Things To Do Today

Start a non-profit so that I can get my own "bone-gals". Well played Rob Kampia, well played...

MPP Intrique

Perhaps only interesting to me...but according to reports Rob Kampia is taking an extended leave of absence from his gig at the Marijuana Policy Project to work on issues related to "hypersexualization" and his workplace attitudes towards women. Ladies and gentlemen, the face of the drug policy reform lobby!

Since I can't access the High Times article that originally "broke" this story (because I'm at work and unlike the MPP, my employer cares about things like workplace professionalism. Zing!) here are links to reason and the Post; both of which provide a quick synopsis of the scandal that led to Kampia's leave of absence and a number of staffer's resignations.

This story has special significance to me, having met the guy a couple of times, one of which was a job interview with MPP 2 or 3 years ago. This was during the time I was blogging frequently on drug policy and TtP had many more DC readers than it does now. I happened to mention my ownership of the blog prior to the interview, thinking it might help. I should mention that this was also a period where I was making a lot of tranny jokes. Don't ask. It was a dark period. You can see where this is going.

Now I can say with confidence that it wasn't my sexually depraved humor that kept me from getting that job -- in fact it probably helped -- instead it was just a really shitty interview* coupled with a thin resume. Boy do I feel better.



*I'm serious. It was the worlds worst interview. I was sweating through my suit...in February. Asked them to turn on the AC. Told them that "I wasn't a big fan of e-mail". Made several off the cuff remarks about people calling them douche bags. In a really awkward moment I was walking out of the office where the interview was going on and heard one of the ladies who was in room call out Rob. So I walked back in and said "Yes?"...She said, and I quote, "Not you". Ouch...

After I left I went straight to Union Station, quickly downed a handful of 7and7s, then drove home to drink an epic amount of alcohol that night. What I learned was you should never, under any circumstance "be yourself" in a job interview if you happen to be me. It was a valuable lesson.

Pot For All!

Marijuana legalization bill gets through committee in California Assembly. I haven't been following this closely, but it's surely an interesting development.

I'd Take An Employee of The Month Award...

People who smoke pot can win awards too!


This isn't the first time we've encountered this phenomenon...

Innocent College Students Targeted By Drug Dealers

What an odd way to describe a drug organization:

Federal authorities in Delaware say they've broken up a Newark-based drug operation that targeted students at the University of Delaware and University of Maryland, College Park.[...]

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kravetz says the multimillion-dollar Newark operation appeared to target University of Delaware students and two suspects charged in Maryland focused on University of Maryland students.

If by targeting you mean that no where outside of American colleges would you find so much demand for drugs, and that drug dealers are merely meeting the high demand for said drugs. Then yes -- this drug ring was targeting college kids. Otherwise known as serving customers.

Don't Try Marijuana Unless You Want to Become a Multi-Gold Medal Olympic Athlete

This is becoming a trend:

BERLIN: Triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt (pic) tried marijuana as a kid, according to Bild newspaper.

Bolt, who set world records in the 100m and 200m at the Beijing Olympics and was part of the Jamaican team who broke the world mark in the 400m relay, made the admission in an interview published online on Sunday.

“In Jamaica, you learn as a child how to roll a joint. Everyone here has tried it. I did too — but I was real young then,” Bolt was quoted as saying. “My family and my friends don’t smoke and I don’t hang out any longer with people who smoke.”

Marijuana: Part of a Breakfast of Champions!

Now kids -- I'm not saying that if you smoke pot you will become a famous Olympic athlete who wins lots of gold medals. I've been trying that for the better part of the last decade with no luck. Not even a bronze...Come to think of it, I've never even qualified for an Olympics...Pan-Am games, sure. But who hasn't won a medal at the Pan-Am games? It's like the Special Olympics for non-retarded people, only without fun events like potato sack races and egg relays.

Drug Policy Momentum?

There's been some talk of late around the drug blogosphere, and with drug policy non-profits, that we're reaching some sort of potential tipping point for drug policy reform. I tend to agree. You could say I'm cautiously optimistic. One major reason? This bill put forward in California to regulate and tax marijuana has recieved so much media attention (I can only speak for print, I don't watch too much TV news), that there clearly is an appetite for -- if nothing else -- a healthy discussion about drug policy. And it's not just pot either. Mandatory minimum laws have gotten a hard look at recently, with the best example being a possible end to New York's Rockefeller laws.

This isn't to say that we will see any kind of major change in the next couple years, or even the next decade; but for the last year it would seem that the discussion is becoming more mainstream. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Marijuana Claims Another Victim

Imagine how many medals he could have won if he wasn't a pot smoker.

Michael Phelps, the Rodgers Forge native who has won more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history, acknowledged yesterday that he had engaged in "regrettable" behavior and shown "bad judgment" after a photo of him smoking what appears to be marijuana from a glass bong was published in a British tabloid over the weekend.

Michael, your "bad judgement" was allowing yourself to be in a picture ripping a bong hit, not smoking pot.

Beautiful work though by his PR team. They were given a chance to dump this news on the best possible day to do that -- the Super Bowl -- and they gladly took it. This is why it is helpful to have a very expensive media machine around you.

Pot: A Recession-Proof Industry?

Maybe so. It now accounts for two-thirds of the economy in Mendocino County, California:

[Ukiah Morrison, a Mendocino pot grower] walks a fine line. He grows as much marijuana as he can without triggering a legal crackdown. He can do that because authorities here are overwhelmed by the sheer number of growers. They’re also hampered by conflicting state, federal and county laws governing marijuana.

Marijuana is the major cash crop here. A county-commissioned study reports pot accounts for up to two-thirds of the local economy.

“I don’t think there’s anything more important in this economy. To take this out would be a major blow,” said Morrison.

Though reliable numbers are hard to come by, marijuana growers in Mendocino County generate an estimated $1 billion a year. That makes the area home to a sizable chunk of a national market for marijuana believed to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

Interesting Libertarian tidbit from the story: The market share for northern California product has grown since the state began cracking down on the U.S.-Mexico border. This had the effect of cutting off the supply of Mexican weed.

[Mendocino grower Eric Sligh, pictured above] “There’s a very developed system of brokering marijuana that exists all throughout California; it’s just like a commodities broker on Wall Street,” he said. “They’re getting it for the lowest price they can get it, and they’re bringing in the buyer and trying to get the buyer to pay the highest price they can. So, the margin in between is where they make their money.”

The economics of this drug are simple and attractive. It costs an estimated $400 to grow a pound of pot. One pound sells for $2,500 to a middle man. It then yields $6,000 on the street. With low start-up and overhead costs, marijuana is the most profitable drug of all, according to local law enforcement officials. With that kind of profit margin, marijuana is increasingly filling the gap left by other failing industries like lumber and fishing.

“If we didn’t have marijuana, what would this county be like?” said Sligh. “I think we’d all be selling Amway. I mean what else are we going to do?”

Happy New Year Massachusetts

The new year marks the implementation of the state's marijuana decriminalization law passed by the voters in November.

It's no longer a crime to have one ounce or less of pot. The state's new marijuana decriminalization law, approved by voters in a November referendum, goes into effect today.

Those who are caught with an ounce or less would get a ticket similar to a building code citation. They could appeal the civil infraction in court within 21 days or pay a $100 fine set in the law. Juvenile violators would have to pay the fine and attend a drug abuse counseling course, or have the fine increased to $1,000.

Story here.

This Week In Prostitution

This is a little late (sorry, Christmas shopping) but here's the latest from 'round the world.

Update: Amsterdam Destroys Its Own Tourism Industry -- Yeah, like you ever went there just to see Anne Frank's House. From the AP:

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Amsterdam unveiled plans Saturday to close up to half of the famed brothels and marijuana cafes in its ancient city center as part of a major cleanup operation.

The city says it wants to drive organized crime out of the district, and is targeting businesses that "generate criminality," including prostitution, gambling parlors, "smart shops" that sell herbal treatments, head shops and "coffee shops" where marijuana is sold openly.

"I think that the new reality will be more in line with our image as a tolerant and crazy place, rather than a free zone for criminals" said alderman Lodewijk Asscher, one of the main proponents of the plan.

The city said it would also reduce the number of business it sees as related to the "decay" of the center, including peep shows, sex theaters, sex shops, mini supermarkets, massage parlors and souvenir shops.

San Francisco Not Helping Itself Either -- Not sure how I managed to overlook this before but in the election San Francisco residents decided against legalizing sex work in the city. Geez, are you guys queer or something?:

Not quite everything goes in San Francisco.

Voters in this liberal bastion have turned down a measure that would have barred police from arresting prostitutes.

San Francisco couldn't technically legalize since it's against state law, but Proposition K would have barred local authorities from investigating, arresting or prosecuting anyone for selling sex.

Advocates say the measure would have freed up to $11 million the police spend each year arresting prostitutes, and allow sex workers to form collectives to defend their rights and safety.

The Cutting Edge of Pimpin' -- Two Ohio men were busted after they engaged in a rather novel form of entrepreneurialism. From the Columbus Dispatch:

Rusty Blades, 42, a Hamilton Township real-estate agent who bought the house in December 2007, is among three people who have been arrested after a party at the house on Oct. 11 in which police said seven prostitutes mingled with customers who had posted reviews of their services online.

***

Blades was arrested Friday and charged with promoting prostitution. Christopher S. Johnson, 33, an adviser at the Ohio State University College of Nursing, also was arrested Friday on the same charges.

Police say Johnson started the Web site that featured prostitute reviews and set up a $10-a-chance raffle that offered sex with a top-rated prostitute as its prize.

The Libertarian Case Against Prostitution? -- Yes, someone has tried to make that argument. Here's the column. Debate amongst yourselves:

The bottom line is that black market prostitution is legitimately a social evil — it has risks for its costumers, makes the lives of its lower echelon of providers miserable, and produces all sorts of problems for those not even involved in it. A-ha! you say, but that is black market prostitution, and if we legalized prostitution, we could eradicate black market prostitution and have transparent and regulated prostitution. From what I have read, legal prostitution is no picnic either, but I have no personal observations of it, so I will skip that point. My main concern is precisely that legalizing prostitution will not eliminate black market prostitution.

In Malaysia, It Is Safer To See A Prostitute Than To Sleep With Your Wife. -- This one is not a joke:

Kuala Lumpur: HIV infections among women in Malaysia are on the rise and more housewives than sex workers have been found to contract AIDS, according to a new report that has health planners worried.

Prostitution-Related Headline of the Day -- "Boy George 'was too fat to be able to attack male escort'". Enough said.

Thanksgiving Links

Is there an alternative headline to this: Residents uneasy over sex offender on the loose. I doubt it. But I'll wait and see if I ever come across one like: Residents elated over sex offender on the loose.

Crazy:

DELAWARE, Ohio -- A urine test showed traces of marijuana in Ethan Linnabary's system the day his sport-utility vehicle struck and killed a motorcyclist.

Genoa Township police officers collected the sample at 7:55 p.m. on June 19, three hours and 26 minutes after the crash in Delaware County.

That time frame has become a key detail in the criminal case prosecutors filed against Linnabary, 21, of Sunbury, in the death of 52-year-old motorcyclist Brian L. Vincent.

Ohio law has a three-hour limit for collecting urine or blood after a crash.

J. Scott Weisman, Linnabary's attorney, argues in court filings that his client's urine test is flawed because the sample was taken beyond the three-hour limit.

Look, I can't know whether this guy was stoned or not when he ran into a motorcycle and killed the driver; but I can say that it is 100% absurd that the reason that the blood sample may be invalid is because it was taken outside of a 3-hour window. Forget about the law, just think about if they had taken a blood sample from this guy 30 minutes after the accident; he would still have had traces of THC in his blood stream and THAT blood sample (presumably) would have been valid as evidence in court. Don't misunderstand me, I would gladly take the 3 hour law; but it doesn't address the issue of marijuana being present in your blood and urine for days, even weeks after use. That the argument is over whether the sample was taken within 3 hours of the accident makes me want to cry.

News out of the Dutch 'weed summit':

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Amsterdam will close almost a fifth of its marijuana cafes to comply with a national ban on having them near schools, the mayor said Friday.

Another city, Eindhoven, said it would start issuing permits to marijuana growers in order to better regulate the trade - if the national government approves.

The plans were announced as 33 major Dutch cities held a "weed summit" to discuss the nation's long-standing policy of tolerating marijuana use while routinely arresting growers.

Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but can be sold in small amounts in designated cafes - euphemistically known as "coffee shops" - without fear of prosecution. More than a quarter of the country's cafes are in Amsterdam, where they are a major tourist attraction.

But Mayor Job Cohen said the city would close about 20 percent of its cafes.

Link goes to AP article that includes a picture of the inside of de Dampkring which is a must visit should you ever get the chance to visit. It took former TtP blogger Ben and me a couple trips to the city just to locate the shop (it's located on a funny side street and we were hard pressed to ever make it to the shop that were going for on any particular day), but it was always on my top 5 list to visit.

Very nice vibe and great weed, the only downside is that it's a popular place, especially with tourist so it fills up and can be difficult to find a seat. It's in the general area of the Spui coffee shops like Twede Kramer and Dutch Flowers, the latter never being overly crowded (since they stopped serving beer, one of those newer coffee shop regulations) in any of my visits. So it's a great area to make a day out of if you happen to be in Amsterdam and want to smoke and wander around. I'll try and add links to these shops when I get home.

I have no link for this, but it stays with the general theme of this blog not blogging about anything that more than 9 people care about...

This weekend Pee in Your Anus will capture the regular season Fantasy Football Championship in League UNC. Pee in Your Anus (this humble bloggers team) overcame adversity and a name change from last year's disappointing performance of 3-9 as Middle Age Mom Affair to rocket to the top of the league with a (so far) 10-2 record and is ready to roll into the playoffs with a 1st round bye. Draft pics like Micheal Turner and Roddy White as well a perfectly executed trade that landed Your Anus Thomas Jones in return for Laverenus Coles have been rewarded. Suck it fellow owners, some or all of which may be cock-loving homosexuals.

James, you can go ahead and write me a check for the $250 that's owed to me as the points winner, and you might want to prepare the $550 check for after Your Anus blows through the playoffs and claims the League UNC Championship. Best of luck to the rest of you bitches, there's always next year.

Get Up, Stand Up, Be Counted

Prostitutes, higglers and ganja farmers could soon find their output captured in local official data as part of efforts by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) to accurately measure the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

"We will try to capture underground production, legal and illegal," Anette McKenzie, deputy director general of STATIN, said yesterday, as the agency launched its Jamaican System of National Accounts.

According to McKenzie, prostitution is already captured in the data and efforts will be made to capture information on the under ground and informal economy.

It is a move that has been welcomed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who noted that the informal sector is estimated to be 40 per cent of the formal economy.

Not only is the "informal sector" an estimated 40% of the economy but it is growing faster than the rest of the economy, according to the Jamaica Gleaner. So, umm, yeah, I'd say adding those people could give a better sense of Jamaica's GDP. Read the whole story here.

Politician Embarassed That She Doesn't Toke

Here's a bit of a switch:

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The leader of Canada's Green Party, unveiling an election platform that includes a proposal to legalize marijuana, apologised on Wednesday for not having smoked pot.

"I am not a fan of marijuana use. I have to confess this -- I know all politicians are asked. I've never used marijuana. I apologise," said Elizabeth May, who won extra attention this year by being allowed to join the televised national leaders' debates.

My advice? Tell Canadian voters that you are usually too drunk on Molson's to do anything else.

Dude, You Were Busted by a Turtle?

Bummer

Psst, Dude, Got Any Hedge?

Sometimes the best place to hide something is in plain sight:

IT looked like an average Nerang [Australia] back yard with an above-ground pool and neatly trimmed hedges.

But a closer look at the shrubbery revealed they were actually cannabis plants and that put a new twist on the expression 'cultivating drugs'.

Nerang officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Gary Symons said police yesterday removed 30 healthy and mature plants, some more than 2m tall, with a street value of more than $100,000.

The plants, trimmed and shaped to form a screen near the pool, were growing in tubs, but the thick cannabis hedge along the side fence was planted in the ground.

***
Sen-Sgt Symons said he had never seen cannabis shaped and trimmed into a hedge in his 25 years in the police service.

Neighbours looked over the fence in amazement as police dug up the manicured crop and removed it to be destroyed.

"They are a lovely couple," said one neighbour. "Who would have thought that hedge was grass? It just looks like an ordinary hedge in a suburban yard."

It worked fine until somebody dropped a dime on the crafty gardener. The whole story can be found here.

Pot Linked to Tiger Maulings. Marijuana: Harmless?

Ready yourself for the coming ONDCP TV ads warning parents that kids are 1000% more likely to be eaten by a tiger while on the pot than if not:

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Medical Examiner says a teenager who was killed by an escaped zoo tiger six months ago had marijuana and alcohol in his system.

Full story here.

Let's Check Back in 6 Months; See How this Worked for Him

Just laying the foundation for a defense:

IOWA CITY - An Iowa City man arrested for allegedly possessing "several gallon size" and larger bags of marijuana faces up to 5 years and prison and a fine of up to $7,500.[...]

Furnish admitted he was aware of the marijuana, claiming he used it as compost, the complaint states.

Original. Stupid, but original.

How Many Joints? 3 Million Joints

An odd way to describe a marijuana haul:

EDMONTON - An Alberta man was sentenced to 18 months in jail Friday for helping to grow "three million joints'" worth of marijuana.

Jason Gary Patriquin, 30, pleaded guilty to producing a controlled substance after police caught him working as a "crop-sitter" at a rural grow-operation two years ago.

And it's impossible not to love Jason's attitude:

Patriquin had rented the property for six years and was the electrical subscriber for the greenhouses.

When he was interrogated by police, he was forthcoming and even lamented his laziness, according to the agreed facts.

"Greenhouses are easy to build," he said. "These ones, we whipped 'em up in almost an hour a piece."

"I should have made it better. I should have had a watering system in the plants. I could have done it a lot better actually but . . . (it's) just a lot of work."

Full story here.

That's the Sound of the Men Trying to Get More Money

'Pot in state a growing problem':

Seizures of marijuana plants statewide more than doubled to 296,611 last year, a trend that unabated could see Washington rival California as the nation's No. 1 producer of the illicit drug, state and federal drug agents warn.[...]

Since then, it's only gotten worse for the Golden State, where 3 million plants were seized last year, said Duran, who spoke this week to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, which held its annual spring conference at the Yakima Convention Center.

"It's kind of the prediction for our future," Duran said. "It's going to get worse before it gets better."[...]

"And compared to California, we have very limited resources," he added. "They do marijuana eradication for six months straight while we're lucky if we can afford to do it for five weeks."

The top counties for outside marijuana production in 2007 include Klickitat, Yakima, Grant, Franklin and Skamania. Law enforcement said marijuana growers prefer remote tribal areas. Last year, 102,379 plants were seized on tribal lands, much of it from the Yakama reservation.

I'm not sure what problem is growing -- other than the reporter's use of puns -- but I'm assuming from the article that the problem is that more pot is being seized in the state. Humm...I've got an idea. How about news reporters do a little leg work and investigate the allegations of officials. Like, why is the fact that marijuana farming is increasing in the state a problem? Is it costing lives, destroying private property, etc? Or is it just a problem because it's illegal, and everyone knows that doing illegal things is a problem. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

On the other hand we get this out of Hawaii -- Hawaii County Council action ends marijuana eradication program:

HILO, Hawaii (AP) _ The Hawaii County Council has rejected a state and federally funded marijuana eradication program.

The annual ``Green Harvest'' program began 30 years ago on the Big Island.

Many residents have opposed the program, saying the low-flying helicopter missions invade privacy and disrupt rural life.

Critics also say it has done little to eradicate marijuana and has even promoted use of other drugs, such as crystal methamphetamine, or ``ice.''

Now that makes sense.

The GOP Really Has Some Balls

Obama deserves credit for his clear-cut explanation of his medicinal marijuana position. The issue isn't as near to my heart as others (I'd really like to see Obama do something for the inner-city victims of the drug war, but whatever...) but still -- he is still on the right side of the issue when he says that he would stop DEA raids of medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

The GOP on the other hand responds with this nonsense to Obama's recent declaration:

WASHINGTON – RNC Communications Director Danny Diaz released the following statement today:

“Barack Obama’s pledge to stop Executive agencies from implementing laws passed by Congress raises serious doubts about his understanding of what the job of the President of the United States actually is. His refusal to enforce the law reveals that Barack Obama doesn’t have the experience necessary to do the job of President, or that he fundamentally lacks the judgment to carry out the most basic functions of the Executive Branch. What other laws would Barack Obama direct federal agents not to enforce?”

Via Pete, who has this to say:

After 7 1/2 years of rubber-stamping the Bush Presidency, someone in the GOP apparently found a copy of the Constitution... and then failed to read it.

The Bush administration has quite possibly been the greatest danger to the Constitution in history, and the GOP (as well as the Democrats for the most part) have sat idly by and cheered.

Yeah, it is amusing when the GOP starts talking about on-the-job performance for the President when they've given us 7 1/2 years of Bush, or about "basic functions of the Executive", of which I'm not sure where ignoring the principles of federalism come into play.

NIDA: Smoking 50 Joints a Day Not Harmful

I'm not sure that was the point of a study done by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, but that sure seemed to be the conclusion.

Heavy marijuana use can boost blood levels of a particular protein, perhaps raising a person's risk of a heart attack or stroke, U.S. government researchers said on Tuesday.[...]

Levels of a protein called apolipoprotein C-III were found to be 30 percent higher in the marijuana users compared to the others. This protein is involved in the body's metabolism of triglycerides -- a type of fat found in the blood -- and higher levels cause increased levels of triglycerides, Cadet added.

High levels of triglycerides can contribute to hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls, raising the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease.

Sounds kinda bad...I guess. Then we get this:

The study did not look at whether the heavy marijuana users actually had heart disease.

Right. Why bother? Back to the science!

"Chronic marijuana use is not only causing people to get high, it's actually causing long-term adverse effects in patients who use too much of the drug," Cadet, whose study is in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, said in a telephone interview. "Chronic marijuana abuse is not so benign."

The marijuana users in the study averaged smoking 78 to 350 marijuana cigarettes per week, based on self-reported drug history, the researchers said.

78-350 joints a week? A representative sample of the smoking population if I ever saw one. Actually, it sounds like they rounded up a bunch of vaginas for this study. Who only smokes 50 joints a day? Or even worse, 11? What a bunch of non-smoking losers.

The ONDCP blog is mysteriously silent on this relevant and damning study...Full article here.

Tuesday's Edition of "What Not To Do If You Are Growing Pot In Your House"

Having a cookout...Inside your house:

HYDE PARK, Vt. -- Firefighters responding Friday to a report of a possible structure fire instead found a man grilling on a charcoal grill inside his home and 22 marijuana plants growing in the bathroom, Lamoille County police said.

As a result of the visit, Robert Schrader, 29, of Hyde Park, Vt., was charged with violations of conditions, possession of marijuana and cultivation of marijuana.

Full story here.

Decriminalization Bill Defeated

The New Hampshire Senate says no to decriminalization.

The proposal would have made the possession of up to 1.25 ounces of marijuana a violation that carries a $200 fine, instead of a misdemeanor that can result in up to a year in jail and fines up to $2,500.

The House had approved the bill.

Move Over Chubby Kids, We've Got a New Epidemic

Indoor grow houses.

Officials say 150 houses with indoor marijuana operations were raided Wednesday, from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle. Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta says about 9,250 plants were seized, worth more than $41 million.

Authorities say there's an epidemic of indoor marijuana cultivation in Florida run by organized crime groups.

Now, that's my kind of epidemic.

NYC's New Motto: Marijuana Arrest Capital of the World

NEW YORK - Police busted nearly 400,000 people for carrying small amounts of pot in the last decade, making New York City the world leader in marijuana arrests, civil rights advocates said Tuesday while unveiling a study criticizing the war on drugs.[...]

The study by Queens College sociologist Harry G. Levin, titled "Marijuana Arrest Crusade," accused police of purposely singling out minorities during the 10-year crackdown. It said that data provided by state Division of Criminal Justice Services showed that between 1997 and 2007, 52 percent of the suspects were black, 31 percent Hispanic and only 15 percent white.[...]

According to the study, arrests for marijuana possession began skyrocketing in the late 1990s during the Giuliani administration _ a trend that continued under Mayor Michael Bloomberg at an estimated cost of between $50 and $90 million a year. There were 39,700 arrests last year alone, according to the study.

Well, there are like 8 million people in New York, so it's not a total surprise that 40,000 people were arrested for possession of marijuana. I might have even guessed higher; which is a sad statement on our country.

More:

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne called Levine an "advocate for marijuana legalization," and accused the NYCLU of using the sociologist "to mislead the public with absurdly inflated numbers and false claims about bias."

"If the NYCLU is for legalization, it should just say so without resorting to smears," Browne said.

OK, there we go, throw out the dirty words like, "legalization", and calling someone an "advocate for legalization". I know that I wouldn't want to be accused of fighting for a rational approach to drug policy. And since when did simply reporting how many people were arrested for carrying a plant become a "smear". Just like Mr Browne urges the NYCLU to come out and just say they are for legalization, I urge the city of New York to come out and just admit they are for an arcane policy of prohibition, enforced with penalties of arrest and imprisonment. It's only fair.

Full article here.

I Hate Having a Job

I wish I was still in college: Annual 4/20 Celebration at University of Colorado Draws 10,000

The crowd was so large it migrated from the long-traditional site of Farrand Field to the larger Norlin Quad; festivities kicked off earlier than normal with daytime concerts; and CU police handed out zero citations.

“At this point, none are anticipated,” said CU police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley.

Officers in the past have gone to great lengths to catch people in the illegal act of smoking pot on 4/20.[...]

“We can’t do the same thing year after year,” Wiesley said hours before Sunday’s smoking began. “So I doubt we’ll do anything like the pictures. ... There’s no way our 12 to 15 officers are going to be able to deal with a crowd of 10,000. We just can’t do strong enforcement when we’re outnumbered 700 or 800 to one.”

That's So Sketchy

Kid should have stuck with his gut reaction:

N.H. Principal Lures Student Into Drug Deal

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ― A New Hampshire student is suing his high school after he was lured into an alleged drug deal by a principal from another school posing as a friend.

The deal was set up by Bishop Brady High School Principal Jean Barker on a cell phone she confiscated from one of her students, according to police reports.

She received a text message from Concord High School senior John Huckins, 17, stating "Yo, you need a bag?" according to police reports.

Barker, who suspected Huckins was referring to bags of marijuana, asked for two. Pretending to be the phone's owner, she arranged, through text messages, to meet outside the back door of her school, and called police.

Huckins sent two messages saying he was reluctant to meet on school property, according to police reports.

He wrote "that's so sketchy" and "dude, I don't like that" and suggested waiting until they could meet after school. But the Catholic school principal persisted.

It's a shame the principal of Concord High School has nothing better to do than set-up drug deals to bust up small time pot dealers. I guess every student at Concord High has nothing else to learn about. Nothing. They are the brightest and most accomplished high school students anywhere in the world. Since he's finished his work in educating children at his school, he probably felt it was time to move onto crime fighting. Makes sense.

Full story here.

Just Say No

UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs looks to be voting no on a reclassification of cannabis to a class B drug.

The Government's official advisory body on drugs policy believes cannabis should remain a Class C drug and not be reclassified as Class B, it has been reported.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) will make its recommendation this month, following a review of the decision to downgrade the drug.

The move could put the board on a collision course with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who this week spoke of his determination to send a signal to young people that the use of cannabis was "unacceptable".

Good news. Let's see if the politicians restrain themselves from scoring easy political points with a reclassification.

Victory in the War on Pot

Via Baltimore Crime, from the Examiner:

Sniffing beats smoking pot among young teens

Sniffing solvents is more popular than smoking marijuana for teenagers looking to get high, according to a new report from the University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research.

Inhalants are the most popular type of drug among children 12 to 13, the report found, with more than 500,000 young teens experimenting with solvents.

Is there any question which of these drugs is worse for the body and mind? Huffing chemicals or smoking pot? I'd stake my impressive reputation on the statement that huffing chemicals is exponentially more dangerous than smoking pot at 12, 13, 16, 20 -- you name the age.

The best part about studies like these, is that you can actually imagine the ONDCP throwing together a press release and a blog post hailing this as a victory in the War on Drugs. We've beaten the scourge of marijuana, now onto paint thinners and varnish.

Full story here.

Sheriff Finds It Hard to Believe TSA Agents are Inept; Rest of the Country Disagrees

Someone has seen Blow a few too many times -- 45 lbs of pot goes semi-unnoticed through a Milwaukee airport:

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A suitcase packed with 45 pounds of marijuana passed through security at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee County.

Sheriff David Clarke suspects it was "an inside job" because of the security breach. Clarke says it's unnerving that such a bag can bypass all the TSA security devices.

Investigators aren't saying exactly where the untagged suitcase was found, but they believe it was destined for a plane to New York.

It could have been an inside job. Or the TSA agents could have been, well, TSA agents...

Prohibition: Harmless?

New Study Outlines Harm of Smoking Marijuana During Pregnancy

Marijuana: Harmless?

---

Above, as quoted directly from the ONDCP's blog. Classic sensationalized scare tactic. Has anyone who is engaged in the public debate over our drug policy ever come close to asserting that pregnant women should smoke marijuana -- legal or not? Of course not, that's nuts. Is this a real fear of what's to come if we loosen some of our drug laws in our country? Pregnant women running around like mad zombies, joint in mouth, high as shit, damaging their unborn children with every puff. As much as I might like that fantasy to come true, it's highly doubtful and completely unassociated with any argument that anyone makes.

What does it have to do with any part of the legitimate drug policy debate? Nothing, of course; but the government continues to get away with their mis-information war, compiling lies and straw men everywhere you look. The truth is we have plenty of legalized substances -- including ones like alcohol and cigarettes that make the government a tidy profit -- that can cause harm to an unborn child/fetus/mistake, whatever you want to call that lump in the belly. Fish can harmful for Christ sakes. Should we ban fish? If there was a federal agency in charge of controlling fish, would we have TV ads with a picture of a cod and a pregnant lady, with the title "Fish: Harmless?" It makes just as much sense as a picture of a pregnant women with the title "Marijuana: Harmless?" As my post title suggest, I want SSDP, Stop the Drug War, MPP -- any one of those outfits to start running ads with the a picture of a packed jail cell with the title, "Prohibition: Harmless?" Because that's the real question centered around this debate.

Sidenote: I will say, in the effort of agreeing to disagree, at least John Walters and this TtP blogger enjoy posting pics of pregnant women on our blogs for utterly no reason at all. Kudos. Maybe we can get a beer sometime John? We can swap material off our hard drives, or trade URLs of some of our favorite sites. It'll be fun.

WFB on Pot

A famous WFB story involves him sailing out 3 miles out into international waters to try marijuana (for the first time, I think) "legally". This additonal marijuana andectote from a Q&A with Sam Tanenhaus of the New York Times made me chuckle.

Q: William F. Buckley famously admitted to having smoked pot at least once on his boat outside U.S. territorial waters. Did he continue to smoke it after trying it? What if anything did he say about the subject? —Rich Turyn

A: If so, only seldom. But Buckley was much piqued by the counter-culture. He recently told me an amusing anecdote on this general subject. In the 1970s, Buckley and one of his mentors, the political thinker James Burnham, decided they would indulge in some current vices by smoking pot and then watching the sex-drenched film “I am Curious — Yellow.” The pot was procured by Bill’s chauffeur. It was a good plan — or seemed so, except they made the mistake of drinking alcohol first. This blunted the effects of the pot, and they both fell asleep during the film.

Full Q&A here.

Pot Comes to You (the Medicinal Marijuana User) Via a Vending Machine

BBC: Vending machines distributing the drug marijuana are to begin operating in the US state of California.

Dear Bush, Bernanke and Congress,

I have heard the news that you plan to release an economic stimulus package that entails giving each American taxpayer a lump sum payment of, tentatively, $800 per person.

Therefore, I feel compelled to disclose that I plan to spend my "stimulus" payment primarily on marijuana, with the remainder going towards a beer chaser and cigarettes. Likely there are many Americans, young and old, who plan to spend their checks in a similar manner.

I hope you realize that your policies on drugs, alcohol and tobacco will mostly likely prevent such expenditures from stimulating the economy whatsoever. For instance, the marijuana I plan to buy is inflated in cost due to the risks involved in growing, transporting and selling it in the black market. So instead of my "rebate" being injected back into the economy, most of it will end up in the pockets of various levels of dealers who don't pay taxes on drug income, likely don't invest in the market, and will probably spend the money in a way of which you wouldn't approve.

The remainder, which I will spend on beer and cigarettes, will indeed go into the economy. But since these industries are taxed so heavily in the name of "public health," you'll probably be taking back a good chuck of this sum anyway. If the money is - at least in part - going right back into your hands regardless, then why bother with the lump sum payout to me in the first place?

I realize that my economic rationale in this letter may not be flawless. But I do sincerely believe that it's better than all of yours. I have been waiting, but so far left wanting, for an explanation of exactly how sending just a small part of the taxes we pay back to us is going to stimulate the economy at all. Please feel free to explain your rationale in the comments section of this post.

Sincerely,
Nate

Cannabis: Africa's Biggest Drug Problem

I understand that the West Coast of Africa has become the latest hot-spot for global drug trafficking. What I don't know, is what size the piece of the trafficking pie is dedicated to marijuana. allAfrica reports:

The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade said at the weekend that Cannabis otherwise known as Indian hemp is the biggest drug challenge in the country and the African continent.[...]

Giade, decried the dangers of hard drugs to humanity and stressed that the destruction exercises is to spite drug barons and also to demonstrate the superiority of law enforcement agents over illicit drug dealers.

According to Giade "the threat of narcotic drugs is palpable. It is difficult to ignore this peril starring at us in the face. Cannabis control constitutes the biggest drug challenge in Nigeria and Africa . This is because it grows effortlessly in the country. This drug has the propensity to destroy our society but we equally have the capacity to subdue it".

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State in his goodwill message said that it is sad that some indigenes of the State are getting involved in the illicit drug trade when they are highly respected as good business men and women.

"Anambra citizen has no business with illicit drugs and I assure you that the State will partner with the NDLEA to ensure that Anambra State and by implication the entire country is completely drug free"he said.

Giade pointed out that illegal drug business is a covert affair that makes drug control a very cumbersome task demanding enormous resources, training and dexterity. The NDLEA boss said that no drug baron wants his drugs seized let alone destroyed because they have paid so much to acquire them.

My title is a bit misleading, as even the official seems to make the distinction of 'cannabis control', rather than the plant itself. I'm sure Nigeria is no friend to drug reformers, but their officials seem willing to honestly admit that policing the drug trade is the problem in and of itself*. That's more than we can say for U.S. drug warriors. Story here.

*Yes, I understand that NDLEA probably usues this rehetoric to demand more money for its efforts. Just because it may be out of self-interest, doesn't make it any less true, or refreshing to hear.

NORML's 2007 Top Ten Events That Shaped Marijuana Policy

Covers most of the big stories in '07.

TtP Christmas Party Has Been Cancelled

Due to US Customs Officials:

EL PASO, Texas — Federal immigration agents have seized more than 5 tons of marijuana and arrested four people in connection with the drugs, federal agents said Friday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seized 10,907 pounds of marijuana in two searches Wednesday.

Investigators said the first seizure, 1,460 pounds of marijuana, was made after agents found the drugs hidden in a car being driven by 20-year-old Humberto Hernandez Jr.

Full article here. New party plans TBA.

Talk About Stretching for Material

Quoting a ONDCP blog post:

Time Magazine: One Joint = 5 Cigarettes
Next week's Time magazine highlights the latest evidence of marijuana's harm as part of their "Year in Medicine" news coverage:

Indeed, someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have. These individuals may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.

Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. This may be due to marijuana users inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs.

I could care less about debating the science, I just got a kick out of the actual Time piece they link to. Here it is in its entirety:

Marijuana

A single marijuana cigarette has the same effect on the lungs as smoking up to five cigarettes in succession.

That's it. One sentence. It's part of a brief, "The Year in Medicine A-Z". Not quite "highlighting the dangers" if you ask me...

Drop in the Dollar Killing Canadian Pot Exports

From the Missoulian:

Suddenly, it's far more expensive to buy Canadian exports, legal or otherwise, and smuggling profits disappear.

“It's very simple,” said Stephen Easton, professor of economics at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C. “Canadian marijuana production costs are met in Canadian dollars, and those are worth more now.”

Previously, he said, pot growers could produce a pound of potent “B.C. bud” for about $2,000 Canadian and, with the exchange rate, smugglers buying with U.S. currency could sell it for a hefty profit south of the border. In those days, an American dollar in Canada was like a 50 percent discount card, and there's nothing like a wholesale discount to bolster retail profits.

Production costs remain in the range of $2,000 Canadian, Easton said. But with the currencies at par, the profit margin is completely gone, unless Montanans are willing to pay 50 percent more for the prime northern bud. A smuggler's risks and transport costs are no longer offset by profit.

Interesting, but this makes a good story more than anything else. The article goes on to quote the Canadian share of the US marijuana market at 3%. I'd be surprised if it was that much. Pot is everywhere. Good pot is grown everywhere. It's a blessing of the plant. Full article here.

Schwarzenegger Misses A Big Opportunity

Schwarzenegger told the British edition of GQ magazine that he had not taken drugs, even though the former bodybuilder and Hollywood star has acknowledged using marijuana in the 1970s and was shown smoking a joint in the 1977 documentary "Pumping Iron."

"That is not a drug. It's a leaf," Schwarzenegger told GQ. "My drug was pumping iron, trust me."

Story here.

Well, he's partially right. Marijuana is a plant. But its "active ingredient," THC, the reason anyone fires it up in the first place, is a drug. Just like nicotine, alcohol or cough medicine is a drug.

Now if Arnold wasn't such a disappointment, he would have said, "Yes, I used marijuana. Didn't you see that documentary? And now I'm freakin' governor. I'm not some heroin addict or petty thief. I smoked it, I liked it, and it's none of your damn business anyway. So eat me."

But no. Instead: "That is not a drug. It's a leaf."

Sigh... If I was a semi-popular Republican in California, I'd definitely want to take advantage of a chance like that... But I'm neither, so fuck it.

Am I Allowed to Say that It's a Backdoor Legalization Method?

Of course I can say it; I just don't think people like to hear it. But I'll tell you this -- if medicinal marijuana legislation isn't a policy designed to weaken prohibition and to put a face on "drug users", and potentially soften the ground in advance for other anti-prohibition legislation, then I'm an idiot who doesn't love massive labias. Plain and simple. But of course I do love massive labias, and of course it is about an incremental approach to drug policy reform...Right? So why can't we all just say it then? It's silly to lie. And they will lie so convincingly even right to my face that it makes you believe that maybe all they've convinced themselves to care only about making sure a very, very small percentage of the population is allowed to use one drug in a very regulated matter. No matter we haven't accomplished anything for the majority of the Drug War victims, or addressed the real structural problems associated with prohibition. Whatever, I complain about this a lot, I'm just tired of folks saying, "It's not about legalization." If this all isn't about legalization, then what's the point?

It's stories like this that get me on this rant.

Fuck You AND the Wheelchair You Rolled In On

Via Hit&Run, Mitt Romney gives the cold shoulder to a MS patient who was trying to ask Romney if he would arrest him for using his medicine.

It's Not a War on Pot...

It just looks that way. Shreveport Times:

MANSFIELD — Fifty vehicles stopped on various traffic violations Friday on Interstate 49 yielded 16 arrests on various drug offenses and 46 traffic violations, DeSoto Parish Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle said Monday in a news release.

The Tri-Parish Drug Task Force, DeSoto and Red River sheriff's deputies conducted the criminal interdiction detail using the drug-sniffing dogs assigned to the task force. Motorists were stopped for a variety of traffic violations and searches were conducted with the drivers' consent after the drug dogs alerted to the possible presence of drugs

"Various drug offenses"...I'll clue you in. They were all charged with marijuana possession (or intent to distribute), or paraphernalia. One guy also had some pills, but all 16 were charged with possession. A microcosm of the larger War on Drugs. Take a look.

And what's not to love about a tactic that involves pulling people over for tossing a cigarette butt out their car window, only so you can have your drug dog do some sniffing. Seems kosher, right?

George Michael Cutting Back on Pot

Keeping on the pot themed Monday, pop singer George Michael is trying to limit his marijuana consumption. Story from Reuters

Marjiuana Monday

Continuing the theme from the previous post....I'll give my own breakdown of the domestic outdoor pot-crop. This is mostly from second hand accounts of course; news articles and the sort, and this time it's strictly East Coast. Take it for what it's worth...

Supply: It's looking like a below average yield, especially in the southeast, due to drought like conditions. Plants have wilted, buds are black and dead looking when they are forced harvested, and total numbers actually appear to be down in some areas. Quick rating...like a 5 or 6 out of 10? I dunno, but I haven't read/heard good things. Strictly a guess though.

Market Impact: On street level the impact is marginal to the buyer, but prices could increase in the coming months as supply becomes limited. Quality outdoor buds shouldn't be impossible to find, but it's probably a bit tougher than usual. Low-quality marijuana dealt on the lowest level of the food chain will most likely see a slight increase over the coming months, but the biggest impact will likely be a slight increase in the price of indoor bud, which for some folks is all they deal in. I'm thinking mostly the beaster market, not high quality indoor bud. That particular market is usually in flux, as quality is at a premium and buyers are willing to pay for it, meaning that the impact from a poor outdoor crop won't be noticeable for many buyers.

Links: Here and here.

Harvesting Time

It's that time year -- harvesting for some, eradication for others. Lots of articles floating around about futile eradication efforts, what this year's crops look like, etc...Good article yesterday in the USA Today, covering such eradication efforts in Kentucky (the nation's #2 producer behind California), and the ingrained culture of growing in Appalachian country. Story is a pretty fair portrayal, and I'd give the whole thing a read if I were you, but I'll excerpt the last quote of the article from a Kentucky State Police Lieutenant. It's an awfully telling statement of how everyone on both sides of the drug issue knows -- or should know -- that large scale enforcement and interdiction is useless. Especially when we are talking about an artificially high-priced weed that can, and would grow just about everywhere. [emphasis mine]

Shemelya says he believes that marijuana would be on every hillside in Eastern Kentucky if his unit didn't keep it in check.

"You're never going to stop people from growing marijuana," he says. "But the idea is to make it so dad-gummed hard to grow they go to Tennessee or somewhere else."

Right. Thanks for making our point. Full article here.

The New Hot Spot for Pot…Parks

In California there is an increasing amount of marijuana being grown in parks. Park rangers now spend a great deal of time hunting these pot preserves down and destroying them. California ranks as the number one producer of pot in the US and data from the Justice Department indicates that $6.7 billion worth of the crop were eradicated in 2006. This Californian practice, the BBC reports, is thought to be spreading across the continent.

One Joint of Skunk Killed My Daughter

As the Fark tag says -- unlikely.

I think is shows an amazing lack of journalistic honesty and integrity that these type of stories continue to be published in British papers.

I touched on the push back against cannabis in the UK, making my own wildly speculative guesses as to what is prompting the anti-pot media craze, here and here.

Japanese Pot

Japanese prison officials are surprised by the 300 some odd marijuana plants that keep sprouting up on the grounds of Abashiri Prison. Even more surprising, prisoners know what marijuana plants look like:

The marijuana plants started sprouting at Abashiri Prison on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido about a year ago, said prison official Takeshi Okamura. He said officials plucked out as many as 300 marijuana plants and treated the ground last year, but several more sprouted again this year.

Prisoners reported them to the guards.

Officials believe the plants are wild.

"Apparently, somebody knew how to tell marijuana from other plants," Okamura said.

Who knew criminals could tell pot from dandelions?

Hempfest

Photoblogging Hempfest. Via Instapundit.

The "Yellow Pages" Test

Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) has put forth simple criteria for determining whether or not Congress should pass new regulations or not.

The Laffer Curve, game theory and the classic supply-and-demand diagram are all well established in the economics lexicon.

Less well-known, but arguably more valuable to some House Republicans, is a new economics theory dubbed the “Yellow Pages test.” House Financial Services member Tom Feeney, R-Fla., says he uses the test to determine whether the federal government needs to regulate or be involved in a certain business.

If he can find at least two businesses listed in the Yellow Pages that offer a similar service, Feeney says, then the federal government should steer clear. Fellow conservative and Financial Services member Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who actually coined the term “Yellow Pages test” at a hearing last week, agrees.

The government has no business messing around in the private market, Hensarling argued, suggesting that the test ought to be used often.

This advance in economic theory was offered during a committee debate over federal regulation of wind insurance coverage. If it can be applied to wind insurance brokers, one can easily see its extension to other facets of the business world.

As evidenced by the now notorious “D.C. Madam” case, local governments might want to reconsider, for example, whether to interfere with the escort business since there are plenty of those listed in the phone book — all providing, one presumes, a similar service.

Zing! I would also note that many of California's medical marijuana dispensaries are listed in the phone book, but that didn't stop Rep. Feeney or Rep. Hensarling from voting against an amendment last week that would have stopped the federal government from messing around in that private market.

Via Congressional Quarterly (sorry, subscription required).

This is Your Police on Drugs

Funniest thing all week!!

NORML PSA

Well done. Thanks to a NORML donor, it's airing in select, Maryland television markets.

Promising Submission for World's Dumbest Cop

I meant to post this a month ago when I first heard it. It's good stuff. But as you can tell, I've had so much material, that I couldn't squeeze it in. Then I forgot about it. Happens a lot. My mind drifts. Like right now I'm thinking about this ingrown hair that I thought I'd taken care of yesterday, but now seems to still be there. Annoying. I just want to play with it all day long. Anyway, then I got an e-mail with the YouTube video which reminded me to post it. And that folks, is a behind-the-scenes look of a TtP Rob post production.

Dutch Smoking Ban

The comprehensive Dutch smoking ban, that will cover coffee shops (more or less), is getting a lot of coverage, so I thought I'd link back to my recent post-Amsterdam post. I don't have a whole lot to add to it, other than I have sent an email or two to some Dutch friends in Amsterdam for a sense on how the locals are receiving it. I'll post the relevant bits when I hear back. My initial reaction is everyone knew this was coming and I'm skeptical of the folks who say the ban won't have teeth. The Dutch may think they are unique to rest of the world, and they certainly have cause to think they are, but when it comes to this....I'm not so sure they are any different from the rest of the smoke-free world.

ONDCP Endorses Outdoor Bud

They might not go that far, but let's see if you get as big of a laugh out of this post title from the Drug Czar's blog as I did.

Marijuana Growers = Energy Thieves
On Monday, the Press-Enterprise newspaper ran a story on how indoor pot growers are hijacking energy from their unsuspecting neighbors.

Well, as long as we have good reasons to continue our Drug War. Like chasing down thieves who are stealing the energy because it is illegal to grow marijuana. What a joke. More from the article. [emphasis mine]

However, the suspects -- seven arrested so far -- allegedly stole more than $30,000 worth of electricity per home over several months.

[...]

Gordon Taylor, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Sacramento, said his agency has raided 50 indoor marijuana-growing sites in Northern California in the last year or so.

In every instance, the suspects had tapped into the power lines and bypassed the meters, stealing $3,000 to $4,000 worth of electricity per month per home, Taylor said.

"There are a number of people in California who don't view marijuana as a very serious drug, but you have to look at the big picture," he said. "It's not just about use."

God forbid journalist actually ever call these folks out on their lies. Of course it is about use. It is completely about use according to drug warriors. We have laws in place to prevent use, for the explicit reason given that drug use causes all sorts of societal problems. Those of us who have eyes and the ability to reason can see that this isn't the case, rather it's the exact opposite, but the prohibitionist case depends completely on reducing use through coercive means. You can't argue with that, and for a DEA official to claim otherwise is stunning in my opinion. Sounds like someone from above is trying out a new argument on the public. I wouldn't be surprised if this effort is especially prevalent in states like California with lax marijuana laws, medicinal marijuana laws, etc.

To repeat myself--It isn't the marijuana that causes people to steal electricity, it's the illegal nature of the drug that forces the production underground. Full article here.

Life Rule 1) Always Sell Out Your Daughter If Given the Chance

That last pot-growing story brought to mind some local, home-town gossip that my Dad had passed along to me last time I was at my parent's house. From SoMdNews.com:[emphasis mine]

A 23-year veteran educator with Charles County Public Schools was arrested Thursday after it was learned he and his teenage daughter were engaged in drug activity at their La Plata home, according to police.

George Frederick Miller, a librarian at Westlake High School, was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana after Charles County sheriff’s officers found 11 marijuana plants growing in Miller’s home on Patuxent Court, police said.

[...]

In addition to the plants at Miller’s home — which police estimate have a value of $2,200 per plant — growing equipment, a scale, pipes and other drug paraphernalia were seized, according to police.

According to charging documents, after being advised of his Miranda rights, Miller told police his daughter, Maysa, 19, did most of the growing of the plants.

Miller also stated that he grows marijuana for his personal use and for his family and friends

Ladies, this is a perfect example of why you should always treat your father with respect and make his life as easy as possible. That's especially true if you are growing pot in his basement. I'm full of life lessons today.

Next Week: How to Build a Terrorist Training Camp on the Rose Garden

From the Sunshine State:

OCALA, Fla. -- A 17-year-old boy was growing marijuana on vacant property owned by Ocala's deputy police chief, authorities said.

[...]

Deputies with the Martin County Sheriff's Office confiscated nine potted marijuana plants on the lot.

Graham said he has known the teen, who was not identified because of his age, for several years.

"I have no idea why he picked my property," Graham said.

Kids, all I ask is that you make the cops do a little leg work. Full article here.

Supply Chain Optimization

Forbes offers up an organizational and structural expose on a type of delivery business that I can only imagine to be very convenient to its customers.

And since Forbes seems to be trying to become the cultured man's High Times, they also offer this pictorial slide on specialty buds.

Via an article that came via NORML.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Pete Guither points out a particularly stupid coroner inquest story, this time from Ireland.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said David died because the rhythmic electrical pulse in his heart misfired, causing it to stop beating almost immediately. She pointed to a growing body of medical evidence which shows links between the triggering of similar heart conditions and the use of drugs like cannabis and cocaine.

"On the basis of the evidence, it may have been that death by SADS may have been triggered by cannabis use," she said.

"Cannabis can only prove to be the trigger in certain cases. It is not the cause of death."

However, the inquest was told that, in almost a quarter of such cases, the individual had an underlying genetic cardiac problem

My question: Can we get a War on SADS? From Wiki:

SADS, or sudden arrhythmia death syndrome, is a term used to describe sudden death due to cardiac arrest brought on by an arrhythmia. The most common cause of sudden death in the US is coronary artery disease. Approximately 300,000 people die suddenly of this cause every year in the US. SADS can also occur from other causes. Also, there are many inherited conditions and heart diseases that can affect young people that can cause sudden death. Many of these victims have no symptoms before dying suddenly.

Full story here.

I Thought I was Being Clever with My Code Word -- Diaphragm

[Emphasis mine]

A settlement has been reached in the federal lawsuit filed by a former Nazareth Area High School student whose cell phone was confiscated in class by a suspicious teacher, school district attorney Andria Saia said.

[...]

According to the suit, technology teacher Shawn Kimberly Kocher confiscated Klump's cell phone, which was on his lap. Kocher and Assistant Principal Margaret Grube then allegedly used the phone to call other students, listened to voice messages and read text messages.

The Klumps allege Grube made the calls because Christopher Klump's girlfriend sent a suspicious text message while it was in their possession saying she needed a tampon. District officials believed that was code for marijuana. But cell phone records show Christopher Klump received that message the day before his phone was confiscated, the suit says.

According to the lawsuit, Superintendent Victor Lesky made defamatory statements to local media to justify Grube and Kocher's actions suggesting Christopher was selling or using drugs.

It's good to be reminded every now and then, just how greasy some of these public servants are who serve our children. Full story here.

Monday Morning Reading

Can you ever get enough Dobbs fisking? Didn't think so. Here is the latest from Donald Luskin at NRO:

[...]Nevertheless he [Dobbs] stated that

"Since the beginning of this new century, the United States has lost more than three million manufacturing jobs. Three million more jobs have been lost to cheap overseas labor markets …"

That’s a total of six million jobs. According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there today are only 6.7 million unemployed people in the U.S. to begin with. So just what is Dobbs promising? That if we had pursued protectionist trade policies, we’d have six million more jobs — leaving only 700 thousand people unemployed?

My favorite former Soviet block country, is having a bit of a row with their former oppressors, over a Soviet statue that was removed by the Estonian government. Ethnic Russians are rioting, using the statue removal as a general excuse to act like hooligans. One preventive act by the Estonian government caught my eye.

The government has also texted every mobile phone in the country urging parents to keep their teenagers indoors.

I'm not sure if it's USA Today or the NAACP, but in a subtle or not-so-subtle way, someone is comparing the use of the word "nigger" to Jim Crow.

Check out this royal mug.

Too much good stuff in this Slate piece debunking the super-potent bud hysteria to excerpt just one part. Read the whole thing.

Chronicle Writer Chronicles Use of The Chronic

San Francisco Chronicle writer David Rubien writes a very good first-person account of his decision to seek out medical marijuana to treat a repetitive-stress condition.

[A dispensary worker] recommended sativa for my RSI, but I told him I tried the bud from HopeNet and found it to be too strong. It may be fun to chill with on a Saturday night, when I don't notice the arm pain so much anyway, but it wouldn't do me any good during the workweek.

"Try some tea, then," he said, offering me a selection of varieties from one of his edibles bins. "It's very light on THC."

Saturday rolled around, and I brewed up a cup and drank it. In a few minutes, I felt suffused with a sensation of well-being I would almost call narcotic, but my head was clear. I picked up a magazine and read it with no loss of comprehension. And -- voila -- the nagging pain in my shoulder was almost gone.

Amazing. Then I laughed, thinking how absurd it was that I could be arrested by the feds for this.

More here.

Pot Stories D'Jour

Why do people consent to a search? Especially when your apartment serves as a hydroponic grow house....

During the investigation, Mooney told police she “found out I could pay my rent with it,” McDaniel said.

[..]

She gave consent to search her apartment, McDaniel said. The officers seized about six ounces of marijuana grown in water without soil, $1,542 cash and a .32-caliber handgun. She was also charged with possession of a handgun.

Later, the police informed Mooney that banks take paychecks and turn them into cash; which also can be used to pay rent. She seemed perplexed and promised to look into it.

Does pot prevent lung cancer? Or rather, the aggressive growth of lung cancer? Maybe, who really knows. But some scientists somewhere, with some rats, think they discovered something of some significance regarding THC and cancer cells.

So far, in the last week, I have tobacco preventing some other disease that you don't want, and marijuana staving off one of the most destructive cancers you can get. Huzzah for Rob's lifestyle!!! I eagerly await studies in the near future that provide further proof that blow-jobs from tranny hookers can help prevent Alzheimer's.

I'm a few weeks late on this, but here is Paul Armentano from NORML commemorating 35 years since the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse released their report on marijuana policy.

That was the Angle

A NSW anti-cannabis campaign will target teenagers as they travel to school and surf the internet.

[...]

Print advertisements, carrying tag lines such as "Pot. It mightn't kill you, but it could turn you into a dickhead", will appear in youth magazines and on bus stop posters.

I saw this story yesterday, but couldn't think of a half-way interesting way to present it. Usually, that doesn't stop me. Instead I just close my eyes and pound the keyboard, and hope whatever comes out makes sense, but in this case I passed. What I wish however, is that I had thought of this.

How Not to Convince People: Demonize Their Choices

Which side do I join??

I spend many hours with my favorite lagers, stouts, and ales. I'm well known as the guy who is constantly carrying a tumbler of Jameson (I go Bushmills if with a Catholic crowd; I'm a respectful traveler), stumbling around, calling hipsters cunts and getting punched in the face by English women, American women, my mom, etc.

On the other hand we have pot. Oh pot. Pregnant porn, granny porn, bestiality porn...Would I have found these genres (as quickly) if not for you? Or those times smoking hashish with the Afghani and/or the Pakistani (honestly who knows where those guys are from...all I hear is mountains and I spend the next hour nodding at everything they say). Would have never happened without marijuana. Oh, and I forgot midget porn. And that hole in the locker-room of the H.S. soccer-team that I coached. Well, that doesn't have anything to do with pot. But boy am I glad I found that hole. Am I ever. Did I ever fill it. Ah...the memories

Nick Gillespie highlights the battle, I've blogged about the intellectual stupidity of using the argument...We bring you Modern Drunkard vs. SAFER.

P.S. As I said, I've blogged on this before, so I'll leave the substance for another day, but check out some of the comments at Hit&Run. Too many are cheering on SAFER's propaganda as a fair counter to the Drug Warriors propaganda. Bullshit.

Pot Not Parve for Passover

I give up religion each year during Lent -- and stay away from it until the following Lent, when I renew my disassociation with it -- but this struck me as worth reporting.

In bad news for its religious Jewish supporters, an Israeli pro-marijuana party announced Tuesday that pot is forbidden on Passover.

Cannabis is among the substances Jews are forbidden to consume during the week-long festival, which begins Monday, said Michelle Levine, a spokeswoman for the Green Leaf party.

Biblical laws prohibit eating leavened foods during Passover, replacing bread with flat crackers called matza. Later injunctions by European rabbis extended those rules to forbid other foods like beans and corn, and more recent rulings have further expanded the ban to include hemp seeds, which today are found in some health oils — and in marijuana.

Green Leaf is such a perfect name for an Israeli pot party: mixing a Jewish surname with pot imagery. If I was a practicing Jew (which I'm not) and I wanted to have kids (which I don't), there's no way I wouldn't name my kid something like "Jacob Greenleaf Linnekin".

More here. What's Kosher for Passover (and not) here.

Thanks to Saul Higgins for the tip.

Baby Boomers Stink

Not sure where to go with this one...But the Independent has reversed its position, taken a few years back in the late '90's, calling for the legalization of marijuana in the UK.

Record numbers of teenagers are requiring drug treatment as a result of smoking skunk, the highly potent cannabis strain that is 25 times stronger than resin sold a decade ago.

More than 22,000 people were treated last year for cannabis addiction - and almost half of those affected were under 18. With doctors and drugs experts warning that skunk can be as damaging as cocaine and heroin, leading to mental health problems and psychosis for thousands of teenagers, The Independent on Sunday has today reversed its landmark campaign for cannabis use to be decriminalised.

A couple interesting things to note, with the disclaimer that I haven't put a lot of serious thought into a rebuttal. To begin with, this is an example of why I'm not fond of arguments like this. For the reason that you leave yourself wide-open to attacks like this, putting yourself constantly on the defensive of defending the statement, "Alcohol is worse and we allow that".

My intial response to an editorial like this would be "So what?" Are they really saying we should continue a war that cost billions of dollars, tens of thousands of lives, and our civil liberties for a few thousand kids that might need mental health treatment because they smoked some strong pot? That is insane on every level. What has prohibition done so far to stop this, if kids are even going loony from the drug to begin with? Don't misunderstand me, I'm not giving ground on the potency issue. I largely think it is a load of shit that older generations use to simultaneously excuse their drug use while prosecuting a disgusting war on civil liberties, otherwise law-abiding citizens and......a plant. However, why waste time disputing THC percentage levels from 1972 as opposed to 2007. Who does that appeal to? Why not say: Look, this is another example of prohibition failing. If we had legal markets to purchase drugs, both casual users and addicts alike would be able to choose drugs of varying potency that suited their taste better. Or point out the cost/benefit analysis that I made at the beginning of this rant.

It's also important to point out that we are talking about a particular strain of marijuana, growing in popularity yes, but "skunk" has been around for some time now, it doesn't represent all pot in circulation and even within the strain potency can vary greatly. I can't get into the weeds on that particular issue, because I'm not a botanist, and there are actual qualified people who can speak to it much more authoritatively.

Full article here.

Easy There Guys

Hey you sinister, pro-pot lobby groups, let's not lose sight of what St. Patrick's Day is all about.

BOULDER — If everyone getting drunk on St. Patrick’s Day would smoke marijuana instead, the car crashes, fist fights and sexual assaults would plummet, pro-marijuana advocates said today.

[...]

"I’ll come back to the dorm about 1 a.m. and there will be people screaming in the hallways, writing rude things on the wall, verbally abusing and sexually abusing other people," University of Colorado sophomore Summer Weirich said, describing a typical scene when people have been drinking. "Guys try to wander in your room and see what you’re doing, see if they can hook up."

She makes a good point there. However, wandering into rooms and asking if the occupant(s) want to bone is my go-to move. Drunk or sober, doesn't matter.

If I was just talking to Summer one-on-one, I would first ask her if she really meant this, or if she is was just making the usual, larger point in regard to the hypocrisy of how we deal with drugs as opposed to alcohol. Then, I would take off my pants. I would end our "discussion" by advising her to blame the idiot who comes into her room, for coming into her room uninvited. Not the booze they consumed that night.

I speak from experience; you won't see me blaming the pot when my roommates catch me rubbing-one-out to horse/girl action. I'm also usually dead sober...So maybe that analogy doesn't work too well...But, it did give me excuse to use the bestiality tag one more time. Bestiality!

Full article here.

Did I Miss Something...

I might show my ignorance on this issue...But Drudge has this up:

BAD TRIP: Federal Appeals Court rules that patients who use marijuana to stay alive are not immune from prosecution for illegal drug use... Developing...

What did I miss folks? Wasn't this already settled?

And They Heard My Head Smash The Keyboard

I'm curious. What is the point of a college newspaper? Is it the first stop for aspiring journalist? Or is it more of a covering for your shitty, college apartment bathroom floor, providing the benefit of bathroom reading of last resort and absorbent of vomit and urine. Cause that's how I remember my college paper. Don't get me wrong, I love the silly sex columns as much as the next sophomore gal. Ooooh...my boyfriend won't go down on me, what's the deal with that? I can't have an orgasm, is something the matter with me? Your vagina looks like a bear trap; and yes, you ARE a defective human being, overlooked on God's assembly line of sex parts.

I only ask this question because college papers do tend to publish (and I use that word as loosely as possible) a decent amount of drug related articles, and in my never-ending attempt to continue to break down the exact same drug article time and time again for your benefit, I find myself reading way too many college papers online. Sometimes you get good ones but -- more often than not -- they are nothing more than disturbing arrangements of words that end up toting the standard government line. In my mind I see a college paper as a chance to get out there without the repercussions you might face in real world journalism, carrying with it the same joys and advantages of blogging. But I guess most of these papers are nothing more than a requirement or a chore for their writers, and that's a shame.

See here for the most recent example that got me thinking, and here from one of my all time favorites. The second link is to an old post of mine and the article link within is dead. However, the whore who wrote it post-edited the article, so I'm keeping the link to my post. If you want to see her new article, missing some of her lies and mischaracterations go here.

Let's Jump in the WABAC Machine Mr. Peabody!

From a opinion piece in the California paper Amador Ledger Dispatch [emphasis mine]

There is so much misinformation about marijuana out there, due to efforts by some to desensitize society to the harms and risks of this illegal substance. Marijuana is not only harmful, but addictive and potentially deadly.

[snip]

Most adults were teenagers themselves during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, a time when drug experimentation could be dismissed as a rite of passage to adulthood. But times have changed. Marijuana today is 15 to 25 times more potent than the pot smoked 30 or 40 years ago.

Where to begin...where to begin. This is a fairly standard anti-marijuana propaganda piece, so for the sake of my sanity and your unnecessary scrolling (Baylen, how about a below the fold option?) I'm going to focus on the absurdity of her (the author is a Ms Diane M. Peebles...BAM!! BAM BAM!!) telling parents that marijuana from the 90's is significantly different from the plant in these the aught years.

Follow this. It was OK by her logic to smoke marijuana, or casually "experiment" with drugs as late as the 1990's; or rather she rationalizes the use to prompt today's parents to scare the shit out their kids with a pack of lies. Because she knows what we all know -- that parents have trouble feeding their kids the standard government talking points on pot if they have smoked marijuana in their past. Why? Because they understand the true consequences of its use, and they are much, much milder then the wild claims made by Drug Warriors and their allies.

When they claim the potency of marijuana has shot up over 30 or 40 years and carries with it an increase in the risk associated with use, I'll disagree and argue why that is a distorted stat and fairly meaningless. But when they start claiming the pot smoked 10 years ago is significantly different and less "dangerous" than pot from 2006, then I'll just roll my eyes and point you in the direction of the lunacy.

Via NORML. Full article here. If you have no culture at all and need the reference for the post title, see here.

Cannabis: So Harmful That it Might Make You Become a Politician

British Conservative Party leader, David Cameron doesn't let a pesky problems such as his past or the facts stand in the way of his political aspirations. Drugs! Easy political points! From the Telegraph

David Cameron is urging the Government to take a harder line on possession and supply of cannabis use despite reports of his own youthful indiscretions with the drug, the Conservative Party said yesterday.

Mr Cameron believes cannabis should be reclassified as a Class B drug – reversing Labour's decision to downgrade it to Class C three years ago.

He believes the downgrading of cannabis sent out the message that it was a soft, safe drug and encouraged consumption. Police are now more likely just to confiscate the drug and give users a warning.

It gets better

Mr Cameron, 40, admitted there were things in his past which he regretted, but insisted politicians were entitled to a "private past".

The Conservative Party's information telephone line took about 20 calls yesterday on the issue. Officials said only one of the callers expressed criticism of the Tory leader.

The other 19, many of them from younger people, were supportive, saying the reports of drug use in his youth had no bearing on his abilities as a politician, and if anything "made him appear more human".
[snip]
However, Mr Cameron believes that cannabis is a "harmful and dangerous drug", and the stronger strains of cannabis now available on the street mean that it should be re-classified

Huh? He is entitled to a "private past" as a privileged politician, while the rest of the public must operate in a society so devoid in privacy rights that they can not even choose what to put in their bodies. That makes sense in a way that makes no sense at all. Party officials also cite the calls of support for Cameron's past drug use, while simultaneously denouncing marijuana as "harmful and dangerous" and calling for tougher measures against the drug. Dizzying.

He might also want to consider what it means for his hopes of the Premiership when voters are using phrases like "appear more human" when talking about him. I would think proving your belonging with mankind should be an early campaign exercise. I'm also not a close follower of British politics, so what do I know.

Via The Corner. Full article here as well as more here.