Marijuana mystery in Texas

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7234786.stm

"British tourist Keith Brown was sentenced to four years in prison after Dubai customs officers found a 0.003g trace of cannabis stuck to his shoe."

I am not for the widespread (recreational) use of marijuana or other drugs, however, there are a lot of people in chronic pain and that have other conditions, such as the gentleman described above who need medical marijuana to help with their conditions and I support the use of marijuana for these people. Additionally, it is a shame that we criminalize it's use for medical purposes, when it has been shown to relieve pain and suffereing. We need to free up our courts for more serious matters.

This jury got it right for once. Let's as a society try to get right from now on.

bigdudeisme
Why not? There's widespread (recreational) use of alcohol which is far worse with many more side effects as well as being addictive. Pot is clearly the better choice between the 2 if you have the freedom of choice.

Think the revere's are trying to be tricky and get me and MRK arguing on this one. I support complete legalization, MRK does not.
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This subject is one of great importance. Have been supporting decriminalization/legalization for a very long time.
The medicinal value cannot be argued and there are numerous sites that expound on this. NORML, MarijuanaNews.com, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and then there's Alternet that runs stories on cannabis frequently.

http://drugscience.org/ too.
Marijuana, Science, and Public Policy

Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws
A Special Report in the October, 2007 issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform

Government reports from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Library of Congress, and other sources indicate that the supply of marijuana in the United States is 14,349 metric tons, or 31.1 million pounds. Various price indexes from public and private sources produce a retail price of $7.87/gr or $3,570/lb, setting the overall retail value of the illicit marijuana market at $113 billion. Government reports indicate that the nation's marijuana laws cost taxpayers $41.8 billion annually. The Office of Management and Budget reports that local, state, and the federal government receipts represent 28.7% of the gross domestic product as tax revenue. The diversion of $113 billion from the taxable economy into the illicit economy deprives taxpayers of $31.1 billion annually. Marijuana arrests cost taxpayers $10.7 billion annually. Read the full report of the tremendous annual cost of marijuana prohibition in the current issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform

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We have been dealt a dirty hand by the oil barons and big pharma, to only name a few. Besides medicine, the endless uses of cannabis and even hemp are mind-boggling. What was it? The constitution or bill of rights was written on hemp? One of them. Farmer's used to be paid to grow hemp.

bigdudeisme: You should stretch your heart and mind on this one, that being, last year 800,000 non-violent cannabis "offenders" were sent to prison for little more than responsible personal recreational use of cannabis. Their lives have been ruined by one of the most successful propaganda movements ever devised by the elites.
78% of Americans support decriminalization/legalization of cannabis.

We are making head way, and states are starting to refuse to follow the "Federal Laws". If the state approves its use then the state is following their constitution.

The Nederland's is leading the way for so many things in our world, cannabis being one of them. Take a moment to watch this video. Seven minutes long.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fe208nLLEwk

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And then smoke it if you've got it, one for me please. I'm too frakking paranoid to get any for fear of prison time.
The prison is what would kill me, not the passive use of cannabis to help with sleeping problems and chronic digestive problems.

No argument on cannabis. Its illegal. Its the law, the states cannot pick and choose which to enforce. If they do, they will suffer the consequences. Same with individuals. If you get the law changed, smoke away. Until then, follow the law. The court above decided that the punishment didnt fit the crime. He was adjudicated to be not guilty, not of the requirement to be allowed to smoke pot. This isnt legislation from the bench. Think not. Get AIDS/HIV or some other condition and go and toke one on the front porch of any police department in the country and watch what happens.

It was also a misdemeanor case as well. He faced only a big fine and no jail time. If it had risen to the felony level the penalties would have been greater.

Ah, jury nullification, the unacknowledged double-edged sword in our justice system. It can lead to great progress or great injustice -- too bad most of the activists in favor of it are on the fringe of the right wing.

I'd argue, Mr. Kruger, that we have a duty of civil disobedience. Anti-marijuana laws are ridiculously harmful to our society. The pursuit, prosecution and incarceration of people involved solely in marijuana "crimes" is a waste of law enforcement and civic resources. It is also less harmful than alcohol in almost every measure.

Even if you are against the casual use of marijuana, it just doesn't make sense logically or economically to prohibit it.

I think we need one more generation to die and then we'll get that done.

MRK--Lemme hear you say "Ve have vays of making you talk!" I recognize your Germanic ardor for the law from tourist season here on the coast. The Deutchers would rather be run down in a zebra crossing than give up their lawful right to cross the street.

Marijuana possession is a ticketable offence here in Slovenia but unless you climb into the back seat of a police car to smoke it, everyone pretty much ignores it. UNLESS you are involved in a traffic incident (doesn't have to be an accident) when they may check you for alcohol and any drugs in the system. If you drive under the influence, you can kiss your license goodbye for at least a year.

Medical marijuana is legal here. My neurologist wrote my permission into my records (BTW, she also told me to smoke it; that the pills were useless). Trouble is, the weed these days is so strong! One hit relieves my MS symptoms all right but leaves me sitting in a corner admiring the puddle of drool collecting in my lap. And since my major difficulty is one of mobility...

lolife, "I think we need one more generation to die and then we'll get that done..."

Ah chookah, as a person who, in his late 20s, imbibed THC recreationally... A freelance writer am I for so many years. THC helped expand my consciousness in a way alcohol never has but, jeez-allah, as a stoner I was darned boring to hang out with and easy to screw over due to lack of speed, etc -- so kids, be aware of the +/- social consequences of your choices. The human animal society contains many sociopaths who'll take unfair advantage of you when your guard is down.

So anyway, back to the Babyboomer thang -- many from this age bracket will be alive twenty years from now to mourn the man-made deaths of...

Effect Measure -- "It kills young people" April 8,
2007, By revere

http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2007/04/it_kills_young_people_1.p…

Revere, "To date, more than 90% of the bird flu victims have been under the age of 44..."

Excerpt from a posting by: Jon Singleton | April 9, 2007 05:55 PM

As a freelance H5N1 research analyst, I couldn't help
notice a discrepancy whilst reading your "Harvard's
Business Preparedness for Pandemic Leadership Summit,
Boston, May 14-16." The H5N1 CFR in both Egypt and
Indonesia hovers between 70-80%. When one factors in
age-dependent differences in host susceptibility to H5
infection and couples it to the sociopolitical reality
that 1·5 billion kids, teens and young adults live in
poverty stricken developing countries (refer to NEJM
and Lancet correspondence/article below)...

The New England Journal of Medicine -- Human H5N1
Influenza (Correspondence) Goicoechea, M., Pawitan,
J. A., Dudley, J. P., et al, 356:1375-1377 March 29,
2007 Number 13

Excerpt: "[Higher] incidence rates in children may
represent age-dependent differences in host
susceptibility to H5N1 virus infection. Human
infection is mediated by a receptor recognized by
avian influenza (2,3-linked sialic acid) that is
expressed in the lower respiratory tract. In children
this receptor may be expressed in the upper airway,
increasing the risk of infection.

Indeed, 2,3-linked sialic acids are homogeneously
distributed in the human fetal lung, and the
expression of the receptor appears to decrease with
age..."

Lancet.com -- "Us and them: worldwide health issues
for adolescents" by Michael D Resnick and Glenn Bowes

The Lancet 2007; 369:1058-1060 Number 9567, 31 March
2007

Excerpt: "There are 1·75 billion people aged 1024
years worldwide, 1·5 billion of whom live in
developing countries. In least-developed nations,
young people make up more than a third of the
populationie, the poorer the country, the younger its
population..."

Slove...Sorry for your problem. It is up to the medical community to convince them to change the laws. Until then they should and have to be enforced. Its like waterboarding ...there are those here that would suggest its illegal. But if everyone does it enough, that by use makes it legal?

What about alcohol? If a guy goes out, gets blasted, drives his car thru a schoolzone and kills 10 kids per week does that make it legal? Its absolutist but more so supercentrist. know but we should never pick and choose which laws to enforce because it gives slant to one side or another.

There are those that want Bush impeached because of Iraq. Well you have to impeach him and indict Congress too because they were all given the same flawed information, they acted upon it. Does it make it right? That one history is going to have to decide whether it was right or not.

Drugs are so pervasive in our society that its just off the scale. Its not marijuana. Its all of it. We have Pharma pushing pills from one end, heads pushing crap from the other. Either way everyone running around stoned in one way or another is going to take its toll and hard eventually.

Cannabis is more or less legal, or not illegal, in Switzerland. Efforts to legalize it entirely have gone in and out of Parliament for the past 10 years. It was almost done once, just a few missing votes. The stumbling block (besides a core of "moral" opposition, hypocrites as they don t seek to change the present lax state of affairs) has been, and this is traditional for CH, what to do with the money?!! - As it would be heavily taxed, like ciggies, or more. And then everyone wants a heady toke and discussions break down. Another obstacle was preventing CH from becoming a tourist venue for druggies, but bi-lateral accords with the EU forbid selling a product to natives/residents only, if that had been possible it would have gone thru (iirc.) Apparently at present many ppl are tired of the issue and its gone on the back burner. Part of the reason is that the status quo doesn t bother anyone much. The other day I saw a soldier with a repeat rifle (if that is understandable EEnglish?) sitting on the keys smoking a huge joint.

What is interesting is that the agricultural community is on the side of the legalization lobby (or in any case never directly opposed) as it would represent an easy to grow, specialized, valuable crop. CH grows a lot of hemp already which it sells for all kinds of specialized niche uses, making good money. It would be a good source of revenue, the climate is ok, etc.

I take the position that all drugs should be available to anybody who has reached the age of responsibility. "All drugs" means everything, including opiates, cocaine and all the synthetics. Although I would concede that some drugs might need a prescription, during issuance of which the applicant was warned of the negative aspects of the drug requested.

Back in the early 20th century most of these prohibited drugs were quite legal. Laudanum was sold at apothecaries, Sherlock Holmes shot up cocaine. So why did they become illegal? Who rained on the party?

One explanation I read years ago that seems to have a grain of truth. Employers requested that those drugs be restricted, because they were losing too many man hours to users substances. I suspect that is also a root cause of Hotels having restrictions on the hours that they can serve liquor.

I also suspect that many in the religious section of our community supported prohibition of mind altering drugs because they dislike any substance being available that is a substitute for the well being they feel while being, well, religious:)

There's an overwhelming amount of information to give in favor of "drug" legalization. Please revere, yes I'm begging, post more often on this subject. Education is key.

Liked your post lolife, wish you would write more. Your comment of: think we need one more generation to die and then we'll get that done; is accurate in degree. I was disheartened a few months ago however, have seen a growing trend towards more resistance over the feds prohibition therefore hope has resurfaced.
March 27, 2008 - Washington, DC, USA
Washington, DC: US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) will introduce legislation in Congress to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers. Representative Frank made the announcement last week on the nationally syndicated television show, "Real Time With Bill Maher.
"It's time for the politicians to catch up with the public on this [issue],"

slovenia: Knew you had MS and was wondering if you were smoking cannabis, glad to hear you are. Have you heard about Vaporizer's? Pricey for now but a wonderful invention.
http://www.headshopsupply.com/vaporizers.php
Vaporizers / Volcano Vaporizer - The Volcano Vaporiser heats the herbs and releases the vapor into a large polythene 'balloon'. The 'balloon' has a valve on the end so that when you've taken a hit, you can pass it on to the next person. Each bag will give around 2 - 6 hits depending on your lung capacity.

bar: "So why did they become illegal? Who rained on the party?" There are several people that were instrumental in turning the tide on cannabis. One was the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division, and a host of other natural resourse firms. Coincidentally, the DuPont chemical company had in 1937, been granted a patent on a sulfuric-acid process to make paper from wood pulp.
And, to stifle the commercial threat hemp posed to timber interests, William Randolph Hearst began referring to hemp in his newspapers by its Spanish name "marijuana."

MRK: The California Supreme Court ruled that the Superior Courts opinion would remain published meaning that it is binding on all other California Superior Courts and officials, and that California officials are bound by the State Constitution to obey and enforce state not federal laws.
The state constitution explicitly says in Article III, Section 3.5 (adopted in 1978) that "An administrative agency, including an administrative agency created by the Constitution or an initiative statute, has no power: ... (c) to declare a statute unenforceable, or to refuse to enforce a statute, on the basis that federal law or federal regulations prohibit the enforcement of such statute unless an appellate court has made a determination that the enforcement of such a statute is prohibited by federal law or federal regulations."

Your comment MRK "everyone running around stoned in one way or another is going to take its toll and hard eventually".
This just is not the case, you have exaggerated. Not everyone wants to smoke cannabis.

Lea-Must be the reason they keep arresting people for possession, distribution and intent to sell in California? State laws never ever are subservient to federal laws.

They dont get off too terribly much in federal courts for it either. Oh and that must be the reason that they get better at it with the cocaine. They kills someone in a car, or lose a hand in a machine, or if its speed they take Ana's HK and shoot someone with it when they cant get it. Heroin too. Lets just make it all legal and see what happens.. Does anyone want to conduct that experiment?

Nope, its not the feds and heads game. If someone comes to work stoned on anything and something happens and you failed to detect it, you are now liable. Even the military puts you out upon a second offense for posession of pot now. Automatic reduction in rank to E-1 and loss of pay and you get to run the weeds and seeds program for 6-8 months. Second offense is a trip to the stockade and a big fine.

Ask yourself a question... Do you want to put kids or yourself out on the road and get hit by a) drunk b) someone stoned on pot c) crackhead d) heroin addict on any given Sunday?

Sunday? Yep, my own alcholic/crack head brother ran thru a church zone going 80 at 9 a.m. and directly in front of the Sheriffs deputies who were directing traffic into the super church. For some reason they took a dim view of it. So after a six mile long pursuit, and him clipping four cars on the freeway they finally got him stopped. 1 year in jail, 15,000 fine, restitution, drug rehab (you and I paid for that), 1 ass kicking by a really pissed off brother who had to bail him out and 20 visits to a shrink to get him dried out.

What did he start with? MJ and then he moved on back and forth between booze, crack, booze, heroin.... Oh, and since he rolled one of the cars over in the median that he hit, the insurance company paid for it and cancelled him. Not able to get a job so he is on the states healthcare plan, foodstamps, and they even pay for his housing. How nice it is to be stoned.

As for which stoner you want to meet on the road, please pick one and let me know.

Proposition 215 put California law in direct conflict with federal law, and litigation ensued. The key case began in January 1998 when the U.S. government sued the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative (OCBC) in federal district court for violating the Controlled Substances Act. The government asked that the OCBC be banned from distributing cannabis to member patients. The medicinal marijuana group rebutted that it acted out of "medical necessity" on behalf of seriously ill citizens, and that such a medical necessity should stand as an exception to the law. The district court ruled in favor of the U.S. government, causing a temporary shutdown of the OCBC, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, holding that a medical necessity defense existed. The Supreme Court took the case and unanimously overturned Proposition 215 in a May 2001 decision.

The Supreme Court decision did not put an end to the California litigation. In January 2003 Ed Rosenthal, a medical marijuana advocate who grows the drug for use by the sick, was brought to trial in district court and found guilty on federal drug charges. Rosenthal's attorneys maintained that Rosenthal was legally growing the drug as "an officer of the city" under Oakland's local medical marijuana law. The judge ruled that this defense was not valid under federal law and did not allow the defense to be presented at trial. After the verdict, five jurors came forward and claimed that, had they known that Rosenthal had official sanction to provide marijuana under Oakland's medical marijuana law, they would not have found him guilty. They issued a public apology to Rosenthal and demanded that the judge grant him a new trial. Rosenthal's attorneys are reportedly considering an appeal of the district court verdict.

Just for the record: I am strongly in favor of legalization of marijuana. But I have smoked nothing since New Years Eve 1970.

Don't ask.

Dont tell....

Don't pursue.

That image is decades old and comically out of touch. But it is one that some people cling to even today in trying to give marijuana a place in the war on drugs that is totally unjustified MRK.
It's my understanding that teens drivers are the ones who are causing most of the traffic deaths and problems on the road. And I'll take the cannabis consumer on the road any day of the week.

The Gateway theory, hypothesis, effect, is the name given to the statistical fact that most users of "hard drugs" had previously used cannabis. The inference of causality is the logical error which text books call post hoc ergo propter hoc. After this therefore because of this.

Moreover, the assumption that there is such a thing as a "gateway drug" is the error of hypostatization, treating an abstract concept as though it were something real.

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Several newspaper columnists and editorial boards this week have endorsed Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank's pending legislation to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers.

Just quoting Massachusetts revere because it's one of the hot topics right now.

Yep, cell phones and pot are the biggies down this way. Combine the two with an 18 to about 28 year old and well, there you go. My favorite was the local police chiefs niece 14 years old, daddy owned a convenience store. Walked into the store told the clerk that daddy told her to load up 2 cases and take them to the house. Mom and Dad were out of the house on a vacation. The kid called all her friends over, they got tanked and cranked with MJ and thats when the coke came out. Ah the pause that refreshes. By about 1 a.m. the party was really going good and thats when the police took 23 into custody with ages from 13 up to 26. All tested positive for cannabis, coke and alcohol. The chief put his own niece into juvie, along with about a dozen others, charged the ones over 18 with contributing to the delinquency, then arrested the parents when they came down to pick up their kids as there is a 11 p.m. curfew with failure to exercise parental control.

My kind of cop. That last one carries about a 1000 buck fine. Oh, he also arrested his brother and sister in law for leaving a 14 year old unattended for spring break. I would like to be a fly on the wall at Xmas... wonder what will be under the tree for him?

Lea, its not the west where you might smack someone. Its so bad we have anti cruising laws to get them off the streets. Two passes in a car on Fridays and Saturdays in front of a police wagon they have the right to stop and search the car.

I also respectfully disagree with you Lea.... Most try pot first. Then when offered coke, well its just not enough after that.

Randy, I respectfully disagree with your disagreement with Lea. When you say, "Most try pot first. Then when offered coke, well it's just not enough after that.", can't you see you're discussing real live people, not abstract rhetorical cliches!?! I'm with Lea on this one...

Good grief! Every person who used heroin started out drinking water. Ergo, water is a gateway drug.

I loved marijuana. It was liberating to be free of my first 18 years of German Lutheran repression, and I reveled in it. Sure, I gave coke a try, but you don't sit back and let go of all your insecurities and self-consciousness on cocaine. At least I sure didn't. I pretty much didn't like hanging with the people who did like coke.

Marijuana is a communal experience. You smoke with your friends, like people in South America share a mug of yerba mate. You hang out, listen to or play music, laugh at life's absurdities, relax on Friday night after work.

Thank you, Barney Frank, for trying to bring some sense to our country's puritanical stance toward marijuana. It is nearly political suicide to support any legislation in favor of decriminalization or even medical marijuana. DEA and its more secretive counterparts can easily make your life difficult if you are a private citizen who supports legalization, unless you yourself have absolutely no contact with the weed itself. That makes it tough to get very many people on board to support changes. Funny how that works.

I haven't had a puff in nearly 30 years, but I'd like to know that if I want to fire up in my golden years, I can do so without fear of goons with guns busting down my door and planting a boot on my neck while they trash my home.

Just sayin.

Jonny, Wen and Lea my simple points are these. The prisons are loaded with people who used, sold and distributed MJ along with the heavier stuff because they thought the laws didnt apply to them or they thought they wouldnt get caught. Some were in it for the money and actively tried not to get caught. When MJ was so prevalent in the 70'-mid 80's it was the arrest of choice for the cops. For me, its just another drug that is currently illegal.

But then we got MJ laced with coke and thats when things started heading south. Dealers deliberately started putting the stuff in with the bags, the dope planes always loaded the first bales out with the coke in it because you could afford to lose the bale but not the bale with the big bucks in it. If they got only that bale when they were being chased, they would still make several million off it.

It might be different where you guys are. We got GREAT shit down here and we are the intecept point for half of America for coke and occasionally marjuana. My first day in the military after my technical school was in Homestead FL in 1979 at my first assignment. It was marked by the Dade County-Cocaine Cowboys shoot out on A1A. I was on that road as it happened. I ended up in the center median having been nearly brushed by two pimpmobiles with guys hanging out of them. Mac-10's and Uzi' blazing, collaterals being shot, cars being rammed and all for dope.

We would lose an airman a month to drugs, either caught or dead from the effects of them. The numbers of the locals doing it was in the hundreds of thousands. Our commander was jacked and beat up for his car and money. The order was given first not to resist but when we lost the second one to jacking the order was to kill if necessary... over dope.

The idea that it should all be legal is fine. Good, go for it. Get the laws changed but until then I would expect everyone to follow the law rather than scoffing at it. It just pulls on the fabric of our society and dope is only one end of the rug. I am sure everyone remembers the drunk pilots. What if they were stoned instead?

You should have the right not to have your life affected by anyone who is a head in any way. Thats the reason we have the laws we do. Do you want it legal so your 8 year old can get it as easily as you do a pack of cigarettes?

Thanks Jonathon Singleton for the support. It's a nearly impossible tasks to pull MRK out of his mind-set so cleverly crafted by the "authorities". All we can do is keep trying, if we choose to help this soul see that it isn't a drug and Responsible Cannabis use is what is being sought.
Teens will be teens and push the envelope at every turn, whether they get caught or not, well that's another issue. And I gag over hearing about their irresponsible behavior repeatedly. As far as young children go that's the parents responsibility and it's beyond ridiculous that isolated examples are used to paint the wrong picture.
It's the news networks, their owners, the government, big pharma, oil barons and elites of all stripes who are fighting it because they haven't found a way to make money off of it.

wenchacha, this is where I'm at "if you are a private citizen who supports legalization, unless you yourself have absolutely no contact with the weed itself." The law is wrong, plain and simple. Yet we are manipulated and lied to and the few that oppose it can't see beyond that. Laws need to be challenged, repeatedly.

My main interest lies in helping those who have sincere medical needs with cannabis being the only solution.
Recently my doctor told me he really believed I was a person who could not take narcotics, meaning the pharmaceutical stuff. This is something that has been in the back of my mind for years, yet I was more or less forced into their tweaked world of Big Pharma rule.
Anyway, enjoyed what you said wenchacha and yes, I'd like to be able to enjoy a toke or two in my senior years. (and that's not to far away).

And yes, a thousand times, Thank you, Barney Frank. And thank you Attorney Matt Feinberg; law student Brendan Hickey; Co-Defendant Rick Cusick; Lester Grinspoon, M.D.; Co-Defendant Keith Stroup; Professor Charles Nesson; and Keith Saunders, Ph.D. for going to court (they were caught smoking a joint at a rally and got arrested). Five of them are senior citizens! They are bright and a committed group and, I too am rather proud of these freedom fighters.

If you are arrested for it or other and convicted, you are not a freedom fighter you are a convict. You'll be put on the no fly list, you wont be able to get a job in a facility that conducts security screens which is about everyone nowadays. You will be hauled in instead of ticketed in a traffic violation as a rule dependent on what you did before. If they find anything in your car your house is going to be searched, your family and employer questioned. If they find anything at all and you have kids they are gone. In certain states if you are receiving state aid for education, or housing it will be gone for a period of one year.

If you had a job with a security clearance its automatically gone and will not be reissued for a period of 10 years. All for a stupid cigarette or for coke laced weed?

Not me.....