Drugs

[lotek]

Oh lotek, for heaven's sakes, get your mind out of the gutter!





At least long enough to let some of the rest of us splash about a bit, too!

one's gotta do what one's gotta do
but I wouldn't want to spoil your fun though!

[Freakzilla]

"We cannot hope to eradicate the drug trade if we do not first address the cash cow for most drug-trafficking organizations -- marijuana."

If that is actually even remotely true, I will be very surprised. I always figured meth, extacy, heroin etc were the cash cows.

Meanwhile, people are being retarded in the UK, someone got fired for investigating the dangers of marijuana for the government and saying that they are less than legal drugs like tobacco and alcohol.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009 ... tone-drugs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Marijuana is the leading cash crop in a lot of states. Not just in relation to drugs, mind you. To all other crops.

[Apjak]

Marijuana is the leading cash crop in a lot of states. Not just in relation to drugs, mind you. To all other crops.

I just hear that bit from the prologue to Layer Cake Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will be legal. They won't leave it to people like me... not when they finally figure out how much money is to be made - not millions, fucking billions. Recreational Drugs PLC - giving the people what they want... Good times today, Stupor tomorrow. But this is now, so until prohibition ends make hay whilst the sun shines.

[othaderak]

Marijuana is the leading cash crop in a lot of states. Not just in relation to drugs, mind you. To all other crops.

I just hear that bit from the prologue to Layer Cake Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will be legal. They won't leave it to people like me... not when they finally figure out how much money is to be made - not millions, fucking billions. Recreational Drugs PLC - giving the people what they want... Good times today, Stupor tomorrow. But this is now, so until prohibition ends make hay whilst the sun shines.

Brave New World much?

[Freakzilla]

Fire Chiefs Say Some Legal Marijuana Grow-Ops Are a Safety Hazard

[Source: The Canadian Press | January 08, 2010]

Medical marijuana may be legal, but the way some approved Canadian growers are producing their pot is not, say fire chiefs in the country's two most prolific weed-producing provinces.

More than 3,400 production licences have been issued to grow medical marijuana across Canada, two-thirds of them in Ontario and British Columbia.

Fire chiefs associations in those provinces say Health Canada's secretive permit process and refusal to bring in better regulations for growers put lives and health at risk.

"There's no instruction manual on how to build a grow op. So they give you this licence to produce, you know 100 plants or 75 plants, but they don't tell you how to do it safely," said Jim Jessop, the Niagara Fall's assistant fire chief who speaks for the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs on the issue.

Jessop said he's walked into Health Canada-approved grow operations where the wiring was bad, volatile chemicals were improperly stored and, in one instance, a powerful hydroponic light ballast was starting to char the floor.

"I've actually had to remove children from one of them. It was so unsafe," he said.

Health Canada has refused to give locations of the grow operations to fire or police officials, citing privacy concerns.

When the federal agency issues a licence, the grower must abide by all applicable federal, provincial, territorial and municipal legislation, such as building codes and electrical hook-ups.

The issue of safety isn't probed on the Health Canada application, although a grower must give a detailed account on the form of security measures and how they will protect their crop from loss or theft.

Len Garis, chief of the Surrey, B.C., fire department, said his firefighters have stumbled upon nine legal grow ops in the city through the same process used to shut down illegal operations - either the home was using three times the normal limit of power or police have been tipped to a potential grow site.

"Four of the nine we disconnected anyway because they had no permit, the electrical systems were altered and (their system was) so shoddy that they weren't safe, so we shut them down," said Garis, who is also the spokesman for the Fire Chiefs Association of British Columbia on the issue of marijuana grow operations.

Both the Ontario and B.C. associations say they've lobbied Health Canada asking for help in improving safety.

"We sent a number of briefs to Health Canada, asking them to just do one simple thing, as a condition of permit, make sure that zoning, electrical safety, fire safety is all taken into consideration with these locations, prior to issuing the permit," Garis said.

David Thomas, with Health Canada, said their inspectors have the authority to conduct inspections for compliance.

"To conduct these inspections, Health Canada inspectors must have the occupant's consent to enter the dwelling-place or a warrant issued by a Justice ..." Thomas said in an email response to questions.

The associations argue allowing the legal operations to be inspected would be safer for the grower and those around them.

Jessop said he has met with federal government ministers and staff to explain the problem and ask for help.

"They've acknowledged that there's no process in place to teach people how to wire these buildings properly, how to vent them properly, how to make sure they're fire safe," Jessop said.

Trevor Bain, with Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal, said Health Canada has said keeping the locations secret will prevent legal grow operations from being raided by criminals trying to steal their marijuana.

"I can understand the need to protect them in that sense," Bain said. "But at the same time what about the first responder, what about the neighbour? Shouldn't we have a system in place that protects everyone?"

Garis said Surrey firefighters have been called out to fires only to find themselves attempting to fight flames while they stumble through a maze of electrical wires in a smoke-filled grow-op. He said some crew members have been shocked by faulty wiring.

Those issued grow permits are either growing for themselves or for someone who needs medical marijuana to relieve the symptoms of their illness.

Jessop believes a license to grow should be treated like any other license, such as a hair salon, which would need approval before it's allowed to start operation.

"The federal government should not issue these licenses to produce marijuana until the local authorities have inspected the set up to make sure it complies will all municipal and provincial bylaws. "

Thomas said Health Canada is trying to find a balance between helping seriously ill people and providing adequate regulatory control.

"The department is working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs to determine how best to address the risks that may be posed by licenses grow operations."


http://media.iccsafe.org/news/eNews/201 ... juana.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Freakzilla]

Fire Chiefs Say Some Legal Marijuana Grow-Ops Are a Safety Hazard

[Source: The Canadian Press | January 08, 2010]

Medical marijuana may be legal, but the way some approved Canadian growers are producing their pot is not, say fire chiefs in the country's two most prolific weed-producing provinces.

More than 3,400 production licences have been issued to grow medical marijuana across Canada, two-thirds of them in Ontario and British Columbia.

Fire chiefs associations in those provinces say Health Canada's secretive permit process and refusal to bring in better regulations for growers put lives and health at risk.

"There's no instruction manual on how to build a grow op. So they give you this licence to produce, you know 100 plants or 75 plants, but they don't tell you how to do it safely," said Jim Jessop, the Niagara Fall's assistant fire chief who speaks for the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs on the issue.

Jessop said he's walked into Health Canada-approved grow operations where the wiring was bad, volatile chemicals were improperly stored and, in one instance, a powerful hydroponic light ballast was starting to char the floor.

"I've actually had to remove children from one of them. It was so unsafe," he said.

Health Canada has refused to give locations of the grow operations to fire or police officials, citing privacy concerns.

When the federal agency issues a licence, the grower must abide by all applicable federal, provincial, territorial and municipal legislation, such as building codes and electrical hook-ups.

The issue of safety isn't probed on the Health Canada application, although a grower must give a detailed account on the form of security measures and how they will protect their crop from loss or theft.

Len Garis, chief of the Surrey, B.C., fire department, said his firefighters have stumbled upon nine legal grow ops in the city through the same process used to shut down illegal operations - either the home was using three times the normal limit of power or police have been tipped to a potential grow site.

"Four of the nine we disconnected anyway because they had no permit, the electrical systems were altered and (their system was) so shoddy that they weren't safe, so we shut them down," said Garis, who is also the spokesman for the Fire Chiefs Association of British Columbia on the issue of marijuana grow operations.

Both the Ontario and B.C. associations say they've lobbied Health Canada asking for help in improving safety.

"We sent a number of briefs to Health Canada, asking them to just do one simple thing, as a condition of permit, make sure that zoning, electrical safety, fire safety is all taken into consideration with these locations, prior to issuing the permit," Garis said.

David Thomas, with Health Canada, said their inspectors have the authority to conduct inspections for compliance.

"To conduct these inspections, Health Canada inspectors must have the occupant's consent to enter the dwelling-place or a warrant issued by a Justice ..." Thomas said in an email response to questions.

The associations argue allowing the legal operations to be inspected would be safer for the grower and those around them.

Jessop said he has met with federal government ministers and staff to explain the problem and ask for help.

"They've acknowledged that there's no process in place to teach people how to wire these buildings properly, how to vent them properly, how to make sure they're fire safe," Jessop said.

Trevor Bain, with Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal, said Health Canada has said keeping the locations secret will prevent legal grow operations from being raided by criminals trying to steal their marijuana.

"I can understand the need to protect them in that sense," Bain said. "But at the same time what about the first responder, what about the neighbour? Shouldn't we have a system in place that protects everyone?"

Garis said Surrey firefighters have been called out to fires only to find themselves attempting to fight flames while they stumble through a maze of electrical wires in a smoke-filled grow-op. He said some crew members have been shocked by faulty wiring.

Those issued grow permits are either growing for themselves or for someone who needs medical marijuana to relieve the symptoms of their illness.

Jessop believes a license to grow should be treated like any other license, such as a hair salon, which would need approval before it's allowed to start operation.

"The federal government should not issue these licenses to produce marijuana until the local authorities have inspected the set up to make sure it complies will all municipal and provincial bylaws. "

Thomas said Health Canada is trying to find a balance between helping seriously ill people and providing adequate regulatory control.

"The department is working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs to determine how best to address the risks that may be posed by licenses grow operations."


http://media.iccsafe.org/news/eNews/201 ... juana.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Never did I think I would be reading about growing pot in an International Code Council newsletter.

[13athroom]

Fire Chiefs Say Some Legal Marijuana Grow-Ops Are a Safety Hazard

[Source: The Canadian Press | January 08, 2010]

Medical marijuana may be legal, but the way some approved Canadian growers are producing their pot is not, say fire chiefs in the country's two most prolific weed-producing provinces.

More than 3,400 production licences have been issued to grow medical marijuana across Canada, two-thirds of them in Ontario and British Columbia.

Fire chiefs associations in those provinces say Health Canada's secretive permit process and refusal to bring in better regulations for growers put lives and health at risk.

"There's no instruction manual on how to build a grow op. So they give you this licence to produce, you know 100 plants or 75 plants, but they don't tell you how to do it safely," said Jim Jessop, the Niagara Fall's assistant fire chief who speaks for the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs on the issue.

Jessop said he's walked into Health Canada-approved grow operations where the wiring was bad, volatile chemicals were improperly stored and, in one instance, a powerful hydroponic light ballast was starting to char the floor.

"I've actually had to remove children from one of them. It was so unsafe," he said.

Health Canada has refused to give locations of the grow operations to fire or police officials, citing privacy concerns.

When the federal agency issues a licence, the grower must abide by all applicable federal, provincial, territorial and municipal legislation, such as building codes and electrical hook-ups.

The issue of safety isn't probed on the Health Canada application, although a grower must give a detailed account on the form of security measures and how they will protect their crop from loss or theft.

Len Garis, chief of the Surrey, B.C., fire department, said his firefighters have stumbled upon nine legal grow ops in the city through the same process used to shut down illegal operations - either the home was using three times the normal limit of power or police have been tipped to a potential grow site.

"Four of the nine we disconnected anyway because they had no permit, the electrical systems were altered and (their system was) so shoddy that they weren't safe, so we shut them down," said Garis, who is also the spokesman for the Fire Chiefs Association of British Columbia on the issue of marijuana grow operations.

Both the Ontario and B.C. associations say they've lobbied Health Canada asking for help in improving safety.

"We sent a number of briefs to Health Canada, asking them to just do one simple thing, as a condition of permit, make sure that zoning, electrical safety, fire safety is all taken into consideration with these locations, prior to issuing the permit," Garis said.

David Thomas, with Health Canada, said their inspectors have the authority to conduct inspections for compliance.

"To conduct these inspections, Health Canada inspectors must have the occupant's consent to enter the dwelling-place or a warrant issued by a Justice ..." Thomas said in an email response to questions.

The associations argue allowing the legal operations to be inspected would be safer for the grower and those around them.

Jessop said he has met with federal government ministers and staff to explain the problem and ask for help.

"They've acknowledged that there's no process in place to teach people how to wire these buildings properly, how to vent them properly, how to make sure they're fire safe," Jessop said.

Trevor Bain, with Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal, said Health Canada has said keeping the locations secret will prevent legal grow operations from being raided by criminals trying to steal their marijuana.

"I can understand the need to protect them in that sense," Bain said. "But at the same time what about the first responder, what about the neighbour? Shouldn't we have a system in place that protects everyone?"

Garis said Surrey firefighters have been called out to fires only to find themselves attempting to fight flames while they stumble through a maze of electrical wires in a smoke-filled grow-op. He said some crew members have been shocked by faulty wiring.

Those issued grow permits are either growing for themselves or for someone who needs medical marijuana to relieve the symptoms of their illness.

Jessop believes a license to grow should be treated like any other license, such as a hair salon, which would need approval before it's allowed to start operation.

"The federal government should not issue these licenses to produce marijuana until the local authorities have inspected the set up to make sure it complies will all municipal and provincial bylaws. "

Thomas said Health Canada is trying to find a balance between helping seriously ill people and providing adequate regulatory control.

"The department is working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs to determine how best to address the risks that may be posed by licenses grow operations."


http://media.iccsafe.org/news/eNews/201 ... juana.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this is one argument against pot that i can stand behind.

all it takes is one leaf rubbing up against one hot fluorescent tube for a bit too long, and blammo. bonfire in your bedroom closet. dont believe me? come check out mine sometime. ill let you take some smokey bdu's as a souvenir.

[Freakzilla]

By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writer – Sat May 8, 3:25 pm ET

DENVER – Moms got tougher drunk-driving laws on the books and were directly responsible for passing and then repealing alcohol Prohibition. Now marijuana activists are trying to enlist the nation's mothers in legalization efforts with a sales pitch that pot is safer than booze.
The nation's largest marijuana legalization lobby recently started a women's group. The Moms4Marijuana website draws thousands. And just in time for Mother's Day, a pot legalization group in Denver has created a pink-carnation web card asking moms to support legalization.
These marijuana moms argue that pot is no worse than alcohol, that teens shouldn't face jail time for experimenting with it and that marijuana can even help new mothers treat postpartum depression.
"I know so many mothers who support this but aren't willing to come out and say it," said Sabrina Fendrick, head of the Women's Alliance at the Washington-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.
Marijuana activists say they need more moms to publicly back pot use if they are to succeed with public officials.
"The mother is the first teacher, who you turn to for direction in life," said Serra Frank, a 27-year-old mother of two in Boise, Idaho, who founded Moms4Marijuana in 2005. It has no formal membership, but Frank says its website has had more than 12,000 visitors.
Pot activists say both genders sometimes find it easier to attend protests or lobby lawmakers about pot than to tell their mothers they smoke weed. So legalization groups hope that if moms, arguably the nation's most powerful lobby, get on board with making pot legal, laws will change in a hurry.
"All the things moms get behind, people listen," said Diane Irwin, 48, a medical marijuana grower in southern Colorado who also is a mother of two.
There's still a marijuana gender gap. According to an Associated Press-CNBC poll released last month, women opposed legalization in greater numbers than men. Just under half — 48 percent — of male poll respondents opposed legalization to 63 percent of women.
"We have enough problems with alcohol. I feel if we legalized it, it would make people say it's OK," said 37-year-old mother Amanda Leonard of St. Augustine. Fla., one of the poll respondents
Trying to soften moms up a bit, Denver-based Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, or SAFER, is asking members to "come out" about their pot use this Mother's Day and argue that pot is safer than booze. The group says it has about 20,000 members nationwide.
SAFER's online Mother's Day card has a typical start — "Thank you for raising me to be thoughtful and compassionate" — then transitions to: "I want to share some news that might surprise you, but should not upset you: I believe marijuana should be legal."
For $10, card senders can add a book for their moms titled "Marijuana is Safer." The book, published last year, argues that marijuana is healthier than booze. SAFER says several thousand copies have been sold, and group members handed out free copies as Mother's Day gifts to Colorado's 37 female lawmakers last week.
There's no good national count of how many mothers use pot, but anecdotal evidence suggests plenty do. Moms from Florida to Washington are facing criminal charges for using marijuana or supplying it to their children.
In February, 51-year-old Alaska mom Jane C. Cain was arrested along with her 29-year-old son for allegedly growing pot in the house. The Wasilla woman says she initially feared reprisals from neighbors and didn't answer the door.
"But it turned out people were just coming by to bring homemade food, casseroles and cakes and such," Cain said with a laugh. Her case is still pending, but Cain says that even conservative neighbors say she's not wrong to use marijuana for her frequent migraines, though medical marijuana isn't legal in Alaska.
"Now I go wherever I want and hold my head up high," Cain said. "Five or 10 years from now, people who oppose marijuana will be considered old-fashioned. It's a benign substance, so why shouldn't we have it?"
Irwin, the Colorado medical pot grower, said mothers who use marijuana face a stigma men don't. Irwin says she secretly used marijuana while pregnant to fight morning sickness and after giving birth to battle postpartum depression. Since she started growing pot, Irwin said she's run into many moms who admit to using the drug. She argues that even children could benefit from marijuana use, though Irwin never gave either of her kids pot nor smoked it in front of them.
In fact, she remembers flushing her son's pot down the toilet when he was a teen. But last year, after her now-grown son started a Denver marijuana dispensary, Irwin sold her hair salon, bought a greenhouse and started raising pot for him.
"I look at the kids now who are so medicated, on Ritalin and all the rest, and I'm wondering why we don't explore what's natural, and that's marijuana," said Irwin, who is moving to Denver to work full-time at her older son's dispensary.
___
Associated Press Writer Greg Risling of Los Angeles contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
Marijuana Mother's Day card: http://bit.ly/apofDp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NORML Women's Alliance: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID-8059" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Moms4Marijuana: http://www.moms4marijuana.webs.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SandChigger]

I'm all for legalizing EVERYTHING and letting addictive types imitate the little mousies with electrodes in their pleasure centers that keep pushing the juice button until they die of starvation & dehydration as an interesting way to weed the gene pool, but this idea of letting even the kiddies get marijuana from Mommy is truly brilliant! Take out two generations at once!

[Aquila ka-Hecate]

I vote yes to the decriminalisation of so-called 'drugs' - especially entheogens. I don't use them myself, but that's no reason for me to think that the State interfering with a citizen's state of consciousness is in any way good.

In fact, I'm listening to Jonathan Ott on this very topic right now. (Where's the syncronicity smiley?)

[Freakzilla]

Marijuana is on the ballot in four states this November, including the first effort of its kind in California to fully legalize pot, but don't expect politicians to get high on the idea any time soon.

In what could become another hot button political issue this November, Democrats in California are divided over Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana use and allow government to make money off of it by imposing new regulations and taxes.

The California government projected that at an excise tax of $50 per ounce, the new law would bring in about $1.4 billion in revenues for the state. Several members of Congress, such as Reps. Pete Stark, Barbara Lee and George Miller have spoken candidly in favor of it. The California Democratic Party chose not to take any position on it. But virtually all heavy hitters are opposed to it, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Barbara Boxer, and both gubernatorial candidates.

The reason -- voters still haven't warmed up to the idea yet.

While polls show increasing support over the years among Americans for full legalization of marijuana, the majority still prefers the status quo. An Associated Press-CNBC poll released in April found that 33 percent of Americans favored legalization of pot, while an overwhelming 55 percent opposed it. An earlier ABC News/Washington Post poll released in January found 46 percent support for legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

"The public, generally for their children and their community, are just afraid of narcotics and partly rightly so," said Stark, D-Calif., who supports decriminilization of drugs on the federal level.

The split within the Democratic party on this issue is not surprising, Stark said. In an election year where the future of the Democratic party looks unstable and it's unclear whether the party will even keep it's majority after November, candidates running for statewide offices are steering clear of such controversial issues, Stark said, especially when large parts of their constituencies are opposed to legalization of marijuana.

Stark himself represents a district in the San Francisco Bay area, considered to be among the most liberal in the country.

It's also an issue that doesn't rank high on people's minds during a recession and period of high unemployment.

"There's some discussion in Congress but I would suggest that it's probably not one of those leading issues right now -- Jobs being the major concern that we have, and spending a lot of money that we don't have is a far bigger concern," Stark told ABC News. "But it does come up from time to time."

Gary Johnson, former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, supports legalization of marijuana and argues that it will lead to a more effective fight against drugs. He blames the stalemate on the federal government and on both Republicans and Democrats.

"For the most part, politics is about following the herd as opposed to providing leadership," Johnson, who is speculated to be considering a run for the White House in 2012, told ABC News. "For me, it was a cost-benefit analysis, period. It's the fact that half of what we spend in law enforcement and the courts and the prisons is drug related, to what end?"

Johnson disagrees with the idea that dabbling in the politics of drugs would be harmful -- he cites his own approval rating as governor, saying it was steady even after he made his position known.

"It's a really good political issue because it's the truth. It's the emperor wears no clothes," he said.

Initiatives opening up the passage of medical marijuana use will be up for a vote in three states -- Oregon, Arizona and South Dakota. If the measures pass, these three states would join 14 other states and Washington, D.C., where medical marijuana use is legal.

Support for medicinal use, unlike full legalization, is still strong. An ABC News/Washington Post poll in January found that 81 percent of Americans supported medical marijuana laws.


Proposition 19 Faces Difficult Road in California
Support for Proposition 19 is divided, with most recent surveys showing more support for it than opposition. But unlike other recent hot button issues, such as gay marriage, this has so far failed to attract the kind of grassroots attention among voters, especially young Californians, that proponents were hoping it would.

In fact, even some who support legalization of marijuana oppose Proposition 19 on the grounds that it doesn't achieve the goals it was designed to do.

"The taxation scheme is so convoluted that folks who are supposed to be the main beneficiaries are coming out against it," said Roger Salazar, spokesman for the "No On Proposition 19" campaign. "There are concerns across the board because the thing was so poorly written."

Supporters say the initiative will generate new revenue for the state and lessen the burden on law enforcement and prisons if it passes, but some argue that the idea that it will help cash-strapped California is a hoax.

"You can't get revenue for something that's a federal felony and a state law can't repeal federal law," said Mark Kleiman, professor of public policy at University of California, Los Angeles and director of the Drug Policy Analysis Program. "All the revenues have to be spent on drug prevention and treatment -- it does nothing for states' or localities' budget deficits."

"We have to be very, very, very stoned for that proposition to make sense," Kleiman added.

Regardless, supporters say the fact that such a measure is on the ballot is still a step forward. California is the second state to dabble in such a measure. Earlier this year a marijuana-legalization bill in Washington state was struck down by the legislature.

Proposition 19 is the "opening stage of the modern era of modern reform," said Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for legalization of marijuana.

"Whether Proposition 19 wins or loses, it's already a winner," Nadelmann told ABC News. "What it's done is legitimized and elevated a discussion about marijuana policy in a way that has never happened before. It's generated a level and seriousness and sophistication of dialogue and debate unlike what we've had before. This is the first time you have members of Congress saying they will vote for it."

Nadelmann and other proponents of the ballot initiative equate it to gay rights, in that "people are coming out of the closet and defeating the notion that they need to be punished for engaging in this 'deviant activity.'"


Slow Movement on the Federal Level
While support for decriminalizing marijuana has gained momentum, especially in Washington and California, at the federal level the subject remains a sensitive one.

Rand Paul, the GOP libertarian-leaning Senate candidate in Kentucky whose father supports legalization, illustrated that when he famously reversed his position -- initially supporting medical marijuana usage but then shifting his stance, telling the Associated Press this month he opposes legalization of marijuana, even for medicinal purposes.

Members of Congress say discussions on the issue have been brewing but have yet to surface. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is an outspoken advocate of states' rights when it comes to legalizing marijuana and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has also spoken widely in favor of legalizing it. But there has been mostly silence from the Senate on this issue.

[SandRider]

say, if anybody's got some free time and the inclination,
I'd appreciate you ferreting out a source for FOXNews'
on-going claims that "Mexican Cartels" are growing
pot on BLM and Parks land all across the USA, a source
that is not FOXNews itself, or the tail-eating story
of FOXNews reporting on a story from a "news outlet"
that got the story from FOXNews in the first place ....

I hate them fuckers ... Lord knows I believe in Free Speech,
but I also believe there should be laws compelling
"news organizations" to report actual, true things, not
shit the producers made up, or reporting one of their own
pundit's biased insane ramblings as "growing concern over ..."

[A Thing of Eternity]

I hate them fuckers ... Lord knows I believe in Free Speech,
but I also believe there should be laws compelling
"news organizations" to report actual, true things, not
shit the producers made up, or reporting one of their own
pundit's biased insane ramblings as "growing concern over ..."

I'm with you, but that would put FOX out of business in about 5 minutes.

[Freakzilla]

National survey reveals increases in substance use from 2008 to 2009

http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisori ... 52021.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Marijuana use rises; prescription drug abuse and ecstasy use also up


The use of illicit drugs among Americans increased between 2008 and 2009 according to a national survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) shows the overall rate of current illicit drug use in the United States rose from 8.0 percent of the population aged 12 and older in 2008 to 8.7 percent in 2009. This rise in overall drug use was driven in large part by increases in marijuana use.
The annual NSDUH survey, released by SAMHSA at the kickoff of the 21st annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, also shows that the nonmedical use of prescription drugs rose from 2.5 percent of the population in 2008 to 2.8 percent in 2009. Additionally, the estimated number of past-month ecstasy users rose from 555,000 in 2008 to 760,000 in 2009, and the number of methamphetamine users rose from 314,000 to 502,000 during that period.

Flat or increasing trends of substance use were reported among youth (12 to 17-year-olds). Although the rate of overall illicit drug use among young people in 2009 remained below 2002 levels, youth use was higher in 2009 compared to 2008 (10.0 percent of youth in 2009, versus 9.3 percent in 2008, versus 11.6 percent in 2002). The rate of marijuana use in this age group followed a similar pattern, declining from 8.2 percent of young people in 2002, to 6.7 percent in 2006, remaining level until 2008, and then increasing to 7.3 percent in 2009. Additionally, the level of youth perceiving great risk of harm associated with smoking marijuana once or twice a week dropped from 54.7 percent in 2007 to 49.3 percent in 2009, marking the first time since 2002 that less than half of young people perceived great harm in frequent marijuana use. The rate of current tobacco use or underage drinking among this group remained stable between 2008 and 2009.

Overall past-month illicit drug use among young adults aged 18-25 increased from 19.6 percent of young adults in 2008, to 21.2 percent in 2009. This rise in use was also driven in large part by the use of marijuana.

“These results are a wake-up call to the nation,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. “Our strategies of the past appear to have stalled out with generation ‘next.’ Parents and caregivers, teachers, coaches, faith and community leaders, must find credible new ways to communicate with our youth about the dangers of substance abuse.”

“Today’s findings are disappointing, but not surprising, because eroding attitudes and perceptions of harm about drug use over the past two years have served as warning signs for exactly what we see today.” said Director of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske. “Fortunately, this Administration’s National Drug Control Strategy, with its focus on prevention, treatment, smart law enforcement, and support for those in recovery, highlights the right tools to reduce drug use and its consequences. But our efforts must be reinforced and supported by the messages kids get from their parents. Past month marijuana use was much less prevalent among youths who perceived strong parental disapproval for trying marijuana or hashish once or twice than among those who did not -- 4.8 percent versus 31.3 percent, respectively.”

Despite some troubling trends, the 2009 NSDUH shows continued progress in lowering levels of tobacco consumption among people aged 12 years and older. Current cigarette use among this population has reached a historic low level at 23.3 percent. However, even in this case, the pace of improvement is stagnating. The use of cocaine among those aged 12 or older has also declined 30 percent from 2006.

As in previous years, the 2009 NSDUH shows a vast disparity between the number of people needing specialized treatment for a substance abuse problem and the number who actually receive it. According to the survey, 23.5 million Americans aged 12 or older (9.3 percent of this population) need specialized treatment for a substance abuse problem, but only 2.6 million (or roughly 11.2 percent of them) receive it.

NSDUH is a scientifically conducted annual survey of approximately 67,500 people throughout the country, aged 12 and older. Because of its statistical power, it is the nation’s premier source of statistical information on the scope and nature of many substance abuse behavioral health issues affecting the nation.

The complete survey findings are available on the SAMHSA Web site at: http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduhLatest.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month) recognizes the accomplishments of people in recovery, the contributions of treatment providers and advances in substance abuse treatment and recovery throughout the nation. Electronic versions of Recovery Month materials are available at http://www.recoverymonth.gov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The kit is downloadable at http://www.recoverymonth.gov/Recovery-Month-Kit.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
###

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SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Its mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.

[Freakzilla]

http://theweek.com/article/index/207251 ... -after-all" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Obama's "drug czar" says pot is to blame for a surge in illicit drug use, but some disagree

Illegal drug use has risen to the highest level in nearly a decade, according to a federal government study released last week. The uptick in overall illicit drug use was "driven in large part by the use of marijuana" and a broadening public perception that the drug isn't harmful, the report says. "The results of the survey, to say the least, are very troubling," Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said at a press conference Thursday.

The goverment gets it wrong again: It's not that marijuana is a gateway drug, says Joe Klare in The 420 Times. It's that "there are no jobs, bills are piling up, and everything costs too much," so people are turning to drugs to help "them feel good about life again." So don't believe the misinformation that people are "going on to harder drugs" — that's just the government's "spin."

Marijuana is harmful: Look, pot "is not like heroin," says Peter Delaney of the Center for Behavior Health Statistics and Quality at NPR, but that doesn't mean it's harmless. Young people who smoke marijuana might start cutting class, they might let their grades slip, or they might move on to a harder drug. So it's important to "counter the message" that "it's only pot."

The statistics prove pot isn't a gateway drug: The only significant increase in drug use "came from the growing ranks of pot smokers," says John Cloud in Time. Cocaine use actually dropped, abuse of prescription drugs "has been flat since 2007," and even "the rate at which we use methamphetamine" has gone "unchanged." Aside from the fact that "smoking anything isn't good for your lungs," pot's only confirmed adverse effect is that it "can get you arrested."

[A Thing of Eternity]

I love when people say pot is the gateway drug. You know what the gateway drug is? Alcohol. Alcohol is the gateway drug.

Good for you guys, the more pot smokers you have the more likely it is for you to one day legalize the stuff, which would be nice, because then our spineless government up here could finally do the same without worry of upsetting our neighbors.

[Freakzilla]

I'm doing my part.

[A Thing of Eternity]

Don't smoke it myself, but I'm rooting for you potheads.

[Freakzilla]

Pot activists vow to push legalization in 2012

By LISA LEFF and MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press – 48 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – It seemed an easy sell in California: The state that gave us medical marijuana would allow pot for recreation.
Then came the ads, newspaper editorials and politicians, warning of a world where stoned drivers would crash school buses, nurses would show up at work high and employers would be helpless to fire drug-addled workers.
A day after voters rejected Proposition 19, marijuana advocates wondered how they failed in trendsetting, liberal California.
Was it the fear of the unknown? An older electorate more likely to oppose pot? Voters reluctant to go any further than they already had with the nation's most lax pot laws?
Whatever the reason, activists vowed Wednesday to push on in California, as well as in states that rejected other pot measures Tuesday.
"Social change doesn't happen overnight," said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for Repeal of Marijuana Laws.
In South Dakota, voters rejected for the second time a medical marijuana measure — a step first taken by California in 1996 and by 13 other states since. Oregon voters refused to expand their medical marijuana program to create a network of state-licensed nonprofit dispensaries.
A medical marijuana measure on Arizona's ballot remained too close to call Wednesday.
The California initiative, which would have allowed adults age 21 and older to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana, failed 54 to 46 percent. An Associated Press analysis of exit and pre-election polls found voters opposed Prop 19 regardless of race, gender, income or education level.
Blacks and Latinos, for example, opposed the measure at about the same rate as whites. That despite evidence that pot advocates presented during the campaign that minorities are disproportionately arrested on marijuana offenses.
"There is a sense of people wanting to move into a new policy ... but still being wary of what that change might mean," said Ethan Nadelmann, director of the pro-legalization Drug Policy Project.
Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the successful campaign to defeat Prop 19, agreed that misgivings about possible social problems from increased marijuana use helped seal the measure's fate.
But he also blamed backers for leaving it up to local governments instead of the state to set sales regulations. He also faulted them for promoting the measure as a revenue windfall for the state and a way to undercut drug traffickers and free up police to pursue more serious crimes.
"The risks of legalizing something as important as marijuana were far greater than the potential benefits, and the benefits were far from guaranteed," Salazar said. "If they are going to come back with something, it has to be a lot more tightly written."
Preliminary election returns showed Prop 19 winning in 11 of 58 counties, with the strongest support in San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
But in a sign of what a tough sell it was, Prop 19 lost in the state's vaunted marijuana-growing region known as the "Emerald Triangle" of Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties.
Many in the region feared the system they created would be taken over by corporations or would undercut a cornerstone of the local economies by sending pot prices plunging.
Those most anxious about the economy were not convinced that legalizing pot was worth the potential tax revenue or jobs created by a newly legal marijuana industry.
Abbey Kaufman and Matt McDonald toked up "a few blunts" during the Giants World Series celebration in front of San Francisco City Hall despite a strong police presence.
The 20-year-old San Franciscans said they each voted yes but both said they weren't disappointed Prop 19 failed.
"Right now, you can smoke as much pot as you want on the streets of San Francisco," Kaufman said. "If it had passed, marijuana would have been treated like booze and there would be a big crackdown on public smoking."
"I think a lot of stoners voted yes just because, but I think we're better off that it didn't pass."
Richard Lee, the Oakland, Calif., medical marijuana entrepreneur who sponsored Prop 19 and spent $1.4 million of his own money to qualify the measure for the ballot and try to get it passed, drew hope in the generational divide among the voters.
The only unequivocal support for the measure came from voters under 30, though even they were not as united in their support as voters 65 and older were in their opposition.
Lee said the fact that 3.4 million Californians cast ballots for legalizing marijuana and that Prop 19 came within 9 percentage points of passing were victories themselves
He noted that since younger voters supported the initiative, a generation that does not fear the drug would one day constitute a majority of the population.
"The issue is generational," he said. "Many of the biggest contributors to the campaign were younger and based in Silicon Valley, representing a changing of the guard of political influence and leadership."

It was 44% to 56% BTW.

[Freakzilla]

I think the closeness of the vote IS a victory. Maybe when we get past this generation of drunk senior citizens...

[Freakzilla]

Schwarzenegger: "No One Cares If You Smoke A Joint or Not"

This is good to know.

[Shaitan]

Don't smoke it myself, but I'm rooting for you potheads.

I recommend a vaporizer.

[Freakzilla]

By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press – 24 mins ago

PHOENIX – Arizona voters have approved a measure that will legalize medical marijuana use in the state for people with chronic or debilitating diseases.

Final vote tallies showed Saturday that Proposition 203 won by a tiny margin of just 4,341 votes out of more than 1.67 million votes counted. The measure had started out losing on Election Day by about 7,200 votes, but the gap gradually narrowed in the following 10 days.

"Now begins the very hard work of implementing this program in the way it was envisioned, with very high standards," said Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project. "We really believe that we have an opportunity to set an example to the rest of the country on what a good medical marijuana program looks like."

Arizona is the 15th state to approve a medical marijuana law. California was the first in 1996, and 13 other states and Washington, D.C., have since followed suit.

The Arizona measure will allow patients with diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and any other "chronic or debilitating" disease that meets guidelines to buy 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks or grow plants.

The patients must get a recommendation from their doctor and register with the Arizona Department of Health Services. The law allows for no more than 124 marijuana dispensaries in the state. After ballots are canvassed Nov. 29, the state has 120 days before the law goes into effect.

Backers of Proposition 203 have argued that thousands of patients faced "a terrible choice" of suffering with a serious or even terminal illness or going to the criminal market for pot. They collected more than 252,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot — nearly 100,000 more than required.

All Arizona's sheriff's and county prosecutors, the governor, attorney general and many other politicians came out against the measure.

Carolyn Short, chairwoman of Keep AZ Drug Free, the group that organized opposition to the initiative, said her group believes the law will increase crime around dispensary locations, lead to more people driving while impaired and eventually lead to legalized pot for everyone.

She noted that the major financial backer of the new measure, the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, makes no bones about its ultimate goal: national legalization of marijuana for everyone.

"All of the political leaders came out and warned Arizonans that this was going to have very dire effects on a number of levels," Short said after the measure pulled into the lead late on Friday. "I don't think that all Arizonans have heard those dire predictions."

Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved a medical marijuana law in 1996 and 1998, but it never went into effect because of problems with its wording. Then in 2002, voters rejected a sweeping initiative that would have decriminalized possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana for any user and required state police to hand out the drug to seriously ill people.

The measure that went before voters this month began Friday losing by about 1,500 votes, then surged ahead by 4,421 votes.

Maricopa was the only Arizona county with ballots still outstanding on Saturday. The county finished counting all the remaining provisional and early ballots by late in the afternoon.

The final, unofficial count was 841,346 in favor of the measure and 837,005 opposed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_arizona_medical_marijuana" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Freakzilla]

[Omphalos]

I hate seeing shit like that. Anything that robs little ones of innocence pisses me the hell off.