ANOTHER DEFEAT FOR RIGHT WING STUPIDITY; ANOTHER VICTORY FOR MEDICAL MARIJAUNA PATIENTS

Of course you know I am in favor of the legalization of Marijuana. Not ALL drugs right-wingers, so calm the hell down. I have been a medical MJ patient, and I believe people would benefit from the use of herb. My parents were Cutty Sark Scotch addicts (alcoholics) they never left home without it. Whether we were heading to South Carolina, or Wisconsin, or wherever, that damn green bottle with the yellow label came with. No wonder I have had problems with alcohol.

Another comment: My mother was an individual that could have used marijuana. For instance, if she would have just smoked a joint instead of drinking, maybe she would not have slammed my head against walls so often. Maybe she wouldn't have pulled my hair out in tufts. Maybe she wouldn't have beat me and my sister with sticks or belts or hairbrushes or shoes. Maybe she wouldn't have slapped me in my pre-adolescent face so often. And Daddy-o, you lazy bastard, maybe if you smoked a little weed you would have insisted ole Barbara gotten some psychological counseling. Surely after your wife violently attacked your daughter at the dinner table that night when she was in 7th grade (but truth be told it was just another incident in a long line of years of out of control behavior by our mother and father)....and what did you do Stanny? Sit and watch and plaintively whine, "Barbaraaa."


Yes, my parents should have smoked weed, but they were all about obeying the law, except, of course, when it came to beating up their children.


Legalize it, period.

From the Philly Inquirer, Josh Meyer, L.A. Times, author


U.S. eases prosecutions on medical marijuana


WASHINGTON - The Obama administration told federal authorities yesterday not to arrest or prosecute medical-marijuana users and suppliers, paving the way for some states to move forward with plans to create officially sanctioned dispensaries to provide the drug as relief for a series of maladies.


The move by the Justice Department ended months of uncertainty over how far the Obama White House planned to go in reversing the Bush administration's stance on the issue, which held that authorities should continue to enforce federal drug laws even in states with medical-marijuana laws on the books


In new guidelines circulated yesterday, the Justice Department told prosecutors and federal drug agents that they had more important things to do than to arrest people as long as they were obeying the laws of states that allow some use or sale of medical marijuana.

In new guidelines circulated yesterday, the Justice Department told prosecutors and federal drug agents that they had more important things to do than to arrest people as long as they were obeying the laws of states that allow some use or sale of medical marijuana.


The move clarifies what some critics had said was an ambiguous position of the Obama administration, especially in California, where authorities raided numerous clinics and made arrests over the years. Some of those raids followed Obama's inauguration in January, after, as a presidential candidate, he had pledged to stop them.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups welcomed the move as an important step toward a comprehensive national policy on medical marijuana because it will allow states to implement their own laws without fear of interference from the federal government.


In all, 13 states have some form of medical-marijuana laws. But some, like New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Michigan, have been reluctant to implement programs amid fears they would be struck down by courts or shut by authorities, said Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU's California-based Drug Law Reform Project.

In New Jersey, the state Senate approved a medical-marijuana bill in February, with bipartisan support. An amended version, tightened to address concerns that marijuana could become too readily available, awaits a floor vote in the state Assembly. If approved, it would return to the Senate for a second vote. Gov. Corzine has said he would sign the bill if the Legislature approves it.


Under the amended bill, the state would issue identification cards to patients diagnosed with a "debilitating medical condition." Those patients would be permitted to obtain marijuana from authorized nonprofit alternative-treatment centers, in person or via courier or delivery.
Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, which favors medical marijuana, said of yesterday's Justice Department move: "We're thrilled.. . . We think it bodes very well for the future of medical marijuana in New Jersey."

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the new guidelines were adopted, in part, because federal law enforcement agencies had limited resources and need them for more pressing priorities. One of those priorities is countering the spread of violent Mexican drug cartels, which use the vast profits from their marijuana sales in the United States to support other crimes, the guidelines say.


The new guidelines stress that authorities should go after those who improperly abuse or obtain medical marijuana or use clinics as a cover for drug dealing and other illegal activity.
In particular, the Justice memo urges authorities to pursue cases that involve violence, illegal use of firearms, sale of marijuana to minors, excessive financial gains, and ties to criminal enterprises.

The change in policy was criticized by many law enforcement advocates, and some conservative groups and members of Congress. (who gives a shit? that's my comment, not the author's)
Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the decision undermined the administration's get-tough plan to attack the Mexican cartels, which he said were fueling drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

One comment regarding Lamar Smith of Texas, in the Pacific Northwest, at least on the wet side of the mountains, all of our herb is local, it doesn't come from a Mexican cartel. We here in the PacNorth believe in local sustainability, supporting our local farmers, microbrewers, and small businesses, and smoking only the best around...

Peace-take care, HEALTH CARE FOR ALL NOW!
Mike

COMMON SENSE BEGINGING TO REAR ITS HEAD REGARDING INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY?

As most of you know, I am for the legalization of marijuana. The following is from the HuffPo, it is in regards to the UN's drug report that praises Portugal's switch from incarceration of addicts to treatment. It makes sense, then we can have room for real criminals like Chris Flanagin, (chris@thurmanbishop.com Thurman and Bishop, Arkansas Community Foundation.)

Make no mistake: I am for the complete outlawing of hard drugs such as Cocaine, Meth, Heroin, Alcohol. (I know we already tried that, so I can hang that one up. However, Alcohol is the TRUE gateway drug.) Marijuana is a "soft" drug, with little or no collateral consequence, unlike Alcohol, which kills upward of 100,000 Americans yearly, and that statistic does not include deaths by vehicles. So onward Searchers, it is time for the legalization of marijuana, and a sea change in our Hemp production policy...Peace, I think I'll go smoke! From HuffPo:


UN Backs Drug Decriminalization In World Drug Report

In an about face, the United Nations on Wednesday lavishly praised drug decriminalization in its annual report on the state of global drug policy. In previous years, the UN drug czar had expressed skepticism about Portugal's decriminalization, which removed criminal penalties in 2001 for personal drug possession and emphasized treatment over incarceration. The UN had suggested the policy was in violation of international drug treaties and would encourage "drug tourism."

But in its 2009 World Drug Report, the UN had little but kind words for Portugal's radical (by U.S. standards) approach. "These conditions keep drugs out of the hands of those who would avoid them under a system of full prohibition, while encouraging treatment, rather than incarceration, for users. Among those who would not welcome a summons from a police officer are tourists, and, as a result, Portugal's policy has reportedly not led to an increase in drug tourism," reads the report. "It also appears that a number of drug-related problems have decreased."

In its upbeat appraisal of Portugal's policy, the UN finds itself in agreement with Salon's Glenn Greenwald.

The report, released at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., also puts to rest concerns that decriminalization doesn't comply with international treaties, which prevent countries from legalizing drugs.

U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske is scheduled to appear at the announcement of the report. (He has said "decriminalization" is not "in my vocabulary.")

"The International Narcotics Control Board was initially apprehensive when Portugal changed its law in 2001 (see their annual report for that year), but after a mission to Portugal in 2004, it "noted that the acquisition, possession and abuse of drugs had remained prohibited," and said "the practice of exempting small quantities of drugs from criminal prosecution is consistent with the international drug control treaties," reads a footnote to the report.

The UN report also dives head first into the debate over full drug legalization. Last year's World Drug Report ignored the issue entirely, save for a reference to Chinese opium policy in the 19th Century.

This year's report begins with a lengthy rebuttal of arguments in favor of legalization. "Why unleash a drug epidemic in the developing world for the sake of libertarian arguments made by a pro-drug lobby that has the luxury of access to drug treatment?" argues the report.
But the UN also makes a significant concession to backers of legalization, who have long argued that it is prohibition policies that lead to violence and the growth of shadowy, underground networks.

"In the Preface to the report," reads the press release accompanying the report, "[UN Office of Drugs and Crime Executive Director Antonio Maria] Costa explores the debate over repealing drug controls. He acknowledges that controls have generated an illicit black market of macro-economic proportions that uses violence and corruption."
Jack Cole, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and a retired undercover narcotics detective, objected to the report's classification of current policy as "control."

"The world's 'drug czar,' Antonio Maria Costa, would have you believe that the legalization movement is calling for the abolition of drug control," he said. "Quite the contrary, we are demanding that governments replace the failed policy of prohibition with a system that actually regulates and controls drugs, including their purity and prices, as well as who produces them and who they can be sold to. You can't have effective control under prohibition, as we should have learned from our failed experiment with alcohol in the U.S. between 1920 and 1933."

Again, it is time for the legalization of marijuana, but I do want you to pay close attention to the ridiculous statement by the U.S. "drug czar" :"decriminalization is not in my vocabulary." Maybe our "drug czar" needs to be shitcanned so he can go back to fifth-grade vocab class.

Peace!

"OH YOU DON'T NEED METH AND YOU DON'T NEED SPEED CAUSE EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH A BAG OF WEED"

This episode of the Family Guy came on in April, on the 20th, it was replayed on Fox tonight, in celebration of all things herbage. I had to post it, there is no sense in hiding who I am. As I become more and more involved in policy in the United States, I am not going to sell out as some have tried to entice me to do. (Patrick Henry Flanagin, (D) Forrest City, AR.)

Regarding the issues I hold dear, the issues that affect my family and thousands if not millions of others, passion is me and I am passion.

I am for the legalization Marijuana. Hard drugs must be focused on, drugs like Meth, Cocaine, Heroin and alcohol. Marijuana is simply not on the same level as these others, and Pot contributes to far less horror, tragedy, depression and death as oh, I don't know, a legal drug such as Alcohol.

100,000 die in the U.S. from Alcohol every year, and that DOES NOT include car wrecks.

The foolishness regarding the obsolete policies of the vilification of hemp and marijuana have to be addressed and cast aside. They simply do not measure up to the science. This is just another addition of things on my plate. Enjoy, Searchers, and remember:

"A bag of weed, a bag of weed, everything's better with a bag of weed!"



Oh, and I wanted to point out that the border of the vid is green Ha,Ha...





peace, Love y'all

*update* I changed the title of this post, cause I wanted to.