Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

We Can Legalize Cannabis Now

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2012 Culture, Legislation

Robert Platshorn spreads the truth about cannabis

By Robert Platshorn

The Silver Tour

I realized two years ago that not a single national cannabis legalization organization was reaching out to educate the voting public. A few do valuable lobbying, others provide news and information to those folks who are already supporters, and when invited, organizations like NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) present our case in public debate. All of these functions are important, but leave a tremendous void in ending marijuana prohibition.

New Zealand Police Seize Marijuana Vending Machine

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2012 Global, News

Akl Seshnz

Above, a New Zealand police officer helps to carry The Daktory’s cannabis vending machine to a law enforcement vehicle Thursday night

“Live Like It’s Legal” is the motto of New Zealand cannabis activists The Daktory — and it appears they take their own advice. Police said on Friday that they had seized a marijuana vending machine during a raid on the cannabis club in Auckland, which campaigns for the herb’s legalization.

The vending machine, in suburban New Lynn, had been set up to dispense one-gram bags of marijuana for NZ$20 ($16.20) each, one of the campaigners behind the scheme told Agence France-Presse.

Police said they arrested four people and seized the vending machine, NZ$27,000 in cash and about 700 grams of cannabis. Also seized when they raided the property on Thursday evening were bongs, pipes and other items.

Brit Police Apologize For Claiming Cannabis Causes Cancer

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2012 Global, News

Northamptonshire Police

“Northamptonshire Police would like to apologize for the incorrect information provided to the media which claimed that cannabis plants had potential carcinogenic properties”

A local police department in the United Kingdom has issued an apology over an incorrect statement made following a cannabis garden raid.

Northamptonshire Police have retracted an earlier statement which claimed the odor of mature marijuana plants causes cancer, reports the Harborough Mail.

“Northamptonshire Police would like to apologize for the incorrect information provided to the media which claimed that cannabis plants had potential carcinogenic properties,” a spokesman for the force stiffly offered.

“This information was provided in good faith,” the spokesman claimed. “However, we accept the information was misleading and we will strive to ensure this does not happen again.”

The original outlandish claim was published in the Mail on March 1 in a report about cannabis plants being seized by police during a raid in Cottingham. It received worldwide attention after Toke of the Town picked up the story on March 8.

Central American Leaders To Hold Historic Drug Policy Meeting

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

Pulsamerica

The groundbreaking meeting — the first time sitting presidents are seriously debating alternatives to drug prohibition — was initiated by and will be hosted by Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina.

Saturday: Presidents To Hold Historic Meeting To Discuss Strategies To Reduce Prohibition-Related Crime, Violence and Corruption

First Time Ever That Sitting Presidents Are Calling For All Options, Including Legalization And Decriminalization, To Be Put On The Table

Momentum Builds for Unprecedented Debate at Summit of The Americas in Colombia in April

This Saturday, March 24, a historic meeting will take place when presidents from Central America come together in Guatemala to discuss legalization, decriminalization and other strategies for reducing the region’s prohibition-related violence, crime and corruption.

The meeting, initiated and hosted by Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, represents the first time ever that sitting presidents are seriously debating alternatives to drug prohibition – and it comes just weeks before the topic will be considered for the first time at the Summit of the Americas meeting in Colombia in mid-April.

N.H. Senate Committee Backs Medical Marijuana Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Nuggetry

SB 409 Moves On After Stunning 5-0 Vote

In a huge victory for patients and their families, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee has voted 5-0 to approve New Hampshire’s medical marijuana bill, SB 409. A vote by the full Senate is expected next week.

Senators Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), Gary Lambert (R-Nashua), Andy Sanborn (R-Henniker), Tom DeBlois (R-Litchfield), and Molly Kelly (D-Keene) all voted in favor of the bill, having considered more than two and a half hours of testimony at a March 8 public hearing.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Jim Forsythe (R-Strafford), expressed satisfaction with the vote.

“If a seriously ill patient and his or her doctor believe marijuana may be the best option, government should not interfere with that decision, and I’m very pleased to see unanimous agreement from this committee,” Forsythe said.

To Be A Medical Marijuana Patient Or Not To Be? That’s The Question!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2012 Culture, Medical

Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town Northern California Correspondent Jack Rikess always tokes up before making a big decision

Or, Should Jack Renew His Medical Marijuana Card?

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

I suffer from debilitating migraines that leave me temporarily blinded followed by a headache that feels like someone has taken a rusty blade to my brain with the full intent of whittling on it for the next couple of hours. Cannabis relieves the pain and lessens the thumping bombardments associated with the war games being played in my cerebellum.

In another lifetime, I worked in a Navajo Old Folks home in Arizona. I wrenched my back lifting an overweight person who had passed out, which snared me in a dead weight death trap. My vertebrae have never recovered.

Marijuana-Like Compounds Effective Against Late Stage AIDS

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2012 Medical, News

Potfessor.com

Marijuana-like compounds can inhibit the multiplication of human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus in late-stage AIDS by acting on viral receptors. The results are from a new study were published by researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the journal PloS ONE.

Cannabis is used medicinally in diseases which are accompanied by appetite loss or by severe weight loss, and also for the management of chronic pain, symptoms that are usually present in the latter stages of AIDS, reports Cristian Mihon at Doctor Tipster.

Through this study, scientists learned that the cannabinoid receptors on the surface of immune cells, CB1 and CB2, are triggered by marijuana-like compounds and can inhibit the spread of HIV through the body. It’s crucial for scientists to know the effects of activating these CB1 and CB2 receptors, because that knowledge might be used in the future to develop new drugs that can slow the progression of AIDS.

Medical Cannabis Grower, Tincture Maker Shames Aussie Cops

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 21, 2012 Global, Growing, Medical

Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd

Tony Bower, Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd: “I know that I can help people with my medicine”

The director of Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd in New South Wales, Australia on Wednesday shamed the police for recently raiding his grow operation, saying he has maintained “clear accountability and transparency” in his business. “All relevant state and federal government departments have been fully aware of Mullaways’ operations for years,” said Tony Bower.

“I am deeply offended that the New South Wales Police force have brought charges against me under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act,” Bower said. “The medical cannabis seized by police, and the tincture does not fall under the scope of the New South Wales Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act. I intend to vigorously defend the charges.”

Ironically, Mullaways tincture — which contains high levels of CBD and other cannabinoids, but very low levels of THC, the primary marijuana ingredient which gets you high — is even less psychoactive than Sativex, the legal cannabis tincture manufactured by British prescription drug giant GW Pharmaceutical.

“The medical cannabis tincture does not get people stoned; it is non-psychotropic and is not open to misuse,” Bower explained.

Cops, Judges Endorse Washington I-502 Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 21, 2012 Legislation, News

KPLU

Norm Stamper, LEAP: “Everyone knows that marijuana prohibition has failed”

Law Enforcers Say Ending Prohibition Will Improve Public Safety

A group of police officers, prosecutors, judges and other criminal justice professionals – including Seattle’s former chief of police – is endorsing I-502, the Washington initiative to regulate and tax marijuana that voters will decide on this November.

Norm Stamper, the former Seattle chief and a spokesman for the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said, “Everyone knows that marijuana prohibition has failed. When even those who once worked to enforce these laws are saying this, the only logical next step is to enact a system that legalizes, regulates and controls marijuana.

“Doing so will not only take money away from the gangs and cartels that sell marijuana now, but will generate new, much-needed revenue that can be used to pay the salaries of police officers and teachers and for substance abuse prevention and education,” Stamper said.

Marijuana DUIs Went Up 76% In Nevada With Per Se Limit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 21, 2012 Legislation, News

Law Office of Joel M. Mann

Numbers Put The Lie To Claims Washington’s I-502 Won’t Harm Patients

Driving under the influence of marijuana. It’s the new scare tactic used by prohibitionists and drug warriors as an argument against the legalization of cannabis. Unfortunately, it’s also used by some people who are supposed to be on our side as a political wedge issue to gain support for Initiative 502, a Washington legalization measure that includes blood THC limits as per se proof that you’re guilty of DUI.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, despite its opposition as an organization to per se marijuana DUI testing, has endorsed I-502, warts and all. This seeming contradiction — wherein NORML supports per se testing in Washington, after having opposed it in medical marijuana states like Colorado and California — occurs because, NORML says, it’s important to pass an initiative, any initiative, to “send the Feds a message.”

Well, if the message you’re sending them is “open season on medical marijuana patients,” then congratulations; mission accomplished! Otherwise, not so much.

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