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Good News! - Illegal drugs use 'rose in 2004'
(BBC News, 29 June 2005)
The number of people taking illegal drugs worldwide rose last year by about 15 million to 200 million, the UN annual drugs report says. . . . The value of the global drugs trade, which the report says is about $320bn, is higher than the gross domestic product of 90% of the world's nations. . . . It also says Afghanistan produced 87% of the world's illegal supplies of opium last year. [COMMENT by Lorenzo: Perhaps this is the statistic our Beloved Dictator is thinking about when he says "Our war on Afghanistan has been a great success."] . . . Cannabis is the most widely used drug, and is taken by 160 million people, the report said. [COMMENT by Lorenzo: My guess is that it's significantly higher than that.]

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 5:15 PM

 

Hemp for Victory
(Published on Saturday, June 25, 2005 by CommonDreams.org)
by Ralph Nader

Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian from Texas and an obstetrician who has delivered over 6000 babies, is trying to deliver our farmers from a bureaucratic medievalism in Washington that keeps saying "No" to growing industrial hemp.

Many farmers want to grow this 5000 year old long fiber plant that has been turned into thousands of products since being domesticated by the ancient Chinese. That is their heresy. The enforcer is the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Washington, DC, which has placed industrial hemp on its proscribed list next to marijuana.

Detailed petitions signed by agricultural groups, agricultural commissioners, International Paper Co. and others were presented to both Clinton and Bush to take industrial hemp off the DEA list and let the states allow farmers to grow it. The DEA turned the petitions down cold.

The arguments for this great, sturdy and environmentally benign plant are legion. In over 30 countries where it is commercially grown, including Canada, France, China and Romania, industrial hemp has been used to produce hemp food, hemp fuel, hemp paper, hemp cloth, hemp cosmetics, hemp carpet and even hemp door frames (Ford and Mercedes).

Factories, food stores and paper manufacturers are free to import raw hemp or finished hemp materials from foreign countries. Last year, about $250 million worth of hemp products were purchased from abroad. But federal law in the US prohibits farmers or anyone else from growing it on US soil.

Why? The DEA says that industrial hemp grown next to marijuana can camouflage and impede law enforcement against the latter. Strange. This problem doesn't bother Canadian police authorities or similar officials in other nations. Besides, since industrial hemp is only 1/3 of 1 percent THC, growing it next to marijuana would cross-pollinate and dilute the illegal marijuana plants. No marijuana grower wants industrial hemp anywhere near his or her pot plots.

You can smoke a bushel of industrial hemp and not get high. Far too little THC. Like poppy seeds on bread. You may, however, get a headache, if you try.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew industrial hemp on their farms. Drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. Imagine the billions of trees and tons of bleach chemicals which would have been saved were hemp a big source of paper. A multi-billion dollar a year farm crop blocked.

During World War II, hemp was made into very strong rope for the war effort. The Department of Agriculture made a film "Hemp for Victory" to encourage more cultivation.

Enter Ron Paul, the courageous. Numerous colleagues of Rep. Paul, in both the House and Senate, believe as he does regarding the legalization of industrial hemp farming, but they are afraid to go public lest they be accused of being "soft on drugs". This is true, for example, of the North Dakota Congressional delegation, in spite of overwhelming private and public support for farmers being allowed to plant it in their spacious state.

On June 23, 2005, Congressman Paul introduced HR 3037, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act. The bill requires the federal government to respect state laws (already five of them) allowing the growing of industrial hemp. Immediately, Congressmen Peter Stark (D - CA) and Jim McDermott (D - WA) co-sponsored the legislation.

Rep. Paul's announcement was made during lunchtime in the Rayburn Office Building at the House of Representatives. Denis Cicero, owner of the Galaxy Global Eatery in New York City, served up a delicious and nutritious luncheon featuring industrial hemp. Speaking were two leading North Dakota farmers, David Monson, also a state legislator, and Roger Johnson, the North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner. Their remarks were so compelling that in my remarks, I asked whether there were any DEA representatives in the audience who wished to reply. Nobody responded.

Last summer I shared a podium with Rep. Paul at a large gathering of organic farm and food enthusiasts in New England. It was a debate of sorts. At one point, I challenged the Congressman to apply his libertarian philosophy by introducing legislation to let farmers have the freedom to grow industrial hemp and sell it to manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. He immediately said he would. And he has done it.

There are those like former CIA chief, James Woolsey, who support growing hemp to reduce our reliance on imported oil. More broadly, industrial hemp advances the growth of a carbohydrate-based economy instead of a hydrocarbon-based economy.

Thomas Alva Edison, Henry Ford I and the presidents of MIT and Harvard dreamed of this transition during the nineteen-twenties. Unfortunately, the synthetic chemical industry of DuPont, Dow Chemical and others pushed this dream aside. The rest is the history of environmental damage, pollution-disease, geopolitical crises and many other external costs.

Please urge your members of Congress to support HR 3037. Free our farmers and you, the consumers, to move toward a more sustainable economy.

Visit woodconsumption.org, votehemp.org and NAIHC.org for more information.

. . . Read more!


posted by JJW 7:41 PM

 

Fascists Raid Medical Marijuana Clinics in San Francisco
(J.K Dineen, San Francisco Examiner, June 23, 2005)
Federal agents raided three medical marijuana clubs and more than 20 other homes and businesses Wednesday in what law enforcement authorities are calling a sprawling investigation into an alleged criminal organization involved in money laundering and other illegal activities. . . . While the details of the investigation will not be officially released until indictments are unsealed today, the probe is focused on three medical pot clubs: the Sunset Medical Resource Center at 454 Judah St.; the Herbal Relief Center at 1545 Ocean Ave.; and the Alternative Relief Co-Op at 1939 Ocean Ave. . . . The raids, which netted at least 15 arrests, came just two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a blow to medical marijuana advocates, ruled that the federal government had the authority to prosecute medical marijuana users, although medical use remains legal under state law. California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, which allowed the use of marijuana under a doctor's prescription for medicinal purposes. . . . The City has more than 40 marijuana dispensaries and the Board of Supervisors recently passed a moratorium on new clubs opening until regulations can be established. . . . Former District Attorney Terence Hallinan, who is representing the owners of the Sunset Medical Resource Center and the Herbal Relief Center, called the raids "a reaction to the Supreme Court decision." . . . "I'm just surprised they didn't wait longer," said Hallinan. "These are legitimate medical marijuana clubs that have been operating for years serving thousands of sick people in San Francisco."

Americans for Save Access (ASC) Comments on the San Francisco Raids
Update on SF raids: The US Attorney's office announced indictments for 19 individuals on charges of growing and transporting at least 1000 marijuana plants over a 4 year period. 3 are for conspiracy to possess ecstasy, 2 for conspiracy of money laundering. It seems that the main thrust of the raid was on what they consider the shield of medical marijuana for a non-medical marijuana operation. We have no information to know whether this is true or not, but in any case, there are 2 fewer dispensaries open to serve patients, the raid was intimidating to state-legal patients, and the numbers of plants we've heard described as being impossibly large seems possibly within reason for a large medical dispensing enterprise.

ASA is having a press conference starting at noon at SF City Hall. The SF City Attorney's office will be there to say they support medical marijuana dispensaries still post-Raich, and that the vast majority of allegations of dispensaries opening after the moratorium were, in fact, invalid. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi will be speaking, and commenting on hs efforts to license dispensaries, and expressing concern that local officials were out of the loop on this. The SF District Attorney's office will also be present to assure SF that they support SF patients, caregivers, and dispensaries.

ASA continues to be concerned that SFPD was present at a raid on a medical marijuana facility, that the timing post-Raich is not coincidental in terms of the intimidation factor, and that we continue to support all patients, caregivers, and doctors. That said, those that are caregiving for patients cannot put patients at risk by engaging in illegal drug activity, if that proves to be true. We're still waiting to gather more information before doing any media releases, and we assume that all defendants are innocent until proven otherwise, in a process that allows all evidence to be presented.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 12:26 PM

 

The Real Reason Cannabis Has Been Outlawed
(Doug Yurchey, Paranormal News, 5/12/2005)
Marijuana does NOT pose a threat to the general public. Marijuana is very much a danger to the oil companies, alcohol, tobacco industries and a large number of chemical corporations. . . . The truth is if marijuana was utilized for its vast array of commercial products, it would create an industrial atomic bomb! Entrepreneurs have not been educated on the product potential of pot. The super rich have conspired to spread misinformation about an extremely versatile plant that, if used properly, would ruin their companies. . . . The facts cited here, with references [click the above link for references and more details], are generally verifiable in the Encyclopedia Britannica which was printed on hemp paper for 150 years: All schoolbooks were made from hemp or flax paper until the 1880s . . . REFUSING TO GROW HEMP in America during the 17th and 18th Centuries WAS AGAINST THE LAW! You could be jailed in Virginia for refusing to grow hemp from 1763 to 1769 . . . George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers GREW HEMP . . . 80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes, bed sheets, etc. were made from hemp until the 1820s with the introduction of the cotton gin . . . The first Bibles, maps, charts, Betsy Ross’s flag, the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made from hemp; . . . In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. . . . Henry Ford’s first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the CAR ITSELF WAS CONTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, ’grown from the soil,’ had hemp plastic panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel . . . Mechanical Engineering Magazine (Feb. 1938) published an article entitled ’The Most Profitable and Desirable Crop that Can be Grown.’ It stated that if hemp was cultivated using 20th Century technology, it would be the single largest agricultural crop in the U.S. and the rest of the world. . . . Hemp cultivation and production do not harm the environment. The USDA Bulletin #404 concluded that hemp produces 4 times as much pulp with at least 4 to 7 times less pollution. . . . William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) and the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division of Kimberly Clark owned vast acreage of timberlands. The Hearst Company supplied most paper products. Patty Hearst’s grandfather, a destroyer of nature for his own personal profit, stood to lose billions because of hemp. . . . In 1937, Dupont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. Dupont’s Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of Dupont’s business. . . . THE CONSPIRACY . . . Andrew Mellon became Hoover’s Secretary of the Treasury and Dupont’s primary investor. He appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. . . . Secret meetings were held by these financial tycoons. Hemp was declared dangerous and a threat to their billion dollar enterprises. For their dynasties to remain intact, hemp had to go. These men took an obscure Mexican slang word: ’marihuana’ and pushed it into the consciousness of America. . . . A media blitz of ’yellow journalism’ raged in the late 1920s and 1930s. Hearst’s newspapers ran stories emphasizing the horrors of marihuana. The menace of marihuana made headlines. Readers learned that it was responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality. . . . Films like ’Reefer Madness’ (1936), ’Marihuana: Assassin of Youth’ (1935) and ’Marihuana: The Devil’s Weed’ (1936) were propaganda designed by these industrialists to create an enemy. Their purpose was to gain public support so that anti-marihuana laws could be passed. . . . THE WONDER PLANT [click the link above for details about these statements] . . . All plastic products should be made from hemp seed oil. . . . Medicines should be made from hemp. . . . World hunger could end. . . . Clothes should be made from hemp. . . . The world is crazy...but that does not mean you have to join the insanity. Get together. Spread the news. Tell people, and that includes your children, the truth. Use hemp products. Eliminate the word ’marijuana.’ Realize the history that created it. Make it politically incorrect to say or print the M-word. Fight against the propaganda (designed to favor the agenda of the super rich) and the bullshit. Hemp must be utilized in the future. We need a clean energy source to save our planet. INDUSTRIALIZE HEMP! . . . The liquor, tobacco and oil companies fund more than a million dollars a day to Partnership for a Drug-Free America and other similar agencies. We have all seen their commercials. Now, their motto is: ‘It’s more dangerous than we thought.’ Lies from the powerful corporations, that began with Hearst, are still alive and well today. . . . The brainwashing continues. Now, the commercials say: If you buy a joint, you contribute to murders and gang wars. The latest anti-pot commercials say: If you buy a joint...you are promoting TERRORISM! The new enemy (terrorism) has paved the road to brainwash you any way THEY see fit. . . . Ingesting THC, hemp’s active agent, has a positive effect; relieving asthma and glaucoma. A joint tends to alleviate the nausea caused by chemotherapy. You are able to eat on hemp. This is a healthy state of being. . . . [COMMENT by Lorenzo: Interestingly, the DEA lists the only negative side effect of using cannabis as "euphoria" . . . obviously, "the American way of life" does not include joy!] . . . POT IS ILLEGAL BECAUSE BILLIONAIRES WANT TO REMAIN BILLIONAIRES!

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 5:59 AM

 

Israeli researcher develops cannabis compound with unique anti-cancer action
(David Brinn, Israel21c, June 12, 2005)
Whether or not the potential medical benefits of marijuana outweigh the dangers is a long-debated issue and currently a political hot potato. . . . A recent Israeli breakthrough adds a new twist: a 25-year old Hebrew University doctoral student has developed a derivative of the cannabis plant which has been shown to be effective in arresting cancerous growths in laboratory and animal tests. . . . Kogan's accomplishment involved developing new compounds - known as quinonoid cannabinoids - that her research has shown to parallel in their activity a group of anti-cancer drugs, the best known of which is daunomycin. . . . "Quinonoid cannabinoids are derived from hashish - but when they go through an oxidation process, they takes on the chemical structure of anti-cancer drugs like daunomycin," Kogan told ISRAEL21c. . . . However, while daunomycin is toxic to the heart, Kogan, with Dr. Ronen Beeri and Dr. Gergana Marincheva of Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Kerem, found that the quinonoid cannabinoids are much less cardiotoxic. . . . The combination of the development of quinonoid compounds that display anticancer activity, but are less toxic, is a major therapeutic accomplishment, according the Kaye Prize board. . . . All of the compounds synthesized by Kogan inhibited cancer cell growth in cell culture, and one of them was found to markedly reduce the volume of tumors in studies on mice. The cannabinoid quinones were found to act through a rather unique pathway of cancer cell destruction - by specific inhibition of topoisomerase II, an enzyme that participates in cell replication. . . . "We synthesized the compound, and went into the lab to research what it does to cancer cells and discovered it was able to kill cancer cells in vitro," said Kogan. . . . "We then injected cancer cells into mice, they were administered the cannabinoids. We measured the tumor diameters and found that they were half as big as the tumors in the mice in the control group." . . . Additionally, the most active compound in the series developed by Kogan, as well as some other cannabinoids, were found by Kogan and Prof. Ruth Galilli of the Hebrew University to have anti-angiogenic properties. Angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation, is crucial for tumor growth, and much effort has been invested by researchers in the development of compounds with anti-angiogenic activity. . . . "Basically, we found that our compound attacked tumors from two directions. It can kill cancer cells themselves - by inhibiting tan enzyme that participates in cell replication. And from the other sides, we saw that the compound arrested blood cell formation. When someone has a tumor, it needs an oxygen supply and nutrients to grow - with out it, the tumor won't develop by itself. The compound was able to inhibit these angiogenic properties," said Kogan. . . . According to Kogan, the fact that the compounds have anti-cancer properties and are more selective and potent than standard chemotherapy drugs, increases their potential for use in new anti-cancer drugs. . . . "Almost every pharmaceutical in the world uses the active ingredients in cannabis as a basis for existing drugs and those under development," Mechoulam told Globes. . . . Kogan's prize comes amid the backdrop of the Supreme Court decision last week allows for terminally ill patients who smoke marijuana to alleviate pain to be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws, even if their own state laws allow them to use marijuana for medical purposes.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 6:53 AM

 

Fascist Supreme Court Outlaws Herbal Medicine
(Ann Harrison, Alternet. 7 June 2005)
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal authorities have the power to prosecute medical cannabis patients. . . . Raich, together with fellow patient Diane Monson sought a court order preventing the federal government from arresting them and two caregivers who grow Raich's medical cannabis. The action stemmed from a raid on Monson's property by federal authorities who seized the cannabis she grew to treat her chronic pain condition. . . . The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the women an injunction against prosecution, but the U.S. government appealed the case, Gonzales v. Raich, to the Supreme Court. The justices ruled in a 6-to-3 decision that the federal government can enforce federal drug laws through its power to regulate interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause. . . . "This case had much to gain to protect patients under federal law but nothing to lose because state law is in effect and it preserves the status quo," Robert Raich said. "The federal government will claim as it always has that medical cannabis is not recognized under the federal law, but it is legal for patients under state law, so we have not changed the state versus federal conflict here." . . . Raich charged that it was irresponsible for Congress to ignore medical evidence and prohibit seriously ill patients from using cannabis under federal law, and that other courts could consider the due process and medical necessity arguments. The justices agreed that the issue must now be taken up by Congress. "But perhaps even more important than these legal avenues is the democratic process, in which the voices of voters allied with these respondents may one day be heard in the halls of Congress," wrote Justice John Paul Stevens in the last paragraph of his majority opinion. . . . Angel Raich, who says she would die without cannabis to ease her numerous medical conditions, said she will soon undergo surgery to treat an early stage of cervical cancer and must continue to use medical cannabis because she cannot tolerate other painkillers. She says she even considered leaving the country, but her two children ultimately encouraged her to stay and keep fighting for the rights of cannabis patients. . . . [COMMENT by Lorenzo: I too am a medical cannabis patient, and without access to this miraculous medicine I’m not really sure I’d want to continue living. Chronic pain is an insidious killer, as it first kills your spirit and eventually leaves you without the will to live. While uneducated and other simple-minded people like to snicker and make jokes about medical "marijuana", people of conscience understand that this is no laughing matter, and that the U.S. Supreme Court is a court of fools, sad, ignorant, fascist fools.] . . . Raich noted that she lobbied members of Congress earlier this year with talk show host Montel Williams, who uses medical cannabis to ease the symptoms of his multiple sclerosis. But Raich says many members of Congress would not meet with her and that people in positions of power must get more involved in pressuring Congress to reform marijuana laws. "I am here to talk on behalf of constituents and they are not taking my calls," Raich said. "Why? I want to know." . . . California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who supports medical cannabis, submitted an amicus brief supporting the Raich case as did a number of other states. "Today's ruling does not overturn California law permitting the use of medical marijuana," said Lockyer in a statement. "Although I am disappointed in the outcome of today's decision, legitimate medical marijuana patients in California must know that state and federal laws are no different today than they were yesterday." . . . The arguments in the case were crafted to appeal to federalist Supreme Court justices with a history of upholding states rights. The swing justices were Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia, who had ruled for states rights in past decisions regarding guns in school zones and violence against women. But in the Raich case they broke with their conservative colleagues to uphold the powers of the federal government. . . . "Diane Monson and Angel Raich use marijuana that has never been bought or sold, that has never crossed state lines, and that has no demonstrable effect on the national market for marijuana," wrote Clarence Thomas in his dissenting opinion. "If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything -- and the federal government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers." . . . Thomas was joined in dissent by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O'Connor. . . . Jones believes the federal government may well see the decision as a greenlight to prosecute patients, growers and dispensary owners. But he believes those criminal trials and the controversy they generate will ultimately shift the politics of medical cannabis. "It will be painful for the people involved, but it will help change these laws," Jones said. "Bring it on."

[COMMENT by Lorenzo: Note that the Fascist Catholic Opus Dei-controlled Scalia, Pope Bene the Rat's man in D.C., even went against his conservative principles to criminalize medical patients who don't share his disdain for medicines that aren't produced by the drug companies who regularly treat him to lavish hunting and fishing trips with that Master of Evil, Dick Cheney. And if our mentally unbalanced dictator, Bush the Younger, has his way, Scalia is going to be our next Chief "Justice". . . . Sometimes I am asked why I gave up the practice of law. Well, when you are a lawyer and you give your honest opinion to a judge, you can be jailed for contempt of court. After working in that corrupt system for several years, I could no longer keep my mouth shut in front of these keepers of our morality, since I have nothing but contempt for the majority of them . . . and this ruling simply reinforces my decision.]

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 12:03 PM

 

Congress is about to expand the drug war
The politicians want You -- to be a snitch (or go to jail)

YOU'VE BEEN DRAFTED . . . UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU FOR THE WAR ON DRUGS

Congressman Sensenbrenner's (R-Wis.) draconian mandatory minimum sentencing bill will have serious consequences for our democracy, requiring you to spy on all your neighbors, including going undercover and wearing a wire if needed. Refusing to become a spy for the government would be punishable by a mandatory prison sentence of at least two years.

If you "witness" certain drug offenses taking place or "learn" that they took place you would have to report the offense to law enforcement within 24 hours and provide "full assistance" in the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of the people involved. Failure to do so would be a crime punishable by a mandatory two year prison sentence.

Here are some examples of offenses you would have to report to the police within 24 hours:

* You see someone you know pass a joint to a 20-year old college student.


* Your cousin mentions that he bought Ecstasy for some of his college friends.


* You find out that your brother, who has kids, recently bought a small amount of marijuana to share with his wife.


* Your substance-abusing daughter recently begged her boyfriend to find her some drugs even though they're both in drug treatment.

For more information, we encourage you to click on the Background button available through the link above.

Act now. Send Congress a message before it's too late.

CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO SIGN A PETITION TO STOP THIS TERRIBLE BILL.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 12:24 PM