| Caravan For Peace |
| Poet-turned-activist Javier Sicilia galvanized the Caravan For Peace, Justice and Dignity movement to end the Drug War in Mexico after his son was killed last year |
Unprecedented Coalition of NY Organizations to Welcome Caravan September 6-7 with Vigil-March, Press Conference at City Hall, Action at HSBC Bank, and More
Poet Javier Sicilia and Other Drug War Survivors Will Honor 60,000+ Lives Lost in Mexico and Demand Accountability for Wall Street’s Money Laundering for Drug Traffickers
The “Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity” will arrive in New York City Thursday, September 6, on its voyage across the United States calling for an end to the failed Drug War that has left more than 60,000 dead in Mexico in the last five years.
Poet and movement leader Javier Sicilia and other people from Mexico who have lost loved ones in the Drug War have joined with Americans impacted by the War On Drugs to travel more than 6,000 miles together through more than 25 cities — including Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago — before arriving in Washington, D.C., on September 10th.
Several New York-based organizations, including the Drug Policy Alliance, YoSoy132NY, New Sanctuary Movement-NY, CUNY Institute of Mexican Studies, Make the Road New York, Occupy Wall Street, Women on the Rise Telling HerStory, VOCAL-NY and others will welcome the Caravan when it arrives on Thursday by holding a candlelight vigil to commemorate drug war victims in both countries.
The final cut of the new marijuana infomercial, Should Grandma Smoke Pot? has been released and is now available for public viewing (see video above).
Produced by famous smuggler/author/activist Robert Platshorn and the award-winning filmmaker Walter J. Collins, Should Grandma Smoke Pot?, this made-for-TV version of Platshorn’s Silver Tour stuns viewers with medical and legal facts long kept from the public.
Platshorn’s Silver Tour teaches seniors the benefits of medical marijuana, and has drawn worldwide praise, been featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, featured on CNN Money, praised by Newsweek‘s Daily Beast, and coming soon to The Daily Show. He is the author of the autobiography Black Tuna Diaries and is featured in the smuggling documentary Square Grouper.
Hip hop artist Prince Ea has released an epic new 8-minute song, “Smoking Weed With The President,” which is both cannabis history lesson and a personal plea for President Barack Obama to end the insane War On Marijuana and its users.
| The Right Kind Of Brownies |
| Prince Ea’s new song “Smoking Weed With The President” is both a history lesson and a call to action |
In the amazingly adroit lyrics, Prince Ea delves into the history of how marijuana became illegal in the first place, with the lies, racism and political opportunism of Harry J. Anslinger, the infamous head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the architect of cannabis prohibition. The Marijuana Tax Act, effectively the beginning of cannabis prohibition in the United States, was approved by Congress at Anslinger’s urging in 1937.
The song outlines the harms of drug prohibition — violence, cartel profits and mass incarceration — and the benefits of legalization.
“In just this one song, Prince Ea summarizes a book’s worth of information into a clear and powerful argument against marijuana prohibition,” said Tony Newman, director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance.
| Tom Perkins/AnnArbor.com |
| Neighbors have complained that the smell of marijuana coming from 1397 Crestwood Street in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan |
A flag bearing a marijuana leaf flew for months above the Michigan home of Michael Engle. And for almost that entire time, Engle’s neighbors have been complaining about the “intense” odor of cannabis emanating from his home in Ypsilanti Township.
City officials said they aren’t sure how much marijuana Engle is growing in his home, or whether he’s processing it, but neighbors said they are fed up with the strong cannabis odor, which they claim has made them physically sick and prevents them from opening their windows, reports Tom Perkins at AnnArbor.com.
| Katie Euphrat/KPBS |
| Mother Earth Healing Co-operative co-founder Bob Riedel: “The loss of this facility today is a real tragedy for those patients who turned to us to help relieve the pain and suffering associated with treatments for life threatening cancers and other conditions” |
Thousands of medical marijuana patients lose access to medical marijuana as U.S. Attorney forces eviction of San Diego County’s only licensed dispensary, Mother Earth Alternative Healing Coop, Inc.
The only licensed medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego County, California — Mother Earth Alternative Healing Coop, Inc. — was forced to close its doors and cease operations Tuesday a a result of the U.S. Attorney’s office pressure to force its eviction.
The El Cajon facility said it had served thousands of medical marijuana patients since it opened in July 2011, and had complied with all state and local laws, even the very restrictive policies adopted by San Diego County. It was cited as a model operation and was lauded by many as completely fulfilling the intent of California voters who approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.
“The loss of this facility today is a real tragedy for those patients who turned to us to help relieve the pain and suffering associated with treatments for life threatening cancers and other conditions,” said Bob Riedel of Mother Earth, Inc. “This is a sad day for them and a sad day for those who believe that the federal government has overstepped its bounds in pursuing a dubious course of action to close facilities that are legal under current state law.
| No On I-502 |
By Ezra Eickmeyer
The sponsor of I-502, New Approach Washington, in collusion with Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger, have been accusing the medical cannabis community of opposing Initiative 502 because of greed.
So, let’s say for the sake of argument that everyone who provides cannabis to patients was just a greedy capitalist trying to get a million bucks. We all know that is NOT the truth at all, but just humor me for a moment.
Their current “market” consists of medical patients ONLY, no more than 160,000 people, but very likely less. Considering that these patients are mostly in the Puget Sound region, we estimate that about 2 to 4 percent of the population either has become or will become a patient.
I-502, assuming the feds don’t trample it, would open up the market to everyone over 21, or close to 5 million people, of which 10 to 30 percent are likely customers. That seems like a huge increase from 2-4% of the population. I can be bad at math and almost flunked trig in school, but I think 502 would potentially provide a 250 percent to 700+ percent increase in the size of the state’s legal cannabis “market.”
| Information Liberation |
| Trail of blood on Phyllis Loquasto’s stairs after her beloved dog “Duke” was shot by WayneNET Task Force officers |
Hacktivist Collective Responds To Drug Raid In Which 75-Year-Old Forced To Lie On Floor At Gunpoint As Her Dog Was Executed
Earlier this month, when police held a 75-year-old woman at gunpoint and killed her dog, lots of us in the marijuana community were horrified, appalled and outraged. The disgusting, terroristic tactics of would-be Rambos on over-funded, over-armed, over-enthusiastic redneck local drug task forces is enough to make anybody want to throw up.
Some, however, have more means at their disposal to express their disapproval of such jack-booted thug tactics.
Members of the online activist collective Team Vendetta on Monday afternoon took down he website of the Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Team, “doxing” the entire task force team (gleaning their personal information from the site) and posting online the information of the top three men in charge of the team.
The widespread disgust was due to a botched drug raid during which Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies, along with Macedon Police officers, broke into 75-year-old Phyllis Loquasto’s home in Walworth, New York, forced her at gunpoint to lie on her bathroom floor, screamed at her to close her eyes and stay down, then executed her dog, “Duke,” by shooting him.
| All photos by Sharon Letts |
| Sharon Letts uses one big handful of fresh chopped leaves per one glass of purchased green drink to make a healing smoothie |
By Sharon Letts
As detailed in my last essay, a spider-web-like mass found in my right breast during both a mammogram and ultrasound found me looking at a biopsy for possible Lobular Carcinoma.
In the past month pending the biopsy I began upping my ingesting of cannabis in tinctures, oil, and raw leaves.
The morning of the biopsy I ingested a tablespoon of infused honey tincture, rather than the usual “Valium” needed for my “medical procedure phobias,” as I’m replacing most everything I can these days with the green.
I was completely relaxed as the technician rolled the ultrasound’s magic wand around my breast, thinking to myself, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if the minimal amount ingested was enough to make that spider-web disappear?” As I lay there further telling myself, “Too good to be true, not going to happen to me,” the technician informs, “I can’t seem to find it.”
| Mario Piperni dot Com |
| What I learned from watching the Republican Convention was that nowadays you can basically lie about anything as long as the market can tolerate the bullshit |
By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
Boy Howdy… Are we fucked!
What I learned from watching the Republican Convention was that nowadays you can basically lie about anything as long as the market can tolerate the bullshit. In the past, the market stood for facts, common sense and what we could logically bear as a society. Now the market is based on how much bullshit you can get the American people to accept before their heads overload and explode.
Take American Idol. It was almost a new religion when it premiered in 2002. Now it’s like an elderly third cousin who needs a place to crash for a night or a year. When the American people have had enough of something they let you go quick the way the Church of Scientology jettisons a fanatic parishioner who talks to the press.
And don’t expect any apology.
See, I don’t care about the lies told at the RNC. They’re on the record but it doesn’t matter. You could tell the American people that cannabis cures cancer but they won’t believe it until they heard from someone they trust like Dr. Oz or Matt Lauer.
What I do care about are the innocent people who get hurt in the process? I care about my friends, the growers of Northern California.
Did I mention we’re fucked?
Sorry for the crassness but I’m beyond angry. I’m motivated.
| The Weed Blog |
By Anthony Martinelli
Communications Director
Washington state’s Initiative 502 has caused a heated debate within the cannabis community. Individuals who would have never imagined themselves opposing a “legalization” measure, have found themselves adamantly and publicly opposed to this initiative.
Both sides of the debate have merit.
On one end, the initiative is filled with unnecessary flaws – it retains cannabis as a Schedule I drug – it leaves activities such as passing a joint as felony charges – it creates new criminal penalties for patients in the form of an unwarranted per se DUID limit – et cetera
That being said, there are arguments in support of this measure that also hold validity – the issue of public perception on the national level, for example – and of course arrest protection for up to an ounce of cannabis seems beneficial.