"Seventy-nine years ago today, Utah, of all states, delivered the killing blow that brought the national prohibition of alcohol to an end. In honor of Repeal Day -- and with an eye on what may be the early stages of an end to the war on marijuana -- here's a flashback to December 1933, as prohibitionists watched their achievement crumble." Continue reading →
"A small shop in St. Paul received a visit from a bureaucrat after some nervous nellie saw the candy cigarettes being sold in the store and proceeded to contact the authorities. A city inspector showed up and ordered the items to be removed from the retail floor, and the shop owner was threatened with further fines if there were further complaints. Indeed, we live in a land where baby milk formula is loaded with genetically modified soy, corn syrup, sugars, vegetable oil, corn maltodextrin, soybean oil, and other toxins produced by the industrial system. But those fake Camels with little pink tips that children play with so they can make fun of adults are the problem." Continue reading →
"California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) came out in favor of fully legalizing marijuana and regulating the drug like alcohol, even though he opposed legalization in 2010. The story went on to describe how many Californians think of marijuana like a cocktail, and how many affluent professionals even offer it to guests at dinner parties as part of local custom. It concludes with one final quote from the man widely expected to top the ticket of Democratic challengers to Gov. Jerry Brown in 2014: 'These laws just don’t make sense anymore. It’s time for politicians to come out of the closet on this.'" Continue reading →
"While the state of Colorado recently voted in favor of the ballot initiative Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana, a few counties don’t want the resulting plant growing operations in their backyards. Douglas County, where a majority of residents voted against Amendment 64, passed a ban on commercial marijuana growing operations to take effect Dec. 27, although private citizens can still have a few plants themselves. Another county, Weld, will likely have the same ban in place in January. 'That’s a revenue source that we’re not interested in having here,' Wendy Holmes, a spokesperson for Douglas County, told the paper." Continue reading →
"Lawyers for Oakland pointed out in a court filing Tuesday that, while marijuana is regarded by federal law as a controlled substance with no medicinal value, the U.S. government’s own patents and research claim otherwise. One 2009 patent application, for instance, extols the pain-relieving and 'healing properties' of marijuana. The government’s own 2003 patent discusses the usefulness of 'cannabinoids' in treating 'ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases' as well as 'Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.' In July, the National Institutes of Health licensed the rights of the latter patent." Continue reading →
The 'war on drugs' is a narcotics price support program and a public works project for the coercive sector (especially the prison-industrial complex). It also provides an apparently bottomless well of revenue to fund the projects in subversion and state terrorism carried out by the CIA and its affiliates. Investigators like John McLaughlin are rewarded for gathering up huge volumes of tiny fish – and severely punished when they disturb any of the politically protected barracudas." Continue reading →
"In California, the battle between federal and state authorities over legal marijuana is coming to a head in a high-profile legal challenge. Our report comes from special correspondent Jake Schoneker of Media Enterprise Alliance, a PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab based in Oakland, Calif." Continue reading →
"The Berlin Wall of pot prohibition seems to be crumbling before our eyes. By fully legalizing marijuana through direct democracy, Colorado and Washington have fundamentally changed the national conversation about cannabis. As many as 58 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be legal. And our political establishment is catching on. Encouraged by the example of Colorado and Oregon, states across the country are debating the merits of treating marijuana less like crystal meth and more like Jim Beam. Here are the next seven states most likely to legalize it." Continue reading →
"Some new science demonstrates that marijuana may not have the harmful effects critics claim. In fact, while pot had no measured impact in a new study, the very legal and very lucratively-marketed substance alcohol actually has a worse health impact on young users. Specifically, a new study of substance-using teenagers' brains shows that the regular use of alcohol had a harmful effect on the boozing group, while the toking-up group's brains suffered little alteration." Continue reading →
"Director of the Caribbean Drug and Alcohol Research Institute Dr Marcus Day believes the time has come for regional governments to legalise marijuana to counteract the spread of HIV. 'Cannabis actually keeps viral progression down in a body. If you are HIV positive and you are not on medication, smoking cannabis is actually therapeutic, and that's science, not people's opinion,' he said. Day believes HIV patients — especially those not on anti-retroviral drugs — should be allowed to ingest marijuana as a tea or in pastry such as brownies. Statistics show that approximately 30% of those living with HIV in the Caribbean are not on any type of treatment." Continue reading →