| Graphic: KTVQ |
A Montana Senate committee has deadlocked on a tie vote, failing to endorse a bill that would have repealed the state’s medical marijuana law.
The Senate Judiciary Committee locked up 6-6 on a motion to pass House Bill 161, by House Speaker Mike Milburn (R-Cascade), to repeal the law passed by 62 percent of voters in 2004, reports The Missoulian. The repeal bill, which removes safe access to cannabis for thousands of seriously ill patients in Montana, passed the House earlier this session.
| Photo: Henry Diltz |
Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.Worth Repeating
By Ron Marczyk, R.N.
Health Education Teacher (Retired)
Did you see the medicinal cannabis science report in The New York Times on February 16?
In summary, the report says the great sense of euphoria and calm that many people report experiencing after prolonged exercise (“the runner’s high”) is not so much governed by the endorphins as “now an emerging field of neuroscience indicates that an altogether different neurochemical system within the body and brain, the endocannabinoid system, may be responsible for that feeling” of “pure happiness, elation, a feeling of unity with one’s self and/or nature, endless peacefulness,” and “inner harmony.”
I have always been fascinated by how exercise and positive mood states go together. Having a master’s degree in exercise physiology and cardiac rehabilitation, being a runner for 45 years, and as a rock climber with a background in Zen, I feel qualified to discuss how the endocannabinoid system can be activated by exercise and/or THC ingestion.
With a recent Quinnipiac University poll showing overwhelming 79 percent support for medical marijuana, the Legislature and governor appear poised to reform cannabis laws in Connecticut.
A hearing began on Monday to discuss legalizing marijuana for people with serious medical problems and decriminalizing small amounts of it for recreational users, reports Jeff Stoecker at NBC Connecticut.
“Our state should not encourage illegal drug possession and use; however, possession of small amounts of illicit substances and related paraphernalia for personal use should not leave a person with a life-long criminal record,” said Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, a Democrat who represents New Haven and Hamden, of the decrim bill.
| Graphic: Prohibition’s End |
“Next Steps for Marijuana Reform in California,” a day-long gathering of marijuana reform advocates, will be Saturday, March 19 at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Hollywood.
In the wake of Proposition 19’s strong showing at the polls last year, this conference will address ongoing efforts to end failed marijuana prohibition in California, steps to reform the state’s medical marijuana laws, and priorities for marijuana reform in the coming years.
The conference is presented by California NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, Americans for Safe Access, and VibeNation MultiMedia.
| Photo: San Francisco Chronicle |
| Owsley Stanley spent his life avoiding photos. This one was taken at a 1967 arraignment for LSD. |
Owsley “Bear” Stanley, a 1960s counterculture figure who became the official acid chemist for the Grateful Dead and who flooded the hippie scene with powerful LSD, died in a car crash in his adopted home country of Australia on Thursday, according to his family. He was 76.
Born Augustus Owsley Stanley III, the eccentric grandson and namesake of a former governor of Kentucky helped create the psychedelic era by producing more than a million doses of LSD at his labs in San Francisco’s Bay Area, reports Reuters.
“He made acid so pure and wonderful that people like Jimi Hendrix wrote hit songs about it and others named their band in hits honor, former rock and roll tour manager Sam Cutler wrote in his 2008 memoirs, You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
| Graphic: Reality Catcher |
Maine lawmakers have introduced a pair of bills, LD 754 and LD 750, to expand the state’s existing marijuana decriminalization law.
Under present law, adult possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana is a non-criminal offense punishable by a fine only.
LD 754 would change existing law so that adult possession of more than 2.5 but less than five ounces is classified as a civil violation.
LD 750 would change existing law so that the cultivation of up to six marijuana plants by an adult is also classified as a civil violation.
Both measures have been referred to the Joint Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, which has scheduled a hearing on both bills for Thursday, March 17.
The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. in Room 436 of the State House on State Street in Augusta.
Every Maine resident has the right to testify at this hearing.
You don’t need to be an expert or an experienced pubic speaker — just come and speak your mind.
| Photo: Chicago Sun-Times |
| ESPN talk radio personality Harry Teinowitz, seen here in his booking mug shot, had “fresh marijuana residue” on his shirt when he was stopped for drunk driving, according to police |
Sports talk radio personality Harry Teinowitz of ESPN had fresh marijuana residue on his shirt when he was charged March 4 with driving under the influence, according to police.
Teinowitz’s arrest report was released this week by Skokie, Illinois authorities, reports Mike Isaacs at the Chicago Sun-Times. The arrest led to an on-the-air apology from Teinowitz, who was suspended from his job on ESPN Radio’s WMVP-AM (1000).
The broadcaster was not charged with marijuana possession, but police claimed there was a strong odor of pot coming from his car when he was pulled over on Greenwood Avenue in Skokie. He also reportedly had a strong smell of alcohol coming from his breath, and failed all sobriety tests.
When asked by police about the pot smell, Teinowitz said the car was recently parked by a valet and those who parked his vehicle must have smoked pot in it, police said. Officers searched Teinowitz for marijuana and noticed the residue on his shirt, according to the police report.
| Graphic: Menopausal Stoners |
Medical marijuana has the support of a whopping 79 percent of Connecticut voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday. The poll, which also showed strong support for cannabis decriminalization, comes as state legislators consider medical marijuana and decrim bills.
Support for medical marijuana was above 70 percent in every demographic, with even 72 percent of Republicans favoring it, reports Phillip S. Smith at AlterNet.
“There is a near consensus on the medical marijuana law with about eight in 10 voters supporting it,” said Dr. Douglas Schwartz, Quinnipiac poll director. “it’s rare to see such a level of support for any issue.”
| Photo: News By The Second |
A bill cracking down on driving while high on marijuana cleared its first hurdle at the Colorado state Capitol on Thursday.
House Bill 1261 would set a limit of five nanograms per milliliter of blood, above which a person would be considered too stoned to legally drive, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. Bill supporters tried to equate the five-nanogram THC limit to the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level that determines driving when drunk.
“If you test above that limit, you would be guilty of the misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs,” said Rep. Claire Levy (D-Boulder), who is one of the bill’s sponsors.
| Photo: Nogales Police Department |
| Nogales, Arizona public works employees pulled two bales of marijuana connected to 900 feet of rope from this manhole on Wednesday |
Police said public works employees hauled out an estimated 39 pounds of marijuana while investigating a clogged sewer line in Nogales, Arizona on Wednesday.
Workers in the southern Arizona city, near the Mexico border, found two wet, feces-covered bales of marijuana tied to a rope feeding into the sewer system, reports Hank Stephenson at the Nogales International.
The bales, tied with about 900 feet and rope, were hauled out through a manhole on Hudgins Street. The sewer line from which the pot was removed feeds into the International Outflow Interceptor (IOI) from the Heroes neighborhood in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. A search of the Rio Rico sewer plant, where the IOI ends, “didn’t turn up any more drugs,” a Nogales Police Department spokesman said.
Police Lt. Carlos Jiminez said it’s the first time they’ve discovered bales of marijuana tied to a rope that they believe smugglers were trying to maneuver through the sewer line, reports The Associated Press.