Jack Daniel

New report warns arthritis sufferers not to smoke pot, for the same old reasons

By Jack Daniel on March 4, 2014 Medical, News

JoelK75/Flickr

A handful of herbal healing

Rarely does a week go by without a new headline, from a respected publication, coming out highlighting another of the amazing benefits of responsible cannabis use. While critics of medical marijuana ignorantly, and incessantly, argue that a majority of medicinal weed smokers have no real physical ailment, every day more and more people across the country are stepping out of the cannabis closet to treat their illnesses.
The headlines regarding cannabis and health benefits have become so commonplace, that we as advocates need to constantly remind ourselves that while it is a miraculous plant, marijuana is not a “miracle drug”. Still, it comes as a bit of a shock when otherwise respected scientists and researchers rush so quickly to condemn pot as a useless form of pseudo-medicine, as a recent article in the journal of Arthritis Care and Research unfortunately did.

Top ranking U.S. military generals panhandle Congress for more cash for War on Drugs

By Jack Daniel on February 28, 2014 Global, Legalize It, News

Wikimedia Commons

If, for some reason, you did not believe that there really is a War on Drugs underway in America, two top-ranking U.S. military generals admitted as much earlier this week in testimony before the Congressional House Armed Services Committee in Washington D.C.
Army General Charles Jacoby and Marine General John Kelly sat Tuesday before the pasty white panel of entitled U.S. Congressmen, begging the government’s purse-holders for a few more bucks, and warning that more budget cuts will translate directly into violent drug sales here at home.

San Diego City Council finally agrees on restrictive city pot laws, 17 years after medical marijuana was legalized in CA

By Jack Daniel on February 26, 2014 Dispensaries, Legalize It, Medical

Be careful what you wish for. That is the lesson being realized today by pro-cannabis advocates and activists in America’s Finest City.

San Diego, California

Yesterday, on a nearly unanimous 8-1 decision, the San Diego City Council finally cast a meaningful vote on establishing an official medical marijuana business ordinance in the city, laying down a law on pot shops for the first time since the California Compassionate Use Act, commonly referred to as Prop 215, was passed nearly 18 years ago.

French police seize too much weed; cops getting high, citizens smoking garden flowers

By Jack Daniel on February 25, 2014 Global, Legalize It, Say what?

The neighborhood cop shop in Roubaix, France, has apparently been busy busting enough local weed dealers to cause quite a stink. They estimate that they have seized at least 40 kilograms of cannabis and ‘resin’, and their successes on the streets and the resulting stockpile of pot has them feeling pretty high…literally.
In an interview with local news outlet 20 Minutes (so many jokes…), one officer who either didn’t want to be identified, or couldn’t remember his name, was quoted saying, “Already on the ground floor it smells a bit. But on the first floor, the odor is really strong. When you go there, you clearly smell the weed. And after a day, you are stoned.”

Wikimedia Commons

Mairie de Roubaix, the city hall of Roubaix, France

Anti-weed screed in Christian Post reveals ignorance, shocking nobody

By Jack Daniel on February 24, 2014 Legalize It, Opinion, Say what?

In an epically misguided Sunday sermon for the op-ed page of the Christian Post, Professor Michael Brown puts his dynamic range of ignorance about cannabis on display, summed up simply in the title of his piece, “What are they smoking in Colorado?”
More specifically, Brown targets Colorado Governor, John Hickenlooper, by asking…again…”What in the world is he smoking?” Completely ignoring the will of the voters in Colorado, who overwhelmingly supported Amendment 64, Brown goes right after the governor, attacking him for taking the estimated multimillion dollar revenues that legal weed is expected to deliver, and putting it back into the community.

California judge strikes down local pot laws due to pollution from driving far to get weed

By Jack Daniel on February 19, 2014 Legislation, Medical, Say what?

Kern County, which stretches from the California Coast Ranges, east over the Sierra Nevada mountain range and into the Mojave Desert, has been a key battleground in the war on medical marijuana over the past two years in Southern California.
In June of 2012, a 69% majority of voters approved Measure G, which enacted a de facto ban on all storefront dispensaries in the county, as a reaction to a rapid addition of pot shops in the relatively small high desert towns. Bakersfield, the county seat, was exempt as it had its own regulations in place, but the rest of the county saw restrictions so tight, that all existing weed shops found themselves out of compliance almost overnight.

Local cannabis advocates have spent the past year and a half arguing against Measure G, calling it a farce and political stunt, to no avail. Their latest attempt, however, used an idea you almost have to be baked to come up with – and it worked.

Polling in NY shows nearly 9 out of 10 support statewide cannabis reform

By Jack Daniel on February 18, 2014 Follow that story, Legalize It

A Quinnipiac University poll released this week says that 88% of New York residents are in favor of legalizing medical marijuana in the state, sparking the debate that perhaps the Empire State is finally ready for a nice heavy dose of indica dominant cannabis. This is up 17% in just two years.

vagueonthehow/Flickr

New York residents are high on the idea of fresh pot laws

Only 9% of New Yorkers are against the idea, but hell, only 39% of residents think that full recreational legalization of weed is a bad idea, with over 57% in favor of just skipping the “medical” step, and making pot legal for all adults.

GOP Guv Scott Walker says you’re all wrong, weed more dangerous than booze

By Jack Daniel on February 17, 2014 Legalize It, News, Say what?

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was one of a wave of pie-eyed freshman Republicans swept into office in the 2010 midterm election, the consequences of which, we will all be paying for, for quite some time. Upon squeaking his way into office, Governor Walker immediately cut a billion dollars from the state’s education budget, another half a billion from the Medicaid budget, and effectively stripped all of the state’s labor unions of all traditional collective bargaining rights.

Wikimedia Commons

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI)

By refusing to participate in the Affordable Care Act, enacting a malevolent voter ID law to discourage voting, and by paying for tens of millions of dollars’ worth of corporate tax breaks by firing unprecedented numbers of teachers, police and firefighters, Governor Walker has earned his spot as a Republican front runner, and serves as an example, rather than a shame, for his colleagues.
So it should come as no surprise that when President Obama recently spoke out about the dangers of alcohol versus the dangers of weed, Walker had to pipe up.

Pot advocate sues Mile High Stadium, Pat Bowlen over ban of Cannabis University vehicle

By Jack Daniel on February 17, 2014 Culture, News

M.LaMay/Facebook

Michelle LaMay in front of her Cannabis University bus

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen had to suffer along with the rest of us as his team got crushed in the Super Bowl. And now, PDB Sports, the company that handles the squad’s business on his behalf, is being sued for discrimination and defamation.
The plaintiff is Cannabis University, whose founder, Michelle LaMay, says a vehicle was ejected from two home playoff games in January simply because the word “cannabis” was printed on it.
Our buds over at Denver Westword have photos and further details, including the full text of the complaint.

Marijuana banking memos from feds don’t solve all problems, advocate says

By Jack Daniel on February 15, 2014 News

Ever since the passage of Amendment 64 in November 2012, officials and industry members alike have been concerned about the restrictions related to marijuana businesses and banking services. That’s because federal financial regulations essentially treated any transaction from such operations as money laundering.

Denver Westword

Now, after months of encouragement from Governor John Hickenlooper and others, the Departments of Justice and Treasury have issued joint memos setting out new rules. However, at least one industry representative isn’t wholly satisfied by them.
Click here to read the full text of the joint memos, and to get the reaction from Michael Roberts over at Denver Westword

Author Jack Daniel