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| NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- July 20, 2006 |
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Posted by CN Staff on July 20, 2006 at 13:57:11 PT Weekly Press Release Source: NORML 
NORML Advisory Board Member, Travel Author Rick Steves Contacts Washington Policy-Makers With Message: Decriminalize Marijuana Possession For Adults July 20, 2006 - Edmonds, WA, USA Edmonds, WA: Best selling author, travel show host and NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves has sent a letter to every state and federal elected policymaker in his home state of Washington asking them to immediately change state and federal laws such that marijuana possession and responsible adult use be decriminalized. Mr. Steves decided to contact his state's politicians after recently participating in two public lectures sponsored by NORML in Seattle and on Bainbridge Island. After the public lectures received heavy media coverage in the Seattle-area, Steves received dozens of positive replies and notes of encouragement. Steves decided to share his experience with legislators in Washington State: "I've been on the advisory board of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) for several years so I see our marijuana laws as overly harsh and prohibition taking a negative and needless toll on our society as alcohol did back in the early 1930s. In the interest of wise drug policy and harm reduction, I am a proponent of taking the European approach and treating marijuana as a health rather than a criminal problem. I've always found the both politicians and the media secretly agree with my stance. While politicians may agree with me, they understandably fear political fallout if they are considered "soft on drugs". The point of my communication with you is that I have never had such over-whelming and positive feedback from a controversy that I've stepped into. Everywhere I've gone in the last week, people have thanked me for bravely addressing what is generally considered a painful prohibition in our society. After reviewing this, let me know if I can be of any help in supporting you to speak out to get America to take the crime out of Marijuana." More information about Rick Steves and other NORML Advisory Board Members advocacy for marijuana law reform is available at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5471 'Pack NORML with Rick Steves' 100% hemp travel packs are now available: http://secure.norml.org/normljoin.plx?item1=mem100 DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6954 NORML Announces 22nd Annual Key West Legal Seminar July 20, 2006 - Washington, DC, USA Washington, DC: This annual seminar for practicing criminal defense lawyers, scheduled for November 30 - December 2, will once again be held at the Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa, located at the foot of Duval Street on the Gulf of Mexico. The hotel offers a full-service Caribbean Spa with therapeutic body massages and island facials. They are holding a block of reduced-rate rooms for those attending the NORML Legal Seminar. We have a faculty of outstanding defense attorneys lined-up to provide the continuing legal education (CLE) program each morning, with the afternoons free for exploring the island, enjoying the beaches, or just hanging out with friends and colleagues. Program topics to include: -Advance DUI Motions Registration fee includes the three-day seminar, a continental breakfast each morning, and the opening reception on Thursday evening. The Saturday night NORML benefit banquet is an optional event, although we encourage everyone to attend. For more details on the NORML Legal Committee's annual Key West Criminal Defense Legal Seminar visit the front page of http://www.norml.org or call 202-483-5500. DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6953 New Zealand Relaxes Regulations for Industrial Hemp July 20, 2006 - Wellington, New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand: Beginning August 1, the New Zealand Health Ministry will introduce a new regulatory system for the processing, cultivation and distribution of industrial hemp as an agricultural crop, according to a press release issued by the Director-General of Health. The new system will allow individuals and organizations to apply for a license to cultivate approved varieties of industrial hemp, and will allow growers to apply for other varieties to be considered for research and cultivation. Approved varieties of hemp will include only those containing less that 0.5 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in cannabis. Derek Fitzgerald, director of Medsafe, the medicine regulatory agency overseeing the new program, commented that, "The new regulations ... take into account the low drug [THC] content of hemp, which was previously subjected to the same strict controls as those placed on illicit cannabis". The new regulations come after a two year trial period to determine if industrial hemp has a potential as a cultivation crop, and if the cultivation can be controlled and regulated. However, Fitzgerald did note that, "the new regulations still classify industrial hemp as a controlled drug and consider it an offense to advertise hemp for psychoactive purposes or to supply it to unauthorized persons". Further, the new licensing system will cover only hemp, while other varieties of cannabis will continue to be regulated under the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1975. Industrial hemp can be used for everything from food and body care products, to building materials, paper and textiles, and as an alternative renewable energy source. Currently over 30 other countries have laws allowing the cultivation and production of industrial hemp. Fore more information please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy analyst, at (202) 483-5500. For additional information, visit: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/ after August 1 to read about the new regulations. DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6952 Source: NORML Foundation (DC) CannabisNews NORML Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #29 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 09:33:29 PT |
| No, it is all wrong. I believe in the separtion of church and state because we can make something happen if we believe it will. That's dangerous. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #28 posted by dongenero on July 21, 2006 at 09:16:55 PT |
| Bush is an evangelical christian, certainly believeing the "end of days" is near. I suppose if your belief is strong enough it can become a self fulfilling prophecy. I am very concerned and disappointed about having a religious fundamentalist as President. Is this the mentality we want having thier finger on the "button"?! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #27 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 08:52:13 PT |
| I don't wish the destruction of the Dome of the Rock. I look at that ancient prophecy as a gauge more then anything. I hope it never happens. There I feel better. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #26 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 08:39:09 PT |
| The article makes me think of the canary in the mine. We should pay attention. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #25 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 08:27:37 PT |
| I think we have more then one war going on. We want control of the middle east because we want their oil. The war between Muslims and Jews goes back to the beginning of recorded time and that war is the one I fear. We are opportunists as a country. I think our leaders under estimate the depth of the conflict in the middle east. For a right wing party with all the religious people in it don't they see? Maybe they do see and want this war to happen because people will run to churches and donate lots of money. I see this whole issue as a religious issue and I always have. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #24 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 08:09:38 PT |
| I don't know who will use a nuclear bomb first. I want to know how close the bombs are landing near the Dome of The Rock in Jerusalem. I have expected the destruction of the Dome of the Rock for many years. They need to re-build the Temple where the Dome of The Rock is now. If the Dome of the Rock gets destroyed that will start WWIII in my opinion. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #23 posted by mayan on July 21, 2006 at 08:04:28 PT |
| Yes, the neo-cons are trying to provoke WWIII. Actually, Bush has said that it's already started. Once we attack Iran, which just happens to sit right between our permanent bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, the whole region will explode. The price of oil will skyrocket, devastating the economy. The only jobs left will be in the military(industrial-complex). Maybe a draft won't even be neccessary. However, the neo-con house of cards is falling fast as the motives and masterminds of 9/11 are quickly being exposed. Even more whistleblowers will be coming out of the closet in order to prevent catasrophe. It's a race against time to save the entire earth... Whistleblower thinks 9/11 inside job: http://www.sploid.com/news/2006/07/pentagon_papers.php 25 Reasons Why "White Collar Terrorists" Are To Blame for 9/11, "America's New War," and the Impending World War III: http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles/apocalypse/25_reasons.html [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #22 posted by SystemGoneDown on July 21, 2006 at 07:59:50 PT |
| Here's the story. http://gnn.tv/headlines/10025/Earth_Faces_Catastrophic_Loss_of_Species [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #21 posted by SystemGoneDown on July 21, 2006 at 07:59:10 PT |
| Anybody here ever visit this site. They have an interesting story about imminent extinction among 23% of mammals on this planet. Pretty interesting........And with all this talk here about WWIII, any word yet on who will throw the first nuke? Us or them? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #20 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 07:15:22 PT |
| Don't need no more pills! I love it! LOL! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #19 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 07:11:51 PT |
| I don't believe killing is justified under most circumstances. I believe this war in Israel and Lebanon could escalate into WWIII. Once we get involved defending Israel with troops on the ground the draft will return because many young soldiers will be killed along with mostly civilians. I don't hate many things but I do hate fighting and war. LWW Lyrics: I join the multitudes I raise my hand in peace I never bow to the laws of the thought police I take a holy vow To never kill again To never kill again [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #18 posted by mayan on July 21, 2006 at 07:10:27 PT |
| Don't need no more Pills! I'm glad I'm easily amused. It sure saves a lot of money! Just let us have our weed and leave us alone! Meanwhile, the Barrett story is really hitting the mainstream. They're playing right into his hands! ABC News is jumping on the bandwagon now... Wis Lawmakers Want Univ. Instructor Fired: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2220378 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #17 posted by whig on July 21, 2006 at 07:03:16 PT |
| I know it's hard for people to follow a whole lot of rules, and I'm no advocate of it in general. People should be free to act according to their conscience, but there are things that should be common to everyone's morality, regardless of whether they are religious or not. It's just a small thing. I mean, the Christian commandment to love one another might just be too hard for people, but the first commandment of the Jews, that's pretty simple, isn't it? Thou Shalt Not Kill. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #16 posted by FoM on July 21, 2006 at 06:22:32 PT |
| I have noticed since I was young that pushing products, pills, insurance, cars and whatever else they want us to spend money on is our way of life. I try to talk to my husband when a tv program goes to commercial but the volume goes up and it makes me forget what I was trying to say. I am so sick of product pushing that I am not watching much tv anymore. I check the news to see if we are in WWIII yet and then mute the sound and turn on music. I am happy I don't need all the things they want us to buy. It must be very depressing for people who can't even afford a decent place to live. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #15 posted by mayan on July 21, 2006 at 05:28:17 PT |
| JAMA misled by docs over drug co. ties — again: This marks third time in two months researchers did not report affiliations:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13923444/ Medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million People and Cost Billions of Dollars Annually: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11623 LONG LIVE KEVIN BARRETT.... Wis. lawmakers demand professor be fired: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060720letter-professor,1,3340438.story?ctrack=1&cset=true [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #14 posted by FoM on July 20, 2006 at 20:38:18 PT |
| I agree medicine has done good things for people. I don't think I'd be alive if I hadn't had a good surgeon who saved my life. I'll never forget she didn't charge me the second time I needed major surgery. We had insurance the first time but she knew I needed help and fast. I wouldn't go to the hospital and cried and cried and that's when she said don't worry about it. I won't charge you and she didn't. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by whig on July 20, 2006 at 20:25:19 PT |
| Western medicine has given us some good things. Immunizations do save lives (though mercury-containing vaccines pose a serious risk to child development), and antibiotics have done a great deal to reduce mortality due to bacterial infections (though they are overprescribed and cause side-effects not to mention the mutagenic effect on bacteria themselves). Also, orthopedics are wonderful, I would not be alive without a new hip. But the quest for profits over healthcare have really damaged the scientific gains, as every pharmaceutical company wants a blockbuster pill that may provide a questionable (if any) benefit to the vast majority of people for whom it is prescribed. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by FoM on July 20, 2006 at 20:19:29 PT |
| How did people live before all these drugs they push on TV? I know people are living longer now but I think it is because we have better living conditions and we haven't had a pandemic which kills off young and old and lowers the average age of death in a population. I could be all wrong though. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by whig on July 20, 2006 at 20:11:28 PT |
| I think the cholesterol-lowering drugs are really a major scam anyhow. They do lower cholesterol, that's a given and the studies prove it conclusively -- but what they don't seem to do is provide any significant improvement of morbidity or mortality outcomes. Which is to say, if you have heart disease and you take a statin to treat your cholesterol, you still have heart disease even though your "numbers" look better. A better way of looking at it, I think, is that high cholesterol is a warning sign that you may have heart disease and you ought to change diet, exercise more, or take other precautions accordingly to hopefully stop and reverse this progression. But just taking a pill that masks indicator symptoms is worse than useless. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by FoM on July 20, 2006 at 20:02:16 PT |
| I don't know if I'll live longer or better by not taking medicine. At a family Christmas gathering my nieces husband was having trouble with his cholesterol drug. I said I don't know what my cholesterol level is because I have never been tested. He said but you could die if it's high and you don't get it down. I said that's true but what I don't know is better for my mental health then knowing what it is. I think stress and worry can get us sick so I do my best not to think about it. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by Wayne on July 20, 2006 at 19:51:40 PT |
| Yeah, I don't trust meds either. I don't even take aspirin if I can help it. It seems to me that either sleep, a hot shower, exercise, a funny TV show, a beer, or a joint will cure just about any ill that I have. I have no need for prescription meds. I still have a prescription my doctor gave me back in January, I never had it filled. In light of what was said about Rick Steves and NZ, I'm in kind of a take-action mood tonight. I found this film online tonight. I haven't figured out how to apply it to MJ law yet, because our enemies are mainly government officials, but it might give someone some ideas. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by whig on July 20, 2006 at 19:45:20 PT |
| Having chronic pain of one kind or another is particularly bad, because even aspirin (which I cannot take at all due to its platelet-lowering effects, as it would make me susceptible to internal bleeding due to my condition) and Tylenol (which causes cumulative liver damage over time) are not options. Ibuprofin and other NSAIDs have similar platelet-lowering effects to aspirin but of shorter duration, so they aren't expressly precluded but are dangerous for me to use over any extended period. And then there are the newer NSAIDs that cause heart failure. Yay. So apart from cannabis (which I will probably not be able to have until I get a new California ID and then a doctor's recommendation, because I don't want to deal with strangers (ever!) and I don't want to put friends in any unnecessary risk), I just have to put up with it for the most part. It's tolerable compared to before the hip replacement, believe me. But I still get mighty sore after walking significant amounts. So that's my situation for the moment. Ironic, isn't it? But I also can't whine too much, because the long-term situation is a whole lot better and less scary than it was for us in Pennsylvania. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 20, 2006 at 19:31:01 PT |
| I am afraid of prescription medicine. I have been doing a lot of work around the house recently and my one foot really started hurting. I could have taken a pain pill but I wanted to fix it some other way. Massage using a couple different essential oils and epsom salts took the pain away in a couple of days. I didn't need anything for pain but a couple bufferin. I try to find an alternative solution to a need for medicine. I just don't have much faith in pharmaceuticals anymore. I have reasons too. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by Dankhank on July 20, 2006 at 18:44:43 PT |
| you may have to register, make something up ... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by Dankhank on July 20, 2006 at 18:43:23 PT |
| Prescription Errors Kill, Injure Americans, Report Says http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/20/AR2006072000754.html?sub=AR and they want us to TRUST our Doctors/Medical Establishments .. hahaha hahaha hahaha [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by mayan on July 20, 2006 at 18:13:34 PT |
| If only more famous folks would raise their voices like Rick Steves! Regarding the last article on the bulletin, New Zealand will be among the first nations affected by global warming. They know they have to completely change they way they live, and fast! Sweden will also be on the front lines as they have announced plans to have a totally oil-free economy within a decade. The rest of the world will soon be demanding that the U.S. adopt more sustainable practices. It's truly a matter of survival for the earth's peoples. What better way to suck the excess carbon-dioxide out of the atmoshpere,produce food,fuel,fibre,paper and plastics than the large-scale cultivation of industrial hemp? Way to go, New Zealand! On an unrelated note, here's a video of Dondald Rumsfeld announcing that the Pentagon cannot account for 2.3 TRILLION DOLLARS. He announced it on 9/10/01. American Enantiodromia: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gUKJNxdmX6Y We all know what happened the next day. Cynthia McKinney speaks of the missing TRILLIONS... Cynthia McKinney Facing Runoff Election Comments on Electronic Voting, 9/11, and More: http://www.911blogger.com/2006/07/cynthia-mckinney-facing-runoff.html THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN... Exclusive Report: Did Military Exercises Facilitate the 9/11 Pentagon Attack? http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20060718232126585 New 9/11 conspiracy feature film probes government's version of the Pentagon attack: http://www.prleap.com/pr/41357/ Norway's Dagbladet 9/11 Article (english translation): http://www.seabhcan.com/Dagbladet/index.html Twin Towers Story (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sb7kZBEHL8&search=twin%20towers%20story [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #3 posted by Richard Zuckerman on July 20, 2006 at 15:16:47 PT:
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| PLEASE BE ADVISED that the two major candidates for U.S. Senate for New Jersey, namely, Democrat Robert Menendez and Republican Thomas H. Kean, Jr., have agreed to particupate in a virtual debate on www.hallnj.org. Members of the public may suggest questions and/or topics for the debate by e-mailing senate06@hallnj.org. About a half hour ago, I e-mailed various questions, including WHY SHOULD THE DEA BE FUNDED AND "MARIJUANA" BE AGAINST THE LAW WHILE THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY LAUNDERS OVER $600 BILLION PER YEAR OF DRUG MONEY THRU WALL STREET, WITH IMPUNITY? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 20, 2006 at 15:14:19 PT |
| I'm not sure I understand the problem but if something doesn't work we do need to move on. At least that's how I try to approach life. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Christen-Mitchell on July 20, 2006 at 15:07:22 PT:
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| July 16th 2006 On Friday none other than the great R. Keith Stroup, National Organization of the Reform of Marijuana Laws Founder, e-mailed the NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF AFFILIATION to Boulder's not yet two year old chapter. This action came as no surprise to the dozens of activists who have been driven away from the chapter since the September 2005 election of P. Tiger. Long abrasive, the then obnoxious leader began an ego driven campaign against cooperation and even marijuana dealers, which coupled with his slanderous style has earned him an almost unprecedented excommunication from the tolerant premier marijuana activist group. [ Post Comment ] |
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