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Teen Marijuana Use Continues To Rise

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 14, 2010 Culture, News

For the second year in a row, more American teens use marijuana than use tobacco.

More American Teens Use Cannabis Than Tobacco For Second Year In A Row

Marijuana use by 8th, 10th and 12th grade students increased in 2010, with more American teenagers now using marijuana than cigarettes for the second year in a row. According to government figures released Tuesday, 21.4 percent of high school seniors used marijuana in the last 30 days, while 19.2 percent had used cigarettes.

“It’s really no surprise that more American teenagers are using marijuana and continue to say it’s easy to get,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “Our government has spent decades refusing to regulate marijuana in order to keep it out of the hands of drug dealers who aren’t required to check customer ID and have no qualms about selling marijuana to young people.”

LA May Amend Ordinance To Allow More Cannabis Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Medical Marijuana Blog

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday will consider amending its medical marijuana ordinance, because one of its obscure provisions unexpectedly disqualified 140 cannabis dispensaries from continuing operations, leaving only 40 shops.

When the council approved the ordinance last spring, it allowed up to 180 dispensaries — those that had registered with the city before a moratorium was imposed in 2007 — to stay open, if they were at least 1,000 feet from homes, schools, religious institutions and other dispensaries, reports NBC Los Angeles.

Father Lights Joint To Celebrate Baby’s Birth; Gets Arrested

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Daily Mail

A new father in Pennsylvania is facing marijuana charges after he lit up a joint — instead of a cigar — to celebrate his child’s birth at Uniontown Hospital Tuesday morning.

Police didn’t release the man’s name, but said he was found smoking pot in the designated smoking area of the hospital, reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He will face marijuana charges, according to authorities.

A nurse smelled the marijuana when she took a cigarette break in the same area. She said she saw two men in the smoking area, but did not see either smoking cannabis.

A hospital security guard called police about 3:20 (oh man, not 4:20?) a.m., according to Uniontown Police Sgt. Jonathan Grabiak.

Medical Marijuana Bill Could Re-Emerge In Maryland

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 19, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Blog

Republican state Senator David Brinkley wants to renew efforts to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland. Brinkley said if he is reelected, he will introduce a bill that would not only protect medical marijuana patients from arrest, but would also address the issue of providing authorized patients with safe access to cannabis, rather than forcing them to obtain it on the black market.

A similar bill passed the Maryland Senate last session, but failed in the House of Delegates, reports Arlene Borenstein at NBC Washington.

Defendants charged with use or possession of marijuana can argue medical need as a mitigating factor in their sentencing under Maryland’s current “affirmative defense” law. But judges can still fine patients $100, even if medical necessity is proven.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Supports Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 18, 2010 Legislation, News

Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders said Sunday that she supports legalizing marijuana.

“What I think is horrible about all of this, is that we criminalize young people,” Elders said, reports CNN. “And we use so many of our excellent resources… for things that aren’t really causing any problems.”

Californians vote in two weeks on Proposition 19, a ballot initiative to legalize, regulate and tax cannabis. The measure would effectively legalize adult recreational marijuana use in the state, though federal officials including Attorney General Eric Holder have claimed they would continue to enforce marijuana laws in California even if voters approve the initiative.

N.J. Medical Marijuana Rules Doom Patients To Weak Weed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 7, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: Cafe Press

The New Jersey Health Department on Wednesday night released 97 pages of rules for what patients, advocates and lawmakers are describing as one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country.

In an extreme bonehead move, the state limited the potency of cannabis to just 10 percent THC, according to the rules. This means that New Jersey medical marijuana patients must deal with marijuana that is only half the potency of top-shelf medical cannabis in other states.

Patients must have one of nine diseases or conditions, and their authorizing doctors must have been treating them for at least a year or have seen them four times, and be willing to certify that traditional forms of relief have failed, reports Susan K. Livio of NJ.com.

Canadian Medical Pot User Lights Up In House Of Commons

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 5, 2010 Global, Medical

Photo: CTV News

Samuel Mellace holds up the joint he smoked in Canada’s House of Commons on Parliment Hill in Ottawa, Monday, October 4.

It smelled good in Canada’s Parliament on Monday. A medical marijuana patient lit up a joint in the House of Commons to protest what he called unfair rules set by Health Canada.

Samuel Mellace, who lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, is a licensed cannabis user under the Canadian federal government’s medical marijuana program, reports Meagan Fitzpatrick of Postmedia News. He started smoking a joint Monday afternoon while in the public gallery of the House of Commons as the daily question period came to an end.

Marijuana: Fight Back With The Facts

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 12, 2010 Culture

Photo: Buzzle.com

I’ve been smoking marijuana for 33 years — since I was 17.

Coming of age in Alabama in the 1970s as a cannabis user, I learned one thing very clearly by getting busted for pot five times by the time I was 25 years old:

I don’t like the laws against marijuana.

They’re dumb, they don’t work, they don’t keep anyone who wants cannabis from getting it, and they destroy people’s lives for no good reason.

I decided to fight back with the facts.

New Study Shows Marijuana Effective In Reducing Pain

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 30, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Chris Jackson/Montreal Gazette

Canadian Researchers Establish Scientific Basis For Medical Use Of Cannabis

There’s now more scientific evidence for what many patients have known for awhile: Smoking marijuana can ease chronic neuropathic pain and help patients sleep better, according to a team of researchers in Montreal.

The new study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that pain intensity among patients decreased with higher-potency marijuana, reports Caroline Alphonso of The Globe and Mail. The study represents an important scientific attempt to determine the medicinal benefits of cannabis.

“A single inhalation of 25 mg of 9.4 percent tetrahydrocannabinol herbal cannabis three times daily for five days reduced the intensity of pain, improved sleep and was well tolerated,” the study concludes. “Further long-term safety and efficacy studies are indicated.”

Obama, Bush Drug Czars Team Up Against Prop 19

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 25, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: The Straits Times

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske has joined with the past five Drug Czars under Bush and Clinton administrations to fight against marijuana legalization under Prop 19 in California.

What do you get when you put six Drug Czars together? Same old bullshit, except more of it.

It was probably inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any less deplorable. Obama Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske has joined forces with five past directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, including czars who served under Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush, against California’s marijuana legalization voter initiative, Proposition 19.

You would think that six so-called “drug experts” working together could come up with better-reasoned arguments against Prop 19 than these tired old talking points by tired old bureaucrats.

Not that anybody’s surprised that Kerlikowske, and by extension, the Obama Administration, opposes pot legalization. Gil’s already helpfully let us know that legalization isn’t in his vocabulary.

“No country in the world has legalized marijuana to the extent envisioned by Proposition 19, so it is impossible to predict precisely the consequences of wholesale legalization,” write Kerlikowske, John Walters, Barry McCaffrey, Lee Brown, Bob Martinez and William Bennett in an August 25 Los Angeles Times op-ed piece.

Of course, “no country in the world” had tried representative democracy “to the extent envisioned” by our Founding Fathers, either, but we didn’t let that stop us, did we?

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