cannabisnews.com: Rossi's Attack on Marijuana Study Unfair
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Rossi's Attack on Marijuana Study Unfair
Posted by CN Staff on August 14, 2010 at 04:59:36 PT
By Jim Brunner
Source: Seattle Times
Seattle, WA -- Republican Dino Rossi has been spending the week attacking the $800 billion federal stimulus plan pushed by Democrats in 2009 as a waste of money, pointing out examples of what he and others say is questionable spending that didn't create jobs. But Rossi's latest example may have misfired.On Thursday, Rossi attacked a WSU-Vancouver professor's study of whether marijuana can increase the effectiveness of pain-treating drugs like morphine. The study received $148,438 in stimulus grants.
Rossi's news release -- headlined "It's 5:00 Somewhere, But It's 4:20 At Washington State University" -- conjured images of stoner students toking away on the federal dime."Washington state taxpayers are tired of their money going up in smoke. This bill isn't going to stimulate anything other than sales of Cheetos," Rossi said in the news release, labeling the research a "boondoggle."But the researcher, Psychology Professor Michael Morgan, said Thursday that Rossi doesn't know what he's talking about.Morgan said his research first came under fire last year, when Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, included it on a list of allegedly wasteful stimulus projects. Morgan said Coburn never bothered to contact him about the study. Neither did Rossi.The attacks on his research are misinformed on a number of counts, Morgan said.First, the study the study is being conducted on rats, who are injected with the drugs. No spleefs involved.Second, the study did support some jobs. Morgan said he used the money to hire undergraduates and a graduate student to work on the research.Most important, Morgan was offended by Rossi's implication that the research was trivial. Chronic pain is an $80 billion drag on the economy, he said. And medical marijuana may have a use in treating it.Morgan said in an email:"The grant was reviewed by three top scientists and received one of the top scores so it is odd that Rossi thinks he knows more about good research than these neuroscientists. The goal of stimulus funds going to research was to create jobs and advance research to improve health care. Contrary to what Rossi's press release says, I have funded both a graduate and undergraduate student with the $50,000 that I receive each year. It also provide a month of summer salary for me given that the State does not pay professors in the summer. The undergraduate I am currently funding actually graduated in May and would be unemployed if I did not offer her a job."In an interview, he added: "I think we've made good use of that money, but if Rossi wants to debate it, he can give me a call."Friday afternoon, Rossi spokeswoman Jennifer Morris emailed a statement to reporters saying Rossi was not criticizing medical marijuana research.Update: Said Morris:No judgment was made on the validity of the research, instead it was questioning whether a $1.2 trillion bill sold as a jobs creation measure to stimulate the economy was funding projects which would do that. With Washington's unemployment at 8.9%, there are a number of folks who are questioning what their tax dollars went to and where all those promised jobs are.Source: Seattle Times (WA)Author:   Jim BrunnerPublished: August 13, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Seattle Times CompanyContact: opinion seatimes.comWebsite: http://www.seattletimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/PaZ0zWpGCannabisNews  Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by Had Enough on August 15, 2010 at 08:58:40 PT
Cheetos...Why not Fritos???
“"This bill isn't going to stimulate anything other than sales of Cheetos."”Mr. Rossi publicly admits that the only thing in danger by cannabis consumption is...a bag of Cheetos...Frito-Lay has got to love it...But why not Fritos, or maybe Sun Chips? Freudian slip???...Mr. Rossi is a control freak cheeter/cheater when it comes to the public. Wonder what kind of deals go on behind his political closed doors!!!So...you keep on showboating there with you and your buddies lies...Dino...(short for Dinosaur) your time is up and the country is out of money...The Republican cannabis war is slowly coming to a stop. And please quit making those sounds of a wounded dinosaur thrashing his tail.************Frito-Lay, Inc. and PepsiCo, Inc.In 1945, the Frito Company granted the H.W. Lay & Company an exclusive franchise to manufacture and distribute Fritos in the Southeast. The two companies worked toward national distribution and developed a close business affiliation. In September 1961, The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company merged to become Frito-Lay, Inc.In February 1965, the Board of Directors for Frito-lay, Inc. and Pepsi-Cola announced a plan for the merger of the two companies. On June 8, 1965, the merger of Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola Company was approved by shareholders of both companies, and a new company called PepsiCo, Inc. was formed. At the time of the merger, Frito-Lay owned 46 manufacturing plants nationwide and had more than 150 distribution centers across the United States.Today, PepsiCo is organized into four divisions: Frito-Lay North America, PepsiCo Beverages North America, PepsiCo International and Quaker Foods North America.[2] Although products sold in the North America under the Frito-Lay brand name are also sold internationally, international sales are reported by the PepsiCo International division.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frito-Lay
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Comment #8 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on August 14, 2010 at 21:02:51 PT
"It's 4:20 At Washington State University"
"This bill isn't going to stimulate anything other than sales of Cheetos."But Rossi was not criticizing medical marijuana research.
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Comment #7 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on August 14, 2010 at 20:59:18 PT
It's easy to lie when you don't know the truth.
"Morgan said Coburn never bothered to contact him about the study. Neither did Rossi."
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Comment #6 posted by vincent on August 14, 2010 at 16:34:16 PT:
Republicans...again!
Why is it that Conservatives always say such stupid things? Like Dino Rossi--I mean, why do THEY all sound the same?
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on August 14, 2010 at 11:56:05 PT:
Invest in ketchup manufacturing
And I would advise anyone who will be debating the prohibs to carry with him or her a bottle of said ketchup...with the suggestion that the prohibs might want to use it to pour on their toes before they insert their feet in their mouths. Without the ketchup, that's got to taste really foul.And they'll need more than a few bottles.Because, on re-legalization, millions of willfully ignorant people who've made their social and political bones by lying about cannabis will need said ketchup to slather the one ton of crow each they'll have to eat. That's gonna take a lotta ketchup. So start investing, right away!
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on August 14, 2010 at 08:27:02 PT
Update: Said Morris: [paraphrazed]
Mr. Rossi is arrogant and brainwashed like most Repubs, so we must constantly go behind him cleaning up his messes and grand faux pas. We have had simular trouble with the likes of Dan Quayle, Jr. Bush, Sr. Bush, and many others.If Mr Rossi, say, were in charge of research prioities in this country, which projects do you think he would approve?Say, Say, Say!
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 14, 2010 at 08:05:02 PT
Just My Comment
It seems Republicans are good at this expression.Open mouth, insert foot, and turn slowly to the right.
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Comment #2 posted by BGreen on August 14, 2010 at 07:32:58 PT
I need to hire a spokesperson
I need somebody to follow me around saying I didn't actually mean what I said. That way you get the best of both worlds. You get to go around spouting off some really stupid crap so you can convey your true message to your idiotic base, but you have someone denying your true message, instead painting some flowery subterfuge in order to pacify the other idiots who will believe the lies coming from your hired spokesperson instead of your actual words.It would be so much easier just to be smart and honest but there are few politicians out there that meet that criteria.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on August 14, 2010 at 07:19:33 PT
Republican attacks
Nice to see a researcher calling out a politician on their lies.You can't really apply logic or reasoning to Republican political statements and activities however. It's got nothing to do with the truth and everything to do with desire for power and control. 
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