Archive for November, 2009
AMA Ends 72-Year Policy, Says Marijuana has Medical Benefits
November 11th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
NORML.org also has a similar article http://blog.norml.org/2009/11/10/ama-calls-for-ending-the-schedule-i-lie/
HOUSTON — The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, “Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes,” which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, “short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.” Furthermore, the report urges that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.”
Lies About Marijuana Drive People to a Much More Harmful Drug – Booze
November 10th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
As many stoners do, I agree with the title. Before I was introduced to Mary Jane, I was a heavy drinker and the weekends never ended well for me. But now as a smoker, I don’t have to worry about the basic upsides, such as hangovers and blackouts, but this article says much more about the upsides of Cannabis over Alcohol.
Anti-pot propaganda drives most people to drink alcohol instead. But booze is far more dangerous than marijuana.
Professor David Nutt didn’t play the game. As the chief drug policy advisor in the British Government, an unspoken part of his job description was to help maintain a public fiction about marijuana – or cannabis, as it is known in the U.K. and other parts of the world. Specifically, he was expected to further the misperception of cannabis as a substance worthy of being classified and prohibited in a manner similar to more dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.
He made a big mistake at the end of last month. In a lecture at King’s College in London, he spoke honestly – and truthfully – about the fact that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and urged the government to factor the relative harms of substances into their policy-making. Moreover, he accused the British government of ignoring the evidence about the true harms of cannabis in order to reclassify the drug and increase penalties for possession.
Pot dispensaries spread like weeds
November 9th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Taken from http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=294287&ac=PHnws
Patient consultant Sean Fitzgerald, top, assists a patient at the medical marijuana dispensary in Sebastopol, which has more registered patients than the California town has people.
EBASTOPOL, Calif. — The medical marijuana dispensary in this California wine country town is in a former auto dealership and has more registered patients than the town has residents. Los Angeles has more pot shops than Starbucks or schools.
The surge in medical marijuana in California has left many communities scrambling to regulate the free-for-all, while others are trying to ban the drug altogether. The issue took on greater urgency after the Obama administration announced looser federal marijuana guidelines last month.
Similar concerns are now being heard in Maine.
On Tuesday, Maine voters approved a measure to allow the creation of medical marijuana dispensaries and expand the number of conditions for which the drug can be prescribed.
Marijuana Mamas – The Secret Lives of Cannabis Using Moms
November 8th, 2009
Dakta Green
Today on www.momlogic.com there was an amazing article called “Marijuana Mamas!” It’s hopeful to read that other Moms who are in the same situation I am in are “Coming out of the Cannabis Closet”.
Us Moms fear the “Bad Mom” label – and we all know that “society” slaps that one on us for our choice of Cannabis as medicine and recreation. It’s sad and wrong and we must try and change these views. Here is the comment I left:
I too, am a “Marijuana Mama” – and like so many other Moms, we face stigma over our cannabis use. We live with the fear of having our kids taken away or being incarcerated because we choose the safer choice – Cannabis – over addicting, zombifying, full of side effects prescription narcotics and alcohol.
Like other Moms have mentioned, using Cannabis ENABLES me to be the best Mom I can be. Before Cannabis I was a walking pharmacy, Big Pharma had a grip on my doctor & I had become a victim of the pharmaceutical industry. In early 2006 I had such a horrible reaction to a prescription medication that I ended up in the hospital, I honestly thought I was dying.
1968 – CBS Reports: Marijuana
November 5th, 2009
Dakta Green
In 1968, Mike Wallace’s report on the controversy surrounding marijuana looked at the significant increase in use and drug-related arrests.
Getting High in School
November 5th, 2009
Dakta Green
If you are under 30 years old, THESE ARE YOUR PARENTS. OH MY GOD!!! THEY SMOKED DAK!!! Yes Johnny and they still do!!!
Our Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 had been in force just 4 years when this 60 minutes program was made. Our prohibition continues with the same draconian law in place even though ‘these students’ are our political leaders with families of their own. Go figure.
30.09.79: High school students in New Jersey are interviewed about their use of marijuana. They claim it boosts their athletic and academic performance. Harry Reasoner reports.
Holy Smoke
November 5th, 2009
Dakta Green
28.10.79: In 1979, Dan Rather reported on an Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church in Star Island, Florida. They believe that marijuana was given to them by God and that smoking it is a holy ritual they should practice.
Marijuana Wins Big At The Polls — Like Always!
November 4th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Taken from http://blog.norml.org/2009/11/03/marijuana-wins-big-at-the-polls-like-always/
Conventional wisdom dictates that if the people lead then our political leaders will follow. Of course, when it comes to marijuana law reform, conventional wisdom seldom applies.
In a result that should come as a surprise to nobody — except for perhaps certain members of law enforcement and state lawmakers — Maine voters today overwhelmingly approved Question 5, the Maine Marijuana Medical Act. The measure amends existing state law by: establishing a confidential patient registry, expanding the list of qualifying conditions for which a physician may recommend medicinal cannabis, and by allowing for the creation of non-profit state-licensed nonprofit dispensaries to assist in the distribution of medical cannabis to qualified patients.
Science chief backs cannabis view
November 4th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
The UK government’s chief science adviser has told BBC News that he supports the former chief drugs adviser’s scientific view on cannabis.
Taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8340318.stm
Professor John Beddington, the UK’s chief scientist, would not be drawn on whether the Home Secretary was wrong to sack Professor David Nutt.
David Nutt was chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
He was fired after using a lecture to say cannabis was less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.
Asked whether he agreed with Professor Nutt’s view that cannabis was less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol, Professor Beddington replied: “I think the scientific evidence is absolutely clear cut. I would agree with it.”
On the quiet, the US is legalising marijuana
November 3rd, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
The humble joint can save lives. We look forward to the end of senseless prohibition
Taken from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6897958.ece
You know things are shifting in America when Fortune magazine, the bible for business journalism, runs a cover story titled “Is pot already legal?”. You also know it when Barack Obama’s Department of Justice publishes a long-expected memo signalling that the federal government will no longer raid medical marijuana dispensaries if they are legal under state law. That happened formally this month.
It was not, moreover, a symbolic gesture. Marijuana for medical reasons — to tackle chemotherapy-induced nausea or Aids-related wasting or glaucoma, among other conditions — is now legal in 13 states, including the biggest, California. Next year, 13 more states are planning referendums or new laws following suit. Last week a California legislative committee held the first hearings not simply on whether medical marijuana should remain legal, but on whether all marijuana should be decriminalised, full stop. The incentive? The vast amounts of money the bankrupt state could raise by taxing cannabis.
Now look at the polling on the question. In 1970, 84% of Americans supported keeping marijuana illegal. Today, that number has collapsed to 54%. The proportion believing that marijuana should be legal has gone from 18% at the end of the 1960s to 44% today. On current trends, a majority of Americans will favour legalisation by the end of Obama’s first term. In the western states, 53% already favour legalising and taxing the stuff. Support for legalisation is strongest among the young — the Obama generation — but has climbed among self-described Republicans as well.