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The Nation's Pulse
Is Pot Going to Pot?
Once again, California leads the way.
Last week was a bad week for marijuana lovers in California. It ended with a large raid in one county that netted 850 pounds of dried marijuana, 400 growing plants, $200,000, a cache of firearms and the arrest of two Czechs, three Thais, a Bulgarian, a Ukrainian, and a German. The week began with city councils and county boards of supervisors pondering the stiff letters they had just received from U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the state.
The letters put local officials on notice that marijuana remains a prohibited drug under federal law and therefore those officials could be held liable if they were to allow medical marijuana dispensaries within their borders.
Many cities in the state have been wrestling for several years over ordinances to govern such dispensaries. When medical evidence showed that the use of marijuana by terminally ill patients could ease their pain, pro-legalization forces got enough signatures to put an initiative on the 1996 ballot to allow the use of it for medical purposes if recommended by a physician. Most voters took it at face value and, after a campaign generously funded by the well-known currency leftist George Soros, passed the measure.
Passage raised new questions. Would patients need a prescription from their physician? Where would they get the marijuana? Physicians could not write prescriptions for it because that would violate federal law. Instead, they wrote letters of recommendation. As for sources, presumably a patient could grow a small amount, but that was impractical. Thus, dispensaries began to pop up all over the state (Los Angeles had several hundred within a few years). While some of these operated carefully within the framework of the new state law, labeling each patient’s “grow” with his or her name, it was widely believed that others were obtaining it in large quantities and selling with a wink and a nod — becoming marijuana retailers for regular users who had obtained “recommendations” from doctors sympathetic with the legalization movement.
As the years rolled on, law enforcement agencies tended to ignore people who had very small amounts of marijuana for their own use, but the dispensaries were another matter. A cottage industry of growers developed to furnish inventory to many of them. In some cities (Arcata on the north coast, for example) neighbors complained about a large number of rental houses that had been converted to indoor “grows.” The smell was overpowering and the heavy use of electricity resulted in many fires. Citizens demanded more restrictive ordinances.
To make matters worse for marijuana growers, an environmental expert says indoor “grows” cause harmful carbon emissions and use enormous amounts of electricity. Peter Lehman of the Schatz Energy Research Center and Environmental Resources Engineering Department at Humboldt State University presented his findings two weeks ago to the county’s board of supervisors. “Two percent of our entire national electric grid is used to grow a plant. It’s nuts,” he said.
Speaking of that one north costal county, he said that indoor marijuana “grows” used enough electricity to power 13,000 homes and added 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
What’s a liberal pro-marijuana environmentalist to do? What a dilemma.
What city and county elected officials are doing in many parts of the state is taking those U.S. Attorney letters seriously by putting a moratorium on permits for marijuana dispensaries, closing many and severely restricting their size. In other places, such as Los Angeles, they are shutting down many that had already received permits.
Last November, California voters turned down a ballot proposition intended to semi-legalize marijuana in the state, despite the federal law. So, things remain status quo. Pro-legalization supporters claim marijuana is a harmless recreational drug and that legalization will reduce the crime rate. Many medical professionals believe it may have long-term negative consequences for users. Most law enforcement agents think it is an abomination.
One thing is certain. In the city where this writer lives, scarcely a week goes by without a police raid on a drug house. The newspaper reportage is so predictable it could fit a fill-in-the-blanks form: packaged marijuana ready to sell is seized, along with crack cocaine, methamphetamine, others drugs, some cash, a ledger book of customer names and firearms. The two or three occupants are hauled off to jail, awaiting trial.
Mr. Hannaford lives on the Northern California coast.
About the Author
Peter Hannaford was closely associated for a number of years with the late President Reagan, beginning in the California Governor’s office. His latest book is Presidential Retreats.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (123) | Leave a comment
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Sean| 10.24.11 @ 6:15AM
I illegal Immigration we told is a federal issue. Yet state and local governments are told they can't enforce our immigration laws. Now the federal government tells local officials they need to enforce their federal drug laws, but can't enforce illegal immigration laws.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.24.11 @ 5:17PM
Great point!
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:24PM
They should enforce both. Immigration should be enforced with moat, fence, meatchoppers, artillery, mines, airsupport, rottweilers, etc. No medical or school funding should be allocated for illegals, period. They're ILLEGAL! We don't have the money for them!
Timothy L. Pennell| 10.24.11 @ 6:24AM
I don't understand all the hubbub, when it comes to Pot. Don't get me wrong, it's ILLEGAL, and that's the way it is. However..................................
Everybody knows someone who's smoked Pot. LOTS of us, have smoked it, ourselves. I don't remember any of them, going in to a Pot Induced RAGE. I don't remember any of them being Abusive, or Violent, or even Loud and Obnoxious. You know......Like a DRUNK.
In fact, just the opposite is true. They're subdued, if anything. They laugh, make stupid jokes, and stare at you, is in a trance, as you talk to them, before blinking and saying: "What?" And they don't STAY High. It goes away. The Drunk gets back to normal, too. TOMORROW. That's why they have DRUNK TANKS, at the Local P.D. I don't believe they have a Pot Tank.
Marijuana should be legalized, with the SAME RESTRICTIONS as Alcohol. You gotta be a certain age. You can't do it, and Drive. You can't be High, out in Public, just as you can't be involved in Public Intoxication.
BUT IT'S A GATEWAY DRUG!
Everything can be a GATEWAY to something else, if you let it. BEER is a Gateway Drug to MOONSHINE, using that Logic.
Let's cut the Bullsh*t, where this is concerned, cause we've got a lot more important things for our Cops to be doing.
Bob Grant| 10.24.11 @ 8:50AM
Can you blame your pot addiction to your excessive use of commas?
Could I, be on, to something?
Ned the Red| 10.24.11 @ 9:05AM
I was thinking the same........................ about the..................................periods.
Luke S. Delwinney| 10.24.11 @ 11:22AM
On The Other Hand Excessive Capitalization Is Not Drug Related. It's Just Natural Stupidity.
Nina| 10.24.11 @ 1:43PM
Tee hee hee.......what?
Quartermaster| 10.24.11 @ 6:08PM
Periods are the gateway to commas. After so many periods, you need the larger does that commas provide.
Excessive capitalization simply means they need a new keyboard as caps lock is probably stuck.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 9:13AM
I've researched this, and commas, or pauses, are, in fact, direcctly related to current, or previous, pot smoking.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 9:16AM
yes, elipses, such as . . . . or ....... or . . . . are also directly. . . . .oh, how can I say this . . . .maybe, this way, related. . . .to, to, cannabis consumption...I think.
Timothy L. Pennell| 10.24.11 @ 9:24AM
And, I have found that 9 out 10 DRUNKS, misspell the word: DIRECTLY. They use two Cs, instead of the ONE that belongs there.
Two Cs.
Like the Whiskey.
Timothy L. Pennell| 10.24.11 @ 9:25AM
Oops. I left out the "OF" in 9 out of 10 Drunks.
Maybe it is the pot?
Timothy L. Pennell| 10.24.11 @ 9:20AM
I'm guessing that all of you ALCOHOLICS are done, now?
Yes?
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 9:30AM
Oopsie, that was a typo, Tim, I spell directly the right way. If you were writing about me, that is, comma-elipse man.
I happen to be for decriminalization, or legalization of cannabis, but I don't see it taking place due to the PACs I mentioned above.
Bob Grant| 10.24.11 @ 9:46AM
I seem to be the only one able to string a couple of complete sentences together and I have a serious Backyard Meth addiction.
Man, maybe the Islamo Fascists should take over!
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 9:54AM
You're a funny guy, Bob.
Bob Grant| 10.24.11 @ 12:42PM
One or two more goofs please, Tim, and I'll be sated...er...not counting this one.
play nice| 10.24.11 @ 3:01PM
I walked the line...so, yes...
USSAlabama| 10.24.11 @ 10:17AM
Tim, I like your posts, but they would benefit from the use of paragraphs.
Timothy L. Pennell| 10.24.11 @ 5:27PM
Will you people PLEASE, cut the crap on the PUNCTUATIONS and the PARAGRAPHS?
I'm not a PROFESSIONAL WRITER. I'm just a guy who cares about my Country.
What the Hell is wrong with you people?
Isn't the CONTENT, enough?
Humphrey Dumfries | 10.24.11 @ 5:57PM
Don't listen to them, Tim. ;)
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:27PM
I like your stuff, Tim. You think well.
Nemo| 10.24.11 @ 9:53AM
"They're subdued, if anything. They laugh, make stupid jokes, and stare at you, is in a trance, as you talk to them, before blinking and saying: "What?" And they don't STAY High. " Yeah, great idea. We are about to face a complete societal collapse and you think this is the best way to face it!
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 10:03AM
No, but it is one way and it should be legal so the real criminals have room in the prisons. It is an answer to prison overcrowding, which in Central Florida has become a huge problems.
Where is the sense in keeping pot smokers and pot sellers incarcerated while releasing killers, rapists, wife abusers and thieves to make room for them? This is actually happening and I find it unacceptable and hard to believe.
It is criminal. Letting hardened criminals go free before they have served their FULL sentences is setting them free to commit the same crimes, and usually worse crimes, again! This is obviously about Big Money. It is certainly not justice.
TrueBlue| 10.24.11 @ 11:54AM
I can make room for the pot sellers. Shoot the killers, rapists, and child molesters. Saves a ton of money on food and such. The smokers though are small time, hit them with DUI charges if they're driving, otherwise confiscate their stuff and toss them in jail for a week or so.
Pot may make people more subdued, but it's not like alcohol. It stays in your system a LOT longer, and has long-term effects that are only just now starting to be acknowledged. Things like memory loss, inability to think straight, etc. All the same effects of alcohol to be sure, but still causing the problem days after the person smoked the crap. I've seen my dad on alcohol and pot, I'd rather have him drinking, at least then he was still able to hold an intelligent conversation.
Ned the Red| 10.24.11 @ 12:55PM
"I can make room for the pot sellers. Shoot the killers, rapists, and child molesters."
Turn them loose on military gunnery ranges and let the drone guys shoot them. This could also be used as a recruitment tool by turning the controls over to yellow (now any color) headed, snot nose mall rats who have good video game skills.
TrueBlue| 10.24.11 @ 6:50PM
Nice, two birds one stone.
Foxfier | 10.25.11 @ 5:37PM
It's also empirically associated with mental issues.
http://www.webmd.com/schizophr.....ked-to-pot
Margie| 10.24.11 @ 1:37PM
Pot doesn't cause them to go into pot induced rages. Welllll actually it's depending on the personality.
And it doesn't help Schitzoids. It induces paranoia in some people who aren't even Schitzo.
NO LEGALIZATION for dope.
Of any kind!
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.24.11 @ 5:23PM
Except alcohol, right?
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:28PM
Magie: Concur. Pot can induce schizophrenic psychosis in patients who are inclined to develop it. It also is USELESS for schizophrenia, making it worse.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:26PM
The only problem, Tim, is that the THC content of the majority of pot sold today is much higher than it was in the seventies, and much more likely to cause psych problems. About 70% of my admitted patients are positive for THC, even more than ETOH.
Interesting reference: Look up the Christchurch group.
Foxfier | 10.25.11 @ 5:27PM
You say:
I don't remember any of them being Abusive, or Violent, or even Loud and Obnoxious.
I say:
Wow, apparently pot really impairs your powers of observation.
I grew up without enough money to waste on illegal drugs, or even alcohol-- so I noticed that the big difference between those that smoked pot and those that drank like fish is that the drinkers puked a lot and the heavy pot smokers were morons. (Not mutually exclusive, obviously.)
The drunks could be normal during the week; pot smokers couldn't. Even those who only smoked a little became as irrational as a smitten teenager when the subject was pot, no matter how long it had been since they'd toked up.
Shamus| 10.24.11 @ 8:01AM
This is another example of government waste. It would be fairly simple to implement a more effective policy which used a fraction of the current resources, but this would deprive rent seekers of billions in revenue diverted from productive activity.
Robert Pinkerton| 10.24.11 @ 8:05AM
The United States national central government acts as if collectively it nurtures nothing less than a mystical terror -- like a toddler afraid ofvthe monster in the closet or under the bed -- of cannabis.
Cannabis ought to be nothing less than flat lawful under concurrent Federal and State tax control.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 8:54AM
Advantages of decriminalization: huge government sales tax incentive, lack of criminal element involvement in smuggling and sales, more peaceful populace, decrease in jail population, more money to concentrate on production and sales of hard drugs (addictive and destructive such as coke, crack-coke, meth, heroine) and the law enforcement people to monitor and enforce these drug laws, marijuana separated from aforementioned drugs, etc.
Disadvantages of decriminalization: alcohol companies lose money, alcohol special interests lose money, tobacco industry takes a hit (sorry, it just came out) and tobacco lobby loses money and power), prisons are emptied of at least one fourth their population, criminal justice systems' lawyers for pot smokers lose big money.
I can't go on, I just don't see many more disadvantages for decrim. The big money men in alcohol/tobacco, call them Big-Alcohol and Big-Tobacco, will not allow decrim or legalization of pot and PACs like this run the politicians in this country.
I agree with Tim and the posters above, it won't happen, even if it should. Pot needs to be above ground, not underground. Growing outside under government oversight, not growing inside sucking up major energy, and wasting it and making hardened criminals rich.
Just one Christian woman's humble opinion, as I think God made all green herbs for man's consumption one way or another.
I agree that the gateway part is true of everyone's first step into mindbending medicines, whether it is one's first beer, or first hit. but gateway to what? Indulging or overindulging and with what medicine for what purpose?
As with money and greed, and food and gluttony, and wine and drunkeness (sic) we are obliged to make choices daily, hourly, to hurt or help our bodies and our minds to our own betterment. The law isn't always the best judge of that, but the law is necessary for civilization.
What do we do about it now? I can't say for sure.
Oh my| 10.24.11 @ 11:09AM
Ms. Tina B., you are an avowed Christian and you wish to advocate for the legalization of pot?
Tina, you write some nice things here in comments you make following various ASO articles, but this is off base.
If your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, how does ingesting pot honor the Holy Spirit?
If your time is a resource that you do not own but subject to the Lord's leading, where is the time to plant, grow, harvest, prepare, and smoke pot? (and recover from the inhaling)
If your money is not your own but rather God's and you are but a steward of it, how is it good stewardship to spend your money on pot? Or the resulting medical issues?
How can you help me, your neighbor, in my hour of need if you are high and incapacitated?
Sometimes a simple song, lyrics, and music say it clearer than anything else: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqFrXwpTI-w
The day in the future that makes me tremble?
The day when I meet our Lord and He wishes to know what I did with the time, dollars, and capabilities He granted to me.
I stumble. I fail. I blunder about. But I only make it worse if losing time, resources, and mind in worthless, selfish pursuits like "feel good" hedonism. All forms of it.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 1:01PM
I cannot in good conscience argue with anything you wrote, OhMy, but I often think decrim is the lesser of two evils, and so I vascillate. (is that the word I'm looking for?)
Big Tony| 10.24.11 @ 2:02PM
Oh My
Genesis 1:29 The god said, I give you every seed bearing plant of the whole earth.
Margie| 10.24.11 @ 2:44PM
Yeah, and some are poisonous. Hmm.
Big Tony| 10.24.11 @ 3:11PM
And your point is, what?
That BIG BROTHER needs to make that determination for you because you are incapable of making that decision for yourself or on own?
Might I point out that all cancer drugs are poisonous and that anything in excess is also poisonous, including water!
Or since you had nothing of value to contribute to the discussion were you simply making a snide comment?
Margie| 10.24.11 @ 9:45PM
Screw you, bud.
Big Tony| 10.25.11 @ 8:29AM
Thanks for the offer Margie but I doubt that I would be interested. You see I like women with a brain in their head.
The Equalizer| 10.25.11 @ 10:32AM
You reckon that Holy Spirit you speak of approves of such language? Or maybe you was talking to the "bud" the rest of these commentators are smoking.
Oh My| 10.25.11 @ 2:49AM
Big Tony, it seems you wish to use verse 29 in Genesis chapter 1 to justify man doing whatever with the plants of this earth -- with no consequences. As if God blesses this.
Well, the story is not over in Genesis chapter 1; the story is just commencing. The harmony God created for man and all createion on the earth was broken mightily in Genesis chapter 3. And God immediately tells Adam and Eve the consequences.
Do we have harmony with the animal and sea mammal kingdoms? Do we have harmony with the plants of the earth?
No, all that was lost.
The strife that we have in all aspects of our lives has its "genesis" in chapter 3. Purity ended right there.
Big Tony| 10.25.11 @ 8:07AM
No, that's not my point at all.
Anything on earth can be abused or used in ways which are harmful. Look at all the Americans who are overweight or obsese does that make food evil?
Take care of the beam in your eye before you start to help other's remove the mote in their eyes!
Diomasach| 10.24.11 @ 4:33PM
I wouldn't presume to answer for Tina, but I will answer your question.
Something being wrong and somehting being illegal are two different things. While I would never smoke pot (or tobacco for that matter) that is my decision between me and my God. If you ask my opinion on moral or health grounds I will strongly urge you not to do either. But should it be illegal? No. Because the test of legality has to be based on harm to others, not to ourselves.
I use a similar logic for Gay marriage. While I believe homosexuality is an abomination, a sin, and yes latest DSM be damned a mental disease. Should homosexuality or gay marriage be illegal? No. They are only hurting themselves, and as such it is not a matter within the purview of a just government.
Oh My | 10.25.11 @ 1:54AM
Diomasach and others above, let's just stick to the topic of drugs or, in this case specifically, pot - marajuana.
Most people don't grow it themselves or prepare it themselves. I believe that they buy the finished product.
How is this good stewardship of the monies God has given you?
Mightn't this money transacted to the drug seller (and up the drug distribution chain) go to further other terribly destructive, illicit and -- at some point -- illegal activities?
So "harm?" Yes, you are harming others when you purchase drugs. (Or buy the pot plants from the California 'garden store" selling them)
Yes, I think so. I don't see Mom & Pop salt of the earth people in the "let's all get high together" drug industry.
My actions have implications. They always do. And I have to be cognizant of what results from what I do.
There is no disputing: Pot creates addiction. Addiction is a slavery where a body and mind no longer reason or function in an upright manner.
It is a prison some people never escape.
Why would I ever wish to aid the demise or destruction of another person?
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:32PM
Tina, ask to visit your local psychiatric ER as part of a woman's group. Ask the patients how many of them smoke pot.
I'm a Board Certified Psychiatrist practicing in a rural area wityh 3 Native reservations in my catchment. You guys can legalize, but I'm the poor slob that will be inundated.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:32PM
Sorry, "with"
C. S. P. Schofield| 10.24.11 @ 9:26AM
"The letters put local officials on notice that marijuana remains a prohibited drug under federal law ..."
I'm unimpressed.
I've read convincing arguments that the Federal law against Marijuana was put forward as a 'full employment for out-of-work Prohibition agents' measure, and that it was sold to Congress with some of the worst 'we gotta keep them goddamned niggers in line' swill ever circulated outside the KKK.
I'm not saying that pot is a Good Thing. I AM suggesting that it may be a bad thing that doesn't justify the expense of outlawing it.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 9:34AM
Do you know any pot smokers? Do you ever see them degrading themselves they way drunks do when they overindulge???
I have never seen pot smokers, who are NOT drinking alcohol, debase, degrade and destroy themselves or others the way I have seen a drunk person behave. Myself included.
arc| 10.24.11 @ 12:06PM
Tina B., you have never seen pot smokers go into mindless, self-destructive orgies? Yes, I mean by this sexual orgies or even just hooking up or shacking up. Trysts. Unfaithfulness. Flings. Male gets prostitute (they are in the Yellow Pages) and they enjoy a joint pre and/or post intercourse?
This is not abasement?
Some "health nuts?" now avoid alcohol because it puts on the pounds and that makes them less desirable for the Hedonism III Clubs they wish to frequent.
Smoking pot? For them, no problem. No weight issues involved and they think it does not add wrinkles to skin, bags to eyes or dark circles.
You've never seen this? And you are the California seen-it-all, done-it-all (and somehow by God's grace survived) woman?
Saw this in gross excess at two neighboring budget hotels with pools only about 10 miles distant from a nearby US military installation Labor Day weekend 2010. See this regularly when on a large state u. campus during a weekend. Definitely encounter it during Spring Break.
Some go easy on the booze or don't imbibe. So they can keep their focus: Joints and sex. Don't you hear some males tell you that they don't want the booze because this lowers their performance?
The STDs so freely exchanged and the minds so wantonly lost to the addictions of sexual perversions -- this is not "debasing, degrading, and destroying?"
Now, it stands to reason that anyone abusing their bodies in the free sex m.o. probably has very little inhibitions against alcohol and all things smoked. These are the "anything goes" types.
But I bet that people who draw a clear, resolute line and day, "What, marajuana for me?! No! Never!" Those people probably tend to be more circumspect in all their behaviors, habits.
Anyone so mindless as to be a habitual pot smoker is perfectly apt to "debase, degrade, and destroy." Himself and certainly the piece of flesh (other person) that is just there for self-indulgence.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 1:08PM
I can not argue with you, either, arc, and your experiences are far different from mine. I can see your point as well as OhMy's. I am still pondering this in my old age. I am just more experienced with drunks than druggies, and they have caused more trouble in my life than pot or pot smokers have. However I haven't seen ALL or done all and I don't mean to sound like I have.
My experiences are what I was referring to, but some of you have more insightful ones and I respect that and how you all are responding to me.
I am honest here, and I am learning. Thanks for your manners and the way you are sharing your thoughts.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:33PM
Yes, and yes. Tina, welcome to the wonders of hydroponics.
Big Tony| 10.24.11 @ 9:39AM
Making a plant illegal is stupid, immoral (if you believe the bible) and unconstitutional ( if you believe in the U S Constitutional (despite the Supreme Court ruling to the contrary).
Saying that a plant, is a drug is Orwellian at best.
Alcohol prohibition worked so well for organized crime it helped firmly establish the Mafia in the US and the Drug Wars have done the exact same thing for Mexican and South American organized crime gangs.
Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
C. S. P. Schofield| 10.24.11 @ 10:50AM
Tony, I agree with you in general, but must point out a couple of weaknesses in your argument;
The Mafia was already established in the U.S., as a parasite that preyed upon immigrants. Prohibition allowed it to grow to be a national problem.
To say that calling a plant a drug is Orwellian seems weak and beside the point. To be usable as a drug, Marijuana must be processed. Perhaps not as processed as Opium or Cocaine, but we don't allow the large scale cultivation of opium poppies or coca either.
The point is not that outlawing a plant is Orwellian, but that outlawing a plant indigenous to the majority of the continent, which is nearly as hard to eradicate as dandelions, is an absurdity.
I'm not just picking nits. I am tired of both sides of this argument spouting bosh, and feel that if I'm going to call the drug warriors on it, I have an obligation to call my side on it too.
Big Tony| 10.24.11 @ 2:49PM
My argument is weak?
The Mafia going from preying on immigrants as you state to becoming a national problem is the very definition of FIRMLY established.
And there is no processing whatsoever required for marijuana injestation. So your counter point is completely invalid. Can it be further processed, yes. Must it be processed for one to experience the psychoactive properties, absolutely, not!
Furthermore there are a great many plants which are perfectly legal that also have psychoactive properties some of which are signifigantly more powerful that marijuana and which the federal goverment has not seen fit to criminalize. A few I can think of right off the top of my head are Kava, Baby Hawaiian Wood Rose, African Yohimbe, Jimson Weed, Valerian Root, Coffee and Tobacco. The first tobacco I ever smoked made me so dizzy I had to lie down!
And just like Obamacare, marijuana crimalization is a blatantly unconstitutional power grab by the Federal Goverment.
I would submit that marijuana is illegal because the white ruling class of the time did not like the groups of people who were using marijana at the time, namely blacks and hispanic's. And that the criminalization that resulted was more the result of racial prejudice than concern for the welfare of the populace. So that while morphine ( a drug used by whites) became a prescription drug, marijuna became illegal. And I would further submit the the ruling class does not like the people who now use marijana either but for different reasons other than race.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 9:47AM
Think Political Action Committee. Remember they have the $$ and the powah to keep the status quo with unions and pot laws. . . (among other things. (that elipse was for you, Tim :^)
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 9:48AM
oops another typo, that should have read:
pot laws. . .among other things.(that elipse. . .Tim)
Nemo| 10.24.11 @ 9:57AM
"Just one Christian woman's humble opinion' Or maybe just one conceited idiot.
Tina B| 10.24.11 @ 10:15AM
I am humbled that you call me an idiot.
Believe me Nemo, I don't think highly of myself, except that I am loved by my Creator, who died for me. I know who I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to take that which I've committed, unto Him until that day.
I just write what I think here at AS, and now that I am retired, I have time to. I have thought a lot about this subject, having grown up in SoCal in the 50s-60s. I saw it all and tried a lot of it, and I thank God that I made it to 62 years old and to be where I am today.
He saved me from the worst of it, not me. I am a weak woman without Him.
I see no word in Scripture against growing the herb we are talking about. However the Bible and Christ tell us to obey those in authority over us, and render to Ceasar what is his. . . and I am just not sure cannabis is Caesar's. But the law is the law, and so I say change that law.
Old Blevins| 10.24.11 @ 10:49AM
Even if pot is completely legalized, indoor growing will continue...and will probably massively increase. My sister's fruit trees are routinely stripped by hungry transients...when the apples and peaches are ripe. Outdoor pot will be plucked.
David W| 10.24.11 @ 11:11AM
"...packaged marijuana ready to sell is seized, along with crack cocaine, methamphetamine, others drugs..."
Please note the other drugs associated with the seized pot. Just legalizing pot will not eliminate the drug war, unless all drugs are legal. I have no doubt that pot use can reduce negative symptoms of glaucoma and chemo (though I see more anectdotal evidence than scientific). However, the recreational users played on the sympathies for the truly sick to pass the pot legalization laws. When you have more head shops than Starbucks you know there is a problem.
And for those who try to use alcohol and tobacco to justify their pot position (I assume that position would be splayed out on the couch surrounded by munchies) remember the terrible health/social consequences associated with their use (long ago cigarrettes were illegal in some states). I forsee the same type of consequences - not only social but health (who really knows the long-term affects of smoking pot? Will those who swear that pot is safe be considered the same as the lying Tobacco CEOs who swore that tobacco was not harmful? Or what happens to the babies and children who grow up in households where pot is freely smoked? Will they become the next generation of OWS protestors?).
There are always unforseen consequences to our actions. As someone who had an uncle who was a heroin addict (after starting with pot) I can never support legalization of it (I do not believe that casual users should be heavily penalized with jail time).
Fredx| 10.24.11 @ 11:25AM
"Medical Marijuana" is the cleverest hoax ever to come down the pike. Everyone I know in California seems to be suffering from one life-threatening ailment or another, poor things. I can't figure out why they look so healthy when they're all at death's door. Part of Medical Marijuana's success is that it alliterates so nicely and flows so trippingly off the tongue.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:35PM
Fred: Marinol, or THC in pill form, is available and controlled. It can be prescribed for AIDS related wasting and chemotherapy induced nausea. It is a C-III.
The need for "medical marijuana" is crap.
Frank Drackman| 10.24.11 @ 11:44AM
OK, I'll give you that Marriage-Juan-a is Illlll-Legal(at Bushwood)..
but whats with throwing in the "Firearms" are usually found in proximity to the Gan-jaw??
there were probably newspapers too, wait, bad example,
probably Computers in the grow houses too, which theoretically could be used to access Newspaper websites, protected by the first ammendment.
and whats a "Cache" of weapons?
growing up in Red-Neck Orange County California, we had an M1 Garand, Remington 700, Winchester 12 gauge, Smith and Wesson Model 28, Raven 25, and some ancient 38, which was some kind of factory reject, cause it didn't have a cereal number.
And that was just my Mom's guns.
My dad made do with a single 45 acp, cause if it was good enough to shoot hopped up Fillipino Gorillas, it was good enough for the hopped up Gorillas in Yorba Linda...
Frank
Tom | 10.24.11 @ 11:52AM
Not everyone who supports legalization dos it because they think the drug is "harmless." Find out why more and more cops, judges, and prosecutors who have fought on the front lines of the "war on drugs" are standing up and saying we need to legalize and regulate marijuana and other drugs to help solve our economic, crime, and public health problems: http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com
Kingofthenet| 10.24.11 @ 12:21PM
OK I am going to go on a 'Post American' conspiracy fueled rant.The REASON why Marijuana is such an issue is that BIG Pharma see's it as threat to their FAR more dangerous and expensive Oxy's and Percocets. What if people started taking 'Natural' Corporate -Free, Patent Free stuff instead of the over-hyped, under-investigated stuff THEY want to sell, think of the poor CEO's and the stock price!
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:36PM
And of couse, marijuana is MORE carcinogenic than tobacco...
Everyone has an opinion, just like everyone has an a%%hole...but only one of us has used marinol clinically, as far as I know. And only one of us has treated marijuana induced psychosis...
fwb| 10.24.11 @ 12:22PM
Why was the 18th Amendment necessary??
You see, the federal government DOES NOT HAVE THE LEGITIMATE authority to ban drugs. In order to ban alchohol, an amendment was required. Nothing has changed except that the States do not stand up and tell the feds that the feds will be arrested and prosecuted for interfering with in-border state issues. It's time to kick the feds out of our states.
Slacker| 10.24.11 @ 12:47PM
You sir win the prize for the dumbest post I’ve ever had the displeasure to read on this site, even beating out Post American’s finest works of unhinged paranoia.
So you’re skeptical of anecdotal evidence concerning the efficacy of medical marijuana? Fine but, you then offer your own anecdotal evidence regarding your junkie uncle. Are your anecdotes special or something?
I would advise you avoid weed. We don’t know if it damages the brain or not. You apparently don’t have any margin for error.
somnolence| 10.24.11 @ 1:23PM
Here in Vanderburgh County Indiana there was a head-on collision several weeks back where the driver found at fault was tested positive for THC in his system. Sorry, your cognitive abilities and reflexes ARE affected by the use of pot. The method of smoking it also doesn't do anything positive for the stance of eliminating carcinogens in the air. It is just as lethal to the lungs as a regular nicotine cigarette, period.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.24.11 @ 5:30PM
"It is just as lethal to the lungs as a regular nicotine cigarette, period."
You're 100% wrong, period. Look it up, except next time look it up BEFORE you post then you won't make a fool of yourself.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:46PM
Live free: do you want a data dump? Ya think you can do better than a boarded psychiatrist trained at UCLA? I like you, but I can pound on this ALL DAY LONG...it's my MEDICAL SPECIALTY WHEELHOUSE.
Let's start with this:Display Settings:AbstractFormatSummarySummary (text)AbstractAbstract (text)MEDLINEXMLPMID ListApply
Send to:Choose DestinationFileClipboardCollectionsE-mailOrderMy Bibliography
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1 selected item: 19724280FormatSummarySummary (text)AbstractAbstract (text)MEDLINEXMLPMID ListMeSH and Other DataE-mailAdditional textE-mail"SPAM" filtering software notice
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Add to CollectionsOrder articles
Add to My Bibliography
Br J Cancer. 2009 Oct 6;101(7):1207-12. Epub 2009 Sep 1.
Cannabis, tobacco and domestic fumes intake are associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in North Africa.
Feng BJ, Khyatti M, Ben-Ayoub W, Dahmoul S, Ayad M, Maachi F, Bedadra W, Abdoun M, Mesli S, Bakkali H, Jalbout M, Hamdi-Cherif M, Boualga K, Bouaouina N, Chouchane L, Benider A, Ben-Ayed F, Goldgar DE, Corbex M.
SourceGenetic Epidemiology Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 69372 Lyon, France. bingjian.feng@hsc.utah.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The lifestyle risk factors for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in North Africa are not known.
METHODS: From 2002 to 2005, we interviewed 636 patients and 615 controls from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, frequency-matched by centre, age, sex, and childhood household type (urban/rural). Conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of lifestyles with NPC risk, controlling for socioeconomic status and dietary risk factors.
RESULTS: Cigarette smoking and snuff (tobacco powder with additives) intake were significantly associated with differentiated NPC but not with undifferentiated carcinoma (UCNT), which is the major histological type of NPC in these populations. As demonstrated by a stratified permutation test and by conditional logistic regression, marijuana smoking significantly elevated NPC risk independently of cigarette smoking, suggesting dissimilar carcinogenic mechanisms between cannabis and tobacco. Domestic cooking fumes intake by using kanoun (compact charcoal oven) during childhood increased NPC risk, whereas exposure during adulthood had less effect. Neither alcohol nor shisha (water pipe) was associated with risk.
CONCLUSION: Tobacco, cannabis and domestic cooking fumes intake are risk factors for NPC in western North Africa.
PMID:19724280[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC2768108Free PMC Article
Understand, PUBMED had 55 citations.
Marijuana is dangerous stuff, particularly when smoked. Look it up, Livefree, and use a real medical library. Like I do. Every day.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.26.11 @ 10:37AM
First of all you can take your condescending attitude and shove it, Doctor. I'm not going to compare resumes whenever there's a discussion. What I said was and is still valid. Show me the study where cannabis ONLY caused cancer... doesn't exist.
Please understand I do not smoke marijuana and don't suggest anybody ought to smoke it. I have studied the history and looked at the data. I believe there are more dangerous substances which are perfectly legal. I don't believe the Federal Government has the authority to ban plants. I think people should have the freedom to decide for themselves.
somnolence| 10.24.11 @ 1:25PM
Yes, all smoke is carcinegous. ALL smoke.
Pat| 10.24.11 @ 6:09PM
Somnolence, at the moment, in public interest ads televised nightly, California is proudly boasting of being the first state to ban smoking on planes, then in bars, restaurants, stores, etc. – and all in the name of fighting evil tobacco, as well as all those high paying jobs related to fighting evil tobacco. The fact that marijuana contains equal carcinogens and documented cancer causing problems was left out of those nightly TV boasts – California has to protect a thriving marijuana industry, partly controlled by the Mexican drug cartels. And it isn’t due to California’s well-deserved reputation for flakiness either – the Northern counties have a good reason to turn a blind eye – we call it money.
But we’re not supposed to be just about the money here in the Golden State – we’re supposed to be about peace, love, communes, surfing, strange New Age religions, “live and let live”, “do your own thing” and many other idiosyncrasies related solely to California. We try hard not to disappoint our many critics around our nation by acting out of character, but it’s really all about the money.
We like money here, our elected politicians like money as well, our local county enforcement officials have money, they’d like some more and cracking down on the marijuana industry has this party pooper effect on acquiring that additional money. So, like the illegal immigrant problem, everyone knows where the marijuana plantations are located, everyone pretends not to know and everyone is getting richer, but we fervently hope you Americans living elsewhere just won’t catch on.
Ron| 10.24.11 @ 1:37PM
I have heard so many arguments over the last 30 years, since I "grew up" about pot.
All I ever hear from the legalize side is how it is only a plant, etc. and that it would never lead to a user going on to harder drugs...well, reality check here is that it does. When one is looking for the bigger high (and let's not kid ourselves, what is the point if one is looking for a high, that they would never want a bigger high), then what is the user going to do? He/she is going to chemically alter or breed a hybrid or move along to another harder narcotic, plain and simple. Does anyone really believe the so-called "recreational user" is going to be happy at the same level his entire life?
Think Again| 10.25.11 @ 2:08AM
Ron, good post. I am not exactly sure if we disagree on that other topic article today. But here we certainly do. You worded this well. My life experiences already confirm exactly what you have written. Pot is just a stepping stone. Or more like a ladder rung. Except the person on the ladder is descending. Rapidly. Downward toward the darkness. And seldom rises.
Madcap| 10.24.11 @ 1:53PM
Prohibition is horrible. Only morons are in favor of it. Truly stupid people who say things like "lock up them thar dopers." Actually, anybody who uses the word "doper" is a pro-prohibition moron.
Pretty much every anti-pot argument is made by stupid people.
Redstateboy| 10.24.11 @ 2:30PM
how about this... it's not healthy for you?
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:47PM
Madcap: Visit your local Psychiatric ER and see.
Nina| 10.24.11 @ 1:56PM
I believe there is a place for medicinal pot use however the chronic smokers all learn how to go about getting Rx thru unscrupulous MD's just as any other drug addict can convince an MD they have a back problem and need pain killers. What some of these MD's prescribe are extremely strong drugs that are supposed to only be used for cancer patients. Hence the Oxycontin problem in this country. I think the problem is that the pot smokers don't want it regulated in a way like a drug, they can talk all the talk they want, it's a drug. Too many get it for just about any ache and pain they can come up with instead of a justifiable medical reason other than getting high.
C. S. P. Schofield| 10.24.11 @ 2:15PM
I'm puzzled. Some self-destructive individuals may lie to doctors to obtain strong pain killers. Fine. In what way does this justify any regulation that takes even the slightest risk of preventing somebody in serious, chronic pain from obtaining relief?
The prosecutors who target doctors for prescribing large quantities of pain medication are self-rightious barbarians who deserve to be staked out over fire ant nests. You say that lack of oversight may lead to the premature deaths of some drug addicts? I say "Think of it as evolution in action", it doesn't justify keeping an innocent person in pain, even for a minute.
Redstateboy| 10.24.11 @ 2:27PM
Am I the Only 1 who is perplexed by Liber-ul inconsistencies?? Smoking Cigarettes is to be ridiculed, hated, exponged from Liber-ul Society.. but..... Smoking a Joint... why that's just personal freedom of a mild, non-habit-forming narcotic!!! WTF!!!!?!
More evidence that Liber-ulism is mental disorder!
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.24.11 @ 5:33PM
Cigarettes can and will cause a horrible death while marijuana does not. As much as I hate to agree with liberals this makes perfect sense to me.
C. S. P. Schofield| 10.24.11 @ 5:59PM
Check your assumptions; I seem to recall that recreational grade marijuana has more carcinogenic tar per volume than cigarette tobacco. Certainly the same "drawing smoke into the lungs can't be good" logic applies.
Kingofthenet| 10.24.11 @ 8:20PM
Do you know ANY pot smoker that smokers 20-40 joints a DAY, everyday?
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:48PM
Livefree: Marijuana, smoked suffciently, will cause Cancer. Sorry you are misinformed. Look up on PubMed "Marijuana smoke and cancer" and educate youself.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.26.11 @ 10:39AM
I'd be glad to admit I'm wrong. Feel free to post a link showing cannabis (BY ITSELF) caused a cancer death.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.28.11 @ 11:04AM
Still waiting sir.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.29.11 @ 2:08PM
And still waiting... not surprised.
Bob Grant| 10.24.11 @ 2:47PM
Anytime the government declares a "War On..." it means a war on tax payer's pocketbooks. The Wars on: Poverty; Illiteracy; Drugs; Terrorism; Teen Pregnancy; Obesity; or...Hangnails only means brand new layers of bureaucracy and federal departments.
The War on Drugs, we can all agree, is a joke! It only amounts to more unnecessary federal agents and union-dictated compensation, which we can no longer afford.
I mean, does it really take 50 Federal Agents to apprehend some two-bit cannabis or bathtub meth dealer and their pregnant girlfriend at an apartment complex. Buy ummboy, it makes them look like they are doing something really important fighting the "War on Drugs".
Ernie Banks| 10.24.11 @ 3:14PM
The feds vow they will prosecute local officials if they do not enforce federal law (regarding pot).
The feds vow they will prosecute local officials if they enforce federal law (illegal immigrants).
Last time I checked, the federal government is supposed to enforce the law. Not just the ones they agree with.
ImissBuckley31| 10.24.11 @ 3:44PM
Eh, I'm with the libertarians on this one I don't care what you do to your body on your own property. Just stay away from me and we won't have any problems.
somnolence| 10.24.11 @ 4:01PM
I agree with the above post on regular cigarettes as opposed to cannabis sticks. You have to be consistent. One is no better than the other, and I don't want to hear any jive otherwise. As I said, all smoke contains natural carcinogens; and many terminal cancer patients(Bogart, for instance) are psychologically relieved by continuing to puff away on regular coffin nails. So don't come to me with the "medicinal" jive. ANYTHING that relieves a terminal cancer patient's pain might as well be looked upon as a blessing. But this anti-smoking crap had better cease if you want me to get on board the cannabis train. BTW I quit smoking all tobacco over 18 years ago, cold turkey, no patches, etc. The last time I "toked" on pot was over 30 years ago. Show some consistency, AMA and American Cancer Society.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.24.11 @ 5:56PM
I understand your opinion but it's based on a falsehood. There have been exactly zero cancer-related deaths attributed to marijuana use. Compare zero to millions of cancer deaths from tobacco and you may want to reconsider your staunch position.
C. S. P. Schofield| 10.24.11 @ 6:06PM
The statistics regarding cancer and smoking are hugely distorted by people with a vested interest in the anti-tobacco crusade (I'm looking at YOU American Lung Association, American Cancer Society). Anti-smoking is big money, and so far nobody is questioning it.
There is a core of truth to the assertions that smoking is closely related to lung cancer, but the people who want to bully other people about smoking parted company with any sort of scientific objectivity quite a while ago. It is a crusade, and crusades seldom end well.
Linda Taylor | 10.24.11 @ 4:17PM
Excellent! It's time to stop the scam!
e track from saq| 10.24.11 @ 6:19PM
This self righteous streak in good people's nature.
That one that wants to be everybody's mommy.
Is counter productive in this dog eat dog world.
Let them have their weed it makes those folks easier to deal with and less effectively liberal crazy if you get my drift.Or ,while their stoned let's make this world in our image,you know, competent.Funny,
though did you know the great late Mr Buckley of NR fame claimed to have lit up a few joints on his boat.
Solo| 10.24.11 @ 6:41PM
Hey man....do any of you guys want that last piece of pizza?
Martin Owens| 10.24.11 @ 7:09PM
The so-called medical marijuana program is a joke from start to finish. This is an excuse for the dopers to buy dope, nothing else. I live in Sacramento, where there are scores of "clinics". Do we really have so many terminally ill cancer patients, so many unfortunates suffering from rare diseases that ordinary pharmaceuticals won't cure or help?
If you want your eyes opened all you need to do is pick up a copy of the local free newspaper, the News and Review. They have entire sections devoted to dope shops, openly advertising their wares. When's the last time you heard of a pharmaceutical treatment marketed under the name of "Russian Concussion" or "Purple Kush"? Does Walgreen's or CVS offer two-for-one specials on, say, heart pills, the way the dope clinics to do for their weed? Or throw in some hashish for free, special this week only?
Or again let's consider the allegedly medical grounds for allowing access to Loco weed.
A reporter for the Los Angeles Times got a "letter of recommendation" over the phone from a doctor he never saw. In fairness, that doctor couldn't have helped him anyway: she was a gynecologist. And this stuff is "recommended" for everything from incurable chronic pain relief (possibly valid) to anxiety, panic attacks, joint pain, acne, grouchy mothers-in-law, gophers in the lawn...no information whatsoever on relative strength, dosage, length of treatment, or anything else normally attendant on genuine pharmaceutical products,
Want me to place an order? I'll have a large break, please, to go.
arc| 10.25.11 @ 2:19AM
Good post. I'll look for an ad like that in the local papers when I visit Monterrey next month. I'm betting I'll see just what you write about here.
Hey, maybe I can get a telephone consult from another gynecologist who is only too happy to write a Rx for me?
Time for the Sacramento sting: Are a lot of those "shop" customers the pols coming from the golden dome?
Cannot wait to get my mini shopper bar code card added on my car ring.
Martin Owens| 10.24.11 @ 7:11PM
Oh, I forgot. One more thing .
Global warming. Medical marijuana really helps with global warming. It's cosmic, man.
bluecollarbytes| 10.24.11 @ 7:16PM
40 years later it's still the 'potheads against the drunks'. some things never change.
somnolence| 10.24.11 @ 7:18PM
The most reckless statement I've read yet are there are ZERO deaths attributable to marijuana smoking. Please back up your statement with provable medical facts, and keep in mind, lung cancer is not solely caused by cigarette smoking, it is only one of the causes, AS IS excess intake of alcohol over a period of years, AS IS cannabis smoking, AS IS inhalation of carcinogenic fibers, such as silicates, and asbestos, and coal dust, etc. Like yours is the last word, NOT----"there are zero cancer-related deaths attributed to marijuana use".
Bongo| 10.24.11 @ 7:34PM
I think the point is of all the things you listed only one is illegal and the consequences in terms of cost of imprisonment and enforcement have been huge compared to the benefit (I see little to none) that was gained through the prohibition of marijuana.
LiveFreeOrDie| 10.25.11 @ 11:39AM
First, that's not what I said. Second, use the "reply to" function. I said there were no cancer-related deaths caused by marijuana, which is a correct statement whether you happen to like it or not. If you have some evidence to the contrary feel free to post it.
You seem largely in the dark when it comes to the facts. Do some research, you might be surprised.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:57PM
Posted.
somnolence| 10.24.11 @ 10:02PM
It makes no difference, smoke is smoke-----or, at least that's what the American Cancer Society tells us(not that I ever depended on them for taking responsibility for my own health). In other words, one cigarette is deadly, and marijuana is mostly used in cigarette form. So, you see, you don't have to smoke 20 reefers a day; just one will affect the upper lobar regions of your lungs many times more than a regular coffin nail. Frankly, I don't care what someone does with their own body (even though it is costing us more in health claims), but I think it is rather sad that any society throughout all of recorded history feels the need to be anesthetized or narcotized in order to cope with confronting problems head-on. Why not yoga or meditation instead of pot?
Pelligrino| 10.25.11 @ 2:28AM
Somnolence, good. Yes, rather frail and human weak to need a hit, joint, glass of booze, nightcap, beer buzz, etc. to "just make it" through the day or week.
How craven are we? How fragile? How weak?
I'd suggest just a walk around the block. Short bike ride (cruising on a good road or trail path is all the high you'll ever need). Visit a park or zoo. Listen to a free concert at your local church. Volunteer - my favorite. Coach youth. Be a big brother or big sister.
Or just get into conversation with someone else. If you pick the right conversation partner, you'll hear all his or her woes. And then you realize that yours pale in comparison.
somnolence| 10.24.11 @ 10:09PM
BTW to all you potheads, I have looked it up over the course of many years and also talked to many physicians of my acquaintance who have access to lab studies. One reefer is much more potent to the lobar regions of the lungs than marijuana. Believe it or not.
POST American| 10.25.11 @ 12:18AM
-------Great piece!
Speaking of California de FUKISHIMA
and quite beyond the POT issue ---
Tell us, what will we say, what will we
do come 2015 when our kids deliver the
news that they've been fallout sterilized?
"-----DAD? ---WHY didn't you do ANYTHING
when this was coming down? ---WHY???"
Imagine it.
"----Well darling, see, I didn't want to
jeopardize my rectum bennies. You see
darling, there is NO GOD. Mankind is,
at heart, at base, ---just a rectum worshipper.
One day you'll see that ---and know it's true
---'cause you'll be a rectum worshipper too."
----------HUAC meets NUREMBERG 2012----------
DonDig| 10.25.11 @ 12:11PM
More properties are invaded, and basically nothing whatsoever is accomplished besides ruining a few more lives. So goes the drug war. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, sort of like whack-a mole.
On a brighter note, cannabis oil (Rick Simpson oil) appears to be a medical miracle waiting to be utilized in cancer treatment.
Dave Triplett (and others) have used cannabis oil to cure melanoma. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tghUh4ubbg
Dennis Hill was diagnosed with prostate cancer and used cannabis oil to cure himself. Google him.
Rick Simpson from Canada, who discovered the cannabis oil treatment, said he has seen hundreds of people over a period of six or seven years, including a number of stage 4 cancer patients. 70% of the stage 4 folks recovered, many of whom had been told by their doctors that there was nothing else to be done, and they should go home and get their affairs in order. The “Run From The Cure” movie is about him. Google him.
Please sign one or more of the White House petitions regarding the cannabis prohibition, especially the one calling for clinical trials of high dose cannabis extract in the killing of cancer, go to this link: https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petitions
Click on the 'search' option, enter 'cannabis', and review the petitions.
I request President Obama remove cannabis from CSA schedule 1 by executive order allowing research on the benefits of cannabis in this country.
The prohibition on cannabis has been far more costly than just the tax dollars and lives ruined by incarceration. People are dying for lack of a non-toxic cancer cure, and one seems to be clearly within reach.
Mike| 10.25.11 @ 5:41PM
Marijuana should have been legalized decades ago. And I amazed at the citing of junk science on this board.
Look up Dr. Donald Tashkin on youtube, he did the largest study on marijuana and lung cancer, look up the study on vaporizers funded by NORML. Go to the NORML website. Type lung cancer, mental illness, addiction, car accidents, or anything else in their search panel. Bother to hear both sides before you lock up a million people a year. And don't bother responding to me with condescending Dragnet garbage from 50 years ago. If you have a question I'll respond. Just look it up.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 5:57PM
Free article two:
Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 December 1.
Published in final edited form as:
Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2008 December; 22(6): 1099–1124.
doi: 10.1016/j.hoc.2008.08.007 PMCID: PMC2630967
NIHMSID: NIHMS83948
Copyright notice and Disclaimer
Molecular Biology of Head & Neck Cancer: Risks and Pathways
Michael E. Stadler, MD,a Mihir R. Patel, MD,a Marion E. Couch, MD, PhD, FACS,bd and David Neil Hayes, MD, MPHcde
a Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
b Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7070, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, Telephone: (919) 843-3627, Fax: (919) 843-3520, Email: marion_couch@med.unc.educ Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Department of Medicine – Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 450 West Drive, CB #7295, 11-131 Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, Telephone: (919) 966-3786, Fax: (919) 966-1587, Email: hayes@med.unc.edud Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
e To whom correspondence should be addressed
I don't do You-Tube. I do meta-analysis and peer reviewed independent journals.
Mike| 10.25.11 @ 7:46PM
You also don't "do" listening to other studies that say the opposite of what you want to hear. You also don't "do" justifying the use of force against millions of Americans. Vaporization elimates almost all carcinogens from pot, and top researchers don't think even heavy pot smoking is likely to cause more than chronic bronchitis.
Dr. Tashkin who lead the largest study on marijuana and lung cancer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWtycY6mga4
Cancer and marijuana
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=0.....th4&q=head and neck cancer#gsc.tab=0&gsc;.q=tumors
Mike| 10.25.11 @ 7:48PM
Bottom link was broken. NORML has a search powered by Google.
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=0.....sc;.page=1
Scott| 10.31.11 @ 4:54PM
As of this past month, for the first time in history the majority of Americans polled supported legalizing cannabis. The only group that was strongly against it was senior citizens who grew up in an era where its use wasn't common.
Once this demographic "expires" (inlcuding this writer), the laws will eventually begin changing for good. Treat drug ADDICTION as a health issue. Recreational drug USE is not a criminal activity, and shouldn't be treated as such.
Jim Cap| 10.31.11 @ 6:56PM
And you, Peter? What's your excuse for hating marijuana and the people who use it?
Still fighting "them hippies", Pete? Judging by your age, I'm not surprised. I'm waiting for some hateful comments about bongos and "dungarees" too...
It can't just be your chronological age either. My dad is 94 and he "gets it" with pot. Sorry about old, clueless, out-of-it types like yourself.
Get ready for the future. It's still coming...
Jim Cap| 10.31.11 @ 7:13PM
I remain completely amazed that anyone calling themselves a "conservative" could actually back this horrific "War On Drugs".
On every single level this drug prohibition is inimical to conservative principles. And, is there any federal program that more epitomizes Big Wasteful Government?
When you defend the War On Drugs and the DEA, you're defending a federal bureaucracy that wastes roughly $40 billion a year, supports a group of people that is now convinced that they must hold on to their "I Produce Nothing" jobs at all costs, breaks local and state laws, creates violence and prohibits adults from choosing whether or not to consume certain substances, and on and on and on...
Do you really think we're helping society by prosecuting people for selling and using this plant?
Why?