cannabisnews.com: Return Sanity To Marijuana Rules
function share_this(num) {
tit=encodeURIComponent('Return Sanity To Marijuana Rules');
url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/25/thread25273.shtml');
site = new Array(5);
site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
return false;
}
Return Sanity To Marijuana Rules
Posted by CN Staff on December 20, 2009 at 05:18:18 PT
Denver Post Editorial
Source: Denver Post
Denver, CO -- As Colorado policymakers grapple with how to control what has become a barely disguised effort to legalize marijuana, we think the state's law enforcement community has come up with the best approach.Broadly speaking, it would return the medical marijuana mess to the more sane situation we had before this year's explosion of patients and dispensaries.
The current lack of regulation has created a vacuum, which can be a dangerous thing. All sorts of undesirable situations — and proposed remedies — have arisen.The main tenets of the law enforcement approach, put forward by Attorney General John Suthers, would limit caregivers to five patients and impose tighter controls on physicians who recommend medical marijuana for patients.It would require doctors recommending medical marijuana to be in good standing, and it would give the state health department the ability to sanction doctors who violate new rules. Under his approach, those who actually need medical marijuana could contact the health department to be put in touch with a provider.We think it hews more closely to what voters approved in 2000 and is a far cleaner approach than that suggested by state Sen. Chris Romer, who has proposed a wide range of regulations that would legitimize and license dispensaries that weren't even mentioned in the amendment passed by voters.Though we appreciate Romer's effort to gather input from interested parties, we think his approach creates a need for an immense bureaucratic response — licensure, regulation and tax collection. We are concerned it will devolve into the chaotic medical marijuana situation that exists in California, where policy makers are struggling to regulate dispensaries. Snipped Complete Article: http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14021628Source: Denver Post (CO)Published: December 20, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Denver Post CorpWebsite: http://www.denverpost.com/Contact: openforum denverpost.comCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help
Comment #23 posted by FoM on December 26, 2009 at 12:45:49 PT
Randy
You're very welcome. I agree with Universer.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #22 posted by Randy on December 26, 2009 at 12:21:52 PT
Killer Feedback
Thank You guys for the good feedback. I hear what you are saying we are making a great deal more progress than say in the 90's when this started. Still lots of room to be concerned. Lets just hope 2010 will be that start of the Age of Aquarius.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #21 posted by Universer on December 23, 2009 at 18:34:21 PT
Randy -- A Matter of Perception
That's precisely my point: We are to expect the very absurd backlash you say you're sensing. And it is designed to demoralize you, to cower you into submission and, further, perhaps recruit you to their own brand of brainwashing.But you're not going to give them the satisfaction. You're going to keep speaking truth to the powerdrunk -- and create some recruits of your own.I commend you for your passion. That's as necessary as knowledge of fact.But as FoM pointed out, things are hardly dire. We are not in days in which each step forward is countered by multiple stepbacks. Indeed, currently the converse is true, and the momentum is gaining.Let's you and I keep that momentum up. Phooey to demoralizers.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #20 posted by FoM on December 22, 2009 at 15:12:02 PT
Randy
It's only been about 6 weeks since the AMA called for a review. The wheels of change turn slowly. It will be a long time until medical marijuana is available everywhere. The most important thing is we no longer are taking one step forward and two steps back.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #19 posted by FoM on December 22, 2009 at 14:08:45 PT
Kapt
What Obama did for us was free us to speak and not be afraid. If a President makes us feel that we are ok and change is ok then the Age of Aquarius can happen again. He isn't going to make the change we are but he gave us the go ahead to do it. It takes fear out of our hearts and allows us to bloom where we have been planted.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #18 posted by Randy on December 22, 2009 at 12:45:16 PT
1st Downs Getting Called Back
Yes I would agree on the progression, however we are still getting backlash in so many different ways it is absurd and demoralizing. How can they say it is medically acceptable and each state can judge for themselves but they then in turn refuse to change the scheduling to match what they say and they try to regulate us into a hole and not treat us as they do other patients of any kind, like every single patient that walks into Walgreens, they do not have to deal with the same kinds of repression, like people associated with medical cannabis. They are trying to create or find their own Grey Area, and run us into the ground with it, and I am assuming the eventual goal would be to do away with medical cannabis and make it totally illegal again and fight a never ending "Drug War".
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #17 posted by kaptinemo on December 22, 2009 at 11:37:07 PT:
FoM,I believe it's more the changing of people's
attitudes rather than the influence of one man or any group of men. And those attitudes are a generational thing.How many times have we heard something along the lines of "legalize when Grandma dies"? Well, I invite the readers to look around. The fact is that the generation that thoughtlessly and unquestioningly put its' 'faith' in 'princes' by blindly supporting drug prohibition is indeed dying off. Their younger political protégés are a minority, and, thanks to the wars they started and to the economy having gone belly-up as a result of those wars (and other reasons), courtesy of their greed and avarice, they now stand discredited. Only the dimmest of bulbs follow them.A paradigm shift is underway, but those who've benefited from the old paradigm aren't about to let go of the power they've accumulated. They'll do everything they can to hold onto it...using the very methods I described. And when the final crash comes, they believe they will be able to remain in power by force.Remember all that talk long ago about the 'Age of Aquarius'? It may come...dawning over the ruins of the old paradigm, and I do mean ruins. As in wrecked cities. I really, really don't want to see that.Or...it may come when people realize that they have only each other to depend upon, and no one has a right to tell others how to live (as in what they may ingest), lest they be ostracized and left to fend for themselves in an increasingly harsh world. A world where 'government' is entirely local, because things have gotten that bad. I believe that we may be getting closer and closer to that kind of world, and very soon, if things don't take a different course.The end of drug prohibition will be a signal that we may yet avert disaster, because sanity and reason still has a chance to prevail in this world. Its' continuance will be a sign of no hope left, a sign of a continued blind march to the precipice.In the end, IMHO, it will be the 'will of the people' that will decide the fate of the nation. That generational attitude that i mentioned, the attitude of the generation that questions government and demands rational explanations, is asserting itself, thanks to the failures of the previous generation to address the problems it created with that blind obedience. The hope that was betrayed still shines, and will find another outlet besides the ones the Powers-That-Be wish to herd it through.It's either that, or it's time to lower the curtain on this country...and I, for one, am not giving up yet.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #16 posted by FoM on December 22, 2009 at 05:57:15 PT
Just My Thoughts
CNews is about 11 years old now. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. The progress we have made under the Obama administration has been nothng short of remarkable. As long as Obama gets re-elected we have about 7 years to get it done. I feel we will see progressive states move more quickly to allow medical marijuana in their states. The conservative states are another issue. I believe we will need a federal change in the law to force conservative states to change their ways and that might take many more years but could be done within the 7 year time frame I mentioned.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #15 posted by Universer on December 21, 2009 at 20:52:40 PT
No Premature Exuberation
"This will be a long and daunting fight to say the least." -- RandyI'm glad to see this sentiment expressed. We haven't won, really and truly, anything yet. Yes, we are winning. But we haven't won.Indeed, with their backs against the proverbial wall, with their wounds ever deepening to correlate with the wide dissemination of truth, with popular opinion increasingly against them, we can expect the counterattacks and rebukes from the prohibs to become yet more vituperative, even more irrational, somehow more absurd.So always must we meet these vitriolic, absurd irrationalities with calm, straightforward statements of demonstrable fact, and let them hang themselves with the nooses of their own falsehoods, as they are so very good at doing.The wounded beast is cornered. It will roar loudest, lash out with the most fury, before it finally crumples to its death.We've had a series of first downs lately, and are driving deep into enemy territory. But we can't dance in the end zone yet.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #14 posted by Randy on December 21, 2009 at 18:11:00 PT
Better Ways & Better Days...Hopefully
There are plenty of other ways for population control that are wiser & safer than mind control & intimidation. My biggest bitch has always been "WHAT HAPPEN TO WE THE PEOPLE"? If we are speaking and doing the research on cannabis what happen to the gov. listening? Especially when the AMA comes out and ask's them to change the scheduling status because of new test and they refuse. I have to say folks I am losing my mind over a lot of this stuff happening with medical cannabis. This will be a long and daunting fight to say the least.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #13 posted by dongenero on December 21, 2009 at 14:51:06 PT
Denver Post comments
I just wanted to point out here are many great comments to the above Denver Post editorial, on the paper's site.The comments absolutely rip the Denver Post and the opposing officials whom they side with. And they rip them very intelligently.
It warms my heart to read local citizens pushing back smartly against arrogant authority. Go Denver and Colorado.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #12 posted by The GCW on December 21, 2009 at 12:02:01 PT
Today need not be tomorrow.
Today We are sick, not only physically and mentally but spiritually.The leaves of the tree of life (cannabis / kaneh bosm) are for the healing of the nations -See the very last page of the Bible.Healing not only physically and mentally but SPIRITUALLY.The Ecologician, Our Master, requested that We love one another, a couple thousand years ago. We haven't been doing that at all. Cannabis can fix the spirit and We can overcome evil and obey that request. But comes at the cost of the rich and powerful who profit off sickness. Sickness physically, mentally and SPIRITUALLY.The most powerful war machine on the planet is at risk if cannabis is allowed to flourish and then increase spiritual awareness and strong spiritual health.The rich and powerful don't profit by loving one another.THE LEAVES OF THE TREE OF LIFE ARE FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS -the very last page.Lord, heal Our spirit.The Green Collar Worker
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #11 posted by The GCW on December 21, 2009 at 11:39:41 PT
Randy,
"""they hate cannabis because it""":for many many big reasons. One of the big reasons cannabis must remain not only illegal but further, be exterminated is due to it's ability to expand spiritual realities.Cannabis makes Us feel closer to God. Unlike the regular church going Christian that supports cannabis prohibition, persecution and extermination, -the cannabis using Christian, who actually (overcomes) obeys and loves one another (starting on the very 1st page of the Bible) may be granted to eat of the tree of life which is cannabis (See Rev. 2:7). That is the person the government doesn't want to contend with. The person that doesn't just get high off cannabis but is granted to use it and gets all the potential cannabis has to offer the humans. CANNABIS: KANEH BOSM.If the world is filled with people that have the "spirit of truth," government as We know it will have a spiritual fight. The spirit of truth will crush the spirit of error and they know it.The war that matters is a spiritual war and it's going on right now. The Bilderbergs, Masons, Skul n Bones, and all the others know it too. Guaranteed!
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on December 21, 2009 at 10:45:21 PT:
Randy, all I can say about that
is what's been said by some people who have the ears of those self-same Rich and Powerful.Just google in the words "population control" and follow the threads having to do with politics. Also look up "Agenda 21" and "NSSM 200" and understand that these are very real things that have been ongoing for decades. Government policies have been built upon their precepts. I'll leave the readers to make their own conclusions.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #9 posted by Randy on December 21, 2009 at 09:53:11 PT
Population Control
Kaptinemo......sounds like the gov. is ok with prescriptions as a form of population control of some kind. So they hate cannabis because it runs the potential of keeping people alive and putting the pharmaceutical companies out of biz. Interesting point,aren't kids getting their parents pills and dying more frequently these days?
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on December 21, 2009 at 09:27:53 PT:
When pols meet in secret with industry heads
nothing good comes of it for the The People.Warning: if you have any illusions concerning what political parties stand for, this will permanently tarnish them. For some things are not as they seem...and neither are some people.Like I said, if you have any cherished illusions about political parties, don't go there, or you'll feel like someone has punched you in both eyes, your gut and groin. But the truth is not only seldom pretty, but it is usually painful, too. You've been warned. Don't flame me for 'leading you to water'. I can't make anyone drink it.The Rich and Powerful have always maintained themselves at the expense of the rest of us by recruiting those they know will place the welfare of the rich and powerful above that of The People. This is the actual purpose of many so-called 'non-governmental' organizations...whose members always 'just by accident', 'just happen' to show up in leadership positions within government...thanks to their friendly associations within those organizations. Google "June 6 2008 Chantilly Virginia" (no quote marks, just the words) and look at the first eight results. And remember, I didn't make this up. It happened. If some are upset with me after this, then they should engage in some self-reflection as to why, instead of reflexively trying to bite my head off.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #7 posted by runruff on December 21, 2009 at 06:19:00 PT
"Why don't they monitor the drug makers?"
Does the servant monitor the master?
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #6 posted by FoM on December 21, 2009 at 06:02:23 PT
Something We Saw On TV Last Night
I was really annoyed with the past administration after seeing a program on legal prescription drugs. Oxycontin and Zanax seemed to be the ones that were causing serious problems. People go to Florida and get legal drugs and bring them back to their own state and sell them for $30 a pill for Oxycontin. While they chased marijuana around look what happened. Why don't they monitor the drug makers?
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on December 21, 2009 at 05:44:41 PT:
Randy, that's just it
Prescription meds kill thousands of Americans a year, even when taken properly. Yet they can be cheaply and easily purchased, so long as you have the appropriate 'script. Cannabis hasn't killed anyone in five thousand years of recorded Human history...yet is considered as dangerous as heroin.With all the paroxysms of caterwauling, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments the prohibs go into each time MMJ laws are proposed, and the amount and type of restrictions they want on MMJ, which are, far and away, greater than those encountered by filling one of those (potentially deadly) prescriptions, they just show how irrational the whole business of cannabis prohibition is en toto.It really is just a plant. That they view it as the Devil, Incarnate has more to do with their own irrational fears than anything else. And it's an irrationality that we can no longer fiscally afford to indulge as a nation.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #4 posted by Randy on December 20, 2009 at 13:24:33 PT
Seriously
Does Walgreens have patient limits? Does the government question what doc you see to get your script from Walgreens? Does the government tax your meds from Walgreens? Does the gov. require extra process for your meds at Walgreens? Does the gov. have regulations as absurd as these for Walgreens and it customers in general? I THINK NOT! So why should we be any different....oh because nobody can get past the 80 or so years of stigmatizing. It just goes to show the level of intelligence in this country. I believe the AMA just asked the feds to re-schedule cannabis and they refuse.....so what does that say...anyone?
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on December 20, 2009 at 12:02:03 PT:
That 'Fat Lady' hasn't sung yet
But she's opening her mouth to take a big gulp of air.I always knew it would be the money. Not the questionable morality of locking people up for putting something in their bodies. Not for ruining lives in order to 'save' them. No. It had to be the money.Been saying that for little over a decade. The economic system was a house of cards, and when that started to feel the winds of reality blowing at gale force, the cards began to fall. Trying to inflate our way out of our economic problems will only cause more hardship for the average person, and only slightly delay the inevitable reckoning.Here's a little experiment. Open your wallet or purse, take out the paper money you have in there, and look at it. Is it all brand spanking new, hardly a crease or spot, colors nice and sharp? Then we're in big trouble. Because that means that the Treasury is printing up too much currency backed by...more of the same. That's why everything's gotten so expensive. Government causes inflation. And our foreign creditors know this, and are beginning to divest themselves of their dollars. Enough of that, and we'll wind up like Weimar Republic Germany did, where you had to take wheelbarrows full of money to the store to weigh it, before it lost any more of it's value.The time is approaching when the reckoning will be as plain as the nose on people's faces. We're half-way there, and this is why, all of a sudden, in just the last year, we're making enormous progress in making our case to end this incredibly expensive drug prohibition. The pols will weasel-word it, mealy-mouth it, try to make defeat sound like victory, but the fact is, the prohibs have lost. It's all over for the shouting. There'll still be plenty of that, but there'll be a moment (possibly during or after Senator Webb's Commission) that some pol will stand up and say it's over, time to legalize before we waste our last bit of capital on this losing proposition.Then, it really will be over.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on December 20, 2009 at 10:36:24 PT
The Game Is Finally Over!
Yes, kaptinemo, I agree with you, I can see it now, after a good 20 years of chiseling and fighting. Like a giant fir or (worse) a grand majestic sequoia, we have whittled prohibition down to a straw. The tree is still standing as if high and mighty, but soon final momentum will topple it, timber ...As it will but cut clean off its base, where it can no longer suck the life juices out of its host!If I possess ANY wisdom or knowledge, I see the tree toppling over this coming year 2010!Blessed be, can it be finally over?
Legalize it for God's sake!
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on December 20, 2009 at 05:59:16 PT:
The money quote
"Or, quite frankly, voters should just legalize marijuana use, because that's better than what we have now with people skirting the law to smoke pot."This is what the MMJ laws have done: point out the whole sordid mess of cannabis prohibition, holding it up for public scrutiny as the overly complex, stupid and pointless Rube Goldberg device it is.It won't be long before the editorial sentiments are echoed around the country by pols who've found their public voices after privately agreeing for so long with the need to end prohibition. It's already happening in the western States, and soon in the East. When the Midwest catches up, the game is over.
[ Post Comment ]
Post Comment