cannabisnews.com: Grassley Proposing Limits To Federal Drug Study
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Grassley Proposing Limits To Federal Drug Study
Posted by CN Staff on November 09, 2009 at 10:44:05 PT
By Christinia Crippes
Source: Hawk Eye
Iowa -- In the eyes of Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., the statistics are staggering. The United States houses 25 percent of the world's prison population, with just 5 percent of the world population. And in less than 30 years, drug offenders in prison have increased 1,200 percent. To study why that is, and perhaps change those facts and figures, Webb proposed a National Criminal Justice Commission. The legislation, which has 34 cosponsors from senators on both sides of the aisle, was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was expected to vote on it Thursday. Instead, the bill but was held over for future consideration.
The delay will give Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, more time to consider which, if any, amendments to offer to the proposed legislation.During a conference call with reporters last week, Grassley, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-chairman of the international narcotics control caucus, said he had circulated several amendments with the intention of offering a couple of them. While Grassley said an amendment to prohibit the commission from studying the legalization or decriminalization of drugs was not one he planned to offer, it has earned the ire of the blogosphere, including the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "Well, my intent on that amendment isn't any different than any other amendments that are coming up," Grassley said. "The Congress is setting up a commission to study certain things, and the commission is an arm of Congress ... and the point is for them to do what we tell them to do."And one of the things I was anticipating telling them not to do is to recommend or study the legalization of drugs."Grassley said the prohibition would include the decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes, something the Iowa Legislature could consider during its 2010 session after an interim committee studied the issue. "I see the drive toward legalization of marijuana as being a cover for the distribution of marijuana illegally, other than for medical purposes," Grassley said previously.According to a floor statement from Webb on last week -- prior to the expected committee vote -- one of the seven tasks the committee is meant to consider is specifically a "review of our drug policy and its impact on incarceration, crime and sentencing."The commission's other tasks include studying why the incarceration rates have increased; determining costs of prison policies at all governmental levels; identify the impact of drug activities; and examine policies as they relate to mentally ill. According to Webb's Web site, four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals. Grassley said, however, the commission's scope of study can be whatever Congress decides it should be. He said the commission's results and recommendations could be the basis for future legislation. Iowa's senior senator has long been a champion of anti-drug laws. According to Grassley's Web site, "For the past decade, I've used my leadership positions ... to advance public policy that curbs trafficking, production and consumption of illegal drugs, beefs up enforcement and promotes effective treatment and prevention methods."Note: Voting delay leaves more time for potential changes to bill. Source: Hawk Eye, The (Burlington, IA)Author: Christinia CrippesPublished: November 9, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Hawk EyeWebsite: http://www.thehawkeye.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Mn42sRO1Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/6erD1npKCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help
Comment #28 posted by paulpeterson on November 10, 2009 at 08:55:49 PT
Grassley's office helped an IND patient in 91
Grassley's office HELPED a patient get into the IND program back in '91-and right after that the program was slammed shut.He has a lot of gall being a reactionist now-after supporting compassion about 20 years ago. This is what happens when old people get older without cannabis to help stop that ruthless reactionism.
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on November 10, 2009 at 08:37:44 PT
runruff
Glad you liked it. I went to http://www.lala.com and did a search for the Five Man Electrical Band and we listened to Signs. It's a great song.
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Comment #26 posted by runruff on November 10, 2009 at 08:17:04 PT
“They don’t need to be playing kickball....
... in the playground and seeing people lined up for needle exchange.”Once again I reiterate, "HUH!"
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Comment #25 posted by runruff on November 10, 2009 at 08:13:12 PT
FoM, "you funny guhl!
That made me smile, thanx!
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on November 10, 2009 at 07:35:10 PT
Bill Would Limit Needle Exchanges
November 8, 2009Excerpt: Under a separate bill, all exchanges in Washington within the 1,000-foot perimeter would be barred from receiving city money as well as federal money.“Let’s protect these kids,” said Representative Jack Kingston, Republican of Georgia, who introduced the Washington bill. “They don’t need to be playing kickball in the playground and seeing people lined up for needle exchange.”URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/health/policy/09needle.html
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on November 10, 2009 at 07:32:24 PT
runruff
I don't know why but your comment made me think of these lyrics. I understand why you feel the way you do.http://www.fivemanelectricalband.ca/signslyrics.html
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on November 10, 2009 at 07:24:03 PT
Senate Judiciary Committee
"Instead, the bill but was held over for future consideration." That's worrisome. Very worrisome. That's how these committees kill bills. Grassley is on that committee as is Orrin Hatch, Jeff Sessions, and several others.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/about/members.cfm
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on November 10, 2009 at 06:52:03 PT
HempWorld
We are seriously considering switching to Dish after being with DirecTV for 15 years. We can get free HBO and Cinemax for 3 months and we would have HD Programming which would be nice. If we do switch I will enjoy seeing it too.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #20 posted by FoM on November 10, 2009 at 06:45:11 PT
cliff
Thank you. I will share the story with Stick. I remember one time my husband was in a convoy. It was somewhere in Missouri on a good Interstate Highway. A couple big fancy trucks lead the way and we were moving along at about 80 miles an hour. The convoy grew and grew and the lights on all the trucks were amazing to see. I said that to say this. We almost were being pulled along by the convoy. It was really cool and it went on for a long time on a beautiful summer night.
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Comment #19 posted by runruff on November 10, 2009 at 04:01:15 PT
Keep your minds sober and alert.....
....for we know not the time or the day when HE will return!-Christian reason for not using cannabis.In social studies class we observed how rats can hate each other to death, literally! Sometimes the rat will be exiled and voluntarily leave.I felt like an exiled rat in church one day.I asked pastor Dan if it was a sin to teach us to spurn gods blessings? I saw him brace up, [he knew me].He answered, "I don't know what you are referring to?"Me-Yesterday you taught us the evils of intoxicating the mind.He-YesMe- cannabis is non-toxic! God gave us the seed baring plant for food?He-Yes but not to smoke!Me-Do you like brownies?I felt the no-love engulfing me. I was "one of those"?That was 20 years ago, haven't been back since.
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Comment #18 posted by cliff on November 09, 2009 at 21:17:20 PT
way way ot, one for stick:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121037.htmso simple, yet such a dramatic improvement.
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Comment #17 posted by HempWorld on November 09, 2009 at 20:01:11 PT
Yes, FoM, yes ..
I just saw the ad with Robin Williams again in between movies at HBO ...Very good ...
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #16 posted by FoM on November 09, 2009 at 19:16:01 PT
CBS: Should Pot Be Legal?
November 9, 2009URL: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/08/national/main5579163.shtml
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Comment #15 posted by goneposthole on November 09, 2009 at 17:58:05 PT
He's a congressman
The man is totally out of touch, just like the other 533 additional members who don't dare talk to any constituents. They just want to tell them what to do.They haven't a clue. The Honorable Ron Paul does. Cannabis is everywhere and it is not going to go away... ever.
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Comment #14 posted by The GCW on November 09, 2009 at 17:56:54 PT
Pipe smoking bunny - CANOE
Just saw this.A canoe built using hemp. That's the good. The bad: they are only going to build this 1. Maybe they will get a positive response and build more.Mad River Malecite Eco http://www.madrivercanoe.com/pages/index/products/concepts/malecite_ecoIs that bunny smoking a pipe?I have a Mad River Revelation; I know it's not a pipe but hey...-0-And yes, the politicians are scrambling to stop the momentum; aren't they?-0-This negative LTE was in the Summit Daily this morning. Another head shaker, using Government website for rationalizing the cagings.US CO: LTE: Welcome to "Breckendam"
Webpage: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091109/LETTER/911089996/1078&ParentProfile=1055
Pubdate: 9 Nov 2009
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)-0-These politicians maybe making Our contry a less safer place by trying to keep people from having access to the plant cannabis.A potential example happened in Vail 2 days ago. A guy sufferering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in a bar, killed one and injured 3. There is a chance that since cannabis is safer than alcohol, this guy may been dmoking cannabis and killing no people.Vail man faces murder charge after Sandbar shootingSuspect in killing described as ‘different' man who faced demonshttp://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091109/NEWS/911089983/1078&ParentProfile=1055And this is related to that study in Israel with terrorist victims dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder which is another study indicating cannabis helps people with the problem. It's another related story because cannabis (RE)legalization has been on the ballot here in Colorado and the slogan involved the fact that cannabis is SAFER than alcohol.These politicians that are working so hard to perpetuate having the freedom to discriminate against cannabis users are creating and perpetuating a deadly and unsafe America.
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Comment #13 posted by kaptinemo on November 09, 2009 at 17:13:26 PT:
Incoherency
"I see the drive toward legalization of marijuana as being a cover for the distribution of marijuana illegally, other than for medical purposes," Grassley said previously."Say what? (Re-)Legalization means the continuance of criminal activity?If it's legal, it's not criminal. There would be no incentive to engage in black market activity. Which any 5 year old in knee-pants could tell you.If this is an example of the thinking processes of a person given power to make policy, then it's no wonder this country is in such a mess...
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Comment #12 posted by James Crosby on November 09, 2009 at 16:06:34 PT:
Oh yay...
Grassley can try all he wants, the pro-cannabis movement is already too far along for him to be able to stop it. If he did get this started at all, there would be an even larger outcry than right now. He hasn't even introduced it, and we're already hearing so much about it. Grassley is a piece of shit though for even writing this. Vote him out!
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on November 09, 2009 at 15:10:04 PT
Senator Grassley Wouldn't Smile About This Either
NM Licenses 4 More Medical Marijuana ProducersNovember 9, 2009SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The New Mexico Department of Health has approved four more medical marijuana producers. That makes five nonprofits licensed by the state to provide the drug.The first producer was approved in March. The health department estimates that each producer will be able to supply marijuana to about 100 patients.The agency says there are 755 New Mexicans currently eligible to use medical marijuana, and 204 of them are licensed to produce their own supply.The medical marijuana program began in 2007. Physicians must certify that a patient has one of 15 qualifying conditions and can't be helped by standard treatments. State regulations require the names and locations of producers to be kept confidential.Copyright 2009 by The Associated Presshttp://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1242557.shtml?cat=504
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Comment #10 posted by dongenero on November 09, 2009 at 15:04:38 PT
Grassley
That's hilarious. Grassley wants Webb's proposed Commission to study and advise on the issue....BUT.....only arrive at the findings Congress-(Grassley) wants you to arrive at.That's one way to avoid the embarrassment Nixon had from the recommendations to legalize cannabis from the Schaffer Commission. If you just define the Commission's conclusions before they begin, then everybody ends up happy and there are no surprises.Great Chuck.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on November 09, 2009 at 14:32:17 PT
Just a Comment
I wonder if Senator Grassley really knows how to smile like we do?
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 09, 2009 at 14:30:34 PT
Just For a Smile
Bob Dylan's Christmas Songshttp://www.lala.com/#artist/Bob_Dylan
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 09, 2009 at 14:13:10 PT
Israeli Study Finds Pot May Help Terror Victims
November 9th, 2009The Media Line StaffThe use of marijuana could help post-traumatic stress disorder patients, an Israeli study has found.The study, carried out by Eti Ganon-Elazar, a research student at the Learning and Memory Lab in the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology, set out to examine the effectiveness of marijuana as a medical treatment for patients coping with post-traumatic stress.Post traumatic stress disorder occurs in a minority of people who experience a traumatic event, such as a car accident or terror attack, and involves stress which is prolonged for months or, at times, years after the event. Symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder include nightmares, flashbacks, hyper-vigilance and avoidance of anything that may recall the trauma.The study, which was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, was based on a synthetic form of marijuana administered to rats, which present physiological responses to stress similar to those of human beings."There are receptors in the brain for marijuana called cannabinoids," University of Haifa's Dr. Irit Akirav, who supervised the study, told The Media Line. "We activated these receptors in a specific area of the brain called the amygdala, which is involved in stress, emotional memory and response to traumatic events.""Stress has certain effects on this emotional learning," she explained. "For example stress impairs extinction learning, which is your ability to learn that something is safe. People who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder have a problem with extinction learning. What we did basically was to show that if you activate the receptors of marijuana in this area of the brain you can block or reverse such stress, thus allowing people who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder to learn that something is safe.""The study suggests that you may be able to use synthetic marijuana in post traumatic stress disorder patients," Dr Akirav concluded. "The next stage is to do pilot studies with humans."Eti Ganon-Elazar, a PhD candidate in Dr Akirav's lab, conducted the study."Let's say someone has been in a terrorist attack on a bus," Ganon-Elazar told The Media Line. "The bus becomes a symbol of the trauma and the person may avoid buses for a while.""Most people that experience such a traumatic event are going to be okay and eventually take buses again," she said. "But some people already have a problem, for example they have been exposed to a second trauma at some point in their life. These people often find it very hard to go on a bus again, because their system is vulnerable. The general idea is that the use of marijuana may help such people to learn that it's safe to take a bus again."Ganon-Elazar's study was conducted in three parts."First we exposed a group of rats to a traumatic event, which is a very mild electrical shock administered in a dark room," she explained. "Rats don't like light, and they usually stay in dark rooms, but the shock caused the rats to avoid entering the dark room. After a while, though, the rats enter the dark room, don't get shocked, and learn that the dark room is no longer dangerous.""We took some of the rats, though, and exposed them to an additional stress by putting them on a high platform in a totally different room," Ganon-Elazar said. "Rats have a fear of heights and we found that the rats who were exposed to this extra stress had a much harder time learning that the dark room is safe. These rats have a learning deficiency which causes them to avoid entering the dark room.""Then we took a third group of rats, which were exposed to both the trauma of the shock and the additional stress of being put on a high platform, and gave them a shot of a synthetic drug that mimics the activity of the active materials inside marijuana," Ganon-Elazar explains. "Even though they were exposed to additional stress, this third group returned to the dark room after a few days just like the first group that wasn't exposed to additional stress.""From this we concluded that the use of synthetic marijuana can actually reverse the impairing effect that exposure to stress causes on our ability to learn that something is safe."Post traumatic stress disorder is relatively common in Israel, in particular among victims of terror attacks, Holocaust survivors and veterans of Israeli wars.The Israeli government has not approved the use of marijuana by those suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, awaiting the results of a clinical trial.Copyright: 2009 AHN http://www.gantdaily.com/news/36/ARTICLE/64958/2009-11-09.html
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Comment #6 posted by runruff on November 09, 2009 at 13:29:51 PT
Grassley and Lieberman!
Who in their right minds would even listen to two decrepit old political whores like these let alone vote for them?Iowa, Conn., is this the best you have to offer?God Help!
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Comment #5 posted by FiddleMan on November 09, 2009 at 13:22:03 PT
Leave the National Criminal Justice Comm. Alone!
"Grassley said, however, the commission's scope of study can be whatever Congress decides it should be. He said the commission's results and recommendations could be the basis for future legislation."
“"The Congress is setting up a commission to study certain things, and the commission is an arm of Congress ... and the point is for them to do what we tell them to do.”What??? This would render the entire commission useless! Studying the Legalization of Cannabis (or even all drugs) is one of the main points that this committee needs to address! PROHIBITION IS THE PROBLEM that is causing our prisons to be full – it is not because more Americans are bad people than any other country in the world. Maybe Grassley DOES believe that prison overcrowding is justified and only “his type of people” should live free. This man is an idiot!SJ, you nailed it when you wrote “What's the point of a commission to study the matter, if it's limited to telling the country only what Sen. Assley wants to hear?”At least when the Shafer Commission came up with their conclusions that Cannabis is safe, has medical uses and should be decriminalized they were allowed to report their conclusions! ---Grassley is even WORSE than Nixon!Legalize Cannabis Now!
(And - remove Grassley from Politics! - This man is an idiot, and is trying very hard to hurt the U.S. at every turn!)Leave Sen. Webb’s National Criminal Justice Commission Alone!!!
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 09, 2009 at 12:54:08 PT
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Comment #3 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on November 09, 2009 at 12:15:18 PT
No, Sen. Grassless, that's NOT the point.
"... and the point is for them to do what we tell them to do."In fact, that's the opposite of the point.What's the point of a commission to study the matter, if it's limited to telling the country only what Sen. Assley wants to hear?
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Comment #2 posted by RevRayGreen on November 09, 2009 at 12:12:58 PT
Since the article was written
Grassley was pulled into a room with six-GOP senators and told him to pull the amendment.UESTION: I hear there was an amendment to a bill tomorrow that would legally prevent some of the government’s top advisers from — according to some of the memos we’ve seen — even discussing the idea of legalizing or decriminalizing drugs.Can you talk a little bit about that? I understand that you pulled that amendment, but, nonetheless, I wanted to ask you what your intent is with that.GRASSLEY: Well, my intent on that amendment isn’t any different than any other amendments that are coming up. The Congress is setting up a commission to study certain things. And the commission is a — is an arm of Congress, because Congress doesn’t have time to review some of these laws.And — and — and the point is, for them to do what we tell them to do. And one of the things that I was anticipating telling them not to do is to — to recommend or study the legalization of drugs.Their — their program would be what we tell it it is. … QUESTION: Would your amendment have even stopped the discussion of legalized marijuana for medical purposes? GRASSLEY: I think that would not — let’s see. Yes, the extent to which it would be decriminalization, the answer is yes.
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on November 09, 2009 at 11:37:14 PT
Mr. Grassley I would like to know who your
corporate and secret campaign donors are. I would also like to make sure you are still coherent; recommending policies that have failed miserably in the last 40 years. Repeating the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results?You can't study the actual solution out of this mess, how stupid is that?
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