Get NORML's eZine
Meet Others, Share Stories
get our eZine
Details & Privacy
Get Blog Email Updates

Enter your email address:



Delivered by FeedBurner

Blogroll

Add to Technorati Favorites
Activism Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Who’s Behind Pot Prohibition? The Answer Is Obvious

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Without a doubt the question I’m most often asked professionally is this: “Why is marijuana still illegal?”

The common inference behind this question is that there must be some behind the scenes cabal of Big Pharma, Tobacco, and Alcohol executives conspiring to keep cannabis illegal. By contrast, the real culprits behind pot prohibition are far more overt.

Law enforcement organizations — including cops, district attorneys, prosecutors, prison guard unions, sheriffs, and narcotics officers associations — remain the primary force working against sensible marijuana law reform.

Case in point? Look no further than these two egregious examples:

Los Angeles County D.A. prepares to crack down on pot outlets
via the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Thursday he will prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries for over-the-counter sales, targeting a practice that has become commonplace under an initiative approved by California voters more than a decade ago.

“The vast, vast, vast majority, about 100%, of dispensaries in Los Angeles County and the city are operating illegally, they are dealing marijuana illegally, according to our theory,” he said. “The time is right to deal with this problem.”

Cooley and Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich recently concluded that state law bars sales of medical marijuana, an opinion that could spark a renewed effort by law enforcement across the state to rein in the use of marijuana. It comes as polls show a majority of state voters back legalization of marijuana, and supporters are working to place the issue on the ballot next year.

Even prior to the passage of California’s passage of Prop. 215, cannabis dispensaries — the same sort of dispensaries that D.A. Cooley now unilaterally defines as a “problem” — operated openly, and without incident, in L.A. County. Today, over 1,000 such operations exist in Los Angeles. District Attorney Cooley has now arbitrarily declared that “100%” of these dispensaries are acting illegally based not on a court decision, but rather on his own personal anti-pot bias.

Do a majority of public of L.A. county share D.A. Cooley’s view that open market, regulated medi-pot transactions are, in fact, a “problem?” Not at all. Does the will of the voters actually matter to their District Attorney? Not at all.

According to a separate story from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, D.A. Cooley “was one of dozens of guests at a recent conference … in which the topic was the ‘eradication of medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County,’ according to a flier advertising the event hosted by the California Narcotics Officers’ Association.”

This, of course, would be the same California Narcotics Officers Association that just last month issued the white paper: “California Police Chiefs Association Position Paper on the Decriminalization of Marijuana.” You can read the entire position paper here (Have a potent anti-emetic handy!), but here’s some excerpts.

“Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, was passed by California voters in 1996 on a ballot initiative promoted by those who subscribe to the idea that all drug use should be legalized.”

“It has become clear, despite the claims of use by critically ill people that only about 2% of those using crude Marijuana for medicine are critically ill. [Editor's note: Predictably, no statements, including this bogus percentage, are actually cited with any supporting documentation.] The vast majority of those using crude Marijuana as medicine are young and are using the substance to be under the influence of THC and have no critical medical condition. … Marijuana is being abused by people who have no serous medical condition and simply like to be intoxicated on Marijuana.

“Marijuana as a smoked product has never proven to be medically beneficial and, in fact, is much more likely to harm one’s health.”

“The thought of decriminalizing Marijuana or allowing taxation of Marijuana is bewildering. The thought that a group of individuals would want to advocate for decriminalization of a substance that the state of California has deemed to be carcinogenic is alarming. [Editor's note: Alcoholic beverages and aspirin -- along with over 300 other substances -- are also included on California's Prop. 65 list of official carcinogens. I suppose the CNOA would argue that these substances ought to be illegal as well.]

“The use of intoxicating and addictive substances fuels crime and destroys lives by creating addiction and dependency. Children are victims of abuse and neglect at the hands of parents or caretakers who live in addiction. Young adults are particularly vulnerable to addiction. Relaxed attitudes toward drug use place them at greater risk of addiction. Clearly legalization of Marijuana will lead to great use by those who would not use if it were not legal. [Editor's note: Virtually every study on this subject finds just the opposite outcome. You can read summaries from a couple dozen or so here, here, and here.] This increased use will lead to negative outcomes.”

“Much as we see in the use of other controlled substances,
people who become addicted to Marijuana and cannot afford to maintain their addiction will turn to crime in order to supply themselves with their drug of choice.”

“Marijuana is not and never will be good for the success, education, and well-being of our society. When a person examines the two known abused drugs in our society, alcohol and tobacco, from a Public Health standpoint, those two substances would be recommended today to be banned. [Editor's note: And apparently the CNOA would be in full support of such a ban.] The California Police Chiefs Association clearly understands that this will not occur. But, the discussion of Marijuana is important especially in light of the money being infused by the Drug Alliance [Editor's note: Who are they?] and their ability to prey on unsuspecting compassionate people of our great state.”

Who is really behind marijuana prohibition. The answer should be obvious.

135 comments so far

Fox News Says Yes To Legalization?

Monday, October 5th, 2009

When the producer of the FoxNews program ‘Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano‘ asked me to appear on air last week to discuss the issue of marijuana law reform, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.

Fortunately it became clear from the host’s opening monologue that Judge Andrew Napolitano is a powerful and articulate friend of cannabis liberalization.

“The War on Drugs that the federal government has waged, and on which it has spent billions and billions of taxpayer dollars, has been a complete waste of time, money, and effort.

Take marijuana, for instance. It’s been grouped together and enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration with real hardcore drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. But states like California and soon New Jersey have pretty much legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. While the federal government contends that … marijuana has the potential to promote cancer, patients of cancer and other similar ailments actually use marijuana to fight these deadly diseases.

So wouldn’t the federal government be better off creating the incentive to empower people to make the right choice, to make their own free choice, rather than persecuting them and prosecuting them for what the feds consider to be the wrong choice?”

Watch our full interview below:

138 comments so far

U.S. DEA Finally Gets Its Man

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Just over four years ago, former U.S. DEA administrator Karen Tandy announced to the world that her agency had struck “a significant blow … to the marijuana legalization movement” by indicting Canada’s so-called ‘Prince of Pot,’ Marc Emery.

For nearly two decades Emery operated a successful marijuana seed bank operation in Vancouver, British Columbia — a venture which he used to directly fund cannabis law reform efforts around the globe, including the magazine Cannabis Culture, the internet site Pot TV, and the founding of the British Columbia Marijuana Party.

Emery’s seed business was hardly a secret. For many years, Emery mailed copies of his seed catalogue to Canadian politicians. A Canadian court convicted him in 1998 and sentenced him to a $2,000 fine. Undeterred, Emery continued to sell seeds — and pay federal taxes on his profits — up until his arrest. Canadian authorities were happy to accept his tax money, and officials at Health Canada, which oversees Canada’s legal medical marijuana program, often recommended that patients contact Emery for grow advice. Nevertheless, when the Feds came calling, the Canadian authorities were swift to throw Marc Emery to the wolves.

Even though Emery’s alleged crimes would have warranted, at most, a month in jail in his home country, Canadian authorities yesterday placed Marc into custody so that he can be extradited to the United States. Once here, he faces up to five years in prison for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana (more than 100 plants) in violation of 21 USC 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B).

But lets not kid ourselves. Marc Emery was hardly a high level target because he sold marijuana seeds to the U.S. — a simple google search will yield dozens of listings of competitors that presently engage in similar activities. No, it wasn’t so much what Marc did (”There isn’t a single victim in my case, no one who can stand up and say, ‘I was hurt by Marc Emery.’ No one,” he told the Vancouver Sun) as it was what he did with his money that aroused the ire of U.S. anti-drug officials.

And we have Karen Tandy’s own words to prove it.

206 comments so far

Alternet: “Five Things the Corporate Media Don’t Want You to Know About Cannabis”

Monday, September 28th, 2009

I’ve written previously about the mainstream media’s propensity to under report and distort stories that challenge marijuana prohibition.

Apparently my latest missive has hit a nerve — as it has quickly risen to become the most read story on Alternet.

5 Things the Corporate Media Don’t Want You to Know About Cannabis
via Alternet.org

1. Marijuana Use Is Not Associated With a Rise in Incidences of Schizophrenia

2. Marijuana Smoke Doesn’t Damage the Lungs Like Tobacco

3. Cannabis Use Potentially Protects, Rather Than Harms, the Brain

4. Marijuana Is a Terminus, Not a ‘Gateway,’ to Hard Drug Use

5. Government’s Anti-Pot Ads Encourage, Rather Than Discourage, Marijuana Use

Read the full text of the story here.

39 comments so far

Conference 2009 – Saturday Agenda

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Update: Audio from Today is now available

Lester Grinspoon, M.D.
Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

Today’s Highlights

  • Cannabis Law Reform’s Missing Link: Law Enforcement – Norm Stamper
  • Keynote Speaker Luncheon Lester Grinspoon, M.D. [via live remote]
  • Panels on: Mexican cartels, revenue stream, and athleticism
  • Breakout sessions on: Tools for activists, cultivation, and CA law reform
  • NORML 2009 Extravaganza Fundraising Party

Schedule

Moderator: Madeline Martinez, NORML Board of Directors
9:00am Registration
10:00-
10:30am
Cannabis Law Reform’s Missing Link: Law Enforcement
Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper; LEAP and NORML Advisory Board; Author of Breaking Rank
10:30-
12:00pm
Putting the Mexican Cartels Out of Business
Panel Info and Comments Mexican drug cartels now employ over 100,000 soldiers and are responsible for nearly ten thousand deaths per year. Their largest source of income is marijuana. A panel of experts discuss how legalizing and regulating cannabis in the United States and abroad is the only viable solution for staving this ongoing bloodshed.

Moderator: Richard Cowan, former NORML director

  • Mike Gray, Author of Drug Crazy; Common Sense for Drug Policy
  • Ethan Nadelmann, Ph.D, Director, Drug Policy Alliance; Author of Cops Across Borders
  • Norm Stamper, Former Seattle Police Chief; NORML Advisory Board
12:00-
12:15pm
Break
12:15-
1:30pm
Breakout Sessions
Panel Info and Comments
1. Tools For Activists (What Can I Do?)

Moderator: Russ Belville, NORML National Outreach Coordinator

  • Chris Goldstein – Working with Mainstream Media
  • Brian Judy – Social Networking Technologies
  • Madeline Martinez – Grassroots Lobbying
  • Lauren Vazquez –Social Change Leadership, How to Make Your Grassroots Grow
2. High Times Cultivation: More Root, More Fruit: Growing Medical Marijuana in the Era of Plant Limits

Moderator: Danny Danko, Cultivation Editor, High Times

Veganics: Beyond Organics for Medicinal Quality Cannabis

Kyle Kushman, former High Times Cultivation reporter and current medical marijuana consultant

3. California NORML: Law Reform and Activism In The Golden State
(An open discussion of California’s pending marijuana initiatives and other reform efforts.)

Moderator: Dale Gieringer, Ph.D, Director, CA NORML

1:30-
2:30pm
Keynote Speaker Luncheon
Lester Grinspoon, M.D. Author and pioneering Harvard Medical School Professor [via remote from Boston]
2:45-
4:15pm
Marijuana Legalization As a Local, State, Federal Revenue Stream
Panel Info and Comments In today’s sagging economy national, state and local leaders are looking for alternative streams of revenue.  They should look no further than to America’s #1 cash crop: cannabis.

Moderator: Dale Gieringer, Ph.D, Director, CA NORML

  • Jon Gettman, Ph.D
  • Rebecca Kaplan, Oakland City Council
  • Mark Kleiman, Ph.D, UCLA
4:15-
4:30pm
Break
4:30-
5:30pm
Cannabis and Athleticism
Panel Info and Comments Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today’s pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do.

Moderator: Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com

  • Toby Grear, MMA fighter
  • Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmmaker; former ESPN producer
  • Mark Stepnoski, Former All-Star NFL football player, NORML Advisory Board
  • Rob Van Dam, Professional wrestler
5:30-
6:00pm
Conference Close
Rick Steves, TV host/best-selling travel author, NORML Advisory Board
7:00-
1:00am
NORML 2009 Extravaganza Fundraising Party
Kindly sponsored by: Harborside Health Center

21 comments so far

Live audio streaming now from NORML National Conference

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Check it out on http://live.norml.org – Rick Steves coming up soon, plus discussions from the founder of Oaksterdam, Richard Lee; Dr. Harry Levine on race and marijuana arrests; and California NORML’s Dale Gieringer on the current legal landscape there.

9 comments so far

Conference 2009 – Friday Agenda

Friday, September 25th, 2009
Rick Steves
Travel Author and NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves

Today’s Highlights

  • Welcome – California Assemblyman, Tom Ammiano
  • Lunch On Your Own Presentation with Rick Steves
  • Panels on: pot and politics, legalization, regulation and parenting
  • Listen live NORML Show Live from 11am-2pm (PST)

Schedule

7:30am

Registration

9:00-
9:30am

Welcome
NORML Board Chair Steve Dillon, Esq.,

2009 Marijuana Mitzvah
NORML’s Executive Director Allen St. Pierre

9:30-
10:00am
Welcome Speaker
California Assemblyman, Tom Ammiano
10:00-
10:30pm
The Zeitgeist of ‘Legalization’: Why and How Did This Happen?
Russ Belville, NORML Outreach Coordinator, Podcast Host
10:30-
10:45am
Break
10:45-
12:30pm

Pot Politics 2009 and Beyond
Panel Info and Comments

A record number of state legislatures debated marijuana law reform in 2009; a nationwide panel of experts discusses our progress.

Moderator: Keith Stroup, Esq., NORML, Federal Legislation

  • Chris Goldstein, Director, Penn. For Medical Marijuana
  • Rob Kampia, Executive Director, Marijuana Policy Project
  • Dan Linn, Executive Director, Illinois NORML
  • Madeline Martinez, Director, Oregon NORML, member of NORML’s board of directors
  • Jesse Stout, former Director of RIPAC
  • Ken Wolski, RN, Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana NJ
12:30-
1:30pm

Lunch On Your Own with travel author and NORML advisory board member Rick Steves presenting the ACLU DVD: ‘Marijuana: Its Time for a Conversation’

1:30-
2:45pm
Has support for legalization reached a critical mass/tipping point?
Panel Info and Comments

According to national polls, public support for legalizing marijuana has never been higher. Why now? And how do we mobilize this public support into political change? Leaders in the drug law reform movement discuss these trends, and what they portend for future reform efforts.

Moderator: Dave Fratello, Coast Campaign Group

  • Dale Gieringer, Ph.D, Director, CA NORML; member of NORML’s board of directors
  • Rich Lee, Proprietor of ‘Oaksterdam University’ and Campaigner for ‘The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010′
  • Harry Levine, Ph.D, Queens College
2:45-
4:15pm
What impact would legalization/regulation have on use rates?
Panel Info and Comments

Critics of marijuana law reform allege that liberalizing cannabis laws will inevitably lead to an explosion in marijuana use.  Yet, according to the World Health Organization, the United States presently enjoys the world’s highest levels of marijuana use despite enforcing some of the world’s most stringent anti-pot laws.  A panel of experts compare and contrast the use of cannabis across the globe and try to make sense of it all.

Moderator: Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D, State University of New York/Albany

  • Paul Armentano, Deputy Director, NORML
  • Robert MacCoun, Ph.D, University of California/Berkeley
  • Craig Reinarman, Ph.D, University of California/Santa Cruz
4:15-
4:30pm

‘420′ Break…

4:30-
6:00pm
Pot, Parenting and Legalization
Panel Info and Comments

Talking to your kids about pot isn’t easy. Let these experts advise you on how to begin the discussion, and on how to keep your children safe and informed.

Moderator: Marsha Rosenbaum, Ph.D, Director Emerita, Drug Policy Alliance

  • Ngaio Bealum, West Coast Cannabis
  • Jessica Corry, Esq., Fellow, Independence Institute
  • Robert Corry, Esq.
  • Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D, NORML Advisory Board
  • George Rohrbacher, NORML Board of Directors
  • Rick Steves, NORML Advisory Board
7:00-
9:00pm

ARO Dinner
(Invite only – Must RSVP)

7:00-
9:00pm

NORML Chapter and Freedom Fighters Tribute Party
(Invitation-only event held at a NORML board member’s ‘unique’ home)

10 comments so far

NORML Conference 2009 Thursday

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Three hours of live audio from Thursday’s panels at NORML National Conference are now available at our archive of NORML SHOW LIVE. You’ll hear NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano on the science and medicine of marijuana, followed by a panel on patients, caregivers, and small patient collectives moderated by William Panzer, one of the co-authors of Prop 215.

Chris Goldstein and Russ Belville are collecting all the photos, audio, and video from the conference for upload as the day continues.

10 comments so far

2009 Conference – Thursday Agenda

Thursday, September 24th, 2009
William Panzer, Esq.
Panel Moderator NORML Board Member William G. Panzer, Esq.

Today’s Highlights

  • Special Medical Cannabis-Only Day
  • Flip The Switch: A Medical Path to Full Legalization – Steve DeAngelo, CEO, Harborside Health Center
  • High Times/NORML Activist Awards and Silent Auction

Schedule

  Moderator: George Rohrbacher, NORML Board of Directors
8:00am Registration
10:00-
10:15am
Welcome and introduction: The Continuing Importance Of Medical Cannabis
Allen St. Pierre, NORML, Executive Director
10:15-
11:00am
Palliative and Curative Relief Through a Safe and Effective Herbal Medicine
Paul Armentano, NORML, Deputy Director
11:00-
11:30am
TBA
Dr Brooks J Kelly, Ph.D, Chief science officer for Genovations Laboratory, Cannabis Therapeutics
11:30-
11:45am
Break
Morning Individual Patients, Caregivers, and Small Patient Collectives
Panel Info and Comments

Panelists:

  • David Bearman
  • Chris Conrad
  • Omar Figueroa, Esq.
  • Zenia Gilg, Esq.
  • Frank Lucido
  • Moderator: William Panzer, Esq.
2:15-
3:00pm
Lunch On Your Own
3:00-
3:15pm
TBA
David Bearman, MD
3:15-
3:30pm
Smells Like Freedom
Robert Corry, Esq.
Afternoon Larger Patient Cooperatives and Dispensaries
Panel Info and Comments

Panelists:

  • Matt Abel, Esq.
  • James Anthony, Esq.
  • Warren Edson, Esq.
  • Joe Elford, Esq.
  • Matthew Kumin, Esq.
  • John Lucy IV, Esq.
  • Henry Wykowski, Esq.
  • Moderator: William Panzer, Esq.
5:30-
6:00pm
Flip The Switch: A Medical Path to Full Legalization
Steve DeAngelo, CEO, Harborside Health Center
7:30-
10:00pm

High Times/NORML Activist Awards and Silent Auction
Kindly sponsored by: High Times Magazine

9:00pm-
2:00am

Boss Enterprises and The Green Door VIP Party
(By invitation only)

9 comments so far

NORML CON 2009 Agenda

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

For more details, see norml.org/conference. Click any event for more info.

26 comments so far

Help NORML fight unfair marijuana laws.
Get NORML Gear at CafePress

Categories

Recently Written

Monthly Archives