End of Hilo’s Holy War?

Marijuana minister says “This is the last marijuana trial.”
by C.J. Cameron Johnson
Rev. Roger Christie / With a new attorney and a delayed trial date, Hilo’s marijuana minister plans to challenge the basis of the government’s case by calling into question the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) current, allegedly disingenuous, classification of marijuana. Facing anywhere from five to 40 years in federal prison for crimes relating to the distribution of marijuana, Rev. Roger Christie, founder of The Hawaii Cannabis (THC) Ministry, appears to be digging in his heels, even as his co-defendants (“the Green 13”) are making deals with the government.
Read complete article here:

ACLU Statement On Legalized Marijuana Push

The following is a full, unedited statement issued Wednesday by ACLU of Washington director Kathleen Taylor:
The ACLU of Washington hails the initiative campaign being launched by New Approach Washington. Our current marijuana laws are ineffective, unreasonable, and unfairly enforced. They have done much damage to civil liberties – eroding protections against unwarranted searches and seizures by government, putting large numbers of non-violent individuals behind bars, and being enforced disproportionately against communities of color.
It is time for Washington to address this reality and to take a new approach. The initiative is comprehensive and carefully drawn. The initiative calls for Washington to treat marijuana essentially the way we currently treat hard alcohol – with clear distribution and use restrictions – and to earmark a portion of the state’s revenues for drug education and prevention programs. Further, its passage can help lead to much-needed change at the federal level.
The ACLU-WA is providing strategic support to New Approach Washington, and, as an in-kind donation, our Drug Policy Director Alison Holcomb is serving as campaign director.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/28323030/detail.html

Rick Steves and Former U.S. Attorney Lead Effort to Legalize Pot

Steves and former U.S. Attorney John McKay are part of a group launching an initiative that would legalize marijuana in Washington state.

By Heidi Dietrich

Travel guide and Edmonds resident Rick Steves has teamed up with former U.S. Attorney John McKay, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington to campaign for an initiative that would legalize marijuana in Washington state.
The initiative would allow people older than 21 to purchase a limited amount of marijuana. The state Liquor Control Board would have the authority to regulate and tax the drug. Initiative backers estimate marijuana taxes would bring the state $215 million a year.
Read complete article here:
http://edmonds.patch.com/articles/rick-steves-and-former-us-attorney-lead-effort-to-legalize-pot

Hemp Hero: How Marijuana Could Save The Economy

by Samantha McCann

Marcy Dolin, of Rohnert Park, California, smokes eight joints (marijuana cigarettes) every day, and eats a marijuana cookie before he goes to bed every night.  He prefers the peanut-butter cookies.

A 71-year-old man who has struggled with multiple-sclerosis for over half his life, Dolin is not the typical drug user often parodied in popular culture.  He does not smoke recreationally, but rather because marijuana is the only thing that takes away the pain and stops the muscles spasms.

“I would be living on morphine and other horrible drugs.  I couldn’t do that to my family,” he recently told The New York Times, “That’s no life, and I would have ended it. That’s the truth.”

Dolin is not alone.  Across the United States, people struggling with chronic illness increasingly are questioning US policy toward marijuana, a homeopathic substance that until 1937 was, for the most part, legal nd regulated.  Friday marks the 40th anniversary of the “war on drugs.”   And what do we have as a result?

Hundreds of billions of dollars wasted in the midst of a fragile economy, the financial and social cost of imprisoning hundreds of thousands of offenders annually, and patients like Dolin who continue to suffer due to our failed policies.   When compared to other drugs, recent clinical trials have shown that marijuana is exceedingly successful in relieving pain, without the serious side-effects that often plague users of other medications.

“I used to take a drug called Neurontin, and I just never stopped crying,” Dolin continues.  “I was in a fog, totally depressed. I told my doctor that I was going back to just marijuana; he said he would have me arrested if he could. What are they going to do?  I’m 71 years old. Are they going to put me in jail? I’m not hurting anybody. It’s just here in my own house.”

Debilitating pain in the nervous system can be caused by cancer, HIV/Aids, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes; this pain can also be a side-effect of the recommended treatments for these various conditions.  About a third of patients with HIV/Aids suffer from this excruciating pain in their nervous system – much of it a response to the antiretroviral therapy that is the initial treatment for HIV patients.  Yet there is no adequate approved treatment to mitigate the pain.  As a result, some patients reduce or discontinue treatment because they can neither tolerate nor eliminate the debilitating side-effects. Marijuana has been proven to alleviate the effects of both the illness itself, and the prescribed medication used to treat it.

Read complete article here:
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/151377/hemp_hero%3A_how_marijuana_could_save_the_economy

THC May Improve Driving Ability in Patients with Neurological Diseases


 
6/21/2011 by Jahan Marcu – Since 2001, Dr. Kirsten Muller-Vahl and colleagues have published research articles demonstrating the safety of Delta9-THC in patients with Tourette’s Syndrome. This is a disease characterized by involuntary movement and vocalizations (a.k.a. tics).  In 2003, the authors showed that, “Delta9-THC causes neither acute nor long-term cognitive deficits” in patients suffering from Tourette’s.
Recently this group of clinical researchers published a Letter to the Editor of Psychiatry Research outlining their findings in a Tourette’s patient given 15mg of delta9-THC per day.  The authors measured the patient’s driving ability with a computerized test and compared it to the patients performance with and without delta9-THC. The author’s state, “In comparison with the drug-free phase (of the treatment), there was a clear improvement in concentration and visual perception during THC therapy.”
The patient, a 42 year old truck driver referred to as Mr.H, first displayed symptoms of this disease at age 6. When he appeared at the clinic for this study he was suffering from multiple tics of the head, arm and leg: Not good symptoms to have for a truck driver. Furthermore, Mr.H’s medical history showed that all available drug treatments were ineffective including dopamine blocking agents, alpha-2 drugs, clonazepam, and terabenazine. Within 2 weeks of delta9-THC treatment Mr.H’s symptoms were reduced by 75%.
Read complete article here:
http://www.freedomisgreen.com/thc-may-improve-driving-ability-in-patients-with-neurological-diseases/

Ten materials that could replace wood one day

By STEVE GRAHAM
www.networx.com
Whether framing a new addition, building a deck or making a piece of furniture, wood is often the go-to material. Lumber, plywood and other products made with sustainably harvested wood are widely available and relatively inexpensive. However, there are environmental costs and structural drawbacks to many traditional wood products. Plenty of creative alternatives are available. Here is a sampling of wood alternatives, most with some environmental advantages, for home construction and remodeling projects.
1. Hemp
Hemp is a fast-growing and sustainable crop that generates more construction-grade fiber per acre than most trees and other crops. It can be used in place of lumber and a wide range of other materials. For example, Washington State University researchers found hemp-based medium density fiberboard to be twice as strong as wood.
2. Bamboo
Bamboo is often considered a wood, but this grass is really a wood alternative. It has been called the world’s most useful plant (though hemp advocates might argue otherwise). Bamboo is fast-growing but at least as strong as some slow-growth woods. It is a very trendy (and somewhat controversial) flooring option. It is also used in furniture and a wide variety of other construction materials.

Read complete article here: 

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/20/2275079/ten-materials-that-could-replace.html#ixzz1PtM0alvB

Rep. John Conyers: Marijuana Should be Decriminalized

By Morgan Fox

At a press conference at the National Press Club on Friday, representatives of Institute of the Black World, as well as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, and others met to look at the impact that our nation’s failed war on drugs has had on minorities. One of the ideas mentioned most frequently to eliminate some of the negative effects of the drug war was to remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
While this is not a very radical statement, and does not address the problems associated with maintaining criminalization of the marijuana market, it is definitely a step in the right direction. It was little surprising coming from Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), who said he had never made such a statement before:
 
See video and article at:
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/rep-john-conyers-marijuana-should-be-decriminalized

Push for marijuana decriminalisation in French Polynesia

An independent member of French Polynesia’s assembly is leading a push for marijuana to be decriminalised.
The drug is making headlines in France following the release of a parliamentary report recommending its controlled legalisation.
Sabrina Birk says alcohol has been proven to be far more damaging to health and society and she can’t see why the same regulations cannot be applied to cannabis.
Read complete article here:
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=61292

Police raid on Gilbert, Arizona home sparks medical marijuana outcry

By Mike Sakal, Tribune
A couple hours after a DirecTV worker saw marijuana and hashish inside a bedroom closet of Ross Taylor’s Gilbert home during the installation process of a satellite dish, 12 Gilbert police officers wearing masks and toting guns busted into his house and took his pot.
Taylor, 35, is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient under Arizona’s new voter-approved law, who said he uses it for a severe loss of appetite and sleep due to post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
Read complete article here:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/gilbert/article_c059bc82-9935-11e0-9ebd-001cc4c03286.html