medical marijuana
The Republican Case for Legalizing Marijuana
From the social movements in the 1960s, to the Democratic party embracing the idea in recent years, marijuana reform has not enjoyed a tremendous amount of conservative support. Oddly enough, the modern bullet points for legalizing actually match the Republican/conservative philosophy perfectly.
Republican campaign manager, Ryan Scheutte recently submitted a piece to www.policymic.com, highlighting the reasons that marijuana legalization is and should be a Republican mission. The article describes quotes from Pauline Sabin, the first woman to sit on the Republican National Committee and was also the founder of The Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform. Back in 1932, she commented on alcohol prohibition by saying publicly “The young see the law broken at home and upon the street, can we expect them to be lawful?” Scheutte mentions that she was correct, and credits her with being an integral part in revoking the disastrous experiment of alcohol prohibition.
Scheutte discusses that it is acceptable to change one’s mind. In 2009, he ran a campaign for a candidate looking to unseat Ron Paul (R-TX), an outspoken defender of personal liberties and marijuana rights. The campaign referred to marijuana as a “troubling substance” and any measure to normalize it was a “blatant disregard” for the
districts values. Scheutte now admits he was mistaken and compares his view of only a few years ago to his great grandmother’s.
Ryan Scheutte then outlines, in detail, four benefits to marijuana legalization with all of them matching Republican values:
1. Pot would create jobs and help prevent Detroit-style bankruptcies
2. We could unplug overcrowded prisons and save tax dollars
3. Legalization could help starve violent cartels at home and abroad
4. We could ease suffering for those who live with chronic illnesses
We at marijuana.net agree! There are even more benefits, but for the time being it would be great progress if the Republican party adopted the above four principles. New Republican support is not a surprise as the vast majority of this country believes in serious marijuana reform. It is becoming the consensus issue.
Marijuana Industry News September 15, 2013
Senate Hearing Held This Week to Clarify Gap Between State and FederalMarijuana law… A lot was discussed at this week’s historic Senate marijuana forum.We broke it down into a few sections. We will start with SenatorLeahy. – Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D-Vt) had been trying to schedule a forum tohelp reconcile the differences between state and …continue reading
McCain’s Change on Marijuana Helps Him Cope With Otherwise Difficult Town Hall Meeting
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) established fact for a lot of reasons. Besides his service throughout Vietnam and winning the Republican nomination for leader in 2008, town hall conferences will also be famous. The very long time Senator continues to have conversations using the people directly. This readiness to have interaction with voters inside a more intimate setting saved a presidential campaign which was basically dead and out if money in early stages from the 2008 election.
A current town hall session made more than ever before head lines. Senator McCain received an earful from many attending for his support of military action on Syria. The majority if People in america are against military action with Arizona citizens being exactly the same. In the event, Mr. McCain guaranteed there’d be not a “single American boot on the floor.” Some attending strongly voiced their opinion the promise wasn’t enough to aid military action in Syria. Senator McCain might have pleased individuals with his take on another problem. While talking about marijuana he transformed his past tune and individuals in the town hall that “maybe marijuana needs to be legalized.” Also, he continued to state he respects “the will of those.Inches
Arizona already supervises a medicinal marijuana program. Despite efforts by Governor Jan Maker to obstruct and halt the Arizona medicinal marijuana program, citizens have supported a contemporary method of marijuana for several years. Fortunately Senator McCain’s alternation in tone on marijuana might have assisted him pacify some. The situation highlights how American’s sights have transformed significantly within the last couple of years. Supporting marijuana legalisation appeared is the positive story from news reviews from the town hall. The planet is really a different place when supporting marijuana legalisation may have the ability to have an chosen official off the new chair.
Megan McCain, daughter from the Senator has accepted smoking previously and it has voiced support for legalisation. Perhaps Mr. McCain has gotten some insight from his daughter. He happens to be referred to as a family guy. It will likely be interesting to ascertain if the longtime Senator’s change of heart encourages more competitors to complete exactly the same.
Marijuana industry news September 6, 2013
MPP places pro marijuana ad outside of NFL opener…
Marijuana Policy Project has proved to be invaluable in highlighting the truth about cannabis. The group made headlines with their recent NASCAR ad and will not stop there. Their next target is the NFL and their policy on testing players for marijuana use. An ad was placed outside of Denver’s Mile High Stadium that read ” Stop Driving Players to Drink. A Safer Choice is Now Legal Here.” NFL players have come under harsh criticism for the high number of DUI arrests among them. The NFL permits drinking but comes down harsh on players testing positive for marijuana. Players are suspended, for multiple games with former Miami Dolphin, Ricky Williams, being one if the most high profile examples of the policy. Mason Tvert of MPP feels the NFL ‘s stance is contradictory and recently said “NFL players are being told that they can go out and get completely drunk, but face no punishment from the league, but if a player gets caught using marijuana, they could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, forced to sit out games and deemed a troublemaker.”
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Oregon Reveals Plans for Marijuana Dispensaries…
Earlier this year Oregon lawmakers passed House Bill 3460, legislation aimed at creating a registry for medical marijuana providers. Medical marijuana is already thriving g in Oregon with law enforcement officials estimating that over 100 dispensaries are operating. So far there is little to no oversight so the implementation of HB3460 is crucial. A committee to oversee the caregivers has been formed and will convene, for the first time on September 20th. The committee, formed by Tom Burns who also oversees the pharmaceutical industry, is made up of police officers, prosecutors, marijuana lobbyists, lawyers, and dispensary operators. The committee expects to implant their rules by January 31, 2014.
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Justice Department Statement Will Not Immediately Solve IRS Problems For Marijuana Industry…
The statements by the Justice Department, last week, indicating they would respect state laws certainly was a boost for many patients and caregivers. However, this is only step one. Another major obstacle to overcome has to do with finance. Because of federal pressure, banks will not allow collectives to set up business accounts. The result, an untraceable cash business that helps neither the Feds (they can’t easily follow an electronic paper trail if a dispensary is operating illegally) or collective operators who have to keep cash and marijuana on hand. Armed security at dispensaries is also illegal. This forces collectives to have a bulls eye on their backs. Another issue for dispensary operators is the fact that they cannot deduct normal business expenses that allow other small businesses to keep their doors open. None of this benefits the patient and since prohibition appears dead the IRS should move quickly. Of course it is likely they will not.
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The finish is nigh? Feds claim forget about interference with condition marijuana laws and regulations
The cost from the fight against drugs continues to be well recorded. The majority of us understand the rising violence south in our border, patients influenced by insufficient access, people imprisoned for possession, and also the expense of prohibition towards the tax payer. We at marijuana.internet wrote about this for a while now.
We’ve learned about these problems again and again, without a whisper of the sensible response from the us government. Just whenever we all increased fed up with the legal stalemate with federal government bodies attempting to hold condition law under control, it seems a significant alternation in federal policy might be going ahead. Last week, the Justice Department introduced it wasn’t likely to prosecute marijuana crimes legal under condition law. While the best objective of reform activists might be reclassification, this might indeed be federal government bodies waiving the whitened flag. Paul Armantano of NORML stated “It certainly seems to become potentially “the start of the finish” in relation to its prohibition.
The timing from the DOJ statement is curious because the agency was asked for an approaching forum on medicinal marijuana and repairing condition versus. federal law. Eric Holder was asked towards the conference and lots of were searching toward getting him obvious in the murky waters that represent the Whitened House’s stance on marijuana. Single questions about marijuana have demonstrated hard for Holder and the staff to reply to formerly. They have stated lack of knowledge towards the research while concurrently declining to confess marijuana was less destructive than heroin along with other opiates. Perhaps a congressional Q&A with follow-up questions wasn’t going to talk about well for that already battling Attorney General.
The general public has significantly transformed their position on marijuana, and they’ll not soon be returning towards the times of “Reefer Madness”. The new policy direction means a lot of things if federal government bodies maintain their word. Many companies and traders happen to be waiting for some indication that they’ll ‘t be jailed for joining the most popular growing industry. Patients might have more bit of mind when attempting to gain access to medication.
Marijuana Inudstry News August 30, 2013
World Drug Study: Marijuana Most Popular, Opiates Most Fatal…
The first ever global study on substance use was recently completed. The study included data from surveys conducted around the world in 2010. The goal was to measure substance use rates for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and others. Marijuana proved the most popular substance surveyed across the world and opiates proved to be the most fatal. Men in their 20s had the highest rate of abuse worldwide. The U.S, Australia, Britain, and Russia were the countries with highest substance abuse rates. Some of the data was may not be conclusive but “we can say definitely that there are drug problems in most parts of the world,” said Theo Vos, of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the study’s senior author.
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Mexico City Considers Marijuana Legalization…
Since his departure from the Mexican presidency in 2006, Vicente Fox has been one of the most high profile and outspoken advocates of marijuana legalization. He even has said he would grow cannabis if legalized. With the human and financial casualties taking a huge toll on Mexico, support for major marijuana reform has been growing steadily. Now the discussion has escalated even further in Mexico City where legalization could soon be on the way. Mexican lawmakers have recently been debating legalization of marijuana and other substances in order to regulate and save money. Half of the marijuana consumed in the U.S. is believed to originate from Mexico. There are now many seeking to tax and help Mexico’s struggling finances. Additionally, legalization could help reduce the violence. Over 100,000 people have either been killed or have gone missing since 2006 because of cartel activity. Next month a final forum will be held by government leaders in Mexico City. Though it is not clear that the result will be legalization it seems like more and more of a possibility.
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Utah Mom Seeking Medical Marijuana to Treat Son…
There has been a growing trend of desperate parents who have no choice but to turn to marijuana as their only hope of providing a quality of life to their ailing children. Recently there was a high profile case in New Jersey where parents pleaded with Governor Christie to allow the use of medical marijuana for their child who struggled with an extreme form of epilepsy known as dravet syndrome. Governor Christie did change the state law so the child could receive care. This week we learned of another mother in a similar situation. Jennifer May is a Mormon from Utah who has run out of treatment options for her 11 year old son. He too has dravet syndrome. Ms. May, a self identified republican initially felt that administering marijuana to children was a crazy idea. Unfortunate Utah has not passed a law permitting medical marijuana. Jennifer May has now been pushing to change that. She recently said “We don’t think it’s a cure, we don’t expect it to be a miracle. It just needs to be something we can try for our kids that don’t have anything left. I want to see if this can even give my child a quality of life for a few years.” Utah is known as a very conservative state where legal medical marijuana previously seemed like a long shot. Her story is gaining traction however, and could possibly become a rally point for medical marijuana support in Utah.
Senator Patrick Leahy Organizes Federal Conference on Marijuana Policy
Federal Authorities Refuse to Admit Marijuana less Dangerous than Alcohol
Last week, we at marijuana.net were pleased to report on Attorney General Holder’s decision to alter the way federal minimum drug sentences would be handled. This week we found out it may have been a case of the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.
The momentum for marijuana reform has been rising steady so it was right on cue that federal authorities needed to fight back with false and ridiculous propaganda. On Monday, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released a statement that not only calls into question their grasp of the facts, but also questions whether or not the agency is operating in 2013 and not 1933. On Monday decision makers at the NIDA thought the following statement was a well thought out idea: “Claiming that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated since each possess their own unique set of risks and consequences for a given individual.” The statement seems to be a response to the group Marijuana Policy Project’s (MPP) recent ads that describe marijuana as less dangerous than alcohol.
Mason Tvert of MPP commented on the odd NIDA statement by telling Huffington Post “Our federal government has been exaggerating the harms of marijuana for decades, but at this point it has gone off the deep end…NIDA’s statement that marijuana can be just as toxic as alcohol would be on par with the FDA announcing sushi is as fattening as fried chicken.” The Huffington Post article also pointed out that PolitiFact was unable to identify a single marijuana related death in 2010 but found 41,682 linked to alcohol during the same year.
The public trust in federal drug policy has been declining for decades. However, the feds have learned to smile, dress nice, and say little when questioned on these issues. NIDA’s mission statement is “to lead the nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction .” Their actions indicate that perhaps the NIDA does not hold its mission statement in any sort of high regard. As we said last week with Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s reversal on medical marijuana, how do we trust those who have policy making influence when they are the last to be educated?
Celebrity Physician Sanjay Gupta Reverses Position on Medicinal Marijuana
An advanced of medical and scientific understanding, clearly separate physicians the from others, though character traits don’t. Doctors could be persistent, and possibly even much more than an average joe at certain occasions.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is showing is simply how much personality can infiltrate an expert opinion. I personally enjoy a lot of what Dr. Gupta needs to say in the posts and looks as CNN’s chief medical correspondent. However, it have been apparent he had skipped the boat on medicinal marijuana. In 2009, he notoriously authored an item for Time entitled “ Why I’d Election No on Pot“. In in he signifies that marijuana lacks medical effectiveness regardless of the considerable amount of evidence provided by his peers within the health care industry. In another section he states “I’m constantly amazed that in the end these years–and all of the wars on drugs and all sorts of public-service announcements–nearly 15 million People in america still use marijuana at least one time per month.” At that time, many were amazed he experienced no curiosity within an apparent culture change.
Dr. Gupta has become altering his mind. He accepted not to researching enough around the problem and lately told Piers Morgan “I’ve apologized for a few of the earlier confirming since i think, you realize, we have been terribly and methodically fooled within this country for many , and that i did a part of that misleading.” That is really a candid admission and that we at marijuana.internet applaud him. Also, he lately published “Why I transformed my thoughts on weed” on CNN.com However, when one really wants to contain the layer of national television physician, stubbornness and idleness( meaning of not doing the study) is unacceptable. In a shorter period than he likely allocated to this year’s article, Dr. Gupta might have found an abundance of information, research, and recommendations that highlight the medical advantages of marijuana.
Dr. Gupta’s admission may highlight a much deeper problem than simply one man’s misjudgment. Medical doctors frequently appear to achieve the least understanding on medicinal marijuana. How will a physician know they’re against cure with no significant understanding from the problem? It appears our training if doctors is missing and shuts out any remedies that aren’t considered conventional. Administrators managing medical schools might have to consider training doctors to pay attention. All from the levels on the planet don’t disqualify a lot of patient testimonies. Did Dr. Gupta feel numerous patients was together in conspiracy all avenues of life to get hold of marijuana? Hopefully his recent admission may even further accelerate the marijuana reform discussion and influence policy makers.
If our doctors would be the last to become up-to-date on modern remedies then just what performs this say about modern American medicine? Doctors, typically, are highly intelligent people. Using the information age under way they are able to longer hide behind levels along with a fraternity of individuals knowledgable. All people have access to to scientific information. This does not necessarily mean we ought to visit WebMD and self identify, but it will mean doctors might have to leave their safe place and explain their rationale a little more.
Eric Holder Tries Patchwork Fix For Federal Drug Sentencing
Many of us have heard the outrageous examples of rapists and murderers serving less time in prison than low level marijuana and drug offenders. To some, this is just an odd quirk or a glitch in federal policy, a conversation that will soon find it’s way to back of our minds, buried deep in the abyss of our sub consciousness, well below the layer our daily stresses. To others, this is a broken family, this is children growing up without a father, this is the realization that your teen’s mistake in college could ruin the rest of his or her life.
The Obama Administration had initially vowed to fix the broken state of drug laws. He and now Attorney General, Eric Holder signaled an end to the War On Drugs, or at least a drastically different approach. The two indicated that going after the medical marijuana industry would not be an effective use of federal resources. Apparently, what they meant was that we were not spending enough on attacking medical marijuana patients. Less than one year through his second term, President Obama enjoys the unique status of pursuing legal action against far more collectives than the Bush and Clinton years combined.
Perhaps feeling the sting of broken vows, an over saturated corrections system, and an economy that remains barely in gear, has finally led to policy change. Yesterday Mr. Holder announced a change in sentencing on a federal level for low level drug charges and that he wishes to circumvent “draconian mandatory minimum sentences.” Small cases that accompany mandatory federal sentences will be shifted to the states. In regards to the states handling more of the cases, Mr. Holder said “Some issues are best handled at the state or local level…And that’s why I have directed the United States Attorney community to develop specific, locally-tailored guidelines – consistent with our national priorities – for determining when federal charges should be filed, and when they should not.”
The change is certainly welcomed but it may be comparable to placing a Flintstones band aid over a large fatal wound. Mr. Holder and federal authorities are basically conceding that federal drug laws are out of control and is not in line with the majority of American’s wishes. Specifically, a large portion of the public wants marijuana to be taken off as a schedule 1 substance. Instead of fixing the issue and reclassifying, Mr. Holder will run from the laws he oversees. Additionally, shifting the responsibilities to the states only works if they do not operate under similar ” draconian law”. Otherwise, those states could require additional funding. Will this deadlocked Congress, that initially decline Storm Sandy victim relief be willing to designate additional funds to state level drug cases?
There may some optimism to take out of Mr. Holder’s actions. This is the first time in quite a bit that the federal government is making a significant policy change in low level drug offenses. Could this be setting up for future maneuvers and a reconciliation of state vs. federal laws?