marijuana

 

CBC News

Long-held fears that the use of marijuana will lead to harder drugs are overblown, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire.

The research, in the September issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that other factors, such as whether or not a person has a job, or is facing severe stress, are far more predictive of future hard drug use than whether they smoked pot as a teenager.

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By MINDELLE JACOBS, QMI Agency

 

The federal government has it half right. We have a drug problem. But it’s not marijuana, which has never killed anyone. It’s the abuse of prescription drugs which kills hundreds of Canadians annually.

 

Whether it’s because of ongoing pain, depression or the urge to get high, more and more people are heading to their doctors — not the neighbourhood pusher — for a fix.

 

As the International Narcotics Control Board noted in its 2009 annual report, the abuse of prescription drugs in North America is second only to the abuse of cannabis.

 

We love our pills. North America has the world’s highest consumption of prescription opioids, such as OxyContin, and we’re gobbling them up faster than ever. Read more »

By. Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian

 

Peter Lewis, the billionaire chairman of Progressive Auto Insurance, is back dabbling in Oregon politics. He recently gave $12,800 for the November ballot measure allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon.

 

Given his past enthusiasm for pro-marijuana causes, it wouldn't be surprising if this isn't a down-payment for the Measure 74 campaign. Lewis and two of his fellow billionaires - currency trader George Soros and Phoenix University founder John Sterling - bankrolled the 1998 ballot measure allowing medicinal marijuana use.

 

In fact, that was just one of four medical marijuana measures passed that year thanks to the financial backing from the trio through their group, Americans for Medical Rights.

 

Lewis was also a big supporter of the Marijuana Policy Project, which sought to legalize the drug. If you can believe celebstoner.com (I confess a lack of familiarity with this segment of the news media), Lewis contributed some $40 million to the group over the course of a decade before having a falling-out with the organization earlier this year. Read more »

By. Robert Boyd

 

New this fall The University of Arkansas has decided to equalize penalties when it comes to marijuana and alcohol possession on campus.

 

Last year a misdemeanor pot possession, which consists of an ounce or less, resulted in a mental health evaluation, 50 hours community service, suspended parking privileges for one year, one year probation and a $200 fine.

 

Students for Sensible Drug Policy have been working for the past year to reduce that penalty to the same as a misdemeanor alcohol offense, which is a drug education class, 15 hours community service and a $50 fine.

 

"There is a lot of people who are in power that are isolated from the rest of the public so we get the word out there to the students, and the lower level and inform the public," said Rob Pfountz. Read more »

By Matthew Keys, Fox 40 News

 

Sacramento's FOX affiliate KTXL "FOX40" has been known for delivering many firsts to the Sacramento area. The station was first with a satellite news truck, first on social media websites Twitter and Facebook, and first with local, national and global breaking news. Monday morning will see another first -- the first paid advertisement for a medical marijuana dispensary, thought to be the first time an ad for marijuana has ever aired on mainstream television.

 

The thirty-second ad, paid for by Sacramento-based "CannaCare" and produced by KTXL, shows various people delivering testimonials on the benefits of marijuana when used for medicinal purposes. Text at the bottom of the advertisement indicates that marijuana can be used in the relief of many diseases and illnesses, including diabetes, HIV, Hepatitis C and hypertension among others. Read more »

By. Paul Armentano, NORML

 

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, along with five previous drug czars (including former 'high roller' William Bennett), recently penned an op/ed in the Los Angeles Times condemning California’s Proposition 19 , The Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Initiative of 2010. It is no surprise that America's present and former drug czars oppose the passage of Prop. 19. After all, the drug czar is required by law "to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance that is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act." In other words, it would actually be illegal for President Obama's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, to voice an opinion that didn't publicly condemn the measure. Predictably, the czars' opposition is out of step with voter sentiment on the issue -- which according to the latest polltracker.com data shows Californians supporting the measure 51 percent to 37 percent.

 

So just what would Prop. 19 do? Read more »

By. Norm Stamper, Huffington Post

 

Imagine it. Grownup Californians making a choice that should never have been denied them in the first place.

 

Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 would allow adults in that state to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal consumption; to use marijuana in a non-public place; and to grow the weed at a private residence in an area not to exceed 25 square feet.

 

Whether you live in New Jersey or Tennessee, Texas or Oregon, there are compelling reasons for you and residents of all the other states to actively support this campaign in California.

 

Who should favor, and therefore work for the passage of Proposition 19? An abbreviated list, including both overlapping and contradictory stakeholders:

 

Law enforcement whose members face on the one hand the prospect of sudden, violent death at the hands of drug cartels and street gangs, and on the other the hostility they encounter when enforcing draconian, everybody-loses prohibition laws; Read more »