Blog
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Pot Versus Alcohol: Experts Say Booze Is the Bigger Danger
Posted on July 3rd, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Information, Medical. No Comments »
For more than three decades, America’s marijuana policies have been based upon rhetoric. Perhaps it’s time to begin listening to what the experts have to say.
Speaking privately with Richard Nixon in 1971, the late Art Linkletter offered this view on the use of marijuana versus alcohol. “When people smoke marijuana, they smoke it to get high. In every case, when most people drink, they drink to be sociable.”
“That’s right, that’s right,” Nixon agreed. “A person does not drink to get drunk A person drinks to have fun.”
The following year Linkletter announced that he had reversed his position on pot, concluding instead that the drug’s social harms were not significant enough to warrant its criminal prohibition. Nixon however stayed the course — launching the so-called “war” on drugs, a social policy that now results in the arrest of more than 800,000 Americans each year for violating marijuana laws.
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Washington State Democratic Party Endorses Marijuana Legalization
Posted on June 29th, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under America, Blog, Information, Legalization, Medical. 1 Comment »
At yesterday’s Washington State Democratic Convention, party delegates overwhelmingly voted to endorse I-1068, a potential ballot measure to legalize cannabis in the state. From Publicola.net:
Bucking the recommendation of their executive board, delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention endorsed I-1068 (the marijuana legalization initiative) with 62 percent “yes” vote (314 to 185). The executive board had given no recommendation on the initiative because “the committee was even more split than the delegates,” according to State Vice Chair Sharon Smith.
The endorsement of the State Democratic Party may be too late to ensure marijuana legalization is on the ballot this November. A petition with signatures from at least 241,153 registered voters must be submitted by July 2nd, just five days from now in order to put I-1068 on the ballot. Read the rest of this entry »
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Sorry about the downtime
Posted on June 23rd, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog. No Comments »
Some of you may have noticed the site went down for about a day. We had some server issues which have been resolved. The site is also running on the new version of WordPress, so expect a few new things around the site in the coming weeks!
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Marc Emery, emailing from prison
Posted on May 24th, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Canada, Misc. 3 Comments »
Jody Emery (via cannabisculture.com): Marc is currently in SeaTac Federal Detention Center, or SeaTac FDC, and has access to the federal prisoner “email” system CorrLinks.
He is able to send messages and has written me five times already! He requested that I share this email so people can get an idea of what it’s been like for him so far.
To send Marc mail or money in prison, which will make his sentence much more bearable, please click here for the mailing address and other information.
From Marc Emery – May 22nd, 2010
The radio here mentions the rally downtown in Seattle every 15 minutes. On a request line at 4.20 pm , a caller called in and requested “My request is FREE MARC EMERY!” You guys are doing great! Read the rest of this entry »
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Drug war has failed on every front
Posted on May 22nd, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under America, Blog, Information. 4 Comments »
The US is thinking about dealing with drug abuse as a medical issue, says Martha Mendoza
fter 40 years, the United States’ war on drugs has cost US$1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.
Even US drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn’t worked.
“In the grand scheme, it has not been successful,” Kerlikowske said. “Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified.”
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Prohibitionist gets taken to School
Posted on May 21st, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under America, Blog, Information. 2 Comments »
It is Rather infuriating to see the illogical prohibitionist argument being put on the table, but these are the kind of people who are making the world a more dangerous place. Take note of all the studies that are sighted in this segment by NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, who proved using figures and studies that many of the usual arguments against prohibition are being generated without any knowledge of the subject.
I hope those of you who watch this video aren’t as prone to raging as I am, I had to restrain myself from putting a hole in my computer screen after listening to Brian Darling lay down the gateway theory, and run the argument around in circles without actually stating or sighting any facts.
Remember that tomorrow is the rally in Auckland City and in many other cities around the world for Marc Emery, and the Lime Raids. Come down and show your support, I will be there along with Dakta Green, Mary Jane the Cannabus, and many other legalisation supporters. Checkout the facebook event for more details.
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Brian Vicente on law enforcement’s medical marijuana “desperation”
Posted on May 11th, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under America, Blog, Information. 1 Comment »
An attempt to kill HB 1284, the medical marijuana regulatory bill, fell short yesterday — and that’s fine by Sensible Colorado’s Brian Vicente, a prominent MMJ advocate.
“I think we’re seeing desperation on the side of law enforcement,” he says, “and I also think they can’t see the forest for the trees. They’re so sued to being in the prohibitionist mindset that they can’t possibly fathom regulating marijuana.”
According to Vicente, who spent Monday at the Capitol, “you had a coalition of law enforcement bringing a resolution for a referendum that would have explicitly destroyed dispensaries. It would have said they were illegal under state law and would have heaped all kinds of really onerous requirements on caregivers that aren’t currently in the constitution.
“They wanted to put it before the voters in November, which would have been a waste of time, because I think the voters would have soundly rejected it. But it was a very clear attempt by them to destroy the safe-access model.”
Read the rest of this article here
Source http://blogs.westword.com/ -
Richard M. Evans: The president’s pot problem
Posted on May 10th, 2010 by Dakta Green | Filed under Blog, Information, News. 1 Comment »
01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 22, 2010
By RICHARD M. EVANS
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.
Now that an initiative to legalize marijuana is officially on the California ballot this November, President Obama should brace for a strong jolt from the west.
If the measure passes (the latest poll puts support at 56 percent), no longer will it be a crime under state law for an adult to cultivate, possess or transport a personal supply of pot. Moreover, cities and counties will be authorized to regulate and tax commercial production, distribution and sale of marijuana, subject to restrictions and protections for minors and public safety. Revenue raised by marijuana sales would go to local governments, not Sacramento. Initiatives are also in the works in Washington and Oregon.
The president’s dilemma, in confronting state repeal of prohibition, lies in that marijuana will remain prohibited under federal law. It’s not the first time something like this has happened.
In 1923, during the prohibition whose era now gets a capital P, New York repealed its alcohol-prohibition laws, shifting the burden and expense of enforcement onto federal authorities. Not only did the state gain significant savings in law- enforcement costs, but perhaps as a consequence, for the remaining 10 years of Prohibition New York City escaped the level of crime and violence that plagued some other large cities, such as Chicago and Detroit. It also explains why, in movies of the era, police are often called the “Feds.”
If California voters see marijuana prohibition as unsustainable and vote accordingly, howls will arise, most audibly from politicized public employees who see their jobs at risk. There will be the usual bleating about “sending the wrong message” to children, as if criminal-justice policy should be based on how it might be misconstrued by the immature. Moralists will sputter. Congress will bluster. It will be a splendid kerfuffle. Read the rest of this entry »
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Ron Paul: End Insanity Of The War on Drugs – Start With Decriminalizing Marijuana at The Federal Level
Posted on April 22nd, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Information, Legalization. No Comments »
In light of the recent drug-related violence in Mexico, it is appropriate to reflect on how our current prohibition laws affect crime, law enforcement and the economy.
Many will have the knee-jerk reaction of wanting to see more of a crackdown on illegal drugs. But I have to ask: Haven’t we been cracking down on drugs for several decades only to see the black market flourish and the violence escalate? Could there be a more effective approach?
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Why I Give My 9-Year-Old Pot
Posted on April 21st, 2010 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Information, Medical. 4 Comments »
We hit a snag and made a big discovery about how medical marijuana works for him.
This is the third DoubleX essay from Marie Myung-Ok Lee about treating her autistic son with marijuana. Read her first essay here
and her second essay here.Last summer, we reached the six-month mark in our cannabis experiment. We’d been using medical marijuana to help quell our autistic son’s gut pain and anxiety, and we were seeing some huge changes in his behavior and, presumably, his happiness. J was smiling, interacting (one of home-based therapists said she’d never encountered such an affectionate autistic child), even putting his dirty dishes in the dishwasher—rinsing and everything!—not only without being told, but without ever having been asked to do such a thing.