Obama stops DEA raids of medical marijuana dispensaries -…
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Bifur
Russian Federation1208 Posts
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alffla
Hong Kong20321 Posts
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D10
Brazil3409 Posts
On March 05 2009 14:40 ~OpZ~ wrote: As I stated, that was "just how I feel." I ADMITTED I was biased. It's how I feel. I'm fairly more conservative in that respect. Yea, revoke the right to vote and eligibility for government programs. Generally those are consequences of felony charges. But thanks for attacking me and "health" problems my country has. I don't give two shits about that. I didn't make my post about health. It's not an issue I'm discussing right now. Plz ignore it and focus on what I said. I didn't attack anyone else. I feel addiction is a retarded argument because the argument is more about the definition of addiction. I stated how I feel about an issue I have to deal with daily. My gf, and several of my best friends, spend quite an amount of time stoned. (And for the guy who said he doesn't know anyone who smokes everyday, I have seen my gf and one of my best friend, and his gf at the time smoke almost every day over the summer. Of course more than once on most days too.) I stated rather specific things for making it a felony. Not all felonies = Jail time. Just the penalties of having a felony on your record come of it. Thats the bigger consequence of my idea of stiffer penalties. But I really don't care. I won't enjoy smoking, so it doesn't matter. I was just annoyed I added that little disclaimer of "its just how I feel" and the idiot still had to attack my statement like I was actually doing something to enforce it. Oh well, what I meant with your phrase "Revoke right to vote and eligibility for other government programs" was, say enough is enough, remove all freedom of choosing in this matter from the people, legalize it completely and disregard all other solutions. And Weed is a health problem, thats what people dont get. | ||
Romance_us
Seychelles1806 Posts
On March 02 2009 07:36 MadNeSs wrote: Well, I had a periode where I was smoking basically everyday, and there always came new ppl everyday, some who hadnt ever tried it. Once there was this girl, who smoked one head (dont know what ppl call it in english), and I swear she got completely fucked up, she didnt understand shit, and all she said didnt make any sense, and when you asked her something she only said jibberish. It's hard to really explain, but I've never seen anyone getting that fucked up, from smoking weed before. Also their was a lady friend of mine, who always got fucking fucked up, and got totally fucked up. I once asked her (hope this makes sense in english): "Bettina, is your name spelled with one or two t's?" and she said: "What...!? Tennis racket?" - WTF? Also there is the paranoia stuff. I remember one of my friend some years ago, when we were smoking some weed at his apartment. Then suddenly he was just convinced that the cops had planted microphones all over his apartment no matter what we said he still believed it. Then someone ringed the door bell,and he hurried into the bedroom and jumped into the bed, because he thought it was the cops. That being said. I dont mind weed at all, but comparing it to alcohol is just stupid, it is pretty dangerous. However I'm pretty sure alot of ppl can smoke it every weekend for at alot of years, without having ant psychotic episodes or anything. But seriously saying, that weed should be legal, is just a sign of ignorance. Everything you say about this general subject is a sign of ignorance. Please go absorb facts and use them instead of using RIDICULOUS and irrelevant personal experiences. | ||
ailouros
United States193 Posts
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baal
10486 Posts
well... hello ? | ||
baal
10486 Posts
On March 05 2009 19:30 Bifur wrote: Fuck, druglords won this round (( this shows how little you know how the world works... actually this is terrible news for drug lords. Ultimately the ONLY way to defeat drug lords is to legalize drugs, there is no other way. | ||
Bub
United States3517 Posts
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baal
10486 Posts
On March 07 2009 17:29 Bub wrote: Finally people start to realize it's just a herb. Great news. this is a dumb way too justify its legality ffs... there are herbs who will fuck you up and lab chemicals that are totally harmless, its simply that marihuana/THC is a very safe drug. | ||
Bub
United States3517 Posts
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floor exercise
Canada5847 Posts
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AdamBanks
Canada996 Posts
[/QUOTE] Oh well, what I meant with your phrase "Revoke right to vote and eligibility for other government programs" was, say enough is enough, remove all freedom of choosing in this matter from the people, legalize it completely and disregard all other solutions. And Weed is a health problem, thats what people dont get. [/QUOTE] So is obesity. and its a much (no pun intended) bigger problem. Anyway, thc is a very safe drug with a high theraputic index and has realitivly few side effects; most of which are mild. The real ignorance in this debate centers around peoples view of 'proper' drugs (those which are accepted like caffine or perscribed by a doctor) verses those which have negitive sterotypes assioated with them, be them racial, geographical, or social. A drug is alot like a gun, its not really a bad thing by itself and it often depends on the intent of the user to determine if it is a harmfull substance. | ||
AtlaS
United States1001 Posts
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coolyo
United States2 Posts
On March 01 2009 06:45 Falcynn wrote: Only in the 13 states where medical marijuana is allowed by state law however. + Show Spoiler + We don't want to over-excite anyone out there on the West Coast who may currently be engaged in wake-and-bake, but marijuana is now, for all practical purposes, legal in 13 states. Thanks to Obama! Our new US attorney general, Eric "Loves Marijuana" Holder, said this past week that the federal government is no longer going to raid medical marijuana distributors, if medical marijuana is legal in the state. Under the Bush administration, it was nice and everything to live somewhere like, oh, California, where medical marijuana could be easily had, but it wasn't completely nice, because the US govt. officially considered marijuana illegal still, so federal types would come in and raid medical marijuana places, being all like, fuck your state laws! But Holder said the federal government is scrapping all that, and going by what Barack "Marijuana is Good" Obama said during the campaign: "My attitude is if the science and the doctors suggest that the best palliative care and the way to relieve pain and suffering is medical marijuana, then that's something I'm open to," Obama said in November 2007 at a campaign stop in Audubon, Iowa. "There's no difference between that and morphine when it comes to just giving people relief from pain." And since getting a medical marijuana prescription in Cali is as easy as telling some weedhead doctor "I have stress," weed is basically legal there now, as well as in many other states. Dude http://gawker.com/5162010/obama-pretty-much-legalizes-marijuana + Show Spoiler + Supporters of programs to provide legal marijuana to patients with painful medical conditions are celebrating Attorney General Eric Holder’s statement this week that the Drug Enforcement Administration would end its raids on state-approved marijuana dispensaries. Federal raids on medical marijuana distributors continued at least into the second week of Barack Obama’s presidency, when federal agents shut down at least two dispensaries in California on Feb. 3. Holder was asked about those raids Wednesday in Santa Ana, Calif., at a news conference that was called to announce the arrests of 755 people in a nationwide crackdown on the U.S. operations of Mexican drug cartels. He said such operations would no longer be conducted. “What the president said during the campaign ... will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement,” he said. “What (Obama) said during the campaign ... is now American policy.” Obama indicated during the presidential campaign that he supported the controlled use of marijuana for medical purposes, saying he saw no difference between medical marijuana and other pain-control drugs. “My attitude is if the science and the doctors suggest that the best palliative care and the way to relieve pain and suffering is medical marijuana, then that’s something I’m open to,” Obama said in November 2007 at a campaign stop in Audubon, Iowa. “There’s no difference between that and morphine when it comes to just giving people relief from pain.” White House spokesman Nick Shapiro hinted at the policy shift shortly after the California raids, telling The Washington Times that the dispensaries were legal in California and that the Obama administration’s stance was that “federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws.” The new policy represents a significant turnabout for the federal government. During the Bush administration, DEA agents shut down 30 to 40 marijuana dispensaries, the agency said. The Web site of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy had yet to catch up to the policy shift as of Friday afternoon, and was still prominently featuring a “ Medical Marijuana Reality Check” declaring that “marijuana is not considered modern medicine” and arguing that “no animal or human data support the safety or efficacy of smoked marijuana for general medical use.” Holder’s comments received little notice Wednesday, overshadowed by the news of the drug arrests. But supporters of legalized marijuana seized on them as an important sign of progress in their campaign. “Holder’s statement marks a dramatic shift in U.S. drug policy and is a major victory for the 72 million Americans who reside in states where the use of medical cannabis is legal,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in a statement. Thirteen states allow the cultivation, sale and use of medical marijuana. Armentano said the shift would add momentum to campaigns in states that are considering their own medical marijuana laws. The New Jersey Senate approved such a bill Monday, and Gov. Jon Corzine said he would sign it if it cleared the state Assembly. Charles Lynch, who operated a state-approved dispensary in Morro Bay, Calif., before it was raided in 2007, also welcomed the new policy. “It’s a good thing for California. It’s a good thing for the other 12 states that have medical marijuana laws,” said Lynch, who was convicted in August of federal drug charges. Lynch could face five years in prison when he is sentenced late next month, but in light of the new federal policy, he said he would appeal his conviction and seek a presidential pardon. Lynch contended that dispensaries like his were vital for patients in the last stages of a painful illness. “Having one in your community, wherever that may be, is a good thing because it helps these people that need relief,” he said. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29433708 Not sure about gawker, but msnbc seems pretty legit. Anyways, for the tl;dr crowd, marijuana isn't officially legal, but Obama's administration is basically recognizing state laws that deem medical marijuana legal and are stopping raids and arrests for possession of marijuana (which were happening in spite of what the state laws said). Also since getting a prescription for medical marijuana is simply a matter of finding a doctor willing to give it to you (in most cases anyways), it seems safe to say that it's legal for all intents and purposes...in those 13 states anyways. I don't really care much for weed, but I'm actually kind of glad this law passed since I've never seen any problem with it when compared to say alcohol, tobacco, or other common over the counter medications. Hopefully I didn't read these articles inaccurately, but if I made some major error with this then I apologize for getting your hopes up. | ||
coolyo
United States2 Posts
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1sd2sd3sd
660 Posts
On March 05 2009 01:46 GeneralStan wrote: I have to think that legalizing marijuana would probably contribute to our growing obesity problem. I mean it basically encourages laying about and eating alot, the two main reasons Americans are fat to begin with. Whenever I smoke I don't lay down and eat tons of food.. I think that lack of discipline/lack of caring is the main contributing factor in obesity. | ||
a-game
Canada5085 Posts
With little notice and even less controversy, marijuana is now available as a medical treatment in California to almost anyone who tells a willing physician he would feel better if he smoked. Pot is now retailed over the counter in hundreds of storefronts across Los Angeles and is credited with reviving a section of downtown Oakland, where an entrepreneur sells out classes offering "quality training for the cannabis industry." The tabloid LA Journal of Education for Medical Marijuana is fat with ads for Magic Purple, Strawberry Cough and other offerings in more than 400 "dispensaries" operating in the city. + Show Spoiler [Rest of Article] + In Calif., Medical Marijuana Laws Are Moving Pot Into Mainstream LOS ANGELES -- With little notice and even less controversy, marijuana is now available as a medical treatment in California to almost anyone who tells a willing physician he would feel better if he smoked. Pot is now retailed over the counter in hundreds of storefronts across Los Angeles and is credited with reviving a section of downtown Oakland, where an entrepreneur sells out classes offering "quality training for the cannabis industry." The tabloid LA Journal of Education for Medical Marijuana is fat with ads for Magic Purple, Strawberry Cough and other offerings in more than 400 "dispensaries" operating in the city. Los Angeles officials say applications for retail outlets surged after Feb. 26, when U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that the Drug Enforcement Administration will no longer raid such stores. Those pressing for change in drug laws regard the announcement as a watershed in a 40-year battle against marijuana's official listing as a dangerous drug -- a legal fight that, in California, is being waged on ground that has shifted dramatically toward acceptance. All told, 13 states have legalized medical marijuana, a trend advocates credit in part to growing openness to alternative healing. As a "Schedule 1" drug under the 1970 federal narcotics act, marijuana officially has "no currently accepted medical use." But doctors have found it effective in reducing nausea, easing glaucoma and improving appetite and sleep in AIDS patients. Marijuana use is widespread -- government surveys show that 100 million Americans have smoked pot or its resin, hashish, in their lifetimes, and 25 million have done so in the past year. Yet polls show that the public is still wary of legalization. As President Obama recently chuckled when asked about legalizing marijuana, "I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy." But in California, pot is such a booming growth industry that lawmakers are being asked to consider its potential as a salve to the state's financial woes. Betty Yee, chair of the California State Board of Equalization, endorsed a bill in February to regulate the estimated $14 billion marijuana market, citing the state's budget problems. California currently collects $18 million in sales taxes from marijuana dispensaries, and Yee said a regulated pot trade would bring in $1.3 billion. "I think the tide is starting to turn in terms of marijuana being part of the mainstream," she said. "The pieces seem to be falling into place." In Los Angeles, Councilman Dennis Zine warned that half the city's sales outlets might be forced to close, but only to control the growth of what the city now regards as an accepted business. "We're not getting complaints about people smoking marijuana," said the retired motorcycle policeman. "We're seeing complaints about the proliferation of facilities. They opened up right down the street from my district office, in the same complex as a liquor store. Got the big green leaf in front." The new reality can be disorienting. In Mendocino County, the heart of Northern California's "Emerald Triangle," marijuana farming has been openly tolerated since the arrival of counterculture refugees in the late 1960s. But elected officials say they are being forced to crack down on growers who offended neighbors with aggressive farming after medical marijuana laws hastened pot's shift from the black market to a gray zone. "Prop. 215 opened up a new world for people who had been underground," said Scott Zeramby, referencing the 1996 ballot proposition that legalized pot for medical users. By 2007, Zeramby's garden supply business in Fort Bragg was doing $2.5 million in business amid a land rush by new growers eager to cash in. "Things were getting a little crazy, even out of hand," Zeramby said. "What happened? A critical mass." At the other end of the supply chain, some 200 dispensaries have opened using a legal loophole in an L.A. moratorium on such outlets, some making only the thinnest pretense of operating as "caregivers," the legal justification for providing cannabis directly. "Medical marijuana, right here, right now," chants a barker on the Venice Beach Boardwalk, outside the doorway of the Medical Kush Beach Club. "Get legal, right now." It really is that easy, the barker explains. Before being allowed to enter the upstairs dispensary and "smoking lounge," new customers are directed first to the physician's waiting room, presided over by two young women in low-cut tops. After proving state residence and minimum age (21), customers see a doctor in a white lab coat who for $150 produces a "physician's recommendation." Valid for one year, it is all that California law requires to purchase and smoke eight ounces legally. "I told him I had problems with my knee," said Joe Rizzo, 31, emerging from an examination recently with a knowing grin and a renewed card. Outside the Blue Sky Coffee Shop in Oakland, Ritz Gayo clutched an eighth of Blue Dream ($44) and tried to remember the nature of his complaint. "Um, my back," said Gayo, 20. He went on to recite a partial list of symptoms suggested in newspaper ads: "Chronic back pain and the rest, like everyone else," he said. "Non-sleeping. Can't eat very much. "That, and I love pot." Sean Manzanares, 41, a hardware store manager who had no previous experience with weed, parsed the advantages of sativa strains for night smoking and an indica for morning. "It got me off some really intense painkillers that were screwing with my liver and all kinds of stuff," he said. Ben Core, 41, an HIV-positive commercial insurance agent, said, "The usage effects are overtaking the political and cultural effects that have suppressed it." In the Venice branch of Farmacy, an upscale dispensary chain, clerks wear hemp lab coats and direct customers to an array of products, including herbal drops for teething pain. "We refer to it as a gateway herb," said JoAnna LaForce, a trained pharmacist. Oakland allows anyone with a medical card to cultivate 72 plants -- 12 times the number the state legislature suggested in SB 420, which passed in 2003. (Even the title of the bill could be taken for a knowing wink, "420" being subculture code for enjoying marijuana). The bill generously interpreted the ballot initiative, which allowed pot to be dispensed for "any illness for which marijuana provides relief." Entrepreneur Richard Lee said he took the hint, building an downtown Oakland empire that includes two "coffee shops," a glass-blowing school, a gift shop, a studio union and, last year, Oaksterdam University. Hundreds of graduates now have diplomas certifying passage of "credible examinations in politics, legal issues, horticulture, cooking and budtending." The neighborhood is cheerfully busy, with foot traffic heaviest around the Blue Sky dispensary. "They blend in quite well. It's not what you would expect," said Gertha Hays, who owns a boutique next door. "You might think it's going to be drug dealers, all this and that. It's not like that. And there's no particular stereotype of who's a cannabis smoker. It's all types." Some customers walk over from the Alameda County Public Health Department. There, for $103 ($51.50 if on Medi-Cal), residents can upgrade from a simple physician's recommendation to an official medical marijuana identification card, widely regarded as stronger protection against prosecution. "The one thing that's really caused it to go from medical to pretty much all-out legalization is the doctors," Lee said. "They have realized you can't over-prescribe it. They've really taken the lead. Alcohol -- frat boys drop dead by the hundred every year. You really can't kill yourself with marijuana." You can, however, disappear into yourself. In South Central L.A., two dispensaries stand on the block between the mayor's constituent services office and the Blessed Day Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center. "They're stunting their growth. I'm not talking about height," said Andrew Brown, 60, a drug treatment counselor. "They're in a Rip van Winkle state. They don't even know it. . . . "Legal? Okay, but they still going to come to us. Alcohol is legal." I don't even smoke but I thought it was a good article so I thought I'd put it into this thread | ||
arethamorce
1 Post
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