I welcome all information about my world, whether it is in the form of satire or just plain out truth.

July 27, 2006

Part I of two parts on local teen drug abuse

A decade has passed since Californians voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. At the time, one of the arguments against legalizing the drug was that the law might open the door to abuse, especially among teens.

Indeed, many teenagers in the area have found that the marijuana grown and dispensed by medical groups can be easily obtained, and is perhaps of even higher quality than what can be purchased on the street.

California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996. The law, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, was intended to give seriously ill Californians the right to possess and use marijuana for a variety of chronic medical conditions.

'Know the right doctor'

To safeguard against abuse, people who suffer from cancer, AIDS, chronic pain and other conditions must obtain a prescription from a licensed physician, the first step to possessing a medical marijuana identification card.

Once a medical marijuana identification card is in hand, a citizen can drop in to any local medical marijuana dispensary throughout California and legally purchase up to eight ounces of marijuana or other cannabis products. These include ice cream, brownies and lollipops created for people who can't smoke but need the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, to ease pain.

One Oak Park teen who wished to remain anonymous for this article said that at least 10 of his friends have fraudulently obtained medical marijuana identification cards. "It's really easy to get," said the 19-year-old. "You just have to know the right doctor."

According to several experts interviewed by The Acorn, if a person cannot convince their own physician that the drug is necessary for a particular medical condition, the dispensaries will often recommend a doctor who is more likely to write a prescription.

Other conditions that are considered treatable with marijuana, but are not as easy to confirm as a diagnosis of cancer or AIDS, include migraine headaches, severe nausea, anxiety and other mood disorders.

The California Health and Safety Code allows marijuana to be prescribed for any condition that "substantially limits the ability of the person to conduct one or more major life activities as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990."

The process to obtain a medical marijuana identification card is fairly straighforward. Once a doctor's prescription is obtained, a form is filled out and after the prescription becomes verified a patient is legally eligible to purchase marijuana in limited quantities.

"It's better pot, I guess, than a lot of the street stuff," said the Oak Park teen.

Each dispensary devises guidelines on how much marijuana a patient can purchase.

A spokesperson for Herbal Independent Pharmacy in Woodland Hills said that the store allows individuals to purchase only two ounces within a two-week period.

"Someone could reasonably smoke an ounce in a week," the HIP employee said.

For those who want to bypass such limitations, a regular supply of marijuana can be obtained by visiting different dispensaries in the Conejo and San Fernando valleys.

Cannabis "clubs" do not check with other dispensaries, another HIP spokesperson said. The onus is on the patient, who by law may possess only eight ounces of marijuana at a time.

But "they could hit 50 dispensaries in one day if they wanted to," the employee said.

Some marijuana issued with 'little or no justification'

Dep. Matt Dunn, a member of the Lost Hills Juvenile Intervention Team in Agoura Hills, said law enforcement officers often deal with teens in possession of medical marijuana. Dunn said he confiscates the marijuana and identification card since California's medical marijuana law is trumped by federal law.

"I call the doctor to ascertain the validity of the prescription," Dunn said. "Many times (prescriptions and identification cards) are fraudulently obtained.

"I don't disagree with medical marijuana, but I do believe there is a lot of fraud," Dunn said.

Dunn cited as an example a young man caught with marijuana who was proud to flash his medical marijuana card. The man said he had obtained the card legally because he played college football and had hurt his back.

"Physicians are risking their reputations and licensing by issuing medical marijuana with little or no justification," Dunn said.

What parents can do

Randi Klein, the alternative education counselor with the Las Virgenes Unified School District, has seen a rise in medical marijuana usage over the past 18 months and believes that medical marijuana cards are being obtained by students who should not qualify.

Klein said many of the clinics have doctors on staff who will write the prescriptions for such ailments as insomnia or anxiety.

"It's a virtual supermarket," Klein said of the clinics. "They sell candy with THC, 'reefer cups' as opposed to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, laced lollypops and ice cream."

Klein considers doctors who prescribe marijuana for minor ailments, especially for teens who fabricate complaints of back pain, insomnia or anxiety, to be negligent.

"I do think that kids are starting (to use drugs) younger and younger," Klein said.

She said parents must take a more proactive role in supervising their children, from monitoring computer usage to making sure their teens are where they say they are.

Klein also advises parents to set boundaries, and get their teenagers involved in activities that encourage good choices.

Myspace.com, a popular website mostly used by teens, has caused an escalation in teen drinking and drug use, Klein said.

There are thousands of web pages outlining the drunken escapades of students, and thousands of pictures of students who appear drugged or drunk, Klein said.

"It looks cool to so many kids," Klein said. She recommends that parents ask to see their children's profiles on the site.

"It's important to know what your kids are doing," Klein said.

Click ads below for larger version

Copyright: 2006 J.Bee Publications

Two things bothered me about this story. 1) The mothers didn't really say anything specific that they were expecting from the lawmakers. I guess they just want them to deal with the problem to get it off our shoulders? And 2) What the hell are legislators going to do? They won't put restrictions on drugs, that would ruin Big Pharma's bottom line. And they sure as sh** aren't going to stop Mexican online pharmacies from sending drugs in...they can't even stop their runaway citizens from coming in!

***

Mothers Plead for Prescription Drug Legislation

***

Children Increasingly Abusing Prescription Drugs, Worrying Mothers

By KEITH GARVIN

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2006 — Their testimony at times elicited anger, and at other times sadness. But the three women who spoke to members of Congress today were clear on their message: Do something now, or the nation will continue to lose children to the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

From the above linked article...

"Prof Torero said he believed the World Trade Centre in New York should have "withstood burnout" after it was hit."

like frightened little mice

there is a larger vision

look up

look around

can you see?

People who need people, Striesand,

Prisons are foul places

Like the foot of that bleeding carpenter

Fast forward through that 'commercial,

Keep in mind that Bush and the DEA were the ones who tied drugs and terrorism together. I think Mr. Bennett is just making a satire of it, judging by all the quotation marks.

It is not funny or reasonable, that Bennet weaves drug war and arab terrorists together.

the judges and lawyers,

the good soldiers arrest,

according to the Law,

consider some other day,

when the light of reason

and eternal understanding

may play on your mind and alleged soul

"Over the past 12 years, despite a doubling of the drug "control" budget, the nation is at best treading water in its efforts to stop its citizens from using the "wrong" intoxicants.".. -Brian C. Bennett

Oh Brian Cee. Bennet, are you a real human being?

You sound like some fiction that reveals complicity and a very un American understanding.

http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=5201618

More than 8,000 Marijuana plants are discovered in Coffee County. On Saturday,..

and to the good people of Larado Texas,

Customs and Border Protection officers seized two significant loads of marijuana — totaling 1,817 pounds,..

http://tinyurl.com/e6dlv

Here are a couple places that you can find him:

Drug WarRant Forum: http://www.drugwarrant.net/forum/

Political Crossfire: http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/forum/search.php?search_author=brian_bennett

"It is the duty of youth to bring its fresh powers to bear on social progress. Each generation of young people should be to the world like a vast reserve force to a tired army. They should lift the world forward. That is what they are for."

--You might want to let them know they missed a line at the end: 'Unless they do drugs.' That tired army wouldn't be the DEA, would it?

"Also, since marijuana can affect judgment and decisionmaking, its use can lead to risky sexual behaviour, resulting in exposure to STD's like AIDS."

--Wonder whose ass they pulled THAT out of? Using that logic, the same could be said about music videos. Better take away the TV.

"We call on District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to create clear guidelines and then have zero tolerance for Prop 215 abuses, but make sure medical marijuana is still available under California law to those with legitimate medical needs. That's our opinion, what's yours?"

They did have info boths set up and folks working in the crowd, too. Lot's of good stuff.

Let's impeach the President was better then expected. They put the lyrics up on the screens so it was a great big sing along. I wonder what the bush administration thinks about this tour. All across the land, middle America is gathering in huge groups and singing together about impeaching the lying liar. Gotta love it.

It was great.

Don't miss it if you have a chance.

Cellophane (Hardcover) Fiction by Marie Arana

Made some arrests, even.

Well, let them operate legally, for gosh sakes, jiminy crickets, golly gee whiz.

The very best cannabis is grown in California.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/15126573.htm

***

Biggest Marijuana Bust of The Year Made

“Prescription Drug Abuse: What is Being Done to Address This New Drug Epidemic?”

Chairman Souder, Ranking Member Cummings, and distinguished members of Subcommittee, on behalf of Administrator Tandy and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), I appreciate your invitation to testify today regarding DEA’s efforts to address the issue of prescription drug abuse.

Canadian police are now discovering the 'balloon effect' as the US authorities did in Plan Columbia where coca growing moved from 3 provinces to 23. [ $4b later, drugs still flow in Colombia By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Globe Staff | May 21, 2006 http://tinyurl.com/q558q ] The same thing happened with cannabis seed sales when the RCMP/DEA cracked down on Marc Emery Seeds: the competing seed companies moved to Europe! Interdiction does not work. It is a huge waste of scarce taxpayer dollars. Stop the anti-cannabis jihad!

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience [has] shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce [the people] under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security."