Drug War Atrocities 2007 Archive

Headline: Feb 07 - Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion A Year – American taxpayers fund the arrests of nearly 800,000 people for marijuana and spend over a billion dallars per year to incarcerate them. Another Day in Prison

Law & Constitution 2007 Archive

Headline: Feb 07 – Judge Sides With Botanist on Pot Supply- DEA Administrative Law Judge recommends ending forty year old U. S. government policy of restricting research on medical marijuana to only marijuana grown by the government at the University of Mississippi. Video- Dr. Rick Doblin, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), talks about his organization’s efforts to work with the U.S. government on serious medical cannabis research.

This is not the first time a DEA Administrative Judge has recommended change on the agency’s policy regarding Cannabis. Notable is the 1988 ruling by Judge Francis Young, DEA Judge, in a petition to reschedule marijuana. Finding that Cannabis was”one of the safest therapeutic agents known to man”, Judge Young recommended that marijuana be moved from Schedule One to Schedule Two of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA ignored his recommendation.Marijuana Rescheduling Case ( DEA Judge ), by Arnold Trebach

Jon Gettman, PhD, describes 30 years of rescheduling petitions to DEA and HHS seeking to remove Cannabis from schedule One:The Rescheduling of Marijuana – report by Jon Gettman

Industrial Hemp 2007 Archive

Headline, Feb 07: The Hemp Vote- The new year began on a hopeful note as Rep. Ron Paul, (R) TX, introduced HR 1009 - the “2007 Industrial Hemp Farming Act”, co-sponsored with 9 democrats (including Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) OH), showing how true conservatism and true populism can come together on an issue affecting economics and the environment.

Headline, Feb 07: North Dakota Issues Hemp-Growing Licenses- ND joins six other states which have authorized the farming of industrial hemp.North Dakota’s Agriculture Commissioner backs Hemp

Headline, March 07: (Canada) Decade of Legalized Industrial Hemp Celebrated- Meanwhile, our neighbor to the north has been growing hemp for 10 years, groing into an important  and diversified industry. Manitoba Harvest, a premier manufacturer of hemp seed oils and foods, featured on CBC in October

Headline, May 07: Hemp, Canola Studied For BC Bioenergy- Also from Canada, hemp is being considered as a good source of vegetable oil for biodiesel, as well as ethanol. Hemp is better suited to dry climates than corn and soybeans, saving precious water and requiring little fertilizer/weed/pest control. Roll-out of Hempseed Biodiesel powered car at NORML  - Washington, DC

Medical Cannabis 2007 Archive

Dispensing Cannabis: The California Story  – “Tours of five cannabis dispensary models provide an unprecedented look into this quasi-legal business. Doctors, lawyers, law enforcement, patients and caregivers share their perspectives and concerns.
Watch the trailer and checkout the website: http://www.dispensingcannabis.com (less)

January 2007- News from the front lines of the medical marijuana wars: MEDICAL MARIJUANA RAIDS ARE CRITICIZED

California ( first legal state in 1996) -  The federal government continues raids of patient clubs and co-operatives,  with various reasons given, but always trampling state law and legitimate patients in the process. DEA Bust of L.A. Cannabis Dispensary – The DEA with a protection force of about 18 LAPD officers steal the medicine and cash from the Arts District Healing Center in Los Angeles. Demonstrators for Americans for Safe Access were on hand. Included interview with Sarah Armstrong of ADHC.

Feburary, 2007 – News article: Pot Eases HIV Patients’ Pain, Study Finds - Donald Abrams, MD (University of CA,SF) completes study using smoked Cannabis in treating HIV-related neuropathic pain – a condition that does not respond well to conventional medications. Dr. Abrams spent years seeking U. S. government -grown medical marijuana for the study and received it only after resubmitting as a “safety” study – examining possible dangers of using Cannabis for medicine.AIDS, Pain & Cannabis, with Donald Abrams: Dr. Abrams describes his study protocols at 2004 Cannabis Therapeutics Conference in Charlottesville, VA.