The Delta Nine™

Cannabis Prohibition Now Seventy-Five Years Old

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:48:22 -0400

Infamously, America’s federally created Cannabis Prohibition marks its seventy-fifth anniversary this August 2, 2012. The so-called ‘great failed social experiment’ of Alcohol Prohibition of the 1920s barely lasted a dozen years in effect. Rightly, it took a constitutional amendment to both ban and restore alcohol products to the free market. Is there a similar constitutional amendment for cannabis products in 1937?

No, of course not.

And that is where the sophistry, hypocrisy and duplicity begin regarding America’s modern cannabis policy of vilifying, arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating cannabis consumers, cultivators and marketers.

Even though virtually every other country’s farmers have the choice whether or not to cultivate industrial hemp, even in countries where cannabis policy is decidedly worse than America’s, can American farmers prosper from cultivating this environmentally-friendly and productive crop?

No, of course not.

Do Americans support this failed, expensive and unconstitutional public policy of criminalizing cannabis?

No, of course not.

It can be readily stated, based on public opinion surveys and focus groups, that three quarters of Americans strongly support cannabis’ soft reforms: medical access and decriminalization of small amounts for personal use. And now, according to Gallup polling, fifty percent of Americans now want cannabis legally controlled in a manner similar to far more dangerous, problematic, addictive and readily available commercial products such as alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceuticals.

Most every governmental commission convened has recommended that at minimum cannabis be decriminalized for adult possession; the federal government can proffer no data or statistics indicating that their war against cannabis consumers has had any success whatsoever; America’s national security and borders are made less—not more—secure because of Cannabis Prohibition.

In response to the federal failure, currently seventeen states and the District of Columbia have chosen to abandon the federal government’s scientifically absurd and inhumane prohibition on sick, dying and sense-threatened patients who’ve permission from their physician to have cannabis in their therapeutic arsenal for relief, safety, affordability and efficacy.

Additionally, fourteen states and numerous large municipalities have rejected the federal government’s blanket prohibition on cannabis and decriminalized possession.

This election cycle, the voting public will once again have the opportunity to put serious political and economic upward pressure on a totally recalcitrant U.S. Congress and Executive Branch to end the national prohibition on cannabis when no less than five states have either binding legalization or medicalization voter ballot initiatives.

Regrettably, regardless of the political party in control or whomever president, will Congress even hold lowly sub-committee hearings to finally start the process of reforming the federal government’s out-of-touch cannabis policies?

No, of course not.

Can Cannabis Prohibition continue to prevail in a free market oriented democracy like America, where approximately one out of eight citizens are considered ‘criminals’ by their own government?

This supposed ‘criminal’ activity is nothing more than consumers making the completely logical and rational consumer decision to use an ancient herb that the DEA’s own chief law judge ruled is “In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume…Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.”

No, of course not.

Can this terribly wasteful, destructive, distracting, unsuccessful, constitution-warping status quo regarding Cannabis Prohibition fester much longer in America?

No, of course not.

This is made all the more difficult for American politicians to continuously embrace ‘Reefer Madness’ as more and more countries around the world—notably in Europe, Central and South America—are expressing severe frustration with America’s failed Cannabis Prohibition policies and law enforcement priorities. Currently, as many as eight countries in the Americas have pending legislation or litigation seeking to legalize cannabis in defiance of the United States.

Lastly, after all these decades of government oppression, bogus science, racist law enforcement and some industries making fortunes off of Cannabis Prohibition (think: private prisons, drug testing companies, contraband detection companies, etc…), can the cannabis plant legalize itself?

No, of course not.

Please help end Cannabis Prohibition in America (and therein around most of the world too). Please help legalize the remarkable, utilitarian, affordable and safe cannabis plant. Please do not vote for any politicians who want to continue with another seventy-five years of Cannabis Prohibition. Please join and donate to any cannabis law reform organization. Please get involved in your own liberation.

Can we succeed if we all work together in concert to end Cannabis Prohibition in our lifetimes?

Yes, of course.

Article Source: NORML

Marijuana Decriminalization Measure Approved for Fall Ballot in Springfield, MO

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:46:08 -0400

Residents of Springfield, Missouri will likely be voting on a marijuana decriminalization measure this fall. Initiative proponents, Show-Me Cannabis Regulation, submitted their final round of signatures to the city clerk in the past week and received word yesterday that they have met the required threshold of signatures for qualification. On Thursday afternoon, the Springfield City Clerk confirmed the petition has officially qualified with at least 2,132 certified signatures.

The petition now moves to the City Council, which has the opportunity to enact the measure into law as written or place it before voters in Springfield this November. The initiative aims to lower the penalty for possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana, currently a misdemeanor punishable by arrest, to a ticket with a maximum fine of $150.

NORML will keep you updated as this initiative progresses. For information on other Election 2012 reform efforts, check out NORML’s voter guide, Smoke the Vote.

View the campaign’s website here.
Read more media coverage here.

Article Source: NORML

Obama Campaign Raises Money With Hemp Product; Farmers Still Not Allowed To Grow It

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:41:22 -0400

The Obama administration has done nothing to lift the federal ban on industrial hemp production, meaning farmers in the United States are not allowed to grow hemp for any purpose.

Yet, to help raise funds for his reelection, the Obama campaign has opened a store where people can buy products,and one of those products happens to be a scarf made of hemp.

One of the items offered is a beautiful hemp and organic cotton scarf made by fashion designer Monique Péan.

The scarf is listed as “made in the USA.” What the Obama store doesn’t tell you is that the scarf is made from imported hemp blend fabric made in China.

It is legal to import hemp from other countries, something that makes the ban on growing it in this country even more ludicrous. Legalizing industrial hemp would generate billions in revenue for American farmers every year, and would not affect the prohibition of the cannabis plant one bit. Hemp contains negligible amounts of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

And lifting the ban on hemp is something Obama could use to pound the GOP with if they don’t go along. He could easily portray them as actively hurting American farmers. It’s a win-win issue, and Obama’s campaign doesn’t seem to think there is anything wrong with selling a hemp product. Yet the administration is silent.

Is Obama, in reality, just a ineffective politician with powerful backers and a “rock star” image? Why does he seem to have so much trouble against an ailing and out-of-step Republican Party?

Article Source: The420Times

Honolulu Police Pleads Guilty In Marijuana Growing Case

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:39:58 -0400

HONOLULU (AP) — A Honolulu police officer has pleaded guilty in an indoor marijuana-growing operation.

Michael Steven Chu said in federal court Thursday that it was his girlfriend who got him involved in growing and selling marijuana. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser ( ) reports that he pleaded guilty to conspiring to cultivate 48 plants and to possess with intent to distribute 49 pounds of processed marijuana.

Girlfriend Athena Sui Lee pleaded guilty earlier this week.

They face maximum five-year prison terms.

After he’s sentenced in December, Chu will be a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm, making him ineligible to be a police officer.

—

Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Congresswoman Introduces Bill To Protect Landlords Of Legal MMJ Businesses

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:38:28 -0400

Congresswoman Barbara Lee has introduced a bill (HR 6335) in the U.S. Congress that would protect landlords of compliant medical marijuana businesses from civil asset forfeiture laws, which the feds are using to intimidate landlords into forcing out dispensaries and collectives.

“Yesterday, I introduced legislation to urge the Administration and the Congress to begin to align federal law to states’ laws that allow for safe access to medical marijuana for patients,” said Congresswoman Lee. “As a long-time supporter of the rights of patients to have safe and legal access to medicine that has been recommended to them by their doctors, this bill will provide clarification to California businesses and security for California patients. The people of California have made it legal for patients to have safe access to medicinal marijuana and, as a result, thousands of small business owners have invested millions of dollars in building their companies, creating jobs, and paying their taxes. We should be protecting and implementing the will of voters, not undermining our democracy by prosecuting small business owners who pay taxes and comply with the laws of their states in providing medicine to patients in need.”

HR 6335 will prohibit the federal government from using the civil asset forfeiture statue — 21 U.S.C. 881(7) — to go after real property owners if their tenants are in compliance with state medical marijuana law. At the same time, the new law would not prevent the Justice Department from using the civil asset forfeiture statue against real property owners in connection with conduct not sanctioned by state law.

Steph Sherer, Executive Director of the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said of the bill: “This is not a hypothetical threat. The DOJ has already initiated civil asset forfeiture proceedings against the property owner of California’s largest medical cannabis patients’ collective, and the threat of additional federal action has sent shock waves through the medical cannabis community nationwide. Numerous providers’ associations have already been closed or evicted in response to federal intimidation.

“Federal civil asset forfeiture laws were created to target large-scale narcotic traffickers, but the DOJ is using these draconian measures to target legally-organized and operated medical cannabis associations. This is fundamentally unfair, and we have to stop it. HR 6335 will prevent the DOJ for misusing the powerful and controversial civil asset forfeiture laws against medical cannabis patients, cultivators, and providers whose conduct is legal under state law.”

Without federal civil asset forfeiture laws, the federal government will have to stretch already scarce resources to continue the job of crushing medical marijuana. How much money and manpower will end up being wasted on fighting a losing battle? Medical marijuana is here to stay, and every year more and more states will pass legal protections for patients until MMJ is nationwide.

Will the feds still be fighting it at that point?

Article Source: The420Times

Immigrants Prove Big Business For Prison Companies

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:36:00 -0400

MIAMI (AP) — Locking up illegal immigrants has grown profoundly lucrative for the private prisons industry, a reliable pot of revenue that helped keep some of the biggest companies in business.

And while nearly half of the 400,000 immigrants held annually are housed in private facilities, the federal government — which spends $2 billion a year on keeping those people in custody — says it isn’t necessarily cheaper to outsource the work, a central argument used for privatization in the first place.

The Associated Press, seeking to tally the scope of the private facilities, add up their cost and the amounts the companies spend on lobbying and campaign donations, reviewed more than 10 years’ worth of federal and state records. It found a complex, mutually beneficial and evidently legal relationship between those who make corrections and immigration policy and a few prison companies. Some of those companies were struggling to survive before toughened immigrant detention laws took effect.

A decade ago, just 10 percent of the beds in the nation’s civil detention system were in private facilities with little federal oversight. Now, about half the beds are part of a sprawling, private system, largely controlled by just three companies: Corrections Corporation of America, The GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp.

And the growth is far from over, despite the sheer drop in illegal immigration in recent years.

CCA was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2000 due to lawsuits, management problems and dwindling contracts. Last year, the company reaped $162 million in net income. Federal contracts made up 43 percent of its total revenues, in part thanks to rising immigrant detention.

GEO, which cites the immigration agency as its largest client, saw its net income jump from $16.9 million to $78.6 million since 2000.

At the same time, the three businesses have spent at least $45 million combined on campaign donations and lobbyists at the state and federal level in the last decade, the AP found.

This seismic shift toward a privatized system happened quietly. While Congress’ unsuccessful efforts to overhaul immigration laws drew headlines and sparked massive demonstrations, lawmakers’ negotiations to boost detention dollars received far less attention.

CCA and GEO, who manage most private detention centers, insist they aren’t trying to influence immigration policy to make more money, and their lobbying and campaign donations have been legal.

“As a matter of long-standing corporate policy, CCA does not lobby on issues that would determine the basis for an individual’s detention or incarceration,” CCA spokesman Steve Owen said in an email to the AP. The company has a website dedicated to debunking such allegations.

GEO, which was part of The Wackenhut Corp. security firm until 2003, and Management and Training declined repeated interview requests.

Advocates for immigrants are skeptical the lobbying is not meant to influence policy.

“That’s a lot of money to listen quietly,” said Peter Cervantes-Gautschi, who has helped lead a campaign to encourage large banks and mutual funds to divest from the prison companies.

The detention centers are located in cities and remote areas alike, from a Denver suburb to an industrial area flanking Newark’s airport, often in low-slung buildings surrounded by chain-link fences and razor wire. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents detain men, women and children suspected of violating civil immigration laws at these facilities. Most of those held at the 250 sites nationwide are illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, but some green card holders, asylum seekers and others are also there.

The total average nightly cost to taxpayers to detain an illegal immigrant, including health care and guards’ salaries, is about $166, ICE confirmed only after the AP calculated that figure and presented it to the agency.

That’s up from $80 in 2004. ICE said the $80 didn’t include all of the same costs but declined to provide details.

Pedro Guzman is among those who have passed through the private detention centers. He was brought to the U.S. by his Guatemalan mother at age 8. He was working and living here legally under temporary protected status but was detained after missing an appearance for an asylum application. Officials ordered him deported.

Although he was married to a U.S. citizen, ICE considered him a flight risk and locked him up in 2009: first at a private detention facility run by CCA in Gainesville, Ga., and eventually at CCA’s Stewart Detention Center, south of Atlanta. Guzman spent 19 months in Stewart until he was finally granted legal permanent residency.

“It’s a millionaire’s business, and they are living off profits from each one of the people who go through there every single night,” said Guzman, now a cable installer in Durham, N.C. “It’s our money that we earn as taxpayers every day that goes to finance this.”

The federal government stepped up detentions of illegal immigrants in the 1990s, as the number of people crossing the border soared. In 1996, Congress passed a law requiring many more illegal immigrants be locked up. But it wasn’t until 2005 — as the corrections companies’ lobbying efforts reached their zenith — that ICE got a major boost. Between 2005 and 2007, the agency’s budget jumped from $3.5 billion to $4.7 billion, adding more than $5 million for custody operations.

Dora Schriro, who in 2009 reviewed the nation’s detention system at the request of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said nearly every aspect had been outsourced.

“ICE was always relying on others for responsibilities that are fundamentally those of the government,” said Schriro, now the New York City Correction Commissioner. “If you don’t have the competency to know what is a fair price to ask and negotiate the most favorable rates for the best service, then the likelihood that you are going to overspend is greater.”

Private companies argue they can save Americans money by running the centers more cheaply.

Pablo Paez, a spokesman for Boca Raton, Fla.-based GEO, said in an email his company supports public-private partnerships which “have been demonstrated to achieve significant cost savings for the taxpayers.” He declined to answer specific questions.

But ICE Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Gary Mead said the government has never studied whether privatizing immigrant detention saves money.

“They are not our most expensive, they are not our cheapest” facilities, he said. “At some point cost cannot be the only factor.”

One fundamental difference between private detention facilities and their publicly-run counterparts is transparency. The private ones don’t have to follow the same public records and access requirements.

President Barack Obama has asked for less detention money this year and encouraged the agency to look at alternatives to locking people up. He also ordered DHS to stop deporting young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally, which could reduce the number behind bars. Congress, however, can approve more detention spending than DHS requests.

Beyond civil detention centers, private companies are also making more money locking up non-citizens who commit federal crimes.

To deter illegal border crossers, federal prosecutors are increasingly charging immigrants with felonies for repeatedly entering the country without papers. That has led thousands of people convicted of illegal re-entry, as well as more serious federal offenses, to serve time in private prisons built just for them.

A decade ago, more than 3,300 criminal immigrants were sent to private prisons under two 10-year contracts the Federal Bureau of Prisons signed with CCA worth $760 million. Now, the agency is paying the private companies $5.1 billion to hold more than 23,000 criminal immigrants through 13 contracts of varying lengths.

GEO, which cites the immigration agency as its largest client, saw its net income jump from $16.9 million to $78.6 million since 2000.

“Another factor driving growth … for the private sector is in the area of immigration and illegal immigration specifically,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Evans told investors in GEO’s 2011 3rd quarter earnings call.

CCA warned in its 2011 annual earnings report that federal policy changes in “illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them.”

Utah-based Management and Training is not publicly held, so it does not post earnings.

At just the federal level, these companies, their political action committees and their employees have spent more than $32 million on lobbying and on campaign contributions since 2000 — with the national political parties getting the largest campaign contributions.

An AP review of Federal Election Commission data found the prison companies and their employees gave to key congressional leaders who control how much money goes to run the nation’s detention centers and who influence how many contracts go to the private sector.

James Thurber, head of American University’s Center for Congressional & Presidential Studies, said amid the heated national debate over immigration, the companies have been savvy not to donate heavily to those sponsoring legislation, which could spark backlash, or to lobby directly for tougher laws.

“It’s too controversial,” he said. “But support for privatization doesn’t get as political. And it can be done discretely.”

There are more discrete and more powerful ways to influence policy, Thurber said.

“Follow the money,” he said. “If the money is being increased significantly for illegal immigration, then that is a shift in policy … a significant shift.”

The top beneficiaries of the campaign contributions include:

— The Republican Party. Its national and congressional committees received around $450,000. Democrats received less than half that.

— Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain. He received $71,000, mostly during his failed presidential bid against Obama, well after he dropped support for a bill that would have given illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and reduced detentions.

— House Speaker John Boehner received $63,000.

—Kentucky U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers received about $59,000. Rogers chaired the first subcommittee on Homeland Security and heads the powerful House Appropriations Committee. He often criticizes ICE for not filling more detention beds.

— Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He received $58,500. The lawmaker from Tennessee, where CCA is headquartered, led the Senate at the height of the nation’s immigrant detention build up from 2003 to 2007.

More than campaign contributions, though, the private prison companies spent most of their money each year on lobbying in Washington, peaking in 2005 when they spent $5 million.

In just 2011, CCA paid the Washington firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld $280,000 in part to “monitor immigration reform,” federal reports show.

They also lobbied heavily against a bill that would force them to comply with the same open records requirements governing public facilities.

Owen, the CCA spokesman, said the company ramped up lobbying to acquaint new lawmakers with the industry.

“In recent years, federal elections have been very volatile, resulting in a lot of new faces in Washington,” he said. “The result of that volatility means a lot of people at the federal level who may not be familiar with the work we do.”

The prison companies’ influence at the state level mirrors that in Washington, although the money is even harder to track since many states, such as Arizona and Illinois, where the companies have won lucrative detention contracts, don’t require corporations to disclose what they pay lobbyists.

The AP reviewed campaign contribution data from the three companies’ political action committees and their employees over the last decade, compiled by the National Institute on Money in State Politics. From 2003 to the first half of 2012, state candidates and political parties in the 50 states received more than $5.32 million.

In the 10 states where the companies’ committees and employees contributed the most, the AP found they also spent at least $8 million more lobbying local officials in the last five years alone. It is impossible to know how much of this lobbying money was aimed only at immigrant-related contracts. But that money generally went to states along the border, such as Florida and Texas, which have high numbers of immigrants, as well as states such as Georgia and Louisiana, where large numbers of immigrants also are detained.

ICE has begun providing more oversight as part of the Obama administration’s pledge to overhaul the nation’s system for jailing immigration offenders. It recently scrapped plans for CCA to build a 1,500-bed immigrant detention center in a high-end Miami suburb following months of local protests, and is also looking for a new home for a detention facility once slated for the suburbs of Chicago, after local officials voted in June to block the project from going forward.

But it remains committed to adding more private beds. Plans are on track to build or expand private immigration jails in Newark, N.J., and along a lonely stretch of California’s Mojave Desert.

Article source: The420Times

Miley Cyrus Spotted At A Dispensary Again

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:53:48 -0400

Pop princess Miley Cyrus was spotted at another dispensary this weekend, like she was about 4 months ago. The media is all ablaze (pun intended) over whether Miley smokes marijuana, or is just a good friend and likes to drive her friends to get their meds.

But’s there’s a much bigger issue here: what if she does smoke marijuana? What then? Does that make her less of a person? Some stories even suggest that maybe her fiance wants to rethink what he has gotten himself into. Really?

I realize it’s a good story for gossip sites and mags, Disney princess blazing buds, but in the end, is she hurting anyone if she does smoke marijuana? Is she somehow contributing to the downfall of society?

The effort to demonize Miley Cyrus because she might smoke weed is really an insult to all that do use marijuana, for whatever reason. That cannabis users are some sort of subset of “normal” society.

Maybe, in the end, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal if someone smokes weed.

Taken from The420Times

At Least 500 Dispensaries Closed In CA During Federal Medical Marijuana Crackdown

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:49:55 -0400

Since the federal medical marijuana crackdown began in California last fall, the U.S. Attorneys in the state have closed over 500 dispensaries. That’s over 500 functioning businesses, and the jobs and tax revenue that went with them.

The majority of the closures have come in southern California, but the north has had some high-profile raids.

Other peg the number of dispensaries affected at a larger number.

Dan Rush, an official at the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, said about 650 out of the 1,400 marijuana dispensaries that existed last October have ceased operating. The union represents between 600 and 800 members working in statewide dispensaries, he said.

Laura E. Duffy, the United States attorney for the Southern District, for one, is happy about how things are progressing. “Most often the individuals who are visiting these places have obtained sham doctor recommendations for really no purpose other than to engage in the recreational use of marijuana,” she said. “To the extent that blatant distribution of marijuana is not available in commercial businesses throughout California, certainly in this district, I think that’s a good thing.”

Notice how she says “most often” about people and their “sham recommendations.” So even under her limited view of medical marijuana in California, there are real, sick people getting hurt, even if she does think most are faking.

The federal government is hurting real, sick people. Under what circumstances is that okay? To keep every last recreational smoker from touching legal weed? Not hardly.

Source: The420Times - Joe Klare

White House Rejects Medical Marijuana As A Treatment For PTSD

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:46:01 -0400

Despite mounting anecdotal and clinical evidence that medical marijuana can be beneficial to those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the White House wants to make one thing clear: You can go fight multiple tours for this country in useless wars, but if the horrors of war mess with your head,you’re not allowed to smoke weed when you get home.

Responding to a petition by former Air Force sergeant Mike Krawitz asking the White House to consider medical marijuana as a treatment for PTSD, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said no go.

Saying marijuana is not a “benign drug,” Kerlikowske asserted that it does not meet standards of safe or effective medicine. ”We know from an array of treatment admission information and federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms,” he wrote.

Beyond the fallacy of this so-called data The White House has is the fact that Barack Obama cares more about his campaign money from Big Pharma than the men and women who risk their lives for this country. Marijuana is too dangerous for our troops, but multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting wars Obama claimed he was going to end is par for the course. It’s impossible to overdose on marijuana but an explosive device is almost certain to take a body part or two if you are close enough; not to mention your life. Bullets can kill, maim and even paralyze someone, but the worst marijuana will do is lock you to the couch while you play Call of Duty in the comfort and safety of your own home.

If our troops are not allowed to treat their ailments and injuries when they get home, then don’t send them off to fight a war in the first place.

Source: Joe Klare from The420Times

Police In Ohio Say Teen Marijuana Dealer Made $20,000 A Month

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:42:01 -0400

The Warren County Drug Task Force is southwestern Ohio says a 17-year-old high school student was at the center of a high-grade marijuana distribution ring that was bringing in as much as $20,000 a month.

Investigators say the Mason High School student who is believed to have started the operation had $6,000 in cash in his bedroom when officers arrived with a search warrant.

A smart kid, lured by the big money of selling marijuana under prohibition. Now he’s going to be branded a criminal for life. What would he have accomplished if he hadn’t been caught or if prohibition didn’t exist and there wasn’t much money to be made from selling weed?

Could he have been President someday? I think we all know the answer to that question.

Source: The420Times

Morgan Freeman On Marijuana: Criminalization Of Weed Is 'Stupidest Law Possible'

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:30:44 -0400

Here is what Morgan Freeman has to say about Marijuana laws..

“Marijuana! Heavens, oh yeah. It’s just the stupidest law possible, given history. You don’t stop people from doing what they want to do, so forget about making it unlawful. You’re just making criminals out of people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity. And we’re spending zillions of dollars trying to fight a war we can’t win! We could make zillions, just legalize it and tax it like we do liquor. It’s stupid.”

We have to be inclined to agree with everything he had to say about current marijuana laws in his full interview with Newsweek, which you can read here.

Isn't It About Time To Drop The Word "Pot"

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 17:58:46 -0400

When I think of the word “pot,” it reminds me of some old man that uses it for derogatory purposes. “You boys in there smoking ‘pot’?”

I just feel as if it is time to move away from such slang that doesn’t really help portray cannabis as the plant it is. It’s these words that have helped scar its presentation amongst society and the popular media. Marijuana needs to be taken out of the darkness. It is time to remove the ball and chains that it has on it. It is such a resourceful plant that goes far beyond just recreational usage. Its medicinal value is substantial, whether or not the DEA wants to recognize it that way or not. The reason we know this is because the states that do allow medicinal marijuana to be dispensed are doing quite well in the business front of things. The patients are learning more and more that cannabis is a great alternative to more popular pharmacueticals and narcotics, and it appears that a lot of them are actually preferring it over the big pill names. Which, of course, seems very logical. There are hardly any side effects from consuming it. Especially in either a vapor state or edibles.

You will notice that I rarely ever use the word pot anymore. I try my best to use more appropriate names, because we need to start treating it with more of a professional outlook. This plant is too good in so many areas to be given a bad name any longer. Obviously, this isn’t a huge deal, and I understand that if you’ve been used to calling it that for several years that you may not want to change it up.. or maybe after reading this you will decide to give it a shot. Either way, the main point of this post is to show recognition that slang terminology doesn’t help with bringing our favorite plant out into the light. I hope you will take this into consideration, and as always.. blaze on.

-@LegalzeCannabis

Why Legalization Is Better Than Decriminalization

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 03:04:46 -0400

As the topic of marijuana legalization continues to grow, I see more and more controversy over whether or not full legalization would be better than decriminalization and vice versa. Before I begin, I would like to say, this is simply my personal opinion on the issue.

Here is why I truly believe that full legalization of marijuana should be our main focus as cannabis advocates and supporters: Decriminalization is just that, deCRIMINALization. It takes the criminality out of possessing a certain amount of cannabis(usually 14 grams or less), and instead of making it a misdemeanor offense, it lowers the blow to a small fine of about $150. One could compare this to a speeding ticket. Now, admittedly, that does sound a whole lot better than spending a night in jail, paying $2500 in fines, and doing 12 days of community service (Which I have done in my life because of marijuana charges. I had less than 1 gram on me at the time.)

Yet, just because it sounds better, doesn’t necessarily mean it is the RIGHT choice. I feel as if we have become a nation that will settle for less to settle for “better.” Lets just take a look into the economy part of legalization. A lot of folk now-a-day like to say that marijuana legalization would help stimulate the economy, in which, I have to be inclined to agree. By legalizing marijuana, you open it up to a free market once again. This will not only create several jobs for industrial production of the dried plant, but it will also stimulate the economy as a whole. It could introduce new fair taxes similar to cigarettes and alcohol. While we all hate paying our taxes, we must take a look at why we actually do pay them. We pay them to fund public services. Without taxes, there is no money. Without money, there is no roads. No schools. No teachers for those schools. No hospitals, or clinics. No public transportation. No social security. No benefits. No.. nothing really.

How about moving onto the black market? As it stands, for the greater proportion of business, marijuana is handled by huge criminal grow ops that usually take part in far worse than just cannabis cultivation. If we were to decriminalize marijuana, exactly where would we get with the black market? It would still thrive as it does today. If we were to legalize marijuana, it would legally allow professional growers to manufacture and distribute cannabis to stores throughout the nation. Thus, completely destroying the black market for marijuana. Why? The prices for the plant would go down drastically, because the production would be so much greater. Imagine for a second that tobacco became illegal. People would still grow it, illegally, and people would still buy it. But the biggest key here is the fact that the prices would sky rocket. It comes down to basic economic structures. This is supply and demand stuff. You should have learned about this in grade school. For those of you that still aren’t following me, here it is in a nutshell. People couldn’t grow Tobacco (now $5 a pack) as easily, so tobacco would be harder to get. In return, people would have to pay more for it.. or so whatever the market value of it would be. Whoever has the stuff, sets the price. Simple right? If it’s in abundance, it’s cheaper. Enough on that.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” By legalizing, you can even grow cannabis plants in your garden. Why are we making nature illegal in the first place? Especially considering that there are no real documented cases of cannabis relating directly to someones death. If we were to “decriminalize,” over 14 grams of possession would still lead you in the same direction we have it now. It would still be illegal to cultivate. It would still be ILLEGAL!

What about the right to choose? Do we not believe in basic civil liberties anymore? If I am not bothering you, your things, or the Earth, who are you to tell me I’m wrong for possessing a natural plant that has harmed virtually no one in the thousands of years it’s usage has been recorded? America was founded on these basic principles..

I will leave you with another quote from a very respected former president of our great nation, “Prohibition… goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control mans’ appetite through legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not even crimes… A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our Government was founded.” - Abraham Lincoln

-Written by @LegalzeCannabis

{I am all about bettering my knowledge about cannabis, and welcome your opinions and criticisms. This is my personal belief and basically just a big blob of thought and theory.}

Marijuana Reveals Memory Mechanism

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 00:23:47 -0400

Until recently, most scientists believed that neurons were the all-important brain cells controlling mental functions and that the surrounding glial cells were little more than neuron supporters and “glue.” Now research published in March in Cell reveals that astrocytes, a type of glia, have a principal role in working memory. And the scientists made the discovery by getting mice stoned.

Marijuana impairs working memory—the short-term memory we use to hold on to and process thoughts. Think of the classic stoner who, midsentence, forgets the point he was making. Although such stupor might give recreational users the giggles, people using the drug for medical reasons might prefer to maintain their cognitive capacity.

To study how marijuana impairs working memory, Giovanni Marsicano of the University of Bordeaux in France and his colleagues removed cannabinoid receptors—proteins that respond to marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient THC—from neurons in mice. These mice, it turned out, were just as forgetful as regular mice when given THC: they were equally poor at memorizing the position of a hidden platform in a water pool. When the receptors were removed from astrocytes, however, the mice could find the platform just fine while on THC.

The results suggest that the role of glia in mental activity has been overlooked. Although research in recent years has revealed that glia are implicated in many unconscious processes and diseases [see “The Hidden Brain,” by R. Douglas Fields; Scientific American Mind, May/June 2011], this is one of the first studies to suggest that glia play a key role in conscious thought. “It’s very likely that astrocytes have many more functions than we thought,” Marsicano says. “Certainly their role in cognition is now being revealed.”

Unlike THC’s effect on memory, its pain-relieving property appears to work through neurons. In theory, therefore, it might be possible to design THC-type drugs that target neurons—but not glia—and offer pain relief without the forgetfulness.

Source: Scientific American {Click to view the original article.}

Oregon to Vote on Marijuana Legalization in November

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 23:41:25 -0400

The Oregon secretary of state’s office completed the legalization trifecta this afternoon when they announced the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2012 (OCTA) officially qualified for the November ballot. Oregon now joins Washington and Colorado on the list of states whose voters will have the opportunity to end cannabis prohibition this fall.

Supporters ended up turning in 88,887 valid signatures, slightly over 1,000 more than required for qualification. The initiative will appear on the Oregon ballot as “Measure 80.” According to the campaign, Measure 80 would “regulate cannabis (marijuana) for adults 21 years of age and older, with commercial sales only through state-licensed stores. Ninety percent of tax revenue, estimated at more than $140 million annually, would go to the state’s battered general fund. Seven percent of tax proceeds would go toward funding drug treatment programs, and much of the remaining revenue would be directed toward kickstarting and promoting Oregon’s hemp food, fiber and bio-fuel industries.”

A June 2012 survey from Public Policy Polling showed Oregonian’s were split on the issue. 43% responded that they believed marijuana should be made legal, 46% believed it should remain illegal, and 11% were undecided.

You can read more about Measure 80 at the campaign’s website or through their Facebook page. NORML will keep you updated as the campaign moves forward and expect more in-depth coverage on the initiative to follow shortly.

Source: Norml.org {Click to view the original article.}

Chicago's City Council Votes To Remove Criminal Misdemeanor Penalties For Cannabis Possession

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 23:35:47 -0400

The American public is fed up with the criminalization of cannabis. And now, more and more politicians are finally starting to get the message.

This afternoon, members of the Chicago City Council voted overwhelmingly to halt the practice of arresting minor marijuana offenders. By a vote of 43 to 3, members of the Council approved a new municipal ordinance that reduces most marijuana possession offenses to a ticket-like offense — no arrest, no jail, and no criminal record.

Under present law, the possession of any amount of marijuana is defined as a criminal misdemeanor offense, punishable by 30 days to one year imprisonment. Under the new municipal law, which takes effect August 4, police will in most cases now have the option of issuing civil citations, punishable by a fine, in those instances involving the possession of up to 15 grams (about one-half ounce) of marijuana.

The reduced penalties will not apply to cases involving the possession of marijuana in public parks or on school grounds, nor would they apply to incidences involving public cannabis smoking.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — a former opponent of reducing marijuana penalties — advocated in favor of the new measure, which mimics police policy in many surrounding suburbs. In 2010, the city of Philadelphia enacted a similar policy.

Advocates for the new law had argued that the present criminal enforcement of marijuana possession laws disproportionately targeted African American and Hispanic youth. According to data compiled and posted by the website marijuana-arrests.com, 95 percent of all defendants arrested on marijuana charges in Chicago are either Black or Hispanic. Of those individuals criminally convicted of low-level marijuana possession offenses, 98 percent are either Black or Hispanic.

Source: Norml.org {Click to view original article.}

A Perfect Example Of Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 20:27:53 -0400

This video is called “The Flower,” and can be found on YouTube. It is a great short animation that takes a dive into the progression of the prohibition and truly exploits both the positives and negatives of it.

A once happy and productive place turns to turmoil for no real reason…

Share this!

The Delta Nine

US-Mexico Border Tunnel Nets 40 Tons Of Marijuana

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:35:09 -0400

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Three drug smuggling tunnels equipped with lighting and ventilation — including one with a railcar system — have been discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in less than a week, the latest signs that cartels are building sophisticated passages to escape heightened detection above ground.

Two of the tunnels were incomplete, including one that the Mexican army found in a Tijuana warehouse Thursday with more than 40 tons of marijuana at the entry. The passage extended nearly 400 yards, including more than 100 yards into the United States.

Soldiers found the Tijuana warehouse with four moving trucks full of marijuana, a trailer full of dirt, pickaxes, wheelbarrows, drills and other excavation equipment. The tunnel was equipped with a railcar system.

The Mexican army said three people were detained.

It was the second, major incomplete tunnel discovered in the San Diego-Tijuana area in two days and the third along the U.S.-Mexico border since Saturday, when a completed passage was found in a vacant strip mall storefront in the southwestern Arizona city of San Luis.

The 240-yard tunnel in Arizona showed a level of sophistication not typically associated with other crude smuggling passageways that tie into storm drains in the state.

“When you see what is there and the way they designed it, it wasn’t something that your average miner could put together,” said Douglas Coleman, special agent in charge of the Phoenix division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “You would need someone with some engineering expertise to put something together like this.”

As Thursday’s massive pot seizure in Tijuana demonstrates, tunnels have become an increasingly common way to smuggle enormous loads of heroin, marijuana and other drugs into the country. More than 70 passages have been found on the border since October 2008, surpassing the number of discoveries in the previous six years.

More than 150 secret tunnels have been found along the border since 1990, the vast majority of them incomplete, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Raids last November on two tunnels linking San Diego and Tijuana netted a combined 52 tons of marijuana on both sides of the border.

The latest Arizona tunnel was discovered after state police pulled over a man who had 39 pounds of methamphetamine in his vehicle and mentioned the strip mall.

The tunnel was found beneath a water tank in a storage room and stretched across the border to an ice-plant business in the Mexican city of San Luis Rio Colorado. It was reinforced with four-by-six beams and lined with plywood.

Investigators believe the tunnel wasn’t in operation for long because there was little wear on its floor, and 55-gallon drums containing extracted dirt hadn’t been removed from the property.

Coleman said investigators can’t yet say for sure if the tunnel, estimated to cost $1.5 million to build, was operated by the powerful Sinaloa cartel. Still, authorities suspect cartel involvement because the group from Sinaloa controls smuggling routes into Arizona.

“Another cartel wasn’t going to roll into that area and put down that kind of money in Sinaloa territory,” Coleman said. “Nobody is going to construct this tunnel without significant cartel leadership knowing what’s going on.”

On Wednesday, the Mexican army found an incomplete tunnel in Tijuana estimated to be more than 150 yards long, beginning inside a building that advertised as a recycling plant. .

The Mexican army said two tractor-trailers were found inside the building, along with shovels, drills, pickaxes, buckets and other excavation tools. The walls were lined with dirt and wide enough for one person to get through comfortably.

U.S. authorities were investigating the tunnel discovered Wednesday for three months, said ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack.

It takes six months to a year to build a tunnel, authorities say. Workers use shovels and pickaxes to slowly dig through the soil, sleeping in buildings where the tunnels begin until the job is done. Sometimes they use pneumatic tools.

The tunnels are concentrated along the border in California and Arizona. San Diego is popular because its clay-like soil is easy to dig. In Nogales, Ariz., smugglers tap into vast underground drainage canals.

San Diego’s Otay Mesa area has the added draw that there are plenty of nondescript warehouses on both sides of the border to conceal trucks getting loaded with drugs. Its streets hum with semitrailers by day and fall silent on nights and weekends.

Source: The420Times {Click to see original article.}

Michigan Fails To Collect Enough Signatures For Marijuana Legalization

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:28:00 -0400

The Committee for a Safer Michigan, who was behind a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in the state, says they have fallen far short of the more than 322,000 signatures to get on the ballot, getting only about 50,000 before the deadline. But they vow that they will be back in 2014.

“Women didn’t earn the right to vote in six months. We didn’t get rid of Jim Crow in six months. This is a marathon race,” Charmie Gholson, a spokeswoman for the group, told The Huffington Post. “We’re not going away.”

The campaign’s director, Matt Abel, says this year’s effort were a good start and have had some influence. ”Any time we discuss it openly, it helps,” he said, “It’s not as taboo a subject as it used to be and more and more people are coming out of the closet, if you will, for the legalization of marijuana.”

The group said they will need to raise about $1 million for the legalization push in 2014. This year’s initiative would have legalized the possession, cultivation and sale of marijuana for everyone 21 years of age and older, but would have banned use in a motor vehicle.

Advocates have two years to prepare for the campaign for legalization in Michigan, they need to use their time well.

Source: The420Times {Click to see original article.}

Massachusetts To Vote On Medical Marijuana

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 02:16:07 -0400

Massachusetts now joins Colorado, Washington, and Montana on the growing list of states voting on marijuana law reform measures this November. Supporters have also turned in signatures for a legalization initiative in Oregon and a medical marijuana initiative in Arkansas, but neither has yet heard back about their qualification status.

Now is the time for these states to show their support! If you’re in Massachusetts, welcome to the reform. Vote yes for marijuana this November!