Teach Your Parents Well: Live Stream From Medical Marijuana Silver Tour In Florida

Today @ 1:30 PM (eastern) the NORML and High Times-sponsored Silver Tour, hosted by America’s longest serving cannabis prisoner Robert Platshorn, is live from Temple Shaarei Shalom in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Topic of the day: Teaching senior citizens about the safety, utility, effectiveness, cost savings and politics of medical cannabis.

Featured speakers include Irvin Rosenfeld (one of the five federal medical cannabis patients who receive 300 pre-rolled ‘joints’ monthly from a special and closed-to-the-public medical cannabis research project) and former NORML board member and longtime cannabis medical researcher Mary Lynn Mathre, RN (from Patients Out of Time) and NORML Legal Committee member attorney Michael Minardi.

Florida Governor Rick Scott To The State’s Poor: I Want Your Urine!

By Kellen Russoniello, George Washington Law School student, NORML legal intern

Update: June 19, 2011…Florida Governor Scott Backs Down, Suspends His Executive Order For A Massive State Drug Testing Scheme

On May 31, 2011, unpopular Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill that mandates all those seeking public assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (commonly known as welfare) to pass a drug screen. Those that fail the test will not be eligible for benefits for one year. The law will become effective on July 1.

Furthermore, the law requires those seeking assistance to pay for the cost of the screening. The expense can be recovered if the applicant qualifies for benefits. If you fail the test though, tough luck: your money belongs to the state. Those who are denied may designate another person to receive the benefits on behalf of their children, but they must also pass a drug test.

In justifying his signature, Governor Scott stated that it is “unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction.” So instead of supporting effective treatment and prevention, the law will implement a costly and ineffective means to try and deter drug use. Not to mention the law is most likely completely unconstitutional.

A Michigan law similar to this one was struck down in 2000 and affirmed in 2003 by the 6th Circuit. Michigan lawmakers had enacted a law allowing for suspicion-less searches of welfare recipients. A class action lawsuit was brought by applicants alleging that these drug tests violated the Fourth Amendment. The applicants won.

Although the Supreme Court has recognized certain situations in which a suspicion-less drug test is allowed (including testing railroad employees, customs agents whose line of work causes them to be directly involved with drug interdiction, and high school athletes and other students involved in extracurricular activities), the testing under the Florida law does not seem to further a special need of the government which outweighs the privacy interest of the individual. In order to demonstrate this special need, the state generally must show that public safety is in jeopardy. The Michigan government made the argument that drug use put children at the risk of abuse and neglect, but this argument was rejected by the district court. (It could be argued that the denial of benefits is more detrimental to public safety than not testing potential recipients). Testing welfare recipients for drug metabolites does nothing to further public safety, and therefore the government will most likely fail to meet the strict test set forth by the Supreme Court.

Those convicted of drug trafficking charges are already ineligible to receive welfare. Even if you can justify this by saying that they cause harm to communities, this new law places the focus on users. Legal challenges are expected and should come down in favor of the applicants, although with the Supreme Court’s recent Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, if the case were to rise that high there may be cause for concern.

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Editor’s note: 1) Isn’t it interesting how elected politicians like Rick Scott (often with no legislative hearings at all) are so quick to want to control the living habits of poor citizens who receive state funding, but they never insist on drug testing requirements to issue state funding and grants to rich land developers, corporations, business executives, professional sports team owners or religious leaders–just the poor?

2) Looks like Governor Scott may have more than ideological reasons to push the state of Florida into using taxpayers’ money on massive drug testing programs for welfare recipients and state employees…as reported in the Palm Beach Post in March:

“Floridians deserve to know that those in public service, whose salaries are paid with taxpayer dollars, are part of a drug-free workplace,” Scott said in a statement. “Just as it is appropriate to screen those seeking taxpayer assistance, it is also appropriate to screen government employees.”

Until last week, Scott’s communications office in Tallahassee had ignored repeated requests for comment on the potential for a conflict of interest. On Friday, as national media began to call as well, the office issued this response:

Any perception that the governor’s business interests pose a conflict of interest with his health policies are “baseless and incorrect,” said Scott’s deputy communications director, Brian Hughes.

Privately, one Scott official acknowledged that every time the governor discusses health policy, his urgent care business would be “the elephant in the room.”

Shortly before he was inaugurated, Scott’s lawyers met with attorneys at the Florida Commission on Ethics. Subsequently, they moved his Solantic holdings into a revocable trust in his wife’s name, making her the controlling investor in the privately held company. No public records were created from the ethics meeting.

During the election campaign, he had estimated the worth of his Solantic holdings at $62 million. Jacksonville-based Solantic has 32 clinics statewide, including two in Palm Beach County, and plans rapid growth and an eventual initial public offering, according to company documents.

Suffolk University Law Professor Marc Rodwin, author of several books on conflicts of interest in medicine, said the movement of Scott’s ownership to his wife’s trust was insufficient to eliminate the ethical issues.

“He owned the company and transferred it into his wife’s name,” Rodwin said. “It’s a conflict of interest.”

Alternet: ‘The Five Worst States to Get Busted With Pot’

Police prosecute over 850,000 Americans annually for violating state marijuana laws. The penalties for those busted and convicted vary greatly, ranging from the imposition of small fines to license revocation to potential incarceration. But for the citizens arrested in these five states, the ramifications of even a minor pot bust are likely to be exceptionally severe.

Alternet.org’s editors recently asked me to compile a list of ‘the worst of the worst’ states to be busted for personal pot possession. Without further ado, here they are:

The 5 Worst States to Get Busted With Pot
via Alternet.org

[excerpt]

1. Oklahoma — Lawmakers in the Sooner State made headlines this spring when legislators voted 119 to 20 in favor of House Bill 1798, which enhances the state sentencing guidelines for hash manufacturing to a minimum of two years in jail and a maximum penalty of life in prison. (Mary Fallin, the state’s first-ever female governor, signed the measure into law in April; it takes effect on November 1, 2011.) But longtime Oklahoma observers were hardly surprised at lawmakers’ latest “life for pot” plan. After all, state law already allows judges to hand out life sentences for those convicted of cannabis cultivation or for the sale of a single dime-bag.

2. Texas — On an annual basis, no state arrests and criminally prosecutes more of its citizens for pot than does Texas. Marijuana arrests comprise over half of all annual arrests in the Lone Star State. It is easy to see why. In 2009, more than 97 percent of all Texas marijuana arrests — over 77,000 people — were for possession only. Those convicted face up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine, even upon a first conviction.

3. Florida — According to a 2009 state-by-state analysis by researcher and former NORML Director Jon Gettman, no other state routinely punishes minor marijuana more severely than does the Sunshine State. Under Florida law, marijuana possession of 20 grams or less (about two-thirds of an ounce) is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to one-year imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Marijuana possession over 20 grams, as well as the cultivation of even a single pot plant, are defined by law as felony offenses – punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. In recent years, state lawmakers have revisited the state’s marijuana penalties – in each case electing to enhance Florida’s already toughest-in-the-nation criminal punishments.

4. Louisiana — In Louisiana, multi-decade (or even life) sentences for repeat pot offenders are hardly a rare occurrence. Under Louisiana law, a second pot possession conviction is classified as a felony offense, punishable by up to five years in prison. Three-time offenders face up to 20 years in prison. According to a 2008 expose published in New Orleans City Business online, district attorneys are not hesitant to “target small-time marijuana users, sometimes caught with less than a gram of pot, and threaten them with lengthy prison sentences.”

5. Arizona — Forty years ago virtually every state in the nation defined marijuana possession as a felony offense. Today, only one state, Arizona, treats first-time pot possession in such an archaic and punitive manner. Under Arizona law, even minor marijuana possession offenses may be prosecuted as felony crimes, punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $150,000 fine. According to Jon Gettman’s 2009 analysis only Florida consistently treats minor marijuana possession cases more severely.

For a comprehensive breakdown of state-by-state marijuana penalties, visit NORML’s online map here. To get active in changing the laws of your state, visit NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here, sign up for free NORML news and legislative alerts, get involved with your local NORML chapter (or start your own chapter here), and join national NORML.

Get active; get NORML!

Marijuana Prohibition Is Alive And Well in Florida

Despite this amazing era of increased cannabis awareness and acceptability in America, there are still strong pockets of political resistance. One of the most important states that needs to exit the era of Reefer Madness post haste is the political bellwether Florida. Of America’s political behemoths–CA, IL, OH, TX, PA and NY–Florida is the state that has least embraced cannabis law reforms, defers way too much to law enforcement’s self-interests and it’s political leadership–Democrat and Republican–are lockstep prohibitionists.

To reform cannabis laws in America means reforming the laws in a politically important and diverse state like Florida.

However, when concerned citizens in Florida, like South Florida NORML’s Karen Goldstein, contact her elected officials like Governor Crist seeking parity with about one-third of the United States’ citizens who currently reside in states that have either decriminalized cannabis, or have ‘medicalized’ it, they instead receive disingenuous Reefer Madness-soaked replies from unelected, self-interested prohibition apologists.

To wit…

April 16, 2010

Dear Mrs. Goldstein:

Governor Crist received your email and forwarded it to me for a response.  I am the Director of the Florida Office of Drug Control.  First, thank you for expressing your opinion to our Governor.

It is important to understand that our federal and state drug control policies have one overarching goal: to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the use of illicit drugs like marijuana.  Establishing a taxed and regulated legal market for adult marijuana users would not advance the goal of our drug policies.  First, legal access to marijuana would likely result in steep usage rate increases.  Our experience with alcohol and tobacco has taught us that commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts.

A legal marijuana industry would employ promotion, advertising, and lobbying to increase demand while maintaining prices well below their current black market levels.  Stimulating demand while lowering prices would undoubtedly lead to both increases in the number of Americans that use marijuana as well as the intensity with which they use it.

I am very concerned about the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens.  The deaths caused each year by alcohol and tobacco represent a major cost to society that is in no way offset by the tax revenue generated by the sales of these substances.  Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.

Any policy change that results in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is unacceptable.  Cannabis use has acute effects on attention and memory, something that constitutes a particular problem for adolescents still in school and perhaps contemplating a collegiate future. Furthermore, marijuana use impairs judgment and motor skills, posing a serious risk of automobile accidents.  It is also estimated that about 10% of marijuana users eventually become dependent on it.  By enforcing policies that suppress the use of addictive drugs like marijuana, we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.

Finally, please be aware that federal and Florida laws prohibit “medical marijuana” because an expert review of the evidence conducted by the Institute of Medicine concluded that “Smoked marijuana…is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances…[and] cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect.  For those reasons there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.”  Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.

Again, thank you for your correspondence to Governor Crist.

Sincerely,
Bruce D. Grant
Director
Florida Office of Drug Control

NORML’s Reefer Madness Du Jour: Florida Drug Czar Cries Wolf Over Medical Cannabis

Channeling Harry J. Anslinger….

It is hard to know which is worse, ignorance or dishonesty? I can’t ascribe either specifically when it comes to the agitprop of Florida’s so-called drug czar Bruce Grant, but his anti-medical cannabis rant published recently in the Orlando Sentinel wins the distinction of being the first in an ingoing series entitled NORML’s Reefer Madness Du Jour, which serve as 1) peeks into and observations of those who still support the practice of arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating cannabis consumers; 2) trying to understand and expose the motivations of those who seek to deny sick, dying and sense-threatened medical patients who possess a physician’s recommendation to use cannabis; 3) shedding light on those who deny American farmers the ability to cultivate and prosper from the cultivation of industrial hemp, just like hemp farmers from Canada, France, China, Russia, etc…

It is no surprise to any casual observer of cannabis law reform that the politically-appointed position of ‘Director of Drug Control Policy’, largely a symbolic government job, in the current epoch of modern American politics, notably in red state-leaning Florida, will be against ‘drugs’ (interestingly, these so-called drug czars rarely rail against the three most deadly and addicting ‘drugs’: alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceuticals).

But what makes czar Grant’s full-throated rant against medical cannabis standout is the vacuousness in his effort to mislead the citizens of Florida.

OK…where to begin?

First, right out of the gate, the threat of medical cannabis being foisted onto the unknowing and easily manipulated citizens of Florida by crazed cannabis activists.

Second, medical cannabis is a mean-spirited ruse for legalization.

Threat #2…Grant implies cannabis places citizens into drug addiction centers and hospitals. Is this true? Doesn’t alcohol, pills and tobacco products put consumers in some jeopardy for the need of addiction or medical treatments. Maybe czar Grant has never visited an emergency room on Saturday nights after midnight…

Despite the fact that 14 states recognize cannabis as a medicine (where 90 million Americans reside), and arguably now so does the federal government under the Obama administration post a well-publicized DOJ memo this past October, and that there are thousands of supportive and affirming scientific studies published indicating cannabis’ safety and utility as a medicine, czar Grant (who is not a medical doctor, rather a career military and anti-drug officer) flatly declares: There is no such thing as medical cannabis. Period.

One wonders if Alice in Wonderland is czar Grant’s favorite book and inspiration for informed policy-making?

Czar Grant seeks a fig leaf to hide behind when claiming that the FDA has not approved medical cannabis. Has the FDA actually tested medical cannabis? No. Has the FDA been abused by anti-cannabis politicians to produce position papers against cannabis? Yes. Ironically released by the ONDCP and Bush 2.0 administration in conjunction with NORML’s 36th annual national conference.

In short, inhaling toxic chemicals and carcinogens from the burning of a crude weed is not recommended by any reputable medical authority.

These are possibilities for the future, but right now neither the AMA nor any competent medical authority in this country has yet endorsed marijuana as medicine.

Czar grant just outright lies when he asserts that no reputable medical organization supports patient access to whole-smoked cannabis when there are hundreds of reputable medical organizations that do, including the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, AIDS Action Council, American Academy of Family Physicians and The British Medical Association, etc…robbed of their historic, institutional opposition to cannabis, czar Grant even has to soft pedal the American Medical Association’s new direction on medical cannabis’ medical utility.

Czar Grant dangles the false promise (and proven marketplace loser) of 100% pure THC pills like Marinol being superior to natural cannabis.

A favorite prohibitionist canard to employ, as Grant does, is the one that asserts ‘in a world where deadly and addicting drugs like alcohol and tobacco are legal, me-oh-my, why would we want to legalize another drug like cannabis?’

The simple retorts are:

-The failure of cannabis prohibition for 73-years does nothing to actually control the use of the drug;

-Cannabis is already so popular it is not clear at all that taxing it will increase the use of it. In states that have medical cannabis laws and/or decriminalized cannabis there has been no discernible increase in the use of the herb by children or adults;

-Cannabis, despite it’s long illegality is a top five cash crop in America, the drug is readily purchased on most any street and children in government surveys acknowledge greater access to untaxed/unregulated cannabis than taxed and controlled drugs like alcohol and tobacco products.

Czar Grant then goes on to commit a damning blood libel by labeling all medical cannabis consumers in California as frauds. His proof: He cites a recent anti-medical cannabis white paper created by the California Chiefs Of Police Association, which was written and published for the purpose of propagandizing for anti-cannabis activists, law enforcement and opinion-makers in the media.

If one employed Grant’s prohibitionistic thinking, if a youth illegally purchased a bottle of beer or  prescription pills, then the government should ban alcohol and pharmaceuticals and criminalize the behavior.

The fact is that tens of millions of citizens–in states like CA, CO, OR, NM, WA–safely and responsibly use medical cannabis everyday with their physician’s recommendation with little-to-no-harm to the individual patient, their city, state and society.

Czar Grant may want to take note that states like NM, RI, ME and now NJ (and the District of Columbia) are issuing state licenses to medical cannabis cultivators and distributors, therefore it can be stated that cannabis is a safe medicine, that is why the states are allowing its use and sales.

If cannabis was the problem and health threat czar Grant claims, why would every single candidate from the Democratic party in the 2008 presidential election, including now President Obama, support lawful access to medical cannabis?

If cannabis truly were deadly and dangerous why would voters massively favor reform in the voting booth and state legislators pass and governors sign these measures into law? Because they favor their own deaths and illness? Do the politicians who support medical access to cannabis want to sow death, disease and drug addiction to their very own voting constituents?

How logical and based in reality is czar Grant’s mentality regarding cannabis?

Lastly….

We support medical progress and relieving pain in the sick and dying, but allowing medical marijuana would cost us all more than we can pay.

I don’t know who the ‘we‘ is in czar Grant’s absurd claim as a vast majority of Americans do in fact support medical access to cannabis. When given the opportunity to directly vote on the matter of medical access to cannabis, only once since 1992 have cannabis law reformers not prevailed at the ballot box (South Dakota, 2006, where reformers lost 51%-48%; prevailing in AK, WA, OR, CA, AZ, NV, CO, MT, MI and ME).

If Grant and other prohibitionist really care about the health and welfare of their fellow Floridians, they should do the two following things:

-Read NORML’s Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids – A Review of the Recent Scientific Literature, 2000 — 2009;

-Get into a car, head Ft. Lauderdale way and look up stockbroker and one of five federally-licensed medical cannabis patients in the United States Irvin Rosenfeld. Irv receives over 300 complimentary pre-rolled cannabis ‘joints’ every month grown at NIDA’s University of Mississippi cannabis farm, rolled en mass at a secret facility at the Research Triangle Institute in NC and escorted by US Marshals to a DEA-certified pharmacy. The man smokes about 10-12 large joints a day, is a successful stockbroker, sailboat racer, community volunteer and high taxpayer.

I guess in czar Grant’s world Mr. Rosenfeld should suffer in silence and not be an active, productive, fully-engaged-in-life medical patient who consumes cannabis prescribed by his physician.

Of course, anti-cannabis guest columns have been penned in the mainstream media by dozens of political appointees against any modicum of cannabis law reforms since the early 1990s.

How has that worked so far for them?

Does Grant believe the results will be any different in Florida regardless of his shallow and ill-informed cry of wolf?