance. The Controlled Substances Act defines Schedule I substances as substances that have a high potential for abuse and have no established medical benefits. Other Schedule I substances include heroin, LSD and MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy. We find that it is difficult, in the current political climate, for the government to argue that marijuana poses a serious threat as an addictive substance and believe that enough evidence has been established to conclude that marijuana does possess legitimate medical benefits. There are currently 13 states with medical marijuana laws and Cannabis Club dispensaries, according to Cannabis.com's dispensary directory, and we believe it is high time that the federal government intervened to change the scheduling of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act.
Continued...
dailytargum.com
Monday, February 25, 2008
School Of Pot Offers "Higher" Education
Oakland Trade School Prepares People For Jobs In California's Medical Marijuana Industry
(AP) You know you're in a different kind of college when a teaching assistant sets five marijuana plants down in the middle of a lab and no one blinks a bloodshot eye.
Welcome to Oaksterdam University, a new trade school where higher education takes on a whole new meaning.
The school prepares people for jobs in California's thriving medical marijuana industry. For $200 and the cost of two required textbooks, students learn how to cultivate and cook with cannabis, study which strains of pot are best for certain ailments, and are instructed in the legalities of a business that is against the law in the eyes of the federal government.
"My basic idea is to try to professionalize the industry and have it taken seriously as a real industry, just like beer and distilling hard alcohol," said Richard Lee, 45, an activist and pot-dispensary owner who founded the school in a downtown storefront last fall.
So far, 60 students have completed the two-day weekend course, which is sold out through May. At the end of the class, students are given a take-home test, with the highest scorer - make that "top scorer" - earning the title of class valedictorian.
Before getting to Horticulture 101, the hands-on highlight of Oaksterdam U, the 20 budding botanists, entrepreneurs and political activists at a recent weekend session sat politely through two law lectures and a visiting professor's history talk.
In the lab, Lee measured plant food into a plastic garbage can and explained how, with common sense, upgraded electrical outlets, a fan and an air filter, students can grow pot at home for fun, health, public service - or profit.
Lee explained to his students how to prune and harvest plants, handing the clipping shears to a woman who wasn't sure how close to the stalk to cut without damaging it. He offered his thoughts on which commercial nutrient preparations are best, as well as the advantages of hydroponics, or soil-free gardening.
During a discussion of neighbor relations, he warned against setting boobytraps to keep curious kids out of outdoor gardens.
Students gave various reasons for enrolling. Some said they were simply curious. Others said they wanted tips for growing their own weed, although judging from the questions, a few were ready for the graduate seminar Lee recently added to the curriculum.
Jeff Sanders, 52, said he has been buying medical marijuana since 2003, but wants to open a dispensary in the San Joaquin Valley because he doesn't like having to drive up to San Francisco and paying the markup.
"I see it as a good thing. You are giving back to the community," Sanders said.
Patrick O'Shaughnessy, 37, said he started smoking pot regularly for the first time about a year ago to treat his chronic migraines, depression and anxiety. After attending class, he said felt more confident about growing his own, which he wants to do because the dispensary he frequents often sells out of his favorite strain.
Oaksterdam U draws its name from the jokey nickname for a section of Oakland where some of California's earliest medical marijuana dispensaries took root. The nickname in turn was inspired by the city of Amsterdam, in Holland, where pot use is tolerated.
At one point, the Oaksterdam neighborhood had at least 15 clubs and coffee shops selling pot, a number that dwindled to four when the city started issuing permits and collecting taxes from them a few years ago.
California was the first of a dozen states that have legalized marijuana use for patients with a doctor's recommendation. Despite periodic raids by federal drug agents and the threat of prosecution, clubs and cooperatives where customers can buy the drug of their choice have proliferated; California has 300 to 400, according to advocacy groups.
Entry-level workers are paid a little more than minimum wage, while "bud tenders," can make over $50,000 a year, and owners and top managers more than $100,000, Lee said. But there's also a certain amount of risk - and not just financial, but legal.
Michael Chapman, an assistant agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Agency's San Francisco office, said authorities are aware of Oaksterdam U and don't see any reason to shut it down. Talking about marijuana is not illegal, and while a small amount of pot is kept on the premises, the DEA tries "to concentrate our case work on the most significant violators," he said.
Still, Chapman said he doesn't like Lee's effort to wrap cannabis education in a cap and gown.
"I think they are sending the wrong message out to the community and it's something that could only facilitate criminal behavior," he said.
CBS News
(AP) You know you're in a different kind of college when a teaching assistant sets five marijuana plants down in the middle of a lab and no one blinks a bloodshot eye.
Welcome to Oaksterdam University, a new trade school where higher education takes on a whole new meaning.
The school prepares people for jobs in California's thriving medical marijuana industry. For $200 and the cost of two required textbooks, students learn how to cultivate and cook with cannabis, study which strains of pot are best for certain ailments, and are instructed in the legalities of a business that is against the law in the eyes of the federal government.
"My basic idea is to try to professionalize the industry and have it taken seriously as a real industry, just like beer and distilling hard alcohol," said Richard Lee, 45, an activist and pot-dispensary owner who founded the school in a downtown storefront last fall.
So far, 60 students have completed the two-day weekend course, which is sold out through May. At the end of the class, students are given a take-home test, with the highest scorer - make that "top scorer" - earning the title of class valedictorian.
Before getting to Horticulture 101, the hands-on highlight of Oaksterdam U, the 20 budding botanists, entrepreneurs and political activists at a recent weekend session sat politely through two law lectures and a visiting professor's history talk.
In the lab, Lee measured plant food into a plastic garbage can and explained how, with common sense, upgraded electrical outlets, a fan and an air filter, students can grow pot at home for fun, health, public service - or profit.
Lee explained to his students how to prune and harvest plants, handing the clipping shears to a woman who wasn't sure how close to the stalk to cut without damaging it. He offered his thoughts on which commercial nutrient preparations are best, as well as the advantages of hydroponics, or soil-free gardening.
During a discussion of neighbor relations, he warned against setting boobytraps to keep curious kids out of outdoor gardens.
Students gave various reasons for enrolling. Some said they were simply curious. Others said they wanted tips for growing their own weed, although judging from the questions, a few were ready for the graduate seminar Lee recently added to the curriculum.
Jeff Sanders, 52, said he has been buying medical marijuana since 2003, but wants to open a dispensary in the San Joaquin Valley because he doesn't like having to drive up to San Francisco and paying the markup.
"I see it as a good thing. You are giving back to the community," Sanders said.
Patrick O'Shaughnessy, 37, said he started smoking pot regularly for the first time about a year ago to treat his chronic migraines, depression and anxiety. After attending class, he said felt more confident about growing his own, which he wants to do because the dispensary he frequents often sells out of his favorite strain.
Oaksterdam U draws its name from the jokey nickname for a section of Oakland where some of California's earliest medical marijuana dispensaries took root. The nickname in turn was inspired by the city of Amsterdam, in Holland, where pot use is tolerated.
At one point, the Oaksterdam neighborhood had at least 15 clubs and coffee shops selling pot, a number that dwindled to four when the city started issuing permits and collecting taxes from them a few years ago.
California was the first of a dozen states that have legalized marijuana use for patients with a doctor's recommendation. Despite periodic raids by federal drug agents and the threat of prosecution, clubs and cooperatives where customers can buy the drug of their choice have proliferated; California has 300 to 400, according to advocacy groups.
Entry-level workers are paid a little more than minimum wage, while "bud tenders," can make over $50,000 a year, and owners and top managers more than $100,000, Lee said. But there's also a certain amount of risk - and not just financial, but legal.
Michael Chapman, an assistant agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Agency's San Francisco office, said authorities are aware of Oaksterdam U and don't see any reason to shut it down. Talking about marijuana is not illegal, and while a small amount of pot is kept on the premises, the DEA tries "to concentrate our case work on the most significant violators," he said.
Still, Chapman said he doesn't like Lee's effort to wrap cannabis education in a cap and gown.
"I think they are sending the wrong message out to the community and it's something that could only facilitate criminal behavior," he said.
CBS News
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