OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – More than three dozen Washington state lawmakers sent a letter to the federal government on Monday, asking for marijuana to be reclassified as a drug that can be prescribed by doctors and filled by pharmacists.

Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule II drug would allow it to be prescribed by doctors and handled by pharmacists. Marijuana is currently classified a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it’s not accepted for medical treatment and can’t be prescribed, administered or dispensed.

In the letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the lawmakers said they supported Gov. Chris Gregoire’s previous request on the issue. Seven Republican lawmakers were among the 42 in both the House and the Senate who signed the letter.

In addition to the letter, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, introduced Senate Joint Memorial 8017 making the same request to reclassify medical marijuana. The joint memorial was scheduled for a hearing in the Health & Long Term Care Committee on Thursday.

Gregoire and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee filed the petition with the DEA last November. Washington and Rhode Island are two of 16 states and the District of Columbia that have laws allowing the medical use of marijuana.

Washington voters approved a medical marijuana law in 1998 that gives doctors the right to recommend – but not prescribe – marijuana for people suffering from cancer and other conditions that cause “intractable pain.”

Last year, Gregoire vetoed most of a bill that made major reforms to the state’s medical marijuana law, saying state workers could be prosecuted under federal law the way the measure was written.

A separate bill this year is attempting to provide medical marijuana patients with easier access to the drug. The new proposal would allow local governments to regulate nonprofit patient cooperatives, which could grow up to 99 plants.

Under the latest proposal, nonprofit patient cooperatives would be prohibited in counties with fewer than 200,000 residents – mostly rural areas – unless local jurisdictions enact ordinances allowing them. The cooperatives would be allowed in counties with a population of more than 200,000 unless local jurisdictions opt out through an ordinance.

The plan would create a voluntary registry for patients.

Source

Interesting idea.

One of our fans has created this awesome stop-motion video. I love it and I think you will too.

MONTPELIER — Here’s what Shayne Lynn envisions somewhere in Chittenden County: an office as non-descript as a doctor’s office or a pharmacy from which he would sell marijuana to those with qualifying medical conditions.

There’d be a waiting room. Clients would be seen by appointment only. There’d be security. He might also offer clients yoga, acupuncture and Reiki. He’d probably grow the marijuana somewhere else, at an indoor facility.

Lynn could become one of the first people to run such an operation in Vermont if proposed legislation the Senate is expected to consider this week passes.

Lynn, a 40-year-old professional photographer who lives in Burlington, said he believes in marijuana’s medicinal value for those who suffer from chronic pain and he thinks it’s wrong that such people have nowhere legal to buy the relief.

“People having to go out and buy it on a corner from someone — it’s not right,” Lynn said. “I see this as an opportunity to run a successful, local, nonprofit business which would provide medical respectability to the current and future patients on the registry. It would open a more honest, serious dialogue about the benefits of cannabis.”

Medical marijuana has been legal in Vermont since 2004, for those with qualifying illnesses — including cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis — who sign up for the state’s registry. The 2004 law allows patients to grow their own marijuana, but advocates say many find that a daunting task, leaving them with the prospect of making illegal deals for street dope.

The state’s medical marijuana registry specifies, “The Marijuana Registry is neither a source for marijuana nor can the Registry provide information to patients on how to obtain marijuana.”

The answer, advocates say, is to legalize a small number of medical marijuana dispensaries — nonprofit operations that would grow marijuana and sell it to those on the medical marijuana registry.

“They have a right to have this symptom-relief medication, yet we’ve given them no ability to get it in a legal manner in which the product is safe,” said Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, chairwoman of the Senate Government Operations Committee that passed the bill the Senate will consider this week.

Read More

Very interesting if you haven’t seen this before. Also check the bottom right where it says ‘Cannabis’

Source

For decades, endorphins have hogged the credit for producing “runner’s high,” that fleeting sense of euphoria and calm that many people report experiencing after prolonged exercise. Who among us, after an especially satisfying workout, hasn’t thought, “ah, my endorphins are kicking in.” Endorphins are the world’s sole celebrity peptide.

Endorphins first gained notoriety in exercise back in the 1980s when researchers discovered increased blood levels of the substance after prolonged workouts. (Endorphins, for those who know the word but not the molecules’ actual function, are the body’s home-brewed opiates, with receptors and actions much like those of pain-relieving morphine.) Endorphins, however, are composed of relatively large molecules, “which are unable to pass the blood-brain barrier,” said Matthew Hill, a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University in New York. Finding endorphins in the bloodstream after exercise could not, in other words, constitute proof that the substance was having an effect on the mind. So researchers started to look for other candidates to help explain runner’s high. Now an emerging field of neuroscience indicates that an altogether-different neurochemical system within the body and brain, the endocannabinoid system, may be more responsible for that feeling.

In a groundbreaking 2003 experiment, scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology found that 50 minutes of hard running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bicycle significantly increased blood levels of endocannabinoid molecules in a group of college students. The endocannabinoid system was first mapped some years before that, when scientists set out to determine just how cannabis, a k a marijuana, acts upon the body. They found that a widespread group of receptors, clustered in the brain but also found elsewhere in the body, allow the active ingredient in marijuana to bind to the nervous system and set off reactions that reduce pain and anxiety and produce a floaty, free-form sense of well-being. Even more intriguing, the researchers found that with the right stimuli, the body creates its own cannabinoids (the endocannabinoids). These cannabinoids are composed of molecules known as lipids, which are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier, so cannabinoids found in the blood after exercise could be affecting the brain.

Since that 2003 study, a flurry of research has been teasing out the role that endocannabinoids play in the body’s reaction to exercise. In some of Dr. Hill’s work, for instance, rats treated with a drug that blocked their endocannabinoid receptors did not experience the increase in new brain cells that usually accompanies running, suggesting that a well-functioning endocannabinoid system may be required for cognitive improvements from exercise. Other researchers have found that endocannabinoids may be what nudge us to tolerate or enjoy exercise in the first place. In an experiment published last year, groups of mice were assigned either to run on wheels or sip a sweetened drink. Running and slurping sugar previously were identified as pleasurable behaviors in animals. Now the researchers saw that both activities lit up and sensitized portions of the animals’ endocannabinoid systems, intimating that the endocannabinoid connection may lend both exercise and dessert their appeal.

But perhaps the most telling experiment was published last year by researchers in France who had bred mice with no functioning endocannabinoid receptors. Mice usually love to run, but the genetically modified animals, given free access to running wheels, ran about half as much as usual. Although the full intricacies of the endocannabinoid system’s role in motivating and rewarding exercise is not yet understood, it seems obvious, the researchers say, that the cannabinoid-deprived mice were not getting some necessary internal message. Typically, the endocannabinoid system “is well known to impact onto central reward networks,” the authors write. Without it, exercise seemed to provide less buzz, and the animals didn’t indulge as much.

Whether this accumulating new science establishes, or ever can establish, definitively, that endocannabinoids are behind runner’s high, is uncertain. As Francis Chaouloff, a researcher at the University of Bordeaux in France and lead author of the genetically modified mouse study, pointed out in an e-mail, rodents, although fine models for studying endocannabinoid action, “do not fill questionnaires to express their feelings related to running,” and runners’ high is a subjective human experience. Still, endocannabinoids are a more persuasive candidate, especially given the overlap between the high associated with marijuana use and descriptions of the euphoria associated with strenuous exercise. One recent review article described them: “pure happiness, elation, a feeling of unity with one’s self and/or nature, endless peacefulness,” and “inner harmony.” Ahhhh.

Source.

THC Pills – The really easy way.

You need:

• Some high quality ground cheeba, I used approximately 2 grams of some diesel and put it through my grinder, then stuck it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and then went through it in a bowl with my fingers to really powderize it.
• A pot or frying pan
• Vegetable Oil
• Pill capsules (this is found at a natural food market, in the bulk foods section I used OO size, which is big, but perfect for your weed pills,or you could always find some old vitamins and use those capsules)

The procedure is easy:

Grind up your weed into a poweder, putting it in the freezer makes it brittle and easy to turn to dust.

Now put your pot or frying pan on the stove at low-medium heat.

Add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and let warm up for about 30 seconds to a minute.

Then add your finely ground bud

You want it to be a sludgy, pasty consistency, to get this consistency I has to add 1.5 more tablespoons, thus using a total of 3.5 on my 2 grams of bud.

Mix the bud and the oil together in the pot by using a spoon to mash.

Try to keep you weed oil in one corner of the pot, and constantly mash together.

I cooked until the weed was fully brown, taking the pot away from the flame if the mixture started to crackle or  bubble for too long, i would say I cooked for about 6 or 7 minuted total.

Then put your pot or pan in the freezer, the oil with tons of brown weed particles in it will turn into a thick sludgy jelly which isn’t that hard to get into capsules. They should look blackish brown.

Eat and enjoy!

With 2 grams and 3.5 tablespoons of veg oil I made 12 large pills, popped one a couple hours ago and the chronic nausea i suffer from is completely gone, and I have a nice little body buzz, if I were trying to get baked off my ass 2 or 3 pills would be perfect.

Although, remember to always keep one rolled

- Kush

With 14 states and the District of Colombia allowing the legal medical use of marijuana, acceptance of the issue is steadily growing in America. A new poll shows that 57 percent of Floridians support legalization of medical marijuana as buzz grows that the issue could be placed on the ballot as soon as 2012.

Bob Norman reports that the poll was conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, a Republican firm that worked with Rick Scott’s gubernatorial campaign. The pollsters asked point blank: “If there was a Constitutional Amendment on the statewide ballot to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes only when prescribed by a practicing physician and the election were held today, would you vote YES to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes or NO to stop it?”

57 percent said they would vote YES (roughly 41 percent said they definitely would, and about 17 percent said they probably would). A recent ABC News poll found that across the nation 81 percent of voters support medical marijuana. It’s possible that this poll may even be conservative in estimating support.

Norman reports that such an amendment could come to the ballot in 2012, but 60 percent of voters would need to check yes for such a measure to pass.

While there wasn’t a big statistical difference based on gender and race, slightly more woman were supportive of the measure than men. 59 percent of white voters and 58 percent of Hispanics would vote yes, while only 55 percent of black voters would.

Voters in Miami would support the measure at 58 percent, but West Palm has the biggest munchies for medical marijuana with 73 percent. 79 percent of voters 18 to 24 would vote yes, while even a majority of voters 65 and up are supportive of the measure with 53 percent support.

Source

The Government has legalised medicinal cannabis, but many multiple sclerosis patients allowed to use the commercial form of the drug will have difficulty paying for it, says Multiple Sclerosis Society national director Rosie Gallagher.

“It’s something we’ve been watching for a while, and it’s exciting to hear that its been approved we’d just love to see it subsidised.”

British drug manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals has been given approval to distribute cannabis extracts in New Zealand as a branded drug, Sativex.

In its application to Medsafe, GW Pharmaceuticals said that in therapeutic doses, Sativex sprayed under the tongue may produce side-effects “interpreted as a euphoria or cannabis-like high”.

But Government drug funding agency Pharmac said nobody had applied to have the drug subsidised.

Ms Gallagher said patients would normally expect the manufacturer to approach Pharmac, as the maker had key information on aspects such as the medicine’s efficacy in clinical trials.

“We’d expect the drugs company to make the initial contact, but we’d be quite happy to back them up,” she said.

“There’s so little available in the way of MS medications, and they’re so very expensive that we’re happy to see anything new that comes on the market that has been shown to improve symptoms.”

The main MS drugs – hugely expensive pharmaceuticals such as interferon beta – tended to be aimed at reducing the rate at which patients suffered relapses, but the Sativex cannabis extracts approved for the relief of spasticity were slightly different.

Two cannabis extracts in the drug can help MS patients control continuous or repeated muscle contractions, spasticity which interferes with movements, speech, and walking and may include severe, painful, and uncontrollable muscle spasms.

Even before the medicinal cannabis was legalised, four patients were given special approvals by the Health Minister to use Sativex, two for chronic pain conditions, one for multiple sclerosis and one for muscle spasm, chronic pain and nausea.

Ms Gallagher said there were 4000 people diagnosed with MS in New Zealand – usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40 years – and spasticity was one of the most common symptoms.

A cannabis campaigner, NORML spokesman Chris Fowlie, of Auckland, told NZPA that a small spray which could last one week to a month – depending on the dosage rates for an individual patient – cost about $300, and some patients found they could buy illicit cannabis at a lower cost.

“But growing their own or buying it illegally brings significant risks.”

Source

While the battle to control Congress is getting most of the pre-election ink, voters in several states will also be deciding how to states handle the touchy issue of marijuana’s legal status. Fourteen states already have medical marijuana laws on the books, and more are likely to vote in doctor-approved pot use this year or in 2012. (Watch a Reason Magazine report about legalization’s consequences.) Here are six states that could take a major step down the path toward decriminalization (or even legalization) on Nov. 2:

California
Passage of Proposition 19 by Golden State voters would create by far the most permissive marijuana law in the nation. The ballot measure would legalize — at the state and local level, anyway — recreational amounts of marijuana and allow local goverments to tax and regulate sales of the drug. The contentious battle over Prop 19 is creating some strange political dynamics, says NPR‘s Mandalit del Barco. For instance, many growers and “stoners” are opposed to the new taxes and government oversight, while some cops and mothers’ groups support Prop 19 as a way to take profits out of the hands of drug dealers and Mexican cartels. None of that may matter, says Nate Silver in The New York Times, since support for the measure appears to be “going up in smoke” as the election nears. Today it stands no better than a 50-50 chance of passing.

Oregon
More than one in every 100 Oregonians already smokes marijuana legally for medical purposes, and Measure 74 would let them purchase their pot from state-licensed growers and nonprofit retailers, or dispensaries (under current law, card-carrying smokers have to grow their own marijuana, or designate someone to grow it for them). The problem with the measure, says The Portland Mercury in an editorial, is it has no regulation mechanism to assure “all pot is safe and legal,” like other medicines. Oregon should learn from the mistakes in California and Colorado, “and do ours better.” But Oregon already “took the main step” of legalizing medical marijuana, says the Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald in an editorial, and “if something is legal to use — such as liquor and tobacco — it’s not unreasonable to authorize places where it may be sold.”

Arizona
Proposition 203 would allow Arizonans with a host of diseases to possess up to 2.5 ounces of pot with a doctor’s recommendation. They would be allowed to buy medical marijuana from nonprofit, state-licensed dispensaries, or grow it themselves if the nearest outlet is more than 25 miles away. “Opponents worry it will bring more crime, substance abuse, and corruption to our state,” says Lori Jane Gliha at ABC News 15. But with polls showing it the most popular measure on the ballot, with 54 percent support, “we’ll go out on a limb and say [it] will probably pass” anyway, says Ray Stern in the Phoenix New Times.

South Dakota
Measure 13 is a do-over for South Dakota medical-marijuana proponents, after a similar measure in 2006 fell short by about 15,000 votes, or 4 percentage points. Activists “think they can get over the top this time around,” says Phillip Smith in Drug War Chronicle, with restrictions carefully tailored “to win over a skeptical and conservative prairie electorate” — to wit, the proposed law limits people with specific conditions to one ounce and only upon the recommendation of a doctor with whom they have “bona fide relationship.” But not all skeptics are convinced: “I just think it’s a total scam being done by people interested in legalizing marijuana,” says Yankton County (S.D) Sheriff Dave Hunhoff. “If they want to legalize marijuana… they should just stand up and use that argument.”

Vermont
The Democratic candidate for governor of the Green Mountain State, Peter Shumlin, publicly advocates the decriminalization of marijuana, says Ron Kampia in The Huffington Post. And if he beats Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie (R), who is “ultra-hostile to decriminalization,” Vermont — which already has a medical-marijuana law — “has a good chance of decriminalizing the possession of marijuana,” too. But Shumlin can’t count on getting every pro-pot vote, says Brad Sylvester in Yahoo News, since he’s also facing Liberty Union candidate Ben Mitchell, whose platform calls for making Vermont into the “Amsterdam of the U.S.”

Massachusetts
In November, 73 Massachusetts towns and cities will vote on a nonbinding ballot measure instructing state lawmakers “to vote in favor of legislation that would allow the state to regulate the taxation, cultivation, and sale of marijuana to adults” — in short, to legalize pot. Although only 13 percent of the state’s voters will see the ballot initiative, its sponsor, the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, says majority approval would lay the foundation for a statewide, binding ballot measure in 2012. State voters have already approved decriminalization, says Michael Cutler in Wicked Local, and “the sky hasn’t fallen.” Full legalization would better limit access to the drug and raise revenue.

Article written by The Week

Article written by NORML

California’s Prop 19 will be the most talked-about ballot initiative in the November election.  This measure would make lawful the possession and sharing of one ounce of marijuana outside the home and allow for personal cultivation of a small marijuana garden and possession of its harvest in the home.  California cities and counties would be able to opt-in to commercial sales, regulation, and taxation of marijuana.  Existing prohibitions against driving under the influence and working under the influence would be maintained and prohibitions against furnishing marijuana to minors would be strengthened.

After almost 100 years of marijuana prohibition in California, marijuana is more popular and accepted than ever.  Prohibition has clearly failed.  Prop 19 gives us another choice, one that benefits not just those who enjoy the herb, but the entire state of California and ultimately, the nation and the world.  Whether you are a regular marijuana user now, an occasional toker back in the day, or you’ve never touched the stuff, there are many compelling economic, social, public safety, and civil libertarian reasons to support its legalization.  Here are nineteen reasons for six distinct groups of Californians to vote Yes on Prop 19.

For the Concerned Parents

1. To make pot more difficult for kids to buy. It might seem counter-intuitive to some, but illegal marijuana is much easier to acquire than regulated marijuana because weed dealers don’t check ID’s.  Four out of five high school seniors, more than three in five sophomores, and two in five middle schoolers (8^th grade) say marijuana is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to get.  One third of 16-17-year-olds say marijuana is easiest to buy, not cigarettes, alcohol, or prescription drugs.  Two out of five teens say they can get marijuana in a day; almost one in four can get marijuana in an hour.  Obviously letting unregulated dealers control the marijuana market is not protecting your kids from access to marijuana.  On the other hand, aggressive enforcement of ID carding for minors, combined with public education have led to some of the lowest rates of teen alcohol and tobacco use ever recorded.  Prop 19 enacts the same common sense ID carding for marijuana as we use for martinis and Marlboros.

2. To make pot more difficult for kids to sell in school. Regardless of what regulations we put on marijuana, like alcohol and tobacco, there will be some kids who manage to get a hold of it.  But part of what makes marijuana so easy for teens to buy is that they can all find in their high school one of the one million teens nationally who are dealing it.  Legal access to marijuana for adults removes the criminal risk markup that makes pot so profitable.  After all, when was the last time you heard of a beer dealer in a high school hallway?  Prop 19 eliminates the huge profit that entices youngsters to sell marijuana.

3. To make pot less available for transfer from young adults. Governor Schwarzenegger signed a decriminalization bill that makes it an infraction, not a crime, to possess and share of up to one ounce of marijuana between anyone 18 and older.  Prop 19 adds a stiff punishment of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for any adult aged 21 or older who shares marijuana with anyone aged 18-20, just like we punish adults who furnish alcohol to those under legal age.  When it’s tougher for those 18-20 to get marijuana, it’s tougher for them to share it friends under 18.  Prop 19 treats marijuana like alcohol as a privilege for age 21 and older.

For the “Law and Order” Crowd

4. To decrease the profits of violent criminals. Prohibited marijuana brings with it the same problems as prohibited alcohol did – gangs and violence.  We don’t see bootleggers shooting up the streets over whiskey distribution any more.  We don’t see clandestine wine grape vineyards sprouting up in national forests.  Providing California’s adults a legal way to grow or buy their own marijuana means violent drug gangs lose customers.  No, these gangsters won’t stop being gangsters, but they will become gangsters with lower budgets and fewer associates.  Prop 19 brings the dangerous underground marijuana market into a safe, regulated, inspected, and taxed legal market.

5. To increase public trust of law enforcement.  Currently more than 1 in 10 adult Californians smoke pot every year.  It is unknown how many of these 2.9 million annual users fail to report crimes for fear of police interviewing them and discovering the marijuana they possess or grow.  Prohibition also creates fear and paranoia that lingers long after the joint is smoked for these adults whenever they see police, fear that even talking to police could end in a ticket or arrest. Prop 19 allows otherwise law-abiding cannabis consumers to trust and help law enforcement.

6. To prioritize our law enforcement.  It is estimated that including the arrest, jail, prison, court, and marijuana eradication costs, California spends $200 million per year on marijuana law enforcement.  Then there is the time and space we can’t afford in our overworked court system and overcrowded prisons.  Prop 19 alleviates much of those problems while maintaining the current laws against irresponsible use of marijuana, such as driving under the influence and giving marijuana to kids.  Prop 19 focuses police priorities away from adults who enjoy marijuana responsibly and onto real crime.

Read more for the full article.

For the Medical Marijuana Patients

7. To protect your medical collectives. Over the fourteen years of medical marijuana in California we’ve seen numerous raids on medical marijuana collectives, or “dispensaries”.  Many are conducted by state or local authorities, some by DEA but always with the cooperation and assistance of local law enforcement.  Prop 19 forbids state and local law enforcement from seizing, attempting to seize, or even threatening to seize lawfully cultivated marijuana – medical or personal.  Prop 19 makes it impossible for local law enforcement to assist federal prosecution of medical marijuana collectives.

8. To provide easier access to cheaper medicine. Currently a patient has to see a doctor and pay for a recommendation to use medical marijuana.  The patient has to carry around that recommendation to prove medical use to the police.  The patient can designate a caregiver to grow for them or buy from a dispensary at grossly inflated prices.  After Prop 19, you can use marijuana simply because you decide to, no doctors, no notes.  Any number of your friends could be growing marijuana for you.  There may even be Prop 19 stores that open in your city.  Prop 19 will lower marijuana prices and provide greater access to patients without need for permission slips.

9. To allow you to grow a lot of marijuana. For adults who decide not to get Prop 215 recommendations, you will be allowed under Prop 19 to cultivate a plot of marijuana not exceeding 25 square feet.  The DEA has concluded that the average yield of cannabis bud per square foot is about one-half ounce – that’s over three quarters of a pound from a 5’x5’ garden.  Prop 19 allows you to keep the results of your harvests; the one ounce limitation only applies to taking your marijuana out of your residence.  Prop 19 does not impose arbitrary plant and possession limits at your home grow site.

For the Business Community

10. To create much-needed jobs. California’s marijuana market is already the largest cash crop in the state at an estimated $14 billion annually.  This estimate only includes the marijuana itself and not all the ancillary industries a legal pot market would bring, from accessories to fashion, from tourism to retail, and all the incredible markets for marijuana’s non-drug cousin, industrial hemp.  Prop 19 creates new job and business opportunities and opens the door for industrial use of hemp.

11. To bring in much-needed tax revenue. It’s true that Prop 19 allows localities to opt-in and regulate commercial cannabis sales and some places may not opt-in, reaping no marijuana taxes.  But marijuana for personal use will still be legal and many of the ancillary industries could flourish in a “dry county” (e.g., marijuana bed’n’breakfast) and that would produce tax revenue.  Prop 19 brings in more tax revenue from marijuana than we’re bringing in now.

12. To bring fairness to workplace drug testing. Prop 19 maintains an employer’s existing right to address marijuana impairment in the workplace – nobody gets to go to work stoned any more than they get to go to work drunk.  But Prop 19 frees employers from the burden of disciplining, firing, or not hiring safe, productive workers for their personal use of marijuana away from the job site.  Prop 19 treats employees who use cannabis responsibly in their private life like those employees who drink alcohol.

For the Latinos and African-Americans

13. To end the disproportionate arrest and harassment of people of color. African-Americans in California’s 25 largest counties are arrested at rates two-to-four times greater than their white counterparts, despite whites using marijuana at greater rates.  In the 25 largest cities, the arrest disparity ranges from twice-to-thirteen times the rates for whites.  Arrest rates for Latinos also exceed the rates for whites.  Prop 19 removes the probable cause for law enforcement to harass people of color for merely possessing marijuana.

14. To end street-level dealing of marijuana. Marijuana’s profitability and scarcity create the open-air street-corner dealing that plagues many communities of color and utilizes juveniles to perform the transporting and selling of small amounts of pot.  The profit enriches gangs and leads to violent confrontations over turf.  Prop 19 will reduce the cost of marijuana and provide a regulated place to buy it that will undercut the street dealers.

15. To strike back at the murderous drug gangs in Mexico. Many Latino Californians worry for the safety of friends and family back in Mexico.  Residents in northern border towns face violence and murder rates usually only found in war zones.  Law abiding Mexicans don’t know if their law enforcement and government officials are corrupted by the wealthy gangs.  Prop 19 is the first step in nationwide legalization that can be the only solution to Mexico’s drug war violence.

For the People of All Political Ideologies

16. To energize and connect with the progressive Democratic base. Prop 19 is overwhelmingly supported by the young, progressive, liberal voters that are the base of support for Democratic politicians.  Many of these voters are not as enthusiastic about the Democrats as they were in 2008 when they turned out in record numbers.  Prop 19’s passage forces the Democratic Party to recognize the get-out-the-vote potential of the marijuana legalization issue for future elections.

17. To build a new, younger Republican base on conservative principles. The Republican Party faces a decline in its numbers due to the aging of its core base of white male supporters.  Younger, libertarian-leaning, “Tea Party” activists are calling for a return to conservative principles of states’ rights, less government, personal responsibility, and cutting wasteful government spending.  Prop 19 affirms the right of states to set their own policies and begins to dismantle the most ineffective government program of all time – the War on Drugs.

18. To show the traditional political parties they aren’t responding to the people. Candidates for the highest offices in California from both major political parties refuse to endorse marijuana legalization even though more than half the citizens have used marijuana and support its legalization.  Prop 19 reminds the major parties that they are the servants of the people and the people’s will is sovereign.

For the Future

19. To change the world. Prop 19 is not just another California initiative.  Prop 19 is being watched in all fifty states and throughout the hemisphere as the “shot heard round the world” in ending the prohibition of marijuana. 

It’s up to you, California, to take that one small step for your state that will be one giant leap for the nation. Vote Yes on Prop 19!

Article via NORML

From CNN:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

From CBS:

In addition to picking a new governor, Californians next month will also decide if their state will be the first to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Even if Proposition 19 passes, the federal government almost certainly will challenge it.

Oakland’s Oaksterdam University is all about one thing: marijuana. For students learning the finer points of pot production and cultivation, the timing couldn’t be better.

“I have high aspirations for this industry and where it’s going to go,” says student Pete Dimopoulos.

Proposition 19 would allow adults 21 and older to grow marijuana at home and possess up to an ounce for personal use. Individual cities would be free to regulate and tax sales.

“We have a whole new economy that can flourish here in California around cannabis,” says Dale Sky Jones, executive chancellor of Oaksterdam University.

Proponents argue that marijuana sales could haul in $1.4 billion dollars in tax revenues, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

That’s a major reason why one of the state’s largest unions has endorsed legalization. The California chapter of the NAACP is behind it too, along with at least two former big city police chiefs.

Former San Jose police chief Joseph McNamara says, “It diverts the police from their primary duties to protect life and property. People are not terrified about pot smoking in their neighborhood.”

California has long been on the cutting edge when it comes to pot. Fourteen years ago, voters approved the use of medical marijuana and recently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger relaxed penalties for pot possession.

Even though he famously inhaled as a body builder, Schwarzenegger says Proposition 19 would turn the state into a laughingstock.

Believe it or not, the measure has sparked high anxiety at some medical marijuana shops.

“We are not sure what our business will look like post-Prop 19,” says Daniel Bornstein from Medithrive Medical Marijuana Provider.

For employers, the law could create a giant headache. Employees couldn’t be fired for smoking pot unless employers prove that the drug impaired job performance.

“So it does open the door for the ability of employees to smoke pot at work,” says Denise Davis of the California Chamber of Commerce.

Even if it passes, pot would still be illegal under federal drug laws, so it’s likely Prop 19 will be challenged in court. That means the whole controversial issue could just go up in smoke.

From Forbes:

Dustin Moskovitz confirmed tonight that he has recently given $50,000 in support of Proposition 19, which is seeking to legalize marijuana in California this November. He had previously donated $20,000 to supporters of the act, which would allow people 21 years old or older to possess, cultivate or transport cannabis for personal use and would permit local governments to  regulate and tax commercial production and sale of the substance. (Update: Dustin explains why he backs Prop 19.)
Not too many other billionaires have come out in favor of legalizing pot but one who has is Peter Lewis, who donated $12,800 to Oregon’s medical marijuana ballot this November, according to my colleague Clare O’Connor. (Read her September post). Lewis, who was arrested for drug possession in New Zealand a decade ago, has been a longtime supporter of the issue; he apparently smoked marijuana for pain relief after his left leg was amputated.

Moskovitz, who is now the America’s youngest billionaire and who is played by actor Joseph Mazzello in the just released Facebook movie “The Social Network,”  had no other comment at this time. Moskovitz left Facebook in 2008 and started Asana, a software company that allows individuals and small companies to better collaborate. The company, which has several of the same early backers as Facebook, lists some of its values as pragmatism, chill-ness and being a mensch. For now, we estimate that his entire $1.4 billion fortune comes from his 6% stake in Facebook

Ralphie May is an “idiot” — his word, not ours — because he got caught carrying pot through customs in Guam … after he approached a drug-sniffing dog because he thought it was cute.

May was busted for weed last week, but only had to pay a small fine because he was carrying less than an ounce. The comedian tells us he didn’t realize the pot was in his bag when, on his way through customs, he went up to the dog and started petting it.

May, who has a medical marijuana card, explains: “When I got to baggage claim, I actually walked up to the dog. I love dogs and petted Nickey, the beautiful shepherd mix, and she sat down. That indicates to the handler that I had marijuana on me. I didn’t know that, I just thought that dog loved me. Then another dog came over and it sat down as well and I petted that dog too. I was thinking these dogs love me they can tell I’m a dog person.”

May dealt with some very nice customs agents and he explained the mix-up. May says, “The customs agents said they knew I didn’t mean to smuggle drugs into Guam cause no drug smuggler would be stupid enough to walk up to the dogs and pet them.”

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Looks like cannabis users have an alternative way to get their marijuana fix. According to published reports, a new line of pot-infused beverages masquerading behind soda flavors are now available to patients with a prescription for medical marijuana. The new sodas, made by Colorado-based Dixie Elixirs, are carbonated drinks marketed to medicinal-marijuana patients who wish to avoid “weed culture” stigmas.

The herbally organic drinks, that come in eight different flavors that include root beer, pink lemonade and grape, serve as alternatives to smoking cannabis and used as an alternative to pain killers.

Legalized marijuana has become legal in 14 states for medicinal use only. Earlier this week, a television commercial advertising medicinal marijuana was aired in California – the first ever broadcast in the U.S.

The ad was shown over Fox affiliate KTXL in Sacramento, and has swirled up a cloud of controversy from community members who worry about the commercial’s effect on children.

The ad features a series of testimonials from customers , all A-typical of our drug culture stereotypes giving testimony about the benefit of using the drug.

Article via Forbes DVD Blog

A Sacramento man who fired a 12 gauge shotgun at a home intruder says he won’t hesitate to use that gun again.

“It’s loaded. All I have to do is cock it and rock it,” said D’Andre Pendarvis.

Pendarvis knows exactly what the home invader, who kicked in the back door of his Oak Park home Monday night, was after, medical marijuana.

In a daring display of defiance, Pendarvis grabbed a recently borrowed shotgun and blasted it loud and clear. His message, “don’t take what’s not yours, including my medical marijuana.”

He called police just before 9:00 p.m. to report the robbery. He said someone, first kicked his door, then kicked it in. The intruder fired two shots from a 9mm gun and Pendarvis fired four shots back.

It doesn’t appear he hit the intruder who took off running. Inside Pendarvis’ home, a bullet blasted through a mirror and a couch. Shards of glass flew across his living room like bullets themselves, piercing his television.

He had just borrowed a shotgun from a friend last week, knowing that marijuana is a hot commodity among crooks. They have said that it is actually green gold. It’s worth almost as much as gold is, ounce for ounce, pound for pound.”

So why put himself at risk by growing plants in his backyard and inside his home? Pendarvis says he uses it to help with insomnia, and admits, what he doesn’t personally use himself, he could possibly sell. He said he’s more fearful of Child Protective Services than the police and that’s why his daughter doesn’t live with him. He said his grow is perfectly legal and so is shooting at someone that you fear is about to hurt you. His message to anyone who comes at him for his pot, “There’s a 12 gauge slug waiting for you.”

Sacramento police say they will likely respond to more of these calls as more people begin to grow pot legally. One officer said, “the odor of pot plants coming from a home or yard, is like a jewelry box sitting right next to a window. “

Pot ice cream? Sounds like a stoner’s dream, doesn’t it? In California, those with a legal medical marijuana card can go to High Scream and get marijuana-infused ice cream. It’s widely known that not only can weed be smoked or inhaled, it can also be infused into food.

Brownies, muffins, and breads are all common foods used with the drug. However, it’s not just “baked” goods anymore – the new hot item is actually quite cold – ice cream.

Boasting flavors with Ben and Jerry’s sounding names like Banannabis Foster, Straw-Mari Cheesecake and TRIPle Chocolate Brownie (and more on the way) this ice cream will not only taste fab and leave you satisfied, it also makes the person eating it feel better.

You have to admit – a lot of creative things come out of California. Sadly, not everyone can try the legal medical marijuana ice cream. You have to have a doctor’s orders!

The cost is $15 for a half pint, which contains 2 to 4 doses of pot.

Medical marijuana will be available in Germany soon, with the centre-right coalition preparing to make groundbreaking changes to drug laws, a government health spokeswoman said this week.

Doctors could write prescriptions for cannabis, and pharmacies would be authorised to sell the plant once the law had been adjusted, a member of the junior coalition party, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), said Monday.

Marijuana would also be permitted for use as a pain reliever for the terminally ill in hospices and other care facilities, making it a legal part of their emergency pain-relief stocks.

“With this, the sickest people will always have a pain-relieving substance available,” said Ulrike Flack, the FDP’s health policy spokesperson.

The new law will end a long-running struggle between German officials, doctors and health insurers over use of the proven herbal therapy for treating the pain stemming from diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.

According to the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (ACM), only 40 patients in the country are currently allowed a medical marijuana prescription – even though law enforcement generally tolerates small amounts for personal use.

Almost two years ago, the conservative Christian Democrats, the FDP and the centre-left Social Democrats all voted against loosening medical marijuana laws. Opponents had warned of the drug’s alleged potential for addiction and doubted its medical benefits.

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Chris Diaz is facing up to life in prison after being busted for 14 grams of weed and hash.

A Texas asthma sufferer who went to California for a medical marijuana recommendation and then got busted in June on a Texas highway with small amounts of marijuana and hashish is facing up to life in prison after being indicted by a Brown County grand jury.

He is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a first-degree felony in the Lone Star State.

Chris Diaz, 20, has been jailed on $40,000 bond since the June 27 arrest. He was busted with 14 grams of weed and hash.

Under Texas law, possession of less than two ounces of marijuana is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, while possession of hashish is either a state jail felony punishable by up to two years for less than a gram, or a second-class felony punishable by up to 20 years if less than four grams, although probation is also possible. It is unclear exactly how much hash Diaz had.

Diaz was pulled over for an expired license tag while en route from California to Austin, and according to the DPS trooper’s report, could not produce a drivers’ license or proof of insurance. He was then arrested for failure to identify, and during a subsequent search, police found a small amount of hashish on his person. A search of the vehicle then turned up more hash and marijuana in pill bottle from a California medical marijuana provider.

The DPS report said the search also turned up a cell phone “containing text messages referring to drug sales” and a notebook with “drug and law writings.” Those are apparently the basis, legitimate or otherwise, for the drug distribution charge.

Texas does not have a medical marijuana law, and its authorities do not recognize having a recommendation from another state as a defense against prosecution.

Diaz has attracted supporters both inside Texas and nationally. The Texas Coalition for Compassionate Care and a group called I Am Sovereign are publicizing the case and pressuring Brown County officialdom. And the asthmatic Diaz sits in jail in Central Texas awaiting trial, without his medicine.

- Article from StoptheDrugWar.org.