cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Bill Should Reflect Shift in Culture

function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Marijuana Bill Should Reflect Shift in Culture');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/26/thread26397.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;
}












  Marijuana Bill Should Reflect Shift in Culture

Posted by CN Staff on March 17, 2011 at 09:51:55 PT
Spokesman-Review Editorial 
Source: Spokesman-Review  

Washington State -- Because Congress refuses to update the absurd Controlled Substances Act, states are trying to figure out the best ways to implement the sane and popular wish that marijuana be made available for medicinal purposes. It’s not the first time states have become the laboratory for ideas that are eventually accepted nationwide.By a wide margin, Washington state voters in 1998 passed a medical marijuana initiative, but the Legislature has never devised a system to implement it. This muddle has produced expensive police investigations and controversial arrests that have lost sight of the voters’ intent.
Finally recognizing this, legislators are establishing a clear system for the purchasing and dispensing of medical marijuana. However, it has acquired some of the same out-of-date baggage that informs the 1970 federal ban.The Controlled Substances Act puts marijuana in the Schedule I category, along with heroin, LSD and crack cocaine, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. This simply isn’t accurate. The medical community accepts that it can be effective in quelling nausea and stimulating hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients and lowering eye pressure in glaucoma patients, among other uses. The dangers of pot also do not match the irrational fears that started in the early 20th century and peaked during the counterculture era of the 1960s and 1970s, when the federal law was written.The present bill does a thorough job of establishing a system for the legal production and distribution of marijuana, but heavy-handed amendments were added in the Senate before that body passed it. The amended bill would not allow medical marijuana to become a commercial enterprise, unlike other drugs. Nor could it be advertised as other drugs are. In addition, individual communities could choose to outlaw dispensaries.The bill should put patients first by not erecting barriers that make it more difficult to legally obtain marijuana. The House should strip the bill of these excessive limitations.Some law enforcement agencies are worried that the bill will make it more difficult to discern legal and illegal users through the sheer volume of transactions. That might be true, but why are the illegal activities surrounding pot of greater concern than other drugs, such as Oxycontin? This bill represents a cultural shift in attitudes toward marijuana. Regulation and enforcement ought to reflect that reality.Source: Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)Published: March 17, 2011Copyright: 2011 The Spokesman-ReviewContact: editor spokesman.comWebsite: http://www.spokesman.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/cxtgfW9xCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 

Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help    
     
     
     
     





Comment #9 posted by The GCW on March 17, 2011 at 18:34:36 PT
Re: THREAT
US CO: Stoner economics? Number of med pot enforcers to rival CBI investigators
 Webpage: http://blogs.denverpost.com/lookoutcolorado/2011/03/17/medpot-enforcers-rival-colorado-bureau-investigators/145/
Pubdate: 17 Mar. 2011
Source: Denver Post (CO)When fully up to speed later this year, the new state office dedicated to enforcement of medical marijuana laws for the industry will staff enough investigators to rival the field staff at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.The burgeoning new Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division — born on July 1, 2010 — is a rarity among government programs in these prolonged tight budgetary times in that it is hiring at all.The division hopes to soon staff 27 investigators, up from the five it has now.CBI presently staffs 34 field investigators, and its officials have been begging for years for two to three more sleuths at what it says is a woefully understaffed office in Grand Junction.“People are working like crazy,” says the bureau’s spokesman, Lance Clem. “Their plate is full.”To make up the slack, officers from Denver routinely drive across the state to help staff the office.Clem adds that it is not lost on those trying to solve tough cases like homicide and fraud that they feel understaffed while the new medical marijuana division rakes in the cash to monitor an industry in violation of federal law.Cont.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by FoM on March 17, 2011 at 16:50:54 PT
Joseph None of It Surprises Me
People voted them back in power in November and I expect it to excelerate.Republicans Want DOJ Busting Medical Marijuana Dispensaries URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBxLO-ku-CM
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by josephlacerenza on March 17, 2011 at 16:17:05 PT
Feds Threaten Marijuana Dispensaries Nationwide
The Feds/DOJ are now stating they are willing to go after dispensaries in medical marijuana states! This is not good news! They want to dispense with the dispensaries!!I just wonder how Walgreen's became one of the "medical alcohol" dispensaries during alcohol prohibition. Are these "medical marijuana" dispensaries any different?A "medical alcohol" patient was able to receive 1 pint every 10 days!! These scripts were OFTEN filled with illicit, bootlegged wiskey from Capone......'Medicinal' alcohol made mockery of Prohibition: http://tinyurl.com/2enwb8j The only way they found to clean up the mess/situation was to RE-LEGALIZE alcohol.... Sound familiar? This talk of rescheduling cannabis is a double edge sward!!!We, the cannabis culture, will not be able to have it both ways.It is either MEDICINE, or recreation. "They" will not give us both. Can you see anytime in the near future where the Feds/DOJ/DEA would say, "Yah, sure, you can have cocaine to snort as you wish..."?Cocaine is a schedule II, it is, for all intents and purposes, NEVER prescribed. It can be... but almost NEVER is...Cannabis could be placed behind the glass, behind the counter, if you will. Cannabis; sorry, ONLY for the DYING, the TERMINAL. We would be back to square one. We would be back to trying to get people to listen to us. How cannabis, hemp, marijuana could SAVE the WORLD!!! And, how cannabis is for EVERYONE!!! You do not have to DYING to enjoy the health benefits of the cannabis, hemp, marijuana plant. YOU have an endocannabinoid system for a reason!!!Endocannabinoid system:
http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/40/1/2.fullClinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency (CECD):
http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/clinical.pdfhttp://montanabiotech.wordpress.com
Feds Threaten Marijuana Dispensaries Nationwide
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by FoM on March 17, 2011 at 15:42:10 PT
BGreen
Laughter is good medicine. It takes much more energy to be grumbly then it does to be happy. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by BGreen on March 17, 2011 at 15:09:04 PT
That's funny. I'm packing my bags.
I'm glad I can make people smile and laugh. I'm really just making myself smile and laugh but it seems to be contagious. Steve Allen and Drew Carey both seem to share that trait. I'm not saying I'm in that class but I love it when somebody seems to be having a great time making themselves laugh.Bud
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 17, 2011 at 14:52:13 PT
BGreen
You always know how to make me smile.This is one of my favorite Irish sayings.Irish DiplomacyThe ability to tell a man to go to hell,so that he will look forward to making the trip.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by BGreen on March 17, 2011 at 14:41:42 PT
Same to you, FoM
However, you know I'm green everyday. In fact, we all have a little bit of the green in us.:)Bud
[ Post Comment ]

 


Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 17, 2011 at 13:19:24 PT

Happy Saint Patrick's Day To Everyone
If you're lucky enough to be IrishYou're lucky enough.***May the blessings of each dayBe the blessings you need most
Happy St. Patrick's Day Picture
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 17, 2011 at 09:56:09 PT

Related Article From The Spokesman Review
Owners, Law Agencies Disagree on Legality of Pot DispensariesMarch 17, 2011URL: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/mar/17/marijuanas-gray-area/
[ Post Comment ]





  Post Comment