Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Medical Cannabis Does Not Increase, May Decrease Teen Use

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 8, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

State laws allowing for the legal use of medical marijuana by qualified patients do not increase teen marijuana use, and if anything decrease teen use or have no effect at all, according to data published online in the journal Annals of Epidemiology.

Investigators at McGill University in Montreal obtained state-level estimates of marijuana use from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the years 2002 through 2009, reports Paul Armentano at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Researchers used difference-in-differences regression models to estimate the causal effect of medical marijuana laws on cannabis use, and simulations to account for measurement error.

“Difference-in-differences estimates suggested that passing MMLs [medical marijuana laws]decreased past-month use among adolescents … and had no discernible effect on the perceived riskiness of monthly use,” McGill University researchers Sam Harper, Erin C. Strumpf and Jay S. Kaufman reported. “[These] estimates suggest that reported adolescent marijuana use may actually decrease following the passing of medical marijuana laws [emphasis added].”

Texas Councilman Got Drugs Through Prostitutes: Report

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 8, 2012 News

Star-Telegram

Arlington Councilman Mel LeBlanc: “I wasn’t a daily user”

Arlington, Texas City Councilman Mel LeBlanc (not to be confused with Bugs Bunny — that’s Mel Blanc) told police last year that he got drugs, including methamphetamine and marijuana, through prostitutes he hired using online escort services.

LeBlanc, who publicly confessed his “addictions to drugs and alcohol,” declined to comment Tuesday about details in a recently released Arlington Police Department report that outlined his domestic troubles, where he got his dope and his reported relationship with the owner of Flashdancer Cabaret, a strip joint that has, over the years, been targeted by the city as a center for drug sales, prostitution, and “other criminal activity,” reports Susan Schrock at the Arlington Star-Telegram.

The 61-year-old councilman was investigated last year after the cops, responding to a domestic disturbance call, found and seized about a gram of meth and a glass pipe from his home in north Arlington. A group of good old boys, I mean a Tarrant County grand jury, decided not to return an indictment.

“I’m not going to comment any more on this whole issue,” commented LeBlanc. “I’ve already done a radio interview, a television interview, and two newspaper interviews and was completely honest with all questions asked,” said LeBlanc, who seems to have confused “honesty” with “a license to bang whores and snort meth.”

Washington Patient Group Worried About Medical Cannabis Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 8, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Cannabis Defense Coalition

Seattle-based medical marijuana patient advocacy group the Cannabis Defense Coalition (CDC) has expressed serious concerns about Senate Bill 6265, currently in the Washington state Legislature.

A internal email sent to CDC members on Tuesday, February 7, outlined the group’s five biggest concerns with SB 6265 thusly:

1. Giving too much for too little

“SB 6265 would legalize a limited number of medical cannabis access points in a limited number of jurisdictions, but it will come at great cost to the Washington State medical cannabis community,” CDC said. “Governor Gregoire — whose partial veto last year put an end to the ‘designated provider model’ under which most access points were operating — has set boundaries on any medical cannabis bill she is to sign, and SB 6265 represents what is acceptable to her.

“The bill would provide broad authority to local counties, cities and towns to regulate medical cannabis collective gardens and access points through zoning, taxation, licensing, health and safety requirements, etc.,” the email said. “This will allow pot-friendly jurisdictions like Seattle and Tacoma to license, tax and regulate the medical cannabis businesses which have sprouted up in their midst, and over which they have uncertain authority.”

British Activist Jailed For Growing Cannabis

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 8, 2012 Global, Growing, News

Get Surrey

Activist Winston Matthews, 55 and disabled, is being jailed for 16 months for growing cannabis to treat his back pain

British pro-cannabis campaigner Winston Matthews, 55, who refused to stop growing marijuana despite repeated arrests, has been jailed for 16 months in the U.K.

Matthews, of Upfield Close, Horley, admitted violating a suspended sentence he was given on August 23, 2010, as well as three counts of cultivating cannabis and two counts of possession between August 28 and December 16 that same year, reports Ben Endley at Get Surrey.

He had been scheduled for sentencing last Friday but the hearing was deferred until Monday, when Judge Suzan Matthews (no relation) admitted the case was “unique” but insisted the grandfather of two still had to be jailed.

The day before his sentencing, Matthews, an outspoken member of Surrey’s Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA), posted on Facebook about the case.

“All I had to do to get a deferred sentence yesterday [February 3] was lie to a judge and say I’d stop taking cannabis!” he posted. “I wasn’t prepared to do that! One love!”

Sacramento Group Files Medical Marijuana Act; Will Gather Signatures

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 7, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

CSPARC

The Patient Access to Regulated Medical Cannabis Act of 2012 has been filed with Sacramento County Elections Office and will begin gathering signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Medical cannabis patients, providers, activists and supporters in Sacramento County, California have come together in an effort to qualify a measure for the November 2012 ballot that will establish a reasonable and controlled system for qualified patients to access their medicine.

Over the past two years, medical cannabis advocates said they have attempted to work with Sacramento County officials to develop a regulatory system that would allow for safe access points throughout the unincorporated areas of the County.

Former Pot Smuggler Educates Seniors On Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 7, 2012 Culture, Medical

The Silver Tour

Robert Platshorn, America’s longest-serving marijuana offender (almost 30 years), educates seniors on the benefits of medical marijuana on The Silver Tour

“They heard about it at their bridge games, or from the corkboard at the senior center, or through their grandkids who use the Internet,” writes Gus Garcia-Roberts at Miami New Times. “Then they carpooled to Temple Shaarei Shalom in Boynton Beach this recent Sunday afternoon — trios of little old ladies with short white hair and thin sweaters, and wizened men reading the Sun-Sentinel while wearing clunky black shades indoors.

“Now the 200-plus attendees — most of them seniors — are snacking on a mushroom quiche and iced tea while discussing the myriad health benefits of getting high.”

Robert Platshorn, 69 — who in the 1970s smuggled tons of Colombian weed into the United States, making Santa Marta Gold a legend in the process — was one of the most famous pitchmen in the U.S. before becoming an herbal entrepreneur and eventually getting busted by the Drug Enforcement Adminnistration. He became the longest-serving marijuana offender in U.S. history, serving more than 29 years in federal prison.

Over-Medicated America: How Big Pharma Greed Hooked The US

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 7, 2012 News

Created by: Medical Billing and Coding Online

Many of us are already familiar with how Big Pharma’s deep pockets and (thanks to the Supreme Court’s horrendous Citizens United decision) unlimited political contributions have helped keep cannabis illegal.

Some of us are aware that the pharmaceutical industry is, even as we speak, likely making a move to take over the medical marijuana industry, eliminate dispensaries, eliminate home-growing, eliminate cannabis flowers, and reduce “medical marijuana” to less effective, overpriced pills and potions.

But it’s even worse than that.

New Group Aims To Protect Medical Marijuana Patients’ Rights

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 7, 2012 Medical, News

NPRA

Advocates have formed a new Michigan-based medical marijuana coalition, the National Patients Rights Association (NPRA). The group said it will encourage legislators, prosecutors, and local governments to fully honor the decision of citizens who voted to legalize medical marijuana in 16 states and the District of Columbia.

Michigan, whose Medical Marihuana Act was approved by nearly two-thirds of voters (63 percent) in 2008, will be among the first states targeted by the NPRA.

The new group said it is “backed by patients, caregivers, businesses, and a range of other supporters.” The coalition said it “will work to broaden awareness, reach legislators in a targeted manner, and help mobilize patients and caregivers who are affected by these laws.”

Medical Marijuana Reduces Suicides: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 7, 2012 Medical, News

The Medical Cannabis Resource Center

Suicide rates among males are reduced by as much as 11 percent in medical marijuana states. Overall, suicide rates are 5 percent lower in MMJ states, according to a new study.

A new study suggests that legalizing medical marijuana lowers suicide rates by almost five percent.

The study, brought to you by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany, the same firm that recently found that legalizing medical marijuana was associated with fewer deaths on the highways — possibly because people use marijuana instead of drinking — is titled “High on Life? Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicide,” reports Christopher Shea at the Wall Street Journal.

“Using state-level data for the period 1990 through 2007, we estimate the effect of legalizing medical marijuana on suicide rates,” says the IZA Discussion Paper from January. “Our results suggest that the passage of a medical marijuana law is associated with an almost 5 percent reduction in the total suicide rate, an 11 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 20- through 29-year-old males, and a 9 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 30- through 39-year-old males.”

Citizens Urged To Report Dispensaries To IRS For Cash Rewards

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 6, 2012 Dispensaries, News

Rap Dictionary

The extremist anti-drug group Coalition for a Drug Free California (CDFC) has encouraged citizens from around the state and nation to become dispensary whistle-blowers.

“By simply reporting a pot store to the IRS, average citizens who are fed up with these domestic marijuana cartels can now fill out a very simple form,” said Dr. Paul Chabot, founder of the CDFC. “If the IRS takes action and fines the pot store, the whistle-blower, by law is entitled to a 30 percent cash award.”

CDFC points to a recent case in which the IRS took action against a pot store in northern California with a $2.4 million tax investigation.

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