members of congress to introduce historic legistation on june 23

howard Wooldridge
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Sun, 04 Sep 2011
Source: Norman Transcript (OK)
Copyright: 2011 The Norman Transcript
Contact: editor@normantranscript.com
Website: http://www.normantranscript.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/552
Author: Howard Wooldridge


PROHIBITION NOT HELPING

NORMAN -- Editor, The Transcript:

As my colleagues fly around in helicopters, pedophiles are not being caught in the Internet chat rooms, as they entice young teens to "meet in real life." My profession shrinks by the day, and chasing after a green plant should be at the bottom of our priority list.

In my experience, marijuana is too dangerous to leave in the hands of criminals and cartels. It should be handled like alcohol. Can anyone explain how marijuana prohibition is helping our young people, since it is easier for them to buy pot than whiskey?

Det./Officer Howard Wooldridge ( retired )

Norman

 

Marijuana Is Going to Be Sold One Way or Another -- Question Is, Would You Rather it Be Cartels or Regulated Businesses?

By Steve Fox, AlterNet - Tuesday, September 6 2011 Tags:

• Headline News
• cartels
• international
• marijuana
• selling
• trafficking
• USA
• violence

For decades, the United States has been embroiled in a debate over whether marijuana should be legalized.
The battle has been waged on the state level, where 16 states and the District of Columbia have authorized the use of medical marijuana by qualifying patients. And it has been fought on the national level, with the federal government investing more than a billion dollars over the past decade on a media campaign designed to demonize marijuana.
These political conflicts have one thing in common. They are centered on whether it should be legal for citizens to use marijuana. Supporters of reform argue that patients – or, in some cases, all adults – should not be sent to jail or punished in any other manner for using the substance. On the other side, individuals who believe we should maintain marijuana prohibition claim that marijuana is dangerous and allowing any individual to use it legally will send the wrong message to teens, resulting in increased use.
Over the course of this year, we have seen the beginnings of a long overdue shift in the debate over marijuana policy. With discussion about the pros and cons of using the plant fading to the background, citizens and members of the media are being forced to consider a new question and one that is really quite simple to answer: Who should sell marijuana?
This evolution in conversation, which has at its foundation an acceptance that it is essentially impossible to stop or even reduce significantly marijuana use, stems in large part from the rhetoric put forth by current and former world leaders. Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, directly addressed the issue of sales in a Time magazine interview in January. “We have to take all the production chain out of the hands of criminals,” he said, “and into the hands of producers so there are farmers that produce marijuana and manufacturers that process it and distributors that distribute it, and shops that sell it.”

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Fox’s successor, Felipe Calderon, was less direct in a March Washington Post interview, but alluded to the possibility of a similar end result. After decrying the widespread use of marijuana in the U.S., Calderon said that if our leaders were not going to crack down on use, they needed to have the “courage to legalize.”
While Calderon did not endorse one option over the other, his point was that absent one of these two paths, illegal marijuana sales in the U.S. would continue generating huge profits for drug cartels in Mexico, leading to more deadly weapons on the streets and increasing levels of violence. In this context, the “courage to legalize” phrase was his way of conveying that it would be preferable to have marijuana cultivated and sold by regulated business in the U.S. rather than by criminal enterprises in Mexico and the U.S.
Three months later, 19 world leaders, including former presidents of Mexico, Columbia and Brazil, former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, released a report under the banner of the “Global Commission on Drug Policy.” The members of the commission more directly addressed the potential benefits of shifting the sales of marijuana from the criminal market to a regulated market:
“It is unhelpful to ignore those who argue for a taxed and regulated market for currently illicit drugs. This is a policy option that should be explored with the same rigor as any other. If national governments or local administrations feel that … the creation of a regulated market may reduce the power of organized crime and improve the security of their citizens, then the international community should support and facilitate such policy experiments and learn from their application.”
Fast forward to August 25, when 52 people were killed at a casino in Mexico in an attack apparently carried out by members of a drug cartel. In the immediate wake of this tragedy, which is just the latest act of horror in a drug war that has claimed as many as 40,000 lives in that country, President Calderon seemed to abandon his previously asserted notion that there are two possible paths to slowing the marijuana trade – cracking down on users or “legalizing.”
Calling the desire for marijuana and other drugs in this country “insatiable” – which certainly undercuts the argument that prosecuting users can have any effect on demand – he declared: “If [the Americans] are determined and resigned to consume drugs, then they should seek market alternatives in order to cancel the criminals' stratospheric profits, or establish clear points of access [to drugs]. But this situation can't go on.”
“Market alternatives,” he said. This is the new debate in a nutshell. Criminal market vs. regulated market. Is this a hard choice?
We all know that marijuana is an extremely popular drug. (And for good reason, since it is objectively less harmful than alcohol.) Tens of millions of Americans use it regularly and millions of marijuana possession arrests and billions of dollars worth anti-marijuana propaganda has done nothing to change that fact. It is not possible to stop use, but it is possible to steer buyers toward retail outlets that sell regulated products and pay federal, state and local taxes like any other business. Doing so is a no-brainer.
And it is not just that regulated businesses pay their taxes. If we regulate the cultivation and sale of marijuana, we will also have quality control to ensure against contaminates, labeling so that consumers know the potency of what they are buying, and stores that check ID’s so that young people cannot purchase marijuana as easily as they do today.
So why is there not widespread support for this kind of market shift? The primary reason is that the law enforcement community is more concerned about their own bottom line than in seeing a safer, more controlled distribution system. Between being paid overtime for marijuana arrests, receiving federal funding based in part on the number of these arrests made, using civil forfeiture to seize money and assets, helping to coordinate eradication efforts that do nothing to affect the street price of marijuana, and many other financial incentives, they make a great living off of marijuana prohibition. Simply put, they do not want marijuana prohibition to end – and it has nothing to do with public health or safety.
If members of the law enforcement community were really concerned about public safety, they would spend their time discouraging alcohol use, not marijuana use. They know firsthand which of the two substances is a threat to domestic and public tranquility. Their rabid anti-marijuana appearances on television are so flagrantly self-serving it is an embarrassment to their profession.
Let’s drop the charade. It is time to encourage members of the media to ask law enforcement officials how having marijuana sold by cartels and gangs rather than regulated businesses is making our communities safer. And it is time for all of us to raise the issue in our own communities. Whether you are talking to family members at dinner or an elected official at a town hall, start asking the question:
Who should sell marijuana?

 

http://cannabisculture.com/v2/conte...Will-Appeal-DEA-Denial-Medical-Marijuana-Grow
please read

 

You the man goat!

 

thanks j/d i just believe in something i can't stop . when you see what i saw with my mom you never will stop . my mom was game to the end trying to smoke . she knew it was letting us have time .

 

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n575/a07.html
bill 502 for washington

 

please take a minute and ask the republican party how they will handle cannabis reform !!!!!!!!!!!

Ask the Republican Candidates Where They Stand on Cannabis Reform

September 12th, 2011 By: Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Coordinator
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Google and Fox News will host a debate between Republican primary candidates in Orlando on September 22nd. Similar to the “social media townhalls” President Obama has previously hosted, this debate will consist exclusively of questions submitted by the public. This forum provides advocates with a unique opportunity to put these presidential hopefuls on record regarding their position on marijuana law reform.
NORML has submitted a question for consideration:
“As president, would you stand up for states’ rights by ending federal marijuana prohibition and allow them to experiment with models of decriminalization and legalization without federal interference?”
Here is how you can voice your support and promote this question:

Step 1: Go to Fox News’ Youtube page here.
Step 2: Click the “Vote” tab at the top of the page.
Step 3: In the topics box, select “Social Issues”
Step 4: Click “Video Questions.”
Step 5: You should see our video question towards the top of the list, look for the NORML logo in the thumbnail. Click the thumbs up icon next to the question.
​

The current line up of candidates have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from the current policies of President Obama, yet most have remained silent on the topic of marijuana law reform (that is, of course, excluding Ron Paul). Take a moment of your time to vote up our question, if these candidates want your vote, don’t you deserve to know where they stand on cannabis?

Tags: bachmann, debate, Fox News, perry, Republican, romney, Ron Paul, Youtube

This entry was

 

this is the kind of stuff the parents google and then think cannabis is the devils weed . if you know anything about cannabis you know the is a bunch of crap . it want stop until people march on the capitol in each state and tell them your tire of the kids getting the weed . if you want some just ask a teenager . they always know someone . time to put it behind the counter and show a ID .

 

http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/cannabis/index.htm

forgot to paste .

 

Rapper: Cop Had a 'Vendetta' Against Me in Weed Arrest

By TMZ - Monday, September 12 2011 Tags:

• Headline News
• Arts & Entertainment
• busted
• celebrities
• music
• police

Paul Wall and Baby Bash in a photo taken during the arrest. From BillboardRapper Paul Wall claims he was unfairly targeted by a police officer in El Paso this weekend ... and claims he's prepared to fight his marijuana possession case ... if push comes to shove.
TMZ spoke with Wall's rep ... who tells us cops entered the nightclub where Wall and fellow rapper Baby Bash had performed and told the rappers that their rented van smelled like marijuana.
The rep says cops searched the vehicle and all of the passengers and found "a filter of a joint, which tested positive for marijuana resin."
We're told Paul was charged with possession of marijuana under 2oz. in a drug-free zone -- because they happened to be near a school.
The rep says Paul insists the weed wasn't his ... but adds, "This is truly the vendetta of a singular member of the El Paso County Constable Department and these facts will bear out over time."
"In the meantime," the rep adds ... "if Baby Bash and Paul Wall have to fight this like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, they are certainly not in bad company."
- Article from TMZ.

Advertisement​

Paul Wall, Baby Bash Arrested For Drug Possession

By Gil Kaufman, MTV News
Rappers Paul Wall (born Paul Michael Slayton) and Baby Bash (Ronald Ray Bryant) were arrested in El Paso, Texas, early Sunday morning on suspicion of possession of less than two ounces of marijuana. The pair, who were in town to perform at the Summer Jamm 2011 show on Saturday, were released on Sunday afternoon after each posted a $300 bond, according to the El Paso Times.
Wall announced the arrest on his Twitter account, writing, "fresh out the El Paso County jail wit @Babybash @Biggroy, in the same tank they held Willie Nelson/Johnny Cash," accompanied by a photo of him in the back of a police car with Bash, who is in handcuffs.
The arrest occurred in what was described in press accounts as a "drug-free" zone, a detail that was explained in a subsequent Facebook post from Bash. While Wall, 30, seemed to have a good sense of humor about the incident, Bash, 41, was a bit more heated in his Twitter response. "Ain't 2much worse than a " HOE ASS PUNK EL PASO COP that abuses his authority, just cuz me and Paul Wall are artists! Only GEEKS and fools who don't have any spine abuses Authority! But I'm back in the FLESH feelin' so FRESH, out the tank mang!"
He quickly clarified, though, that he was not lashing out at cops over the arrest. "I'm not here to diss ALL police, they have a tuff gig and I respect that! BUT u have the ONE or TWO that will disrespect & abuse the power cuz maybe they got picked on in high school a lot and now have a chip on their shoulder, and that's exactly wut happened to us, all we did was SMELL like weed and wen he couldn't find it and we didn't snitch on who sparked it, he got overdramatic and took us in! He found out who we were and really got big shot on us! Haha even his partner said he's a di--."
Bash continued, claiming that bail was low because the judge "knew it was a bogus call." He said the pals admitted in court that they had smoked earlier, which is why they "smelled like tree," but that they didn't have any marijuana on them at the time of the arrest. "That made him [the officer] mad cuz he thought RAPPER must have large amount!"
A spokesperson for the El Paso Police Department was not available for comment at press time.
- Article from MTV.

 

http://blog.norml.org/2011/09/13/co...e-marijuana-acknowledge-it’s-medical-utility/

 

please take a minute and email your congressman .
http://blog.norml.org/2011/09/15/oh...r-continues-to-support-marijuana-prohibition/

 

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« This Week in Weed: September 11th – 17th


New Study: Crohn’s Disease Mitigated By Cannabis

September 16th, 2011 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
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The federal government steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the therapeutic utility of the cannabis plant, stating as recently as this past July that it possesses:

“a high potential for abuse; … no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; … [and] lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. … [T]here are no adequate and well-controlled studies proving (marijuana’s) efficacy; the drug is not accepted by qualified experts. … At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy.”
​

Yet, almost daily, scientific journals from around the globe expose the absurdity of the administration’s longstanding ‘flat Earth’ position regarding the medical use of cannabis.
Below is a just published abstract from yet another scientific study establishing the safety and efficacy of cannabis. Your government will state categorically that studies like these don’t exist. Your government is lying to you.

Treatment of Crohn’s disease with cannabis: an observational study
via PubMed
Isr Med Assoc J. 2011 Aug;13(8):455-8.
BACKGROUND: The marijuana plant cannabis is known to have therapeutic effects, including improvement of inflammatory processes. However, no report of patients using cannabis for Crohn’s disease (CD) was ever published.
OBJECTIVES: To describe the effects of cannabis use in patients suffering from CD.
METHODS: In this retrospective observational study we examined disease activity, use of medication, need for surgery, and hospitalization before and after cannabis use in 30 patients (26 males) with CD. Disease activity was assessed by the Harvey Bradshaw index for Crohn’s disease.
RESULTS: Of the 30 patients 21 improved significantly after treatment with cannabis. The average Harvey Bradshaw index improved from 14 +/- 6.7 to 7 +/- 4.7 (P < 0.001). The need for other medication was significantly reduced. Fifteen of the patients had 19 surgeries during an average period of 9 years before cannabis use, but only 2 required surgery during an average period of 3 years of cannabis use.
CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of cannabis use in Crohn’s disease in humans. The results indicate that cannabis may have a positive effect on disease activity, as reflected by reduction in disease activity index and in the need for other drugs and surgery. Prospective placebo-controlled studies are warranted to fully evaluate the efficacy and side effects of cannabis in CD.
​

 

« New Study: Crohn’s Disease Mitigated By Cannabis

Marijuana Arrests Driving America’s So-Called ‘Drug War,’ Latest FBI Data Shows

September 19th, 2011 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
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Police made 853,838 arrests in 2010 for marijuana-related offenses, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. The arrest total is among the highest ever reported by the agency and is nearly identical to the total number of cannabis-related arrests reported in 2009.
According to the report, marijuana arrests now comprise more than one-half (52 percent) of all drug arrests in the United States. An estimated 46 percent of all drug arrests are for offenses related to marijuana possession.
“Today, as in past years, the so-called ‘drug war’ remains fueled by the arrests of minor marijuana possession offenders, a disproportionate percentage of whom are ethnic minorities,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a prepared statement. “It makes no sense to continue to waste law enforcements’ time and taxpayers’ dollars to arrest and prosecute Americans for their use of a substance that poses far fewer health risks than alcohol or tobacco.”
Of those charged with marijuana law violations, 750,591 (88 percent) were arrested for marijuana offenses involving possession only. The remaining 103,247 individuals were charged with “sale/manufacture,” a category that includes virtually all cultivation offenses.

By region, the percentage of marijuana arrests was highest in the Midwest (63.5 percent of all drug arrests) and southern regions (57 percent of all drug arrests) of the United States and lowest in the west, where pot prosecutions comprised only 39 percent of total drug arrests.
By contrast, the percentage of arrests for heroin and cocaine was lowest in the Midwest (14 percent of all arrests) and highest in the northeast (29 percent of all arrests).
Overall, law enforcement agents nationwide arrested 1,638,846 people last year for drug abuse violations, surpassing arrests for all other crimes.
Since 2000, law enforcement have reported making an estimated 7.9 million arrests for marijuana violations.

Tags: arrests, FBI, marijuana arrests, Uniform Crime Report

This entry was

 

keep it all coming old goat!

 

read this http://cannabisculture.com/v2/conte...xican-Drug-Cartels-Throw-Parties-US-Officials

 

One Drug Arrest Every 19 Seconds in the U.S.

By Tom Angell, LEAP - Monday, September 19 2011 Tags:

• Headline News
• drug arrests
• Drug Cartels
• FBI
• mexico
• USA

New FBI Numbers Reveal Failure of the "War on Drugs"
A new FBI report released today shows that there is a drug arrest every 19 seconds in the U.S. A group of police and judges who have been campaigning to legalize and regulate drugs pointed to the figures showing more than 1.6 million drug arrests in 2010 as evidence that the war on drugs is a failure that can never be won.
Since the declaration of the 'war on drugs' 40 years ago we've arrested tens of millions of people in an effort to reduce drug use. The fact that cops had to spend time arresting another 1.6 million of our fellow citizens last year shows that it simply hasn't worked. In the current economy we simply cannot afford to keep arresting three people every minute in the failed 'war on drugs,' said Neill Franklin, a retired Baltimore narcotics cop who now heads the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). If we legalized and taxed drugs, we could not only create new revenue in addition to the money we'd save from ending the cruel policy of arresting users, but we'd make society safer by bankrupting the cartels and gangs who control the currently illegal marketplace.
Today's FBI report, which can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-..., shows that 81.9 percent of all drug arrests in 2010 were for possession only, and 45.8 percent of all drug arrests were for possession of marijuana.
A separate Department of Justice report released last month shows that Mexican drug cartels are currently operating in more than 1,000 U.S. cities, whereas two years ago they were in 230 U.S. cities. Meanwhile, a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report released earlier this month shows that nearly one in 10 Americans admit to regularly using illegal drugs.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the war on drugs and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence.
- Article originally from LEAP.

 

http://blog.norml.org/2011/09/21/pr...dical-marijuana-dispensaries-increases-crime/ so guess what crime went up in areas where the closed dispensaries .

 

please sign this and lets see what happens . thankyou

We the People Want to End Marijuana Prohibition

September 22nd, 2011 By: Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Coordinator
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Today, the White House launched its new, long-awaited website “We the People.” The administration describes the site as a “tool [that] provides you with a new way to petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country.”
The White House further promises, “If a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it’s sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response.” The White House has set this threshold at 5,000 signatures within 30 days.
Demand the Obama administration defend their support for marijuana prohibition. If they can not, then why do they continue to endorse this failed public policy?
Below is the petition NORML has submitted for consideration:

We Petition the Obama Administration to:
Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol.
We the people want to know when we can have our “perfectly legitimate” discussion on marijuana legalization. Marijuana prohibition has resulted in the arrest of over 20 million Americans since 1965, countless lives ruined and hundreds of billions of tax dollars squandered and yet this policy has still failed to achieve its stated goals of lowering use rates, limiting the drug’s access, and creating safer communities.
Isn’t it time to legalize and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol? If not, please explain why you feel that the continued criminalization of cannabis will achieve the results in the future that it has never achieved in the past?
​

Sign. Share. Legalize.



(NOTE: The White House has been experiencing technical difficulties with their website, please be patient and allow the petition time to load, if you receive an error message retry later)
UPDATE:
The media is beginning to notice:
Daily Caller – “Weed Legalization and Animal Spay/Neuter Top WH Petitions”

Huffington Post – New White House ‘We The People’ Petition Portal Launched, With Predictable Results

The Hill – Petition to legalize pot is first to hit White House threshold


This entry was posted on Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 at 3:24 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a trackback from your own

 

Next Sunday Nationwide: Pot Prohibition Parlor Parties

Weed the People: Over 35,000 Strong for Marijuana Legalization

September 26th, 2011 By: Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Coordinator
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It was just last Thursday that the White House launched their petition website, “We the People.” That morning, NORML submitted a petition calling for the legalization of marijuana. In just four short days the petition has received over 35,000 signatures, making it the most signed petition on the website by nearly 15,000 names. Thousands of Americans are calling upon President Obama to end marijuana prohibition and more are joining in every minute.
While the caliber of the President’s response may, in the end, be questionable, what is unquestionable is that this outpouring of support generated a large, positive, media buzz for marijuana legalization. Including coverage on the Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC.

Alternet:
“‘Legalize Marijuana’ Petition Leads in Votes on White House’s New ‘We The People’ Site – Will Obama Listen?
Forbes:
What The People Want: Abolishment of the TSA and Marijuana Legalization
International Business Times:
Marijuana Legalization is Top Issue in White House Petition
Raw Story:
Marijuana question sky-rockets to top of new White House petition site
The Blaze:
Topping the White House’s New Online Petition Site? Marijuana Legalization
LA Weekly Blog:
Marijuana Legalization Issue on Obama’s Desk Thanks to White House’s Online Petition Program
Gawker:
White House Solicits Ideas from Internet, Internet Demands Weed
Huffington Post:
New White House ‘We The People’ Petition Portal Launched, With Predictable Results
The Hill:
Petition to legalize pot is first to hit White House threshold; ET proposal close
Local News Affiliates:
Such as KLTV7 in Missouri
​

If you haven’t already, you can join the 35,000+ Americans taking a stand for marijuana legalization by clicking the button below:


Tags: legalization, media, Obama, petition, prohibition, we the people

This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Cannabis and Culture, News, Pot and Politicians, Strategies for Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS