Please take a moment and go to this link
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/34407/sign.html
It will go to the president once enough people have signed. Nothing will ever change if we don't stand up for what we believe in. I think damn near 80 years of this crap is enough!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
My Story
I first heard about marijuana when I was 9 years old, taking DARE classes knowing that my older brother was smoking this stuff. On my field trip later that school year I remember thinking I could save the money my mom gave me for souvenirs to buy weed when I got older. Little did I know in less than a month I would be a full blown stoner, smoking with my brother, and without. Some may say thats crazy, smoking at 9 years old, but why delay the inevitable?
I barely remember a time in my childhood and teen years where weed wasn't a part of my life. It was like being reborn in a sense and I liked the new me. I was a constant target for bullying back then due to my weight and name (Ronald often called Ronald McDonald) and weed helped me escape that and use my energy on better things. My dad has always been an alcoholic, often times drinking while at work and then passing out on the couch within an hour of being off work.
My mother worked 2nd shift, my older brother was always away at friends or working so that left me to fend for myself. Parents constantly arguing and screaming at each other, along with my previous experience with marijuana led me to become the person I am today. A peaceful stoner, who uses for recreational and medical needs. I suffer from bipolar disorder or that is what i was diagnosed with long before I started smoking. I prefer to call it ADHD or whatever other label they want to put on me. To the people that say marijuana is a gateway drug I say you are full of it.
I will admit I have been addicted to other things (cocaine, prescription pills) when I was a teen, but the love of herb and my self respect got me away from it. 10 years sober and in the process of a month long cleanse for employment I'd like to ask them how it can be addictive or a gateway to other things. Ganja freed me as a child, and allowed me to let go of hostility I developed over my family situation, it relaxes me in a way that no prescription drug could do. When I was 17 I was arrested and charged with breaking and entering, a factor of my cocaine addiction.
At 19 I was convicted and served 2 years of probation until I was 21. During those two years i took weekly drug tests, 104 tests in all. At $20 each covered by the state of NC I was deemed clean. Not knowing the whole time I was high, drinking cleansers I bought at GNC every single week. Waste of tax payers money if you ask me but who am I to judge? In my life there is one thing I have come to know and trust in, and that is there are two things that will never judge you, betray you or leave your side. One is good ol mary jane, the other is pets. Huge animal lover what can I say? Marijuana has prevented me from one thing, falling in the cracks that my father and grand father fell into.
Alcoholism runs in my family and I remember being 5 and swearing to God i would not put my kids through what I went through. What 5 year old even thinks of having children of their own?! I can honestly say if it wasn't for this gift, I would be dead, a drunk or a sociopath looking for my next victim. I refuse to go down the road that was set out before me, and im enjoying my detour.
I barely remember a time in my childhood and teen years where weed wasn't a part of my life. It was like being reborn in a sense and I liked the new me. I was a constant target for bullying back then due to my weight and name (Ronald often called Ronald McDonald) and weed helped me escape that and use my energy on better things. My dad has always been an alcoholic, often times drinking while at work and then passing out on the couch within an hour of being off work.
My mother worked 2nd shift, my older brother was always away at friends or working so that left me to fend for myself. Parents constantly arguing and screaming at each other, along with my previous experience with marijuana led me to become the person I am today. A peaceful stoner, who uses for recreational and medical needs. I suffer from bipolar disorder or that is what i was diagnosed with long before I started smoking. I prefer to call it ADHD or whatever other label they want to put on me. To the people that say marijuana is a gateway drug I say you are full of it.
I will admit I have been addicted to other things (cocaine, prescription pills) when I was a teen, but the love of herb and my self respect got me away from it. 10 years sober and in the process of a month long cleanse for employment I'd like to ask them how it can be addictive or a gateway to other things. Ganja freed me as a child, and allowed me to let go of hostility I developed over my family situation, it relaxes me in a way that no prescription drug could do. When I was 17 I was arrested and charged with breaking and entering, a factor of my cocaine addiction.
At 19 I was convicted and served 2 years of probation until I was 21. During those two years i took weekly drug tests, 104 tests in all. At $20 each covered by the state of NC I was deemed clean. Not knowing the whole time I was high, drinking cleansers I bought at GNC every single week. Waste of tax payers money if you ask me but who am I to judge? In my life there is one thing I have come to know and trust in, and that is there are two things that will never judge you, betray you or leave your side. One is good ol mary jane, the other is pets. Huge animal lover what can I say? Marijuana has prevented me from one thing, falling in the cracks that my father and grand father fell into.
Alcoholism runs in my family and I remember being 5 and swearing to God i would not put my kids through what I went through. What 5 year old even thinks of having children of their own?! I can honestly say if it wasn't for this gift, I would be dead, a drunk or a sociopath looking for my next victim. I refuse to go down the road that was set out before me, and im enjoying my detour.
Israeli Government Officially Recognizes The Therapeutic Value Of Cannabis
[Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this week's forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML's media alerts and legislative advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up here. You can also view a video version of this and other stories here on NORML's new youtube feature: "This Week in Weed."]The Israeli government this week formally acknowledged the therapeutic utility of cannabis and announced newly amended guidelines governing the state-sponsored production and distribution of medical cannabis to Israeli patients.
A prepared statement posted Monday on the website of office of the Israeli Prime Minister states: “The Cabinet today approved arrangements and supervision regarding the supply of cannabis for medical and research uses. This is in recognition that the medical use of cannabis is necessary in certain cases. The Health Ministry will – in coordination with the Israel Police and the Israel Anti-Drug Authority – oversee the foregoing and will also be responsible for supplies from imports and local cultivation.”
According to Israeli news reports, approximately 6,000 Israeli patients are supplied with locally grown cannabis as part of a limited government program. This week’s announcement indicates that government officials intend to expand the program to more patients and centralize the drug’s cultivation. “[T]here are predictions that doctor and patient satisfaction is so high that the number could reach 40,000 in 2016,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
The Israeli Ministry of Health is expected to oversee the production of marijuana in January 2012.
Similar government-sponsored medical marijuana programs are also active in Canada and the Netherlands.
By contrast, in July the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) formally denied a nine-year-old petition calling on the agency to initiate hearings to reassess the present classification of marijuana as a schedule I controlled substance, stating in the July 8, 2011 edition of the Federal Register that cannabis has “a high potential for abuse; … no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; … [and] lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision.”
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
'Operation Full Court Press' Seizes 632,000 Marijuana Plants
UKIAH, Calif. -- An estimated $800 million worth of marijuana has been seized following a massive raid on illegal grows on public lands deep in Northern California's pot country, authorities said Tuesday.
The three-week effort, known as Operation Full Court Press, to purge the Mendocino National Forest of illegal gardens, seized more than 632,000 marijuana plants. The operation also led to 132 people being arrested as 118 were booked on federal and state charges and 14 were detained on immigration violations.
Several Mexican-based drug trafficking organizations were behind the illegal grows, Department of Justice spokeswoman Michelle Gregory said.
In previous years, officials have blamed Mexican drug cartels for some of the state's largest growing operations, but Gregory stopped short of making that claim.
"We've been looking at all of these groups for several years," Gregory said. "We're continuously trying to figure out who these guys are and their ties."
The nearly $800 million in marijuana plants seized is a conservative estimate, said John Heil, a regional spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. The amount is based on a street value of marijuana being worth about $2,500 per pound, Heil said.
Authorities have said a focus on the Mendocino National Forest this year stemmed from citizen complaints a year ago about an increasing number of confrontations with armed guards protecting pot grows.
The 1,400-square-mile forest covers six counties in a region of mountains and forests known as the Emerald Triangle due to its high concentration of pot farms.
Officials said that the latest raids also seized nearly 2,000 pounds of processed marijuana, 38 guns and 20 vehicles. Agents also removed trash and chemicals as well as about 40 miles of irrigation line that damage forestland and waterways.
"It has been very successful operation for all of the agencies involved," Heil said. "We tried to hit an area that seems to have a significant problem."
The operation conducted by local, state and federal agencies was part of an annual summer effort to eradicate marijuana from public lands across the state.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/09/mendocino-marijuana-raid-operation-full-court-press_n_922804.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=081011&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
The three-week effort, known as Operation Full Court Press, to purge the Mendocino National Forest of illegal gardens, seized more than 632,000 marijuana plants. The operation also led to 132 people being arrested as 118 were booked on federal and state charges and 14 were detained on immigration violations.
Several Mexican-based drug trafficking organizations were behind the illegal grows, Department of Justice spokeswoman Michelle Gregory said.
In previous years, officials have blamed Mexican drug cartels for some of the state's largest growing operations, but Gregory stopped short of making that claim.
"We've been looking at all of these groups for several years," Gregory said. "We're continuously trying to figure out who these guys are and their ties."
The nearly $800 million in marijuana plants seized is a conservative estimate, said John Heil, a regional spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. The amount is based on a street value of marijuana being worth about $2,500 per pound, Heil said.
Authorities have said a focus on the Mendocino National Forest this year stemmed from citizen complaints a year ago about an increasing number of confrontations with armed guards protecting pot grows.
The 1,400-square-mile forest covers six counties in a region of mountains and forests known as the Emerald Triangle due to its high concentration of pot farms.
Officials said that the latest raids also seized nearly 2,000 pounds of processed marijuana, 38 guns and 20 vehicles. Agents also removed trash and chemicals as well as about 40 miles of irrigation line that damage forestland and waterways.
"It has been very successful operation for all of the agencies involved," Heil said. "We tried to hit an area that seems to have a significant problem."
The operation conducted by local, state and federal agencies was part of an annual summer effort to eradicate marijuana from public lands across the state.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/09/mendocino-marijuana-raid-operation-full-court-press_n_922804.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=081011&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
Monday, August 8, 2011
PROSECUTORS TRY TO CLEAR THE AIR ON POT CONFUSION
Michigan
-------
CARO -- Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene, along with Huron County Prosecutor Timothy Rutkowski, invited the public to attend a seminar on the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act ( MMMA ) on Monday night to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the highly controversial law.
The pair invited Kenneth Stecker of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan to present the facts to a crowd of about 75, including municipal officials, law enforcement and Senator Mike Green, at the Brentwood in Caro.
Stecker, described by Reene as the "state's leading expert on the act," has given over 200 presentations on the MMMA to municipal groups, medical marijuana advocates and the public since the law was enacted in 2008.
"Not only do I stay up-to-date on the state law, I am constantly keeping updated on the laws nationwide," said Stecker. "There are currently 16 states, including Washington, D.C. that have medical marijuana laws."
Several municipalities in Tuscola County have struggled to establish ordinances and regulations and have placed moratoriums on the activity.
Stecker pointed out several issues that are currently facing the state, citing several ongoing court cases that include how to regulate dispensaries, patient-to-patient transfers and employment policies.
According to Stecker, the MMMA does not allow a third-party collective, cooperative, or dispensaries to transfer marijuana from a caregiver to a patient.
"At most, a caregiver may only assist up to five registered patients who have specified that person as their caregiver," he explained.
A good portion of the confusion comes from the application process. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs ( LARA ) is responsible for administering the MMMA and is about five months behind on issuing registry identification cards and still processing applications from mid-February.
"The LARA has 15 days to approve or deny the application once it is received, according to the language in the law," Stecker said. "From there, they have five days to issue a card. The statute allows for a copy of the application submitted to serve as a valid registry ID if the card is not issued within 20 days of its submission."
Other concerns he presented included jail inmates or patients on probation or parole, use in day-care facilities, adult foster care homes, nursing homes, federally subsidized housing, colleges and universities, school zones and work places.
Stecker said most municipalities are taking the wait-and-see approach as lawmakers consider amending and clarifying the act, but noted that states like California and Colorado that started the trend took almost 10 years to amend their respective laws. He said in the meantime, court cases and appeals will be the best way for answers to the big questions.
http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v11/n510/a05.htm
-------
CARO -- Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene, along with Huron County Prosecutor Timothy Rutkowski, invited the public to attend a seminar on the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act ( MMMA ) on Monday night to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the highly controversial law.
The pair invited Kenneth Stecker of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan to present the facts to a crowd of about 75, including municipal officials, law enforcement and Senator Mike Green, at the Brentwood in Caro.
Stecker, described by Reene as the "state's leading expert on the act," has given over 200 presentations on the MMMA to municipal groups, medical marijuana advocates and the public since the law was enacted in 2008.
"Not only do I stay up-to-date on the state law, I am constantly keeping updated on the laws nationwide," said Stecker. "There are currently 16 states, including Washington, D.C. that have medical marijuana laws."
Several municipalities in Tuscola County have struggled to establish ordinances and regulations and have placed moratoriums on the activity.
Stecker pointed out several issues that are currently facing the state, citing several ongoing court cases that include how to regulate dispensaries, patient-to-patient transfers and employment policies.
According to Stecker, the MMMA does not allow a third-party collective, cooperative, or dispensaries to transfer marijuana from a caregiver to a patient.
"At most, a caregiver may only assist up to five registered patients who have specified that person as their caregiver," he explained.
A good portion of the confusion comes from the application process. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs ( LARA ) is responsible for administering the MMMA and is about five months behind on issuing registry identification cards and still processing applications from mid-February.
"The LARA has 15 days to approve or deny the application once it is received, according to the language in the law," Stecker said. "From there, they have five days to issue a card. The statute allows for a copy of the application submitted to serve as a valid registry ID if the card is not issued within 20 days of its submission."
Other concerns he presented included jail inmates or patients on probation or parole, use in day-care facilities, adult foster care homes, nursing homes, federally subsidized housing, colleges and universities, school zones and work places.
Stecker said most municipalities are taking the wait-and-see approach as lawmakers consider amending and clarifying the act, but noted that states like California and Colorado that started the trend took almost 10 years to amend their respective laws. He said in the meantime, court cases and appeals will be the best way for answers to the big questions.
http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v11/n510/a05.htm
Saturday, August 6, 2011
State Workers Can Legally Run Med Marijuana Programs
 |
| Graphic: CDS |
| Hey, eagle dude, is that a bud you're holding? |
The DOJ brief asks that a lawsuit filed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican, be thrown out, reports Eric W. Dolan at The Raw Story.
Brewer's claims had no merit, according to the Department of Justice, which noted that her lawsuit failed to provide credible evidence that state employees were under threat of imminent federal prosecution.
The governors of Arizona, Rhode Island and Washington have all refused to implement medical marijuana laws because they said they feared criminal prosecution of state employees by federal U.S. attorneys.
The DOJ announcement is particularly ironic and poignant, since it completely removes the one objection Washington Governor Christine Gregoire cited when she vetoed almost all of SB 5073, which would have explicitly legalized medical marijuana dispensaries in that state.
Washington's thousands of medical marijuana patients came within one signature -- Gregoire's -- of finally having safe access and arrest protection, 13 long years after voters approved a measure legalizing medicinal cannabis in the state. But hen-hearted Gregoire just couldn't seem to
muster up the leadership necessary to sign the damn thing.
 |
| Photo: The Ham Report |
| Arizona Governor Jan Brewer refused to defend her state's medical marijuana law, approved by the state's voters. Instead she asked the feds for instructions on how to run her own state. Nice "leadership" there, Jan. |
Governor Brewer of Arizona was similarly dismissive of voters' wishes. "The State of Arizona has worked to follow the wishes of the voters," Brewer disingenuously claimed, even as she put the state's medical marijuana program on hold and filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking to force the issue and permanently bar its implementation.
Brewer was seeking a ruling that the Arizona law is preempted by federal drug laws, and should be struck down because it is in conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.
"By taking the highly unusual step of challenging her own state's law, Gov. Brewer is undermining the will of Arizona voters and unconscionably seeking to prevent thousands of sick Arizonans from being able to access important medicine," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona.
"People should have the freedom to choose the medicine their doctors believe is most effective for them," Meetze said.
Attorney Lisa Hauser, who authored Arizona's medical marijuana law, agreed with the ACLU, saying Brewer's suite was intended to strike down the new law.
Proposition 203, which allows patients in Arizona to use cannabis with a doctor's authorization, was passed by a majority of the state's voters in 2010.
"But I won't stand aside while state employees and average Arizonans acting in good faith are unwittingly put at risk," Brewer said. "In light of the explicit warnings on this issue offered by Arizona's U.S. Attorneys, as well as many other federal prosecutors, clarity and judicial direction are in order."
Ah, yes, the threatening letters from U.S. Attorneys. Those charming little missives were received by officials in almost every medical marijuana state over the past few months, in a seeming 180-degree turn in the Obama Administration's policy of noninterference with state laws on medicinal cannabis.
Some of the letters, including those from both U.S. Attorneys in the state of Washington, in fact did explicitly threaten the arrest and prosecution of state employees for implementing the state's medical marijuana dispensary program. The threats did ring somewhat hollow, though, since that has never happened in any medical marijuana state in the 15 years since California became the first U.S. state to legalize medicinal cannabis.
Friday, August 5, 2011
NORML To Mayor Bloomberg: Stop Arresting So Many Minorities For Marijuana!
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, by most all accounts, is one of the most fascinating political characters of the last decade. A self-made billionaire who, with a clear love for his fellow human beings and with great civic pride, chose to effectively become New York City’s mayor for the last nine years—spending more personal wealth than most any other political candidate in US history, for a mayor’s office no less—as the ultimate expression of his ability and want to positively effect as many people as possible, in a city (and region) that he clearly loves, during his tenure in a position where he can get things done. 
Along the way to becoming one of America’s wealthiest individuals, Mr. Bloomberg has donated a remarkable amount of money to many worthy causes, notably in the field to improve public health in America and the world, most especially at his alma mater, one of the best universities in the world, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
With good health and continued good fortune, who knows what further impact Mr. Bloomberg will choose to make in national politics in his lifetime? He possess all the requisite skills and resources to become president if that’s what he chooses.Today we find out that Mayor Bloomberg is once again demonstrating why he is one of the most interesting and charitable politicians in the modern era in reading today’s New York Times about his most recent donation of $30 million to help black and Latino youth get better integrated into the region’s economy, develop valuable skill sets and to find productive employment.
The Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg’s initial grant will be matched by New York City-based hedge fund manager and philanthropist George Soros.Here is the ironic point to this blog post: If Mayor Bloomberg is genuinely serious about creating more favorable employment environs for black and Latino youth in New York City, he should converse with Mr. Soros, who, has donated more money than anyone on the face of the earth in favor of drug policy reform—notably for cannabis law reforms—who, I’m sure would insist that the good mayor stop arresting black and Latino youth in New York City en mass.
Regrettably, embarrassingly, for such an enlightened and civic-minded man, Mayor Bloomberg has largely maintained the shameful and starkly racially disparate cannabis law enforcement policies that he inherited from former Mayor (and drug prosecutor) Rudolf Giuliani. Mayor Giuliani exploded the annual cannabis arrest rate in the five boroughs of New York City from an average of about 2,000 arrests to an eye-popping 60,000 arrests per year.
Bloomberg’s administration has, on average, maintained an annual arrest rate for simple cannabis possession cases over 45,000, with a disturbing ninety percent of arrests happening to….black and Latino youth.
Mayor Bloomberg, please, listen to Mr. Soros and stop arresting and negatively effecting future employment opportunities for an entire generation of minorities in New York City who got caught doing the same thing you did in your more youthful years.
And look how well you turned out after using cannabis?Why deny over 45,000 other New Yorkers (and tourists) annually the opportunity to pursue their life’s goals and dreams just because, like you, absent an arrest for your cannabis use, they chose to use a little ganja to relax? Unfortunately for them and New York taxpayers, they’re getting permanently scarred by your feckless and expensive Cannabis Prohibition law enforcement practices in Gotham.
Mayor Bloomberg, your generous and thoughtful donation of $30 million—and that of Mr. Soros’—will be working at cross purposes if you continue to give the green light to the NYPD to arrest 45,000 cannabis consumers annually into the criminal justice system, the vast majority of whom are the very population you’re concerned with.
Mr. Bloomberg, if you’re worried about saving face or “what does the NAACP think about all of this?”, don’t be. Because, hundreds of thousands of cannabis consumers and tourists in New York City will very much appreciate the change in policy and the NAACP now supports changing America’s antiquated Cannabis Prohibition laws.
Mayor Bloomberg, please magnify the positive impact of your philanthropy and concerns for civil society by ending the practice of ‘collaring’ cannabis consumers in New York City, and, instead, return to the cost effective and less detrimental practice to cannabis consumers (notably for minorities) by simply issuing a civil fine in the form of a written ticket for cannabis possession cases rather than employ valuable police time and resources unnecessarily arresting so many black and Latino cannabis consumers.
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