Yearly Archives: 2011

Drug Czar Lies His Ass Off; Claims ‘100 Groups’ Studying Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 11, 2011 News

Photo: LIFE

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said this week that there are “over 100” ongoing FDA studies on marijuana. There are two.

U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske sat down for an interview with The Daily Caller’s Mike Riggs earlier this week — and managed to tell one hell of a whopper while he was at it.

When Riggs asked the Drug Czar, “You’ve said before that you don’t see medical benefits to smoked marijuana and also that the jury is still out on medical marijuana. What sort of scientific consensus does the ONDCP [Office of National Drug Control Policy] require? How many studies have to come out arguing for medical benefits? What do you need to see?”

“You know there are over 100 groups doing marijuana research,” the Czar replied, “and they’re getting their marijuana from the University of Mississippi. There are several things in clinical trials right now. So we’ll just have to wait for those.”

Judge Upholds Walmart’s Firing Of Medical Marijuana Patient

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 11, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: Katy Batdorff/The Grand Rapids Press

Cancer patient Joseph Casias was Walmart’s Employee of the Year — but they fired him after learning he uses medical marijuana with a doctor’s authorization.

Walmart’s former Employee of the Year won’t be going back to work there. A federal judge on Friday ruled that Michigan’s medical marijuana law protects legal users from arrest, but doesn’t protect them from employers’ policies which ban pot use.

Joseph Casias, who has an inoperable brain tumor, was fired by the Battle Creek Walmart after he failed a routine drug test following a workplace injury, reports John Agar at The Grand Rapids Press.

“The fundamental problem with (Casias’) case is that the (medical marijuana law) does not regulate private employment,” U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker wrote in his 20-page opinion.

“Rather, the Act provides a potential defense to criminal prosecution or other adverse action by the state… All the (law) does is give some people limited protection from prosecution by the state, or from other adverse state action in carefully limited medical marijuana situations,” the federal judge ruled.

According to Judge Jonker, the law “says nothing about private employment rights. Nowhere does the (law) state that the statue regulates private employment, that private employees are protected from disciplinary action should they use medical marijuana, or that private employers must accommodate the use of medical marijuana outside the workplace.”

Worth Repeating: 1974 Govt. Study Showed THC Shrinks Tumors

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 11, 2011 Medical

Photo: We Must Know

Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

In 1974 researchers learned that THC, an active chemical in marijuana, shrank or destroyed brain tumors in test mice.

But the Drug Enforcement Administration quickly shut down the study and destroyed its results, which were never replicated — until now.

Here is the study the DEA funded, then tried to destroy and remove from universities across the United States — and the first redo study that proved it correct.

Seattle Hempfest Fights For Its Life; Sues Seattle For 2011 Permit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: Seattle Hempfest

Hempfest always is a huge, happy hunk of humanity.

With no confirmed venue and no confirmed dates, Seattle Hempfest, the world’s largest annual cannabis protestival, is fighting for its life.

Hempfest has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the City of Seattle in an effort to get a 2011 permit to produce the annual free speech rally, which aims to reform America’s cannabis prohibition.

The lawsuit calls the city’s unwillingness to delay planned construction, or to stage the work to accomodate Hempfest, “unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious.”

The suit, which also includes Seattle’s mayor, director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, director of Seattle Center, and chairperson of the Seattle Special Events Committee, asks the city to issue an appropriate permit for Seattle Hempfest in August 2011.

The lawsuit also seeks, if necessary, to stop Seattle from implementing the West Thomas Overpass project in such a way as to interfere with the use of Hempfest’s home, Myrtle Edwards Park, in August 2011. Planned summer construction of the skybridge in Myrtle Edwards Park, which has been the location of Hempfest since 1995, has displaced the mammoth event which routinely draws more than 100,000 attendees annually.

Montana House Votes To Repeal Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Dylan Brown/Independent Record

Montana Speaker of the House Mike Milburn wants to take medical marijuana back away from sick and dying patients in his state — and now he’s a big step closer to doing exactly that

The Montana House of Representatives has approved a measure to repeal the state’s Medical Marijuana Act with a vote of 63 to 37. The vote serves as an ironic counterpoint to the overwhelming 62 percent to 38 percent majority by which Montanans legalized medical marijuana less than seven years ago, in November 2004.

During last Friday’s legislative session, Speaker of the House Mike Milburn (R-Cascade) claimed Montana was “duped” into passing the Act, and most of the House joined him in his attempt to thwart the will of the voters.

Milburn claimed many of the people who have been approved for medical marijuana “aren’t the terminally ill,” reports Marnee Banks at KRTV.com.

Economist Poll: ‘Huge Majority’ Supports Legalizing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2011 News

Graphic: The Economist

A new poll from The Economist and YouGov contains exciting news for marijuana advocates. “A huge majority of Americans, more than two to one once ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded, support the legalization and taxation of marijuana,” the magazine announced.

Even without excluding the “don’t knows,” a clear majority — 58 percent — favors treating cannabis like tobacco or alcohol, according to the poll.

The data reveal some interesting patterns, according to the magazine. In every age group, more people favor legalization than oppose it.

Not surprisingly, young people heavily favor legalization. But Baby Boomers want to legalize pot almost as much as the 20-somethings do. Even those over 65 are narrowly in favor of legalization, as well.

Infamous Sheriff Arpaio Targets New Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: ONE/MILLION

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio claims he “wanted to be prepared for criminals who believe that Proposition 203 will allow them to deal marijuana with impunity”

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, already infamous for his treatment of immigrants and prisoners, has now set his sights on Arizona’s new medical marijuana patients following the passage of Proposition 203 by voters last November.

Arpaio on Wednesday announced the formation of a special unit targeting people who violate the state laws, claiming he “wanted to be prepared for criminals who believe that Proposition 203 will allow them to deal marijuana with impunity,” reports Deborah Stocks at ABC 15.

The Sheriff is so far alone — other police agencies in Arizona are waiting for finalization of state Department of Health Services rules regulating medical marijuana before assigning resources to control abuses of the law, reports JJ Hensley at The Arizona Republic.

City Weighing Medical Pot Patient’s Cannabis Cooking Oil

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: Cafe Press

Law enforcement in some Washington towns still haven’t really come to terms with the state’s medical marijuana law. Voters almost 13 years ago approved the initiative legalizing medicinal use of cannabis, but that doesn’t seem to be long enough for some localities to get the idea.

Case in point: Medical marijuana patient Forrest Amos, whose cannabis and cannabis-infused cooking oil were seized by police in Centralia, Washington last month, reports Adam Pearson at the Lewis County Chronicle.

Amos said he was told by Police Chief Bob Berg and Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer that the cup of cooking oil was being tested and weighed to determine if it exceeded his authorized possession limit of 24 ounces of dried marijuana.

About 20 people showed up to voice support for Amos at the Centralia City Council meeting on Tuesday night. Although the City Council did not address Amos’s complaint of police harassment, it did agree to send a $400 damage claim he filed on January 24 to the city’s insurance pool to reimbursement him for his marijuana.

Stoner Photo of the Day: Pink Panther

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 9, 2011 Products

Photo by Steve Elliott

Got this “Pink Panther” at the Tacoma Cannabis Farmer’s Market last Sunday. Quite tasty!

New Poll: 75% Of Idahoans Favor Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 9, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: THC Finder

The respected Boise State University Public Policy survey, a poll that’s been conducted statewide for more than 20 years, yielded an interesting result Tuesday: 74 percent support for allowing “terminally and seriously ill patients to use and purchase marijuana for medical purposes.”

Just 23 percent said “no” to medical marijuana in the statewide survey, and three percent said they didn’t know, reports Betsy Z. Russell of the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said state Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow), who has pending legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho, “because in similar states out here in the West, the results are 65 to 75 percent (in favor), as long as you focus, like we have, very narrowly on medical marijuana for folks who are in excruciating pain with long-term diseases.”

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