Thread: Marijuana Myth Busters

I agree - it's no one's business.

I'll confess I knew it helped some terminally ill patients, especially those on chemo. I heard it helped them be able to eat and keep the food down.

I had no idea it had an other good effects. I thought the government wanted to keep it illegal so some of their buddies could profit from it and so they could continue their power grab and control over citizens under the guise of 'protecting us'.

You learn something every day.

I wonder if everyone will think it's OK when the drug companies come for our Vitamin C - and we have to have a prescription for it at 10 times the price.

Originally Posted by PinestrawGuys

Originally Posted by GRITS

Wonder if this would help with menopause? lol

For the record, this is a good debate. My personal opinion is that if you want to smoke it, smoke it. It is no ones business. Personally, I'll stick with my Winstons!

Actually, Queen Victoria of England used it EXPRESSLY for that purpose!!

I'd never get past the smell... For whatever reason my gag reflex goes into overdrive when I smell it anywhere...

Pine, you should remember Music Midtown here in ATL... You know that scene? I have never been so sick in my life! lol Besides, it keeps hubby on his toes.... just wondering what my mood is......


Trixie,

I am completely convinced that is why my cousin is alive today.. I believe without MJ, the cancer and/or the chemo would have killed her. She was able to eat and hold it down, therefore she got the nutrients her body needed to fight and win! For that reason alone, I would help fight to legalize it!

Music Midtown, now THAT'S a PARTY!!! I had to close my company for 4 days last year so we could ALL go to town!!

You can get a 'contact high' just walking between the stages!!!

Originally Posted by PinestrawGuys

Music Midtown, now THAT'S a PARTY!!! I had to close my company for 4 days last year so we could ALL go to town!!

You can get a 'contact high' just walking between the stages!!!

I missed last years due to being in Idaho... But as sick as I get, I always go back. The love of music makes one do strange things, hell, maybe it was the "contact high" that makes me do strange things there!

Are they going to have one this year??

Proposed legislation would permit cultivation of hemp

January 23, 2008

By PETER HIRSCHFELD
Vermont Press Bureau

MONTPELIER — Inside the Statehouse, mounted to a wall in the House Agriculture Committee room, is a World War II-era poster asking patriotic citizens to "Grow Hemp for the War."

The framed relic harkens back to a time when hemp flourished as one of the country's premier agricultural commodities. Thomas Jefferson himself called hemp a "first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country." The first two drafts of the U.S. Constitution were penned on hemp paper.

Hemp's reputation has since fallen on hard times. A victim of guilt by genetic association, hemp was outlawed after World War II in an effort to clamp down on its psychotropic cousin, marijuana.

Before the end of the 2008 session, however, lawmakers here could cast votes on a bill aimed at resurrecting the crop in Vermont.

"People in general are convinced it's not a bogeyman, and in fact it may be a good step in laying the groundwork for another economic opportunity for farmers," Rep. David Zuckerman, a Burlington Progressive, said Tuesday.

Hemp, legally grown in every industrialized country except the United States, has numerous industrial applications. The seeds are processed into food and beauty products; the long stalks contain fiber and cellulose that can be made into textiles, building materials and fuel.

But hemp, a strain of cannabis sativa, shares its species with marijuana. Though hemp has barely detectable levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, the Drug Enforcement Agency, which wields federal jurisdiction over hemp cultivation, draws no legal distinction between the two plants.

David Monson, a state representative from North Dakota, spearheaded efforts to legalize hemp in his state after a fungus outbreak blighted wheat and barley crops there. He traveled to Vermont this week to speak with lawmakers about the merits of hemp legalization.

Though federal law enforcement officials have suggested that legalizing hemp is tantamount to legalizing marijuana, Monson said North Dakotans have dispelled that myth.

"We have made it very clear that we are against the legalization of marijuana, even for medicinal use," Monson said Tuesday.

Though hemp shares visual characteristics with marijuana, Monson said the industrial crop is easily distinguished from bushier marijuana plants. As for the argument that hemp plantations could be used to shield illegal marijuana crops, Monson said cross-pollination would hurt the potency, and sale price, of marijuana.

"I'm just a farmer," Monson said. "We're not in any way, shape or form trying to legalize marijuana."

Vermont's proposed hemp legislation limits the THC content of hemp plants and requires hemp growers to register with the state.

State law enforcement officials did not return calls seeking comment on the bill Tuesday.

Amy Shollenberger, director of Rural Vermont, said at least a few farmers have expressed interest in growing hemp, though it's difficult to gauge the potential economic benefits.

Even if Vermont joins five other states in passing hemp legislation, Vermont farmers would likely face the same federal obstacles impeding hemp cultivation in North Dakota, where the DEA has thus far refused to grant federal hemp-growing licenses to farmers in his state.

Still, Zuckerman said, a united front by states may compel the federal government to ease hemp restrictions.

"As more states do this, it will force Congress to revisit the issue," Zuckerman said.

www.rutlandherald.com/

Looking beyond the traffic stop

By Matt Elofson


Officer Chris Craft spotted bad brake lights on a Chevrolet Yukon. Moments later he arrested three men on marijuana charges.

The Ozark officer seized about half a pound of marijuana during the September traffic stop that landed 24-year-old Miles Ansley, and two passengers, in jail on drug charges.

Two months later police charged three men with shooting Ansley to death during what police called a robbery motivated by drugs.

Ozark Deputy Police Chief Myron Williams said there is a clear link between drugs and violent crime. It is a link he feels can be broken, or at least deterred, through the use of highway interdiction.

"The reason I wanted to get the program started is to capture the drugs before they reach the street level, and to go after the money to take the profit out of it," Williams said. "We had three homicides in 2007 within 33 days, and all three of those homicides we had drugs involved."

Cpl. Jimmy Culbreath, who started the law enforcement training seminar "Spread the Web" in 2003, has been hired to head the department's narcotics unit.

"We kind of took the spider as our mascot," Culbreath said. "Each officer represents a spider, and we're training them to recognize the criminal element" with each spider reaching into the community to snare the criminals.

Williams said officers trained in the techniques of highway interdiction help clean up communities, and without a doubt, the practice takes some drugs off the street.

"When it (drugs) comes in here you certainly have a rise in your violent crime," Williams said. "If we can hopefully curtail the drug trade somewhat ... what we're doing is making our community safer."

A multi-million dollar drug bust during a traffic stop in Calhoun County in November 2007 has raised several concerns about highway interdiction in the law enforcement community. Eddie Ingram, who serves as chief deputy for the Barbour County Sheriff's Office, assisted the Oxford Police Department during a traffic stop on Interstate 20 in Calhoun County, which netted the police 40 kilos of cocaine. Ingram had been in Oxford training their police department.

About a month after the drug bust, DEA agent Greg Borland, an assistant special agent in charge of the Birmingham office, sent a letter to several law enforcement agencies reminding them the DEA would not adopt cases Ingram had been involved in. Borland said the letter was not meant to defame anyone, but show his objections to the type of interdiction.

Ethics

As an assistant special agent in charge of the DEA, Greg Borland has several unanswered questions about the ethics of highway interdiction. Borland said some types of interdiction make if difficult for the DEA to make a solid case.

"If it's done as training I understand that, but in the Oxford case it's a little bit unclear who seized the drugs, "Borland said. "This particular case dealt with agencies doing it on a 'for hire' basis, and that concerns me. That doesn't mean that they can't do it."

The possibility for a large seizure should not be the primary reason for interdiction, Borland said. He has questioned whether some law enforcement "subconsciously" lower the reasonable suspicion for a justifiable search.

"If I'm out there trying to train somebody with the intent to make a large seizure," Borland said, "that shouldn't be the motivator to do interdiction so that we could supplement your budget."

Borland also questioned the ethics of whether an agency should offer itself to help another law enforcement agency solely for the purpose of seizing money.

"My concern is that if agencies use it (interdiction) in ways that are not appropriate, then somewhere down the road we could potentially lose it," Borland said.

Since the November drug bust, Ingram has had two other law enforcement agencies ask him to come train their officers.
He said the issues with the letter sent out by the DEA have created unnecessary distrust between law enforcement.

"It just puts a barrier between the federal government when it shouldn't be," Ingram said. "We're just trying to do our job. We all should be working together."

During Ingram's interdiction course, he teaches officers how to look for suspicious activity during a traffic stop.

Ingram's mentor and friend who taught him interdiction was shot to death during a traffic stop nine years ago today.

Ingram started the National Drug Interdiction Association in memory of Robbie Edward Bishop, who died while working on Interstate 20 near Villa Rica, Ga., on Jan. 20, 1999.

Ingram said Bishop was shot to death by a convicted felon transporting drugs from New York.

"I've had more than a dozen officers that have been through my classes that have been shot and killed during a traffic stop," Ingram said.

Ingram also said he specifically warns officers to maintain their integrity as law enforcement officers. He said it's important to not cross the line and "slip to the other side."

"I know of four guys right now that have went to prison because the temptation just got too great for them," Ingram said. "We don't want to become what we're trying to stop."

Two of those men, Steve Lovin and James O. Hunt, were arrested by the federal government in North Carolina on allegations they stole money seized from traffic stops off Interstate 95. Lovin and Hunt worked as sheriff's deputies for the Robeson County Sheriff's Office when they made the traffic stops. Bishop trained Lovin and Hunt how to look beyond the traffic stop.

"They actually came down to Villa Rica and trained with us before Robbie got killed," Ingram said.

Ingram later helped Lovin and Hunt set up their drug interdiction school in North Carolina. But both Lovin and Hunt have pleaded guilty in federal court.

"It's a line you really can't cross; you've to be honest," Ingram said. "We always have to act like we may be on public TV."

Williams said his department won't leave the area to do drug interdiction.

"We're not in it to go pull some type of financial gain from some other jurisdiction," Williams said. "Doing this solely just for the money - that's not our objective. Our ultimate goal is making our communities safer and getting the drugs off the streets."

Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson, whose jurisdiction includes Oxford, said he's had officers from other agencies come train his men. But he's also sent his officers to other agencies, including Texas.

"We learn from the folks who have more experience and that's a good thing," Amerson said.

Henry County Sheriff William Maddox said a successful intervention program requires two things - probable cause to stop the vehicle and the avoidance of racial profiling.

"Some agencies do it a lot different than others," Maddox said. "We just get out there and look for a probable cause to stop the vehicle, which can be if they're weaving from one side of the road to the other, if they have a tail light out or if they're speeding.

"It escalates from there. If you walk up to the car and smell some type of controlled substance, or if the driver is obviously under the influence."

Training

In recent years Ingram has taken the word interdiction out of the title of his classes, changing it from Criminal Interdiction Course to Felony Awareness Course.

"Everybody's an interdiction officer if they work the streets," he said.

Ingram, who has taught multiple classes in highway interdiction, said four out of five crimes involve mobility. Ingram called highway interdiction a low cost law enforcement tool.

"Like for instance the 40 kilos we hit only took five minutes, but it takes a lot longer to do an undercover operation," Ingram said. "It's the most cost effective way to fight crime because the officers are already out on patrol. So let's teach them how to recognize it."

Interdiction is not only used to get drugs off the streets, but to curtail other crimes - from handling stolen property to catching fugitives of justice.

"You get a lot of criminals in what we call 'trash in the nets,'" Ingram said. "You're not just going to catch the big criminals, we get everything. The team I just trained in Oxford caught a guy Friday wanted for escape and four felony charges."

Both Culbreath and Ingram have trained officers to use interdiction on major U.S. highways, interstates, rural county roads and city streets.

About 50 percent of Alabama state troopers have been trained to look beyond the initial traffic stop. The Alabama Highway Patrol uses a special unit to work interdiction that moves across the state. Sgt. Tracy Nelson said it is called the Felony Awareness Program.

"Their job is to work the main corridor for illegal activity such as illegal human trafficking, a stolen car or money moving illegally up and down the highway," Nelson said. "The traffic stop a trooper or police officer makes solves about 90 percent of all crime. That's how most outstanding warrants on people are served."

Ingram said he will be leading an interdiction class during the week of February 13 in Barbour County.

Culbreath recently led a "Spread the Web" seminar to help train law enforcement officers in criminal enforcement, which included highway interdiction and properly searching vehicles.

Culbreath worked as senior instructor at the seminar last week, teaching nearly 30 law enforcement officers from nine different agencies.

Officers split into teams spending an hour at five stations learning how to properly search different types of vehicles like tractor trailers, SUVs and recreation vehicles.

One of the program's instructors, Jeremy Pelfrey, of the Washington County, Florida, Sheriff's Office, helped seize more $500,000 cash from inside the wall of an 18-wheel truck off I-10 last December.

Another aspect of the training is teaching officers to recognize non-verbal indicators of criminal activity, but he stressed professionalism is required.

"This is not a fishing expedition for narcotics or money," Culbreath said. "We don't go out like it's some type of highway lottery."

Matt Elofson is a reporter for the Dothan Eagle.

http://www.zwire.com

Pot debate focuses on religion, medicine
Published: Friday, January 25, 2008



[i][b][size=75]Mediator Dr. Thomas Vander Ven (middle) watches as DEA officer Robert Stutman (right) argues with High Times editor Steve Hager (left) about the issues of legalizing marijuana last night in Baker Ballroom.Students experienced a “highâ€

Making marijuana illegal causes more problems



Free people of America, I feel it is time for an appraisal of one of our great nation's most futile endeavors, the failed prohibition of marijuana.

Time and again, we've seen prominent and respected members of communities labeled criminals for choosing to disregard archaic legislation and exercise their perceived freedoms in private.

Proponents of this prohibition quickly judge and utter ``it's illegal,'' never stopping to ask why or to address the consequences of banning a harmless drug that nearly 10 percent of Americans openly admit to using.

Despite noble efforts, the so-called ``war on drugs'' has not stemmed America's appetite for pot or any other drug. The collateral damage, however, has not been so passive.

Our prison population is the largest on the planet, and nearly a quarter of the inmates are serving time for non-violent drug offenses.

And since the demand for this illegal product has failed to decline and there is an endless supply of people ready to make money off of it, this imprisonment has had no effect except to burden the taxpayer.

Our senseless government makes billions off the taxation of alcohol and tobacco, substances which dwarf the health concerns of marijuana. And with marijuana illegal, in every sense, all profits go to international criminals and their corrupt political counterparts.

Left in this wake are crumbling governments and their desperate citizens who flee across the border to become our infamous illegal aliens.

Free people of America, I implore you to set aside your bitter perceptions, ask questions and demand answers. Educate yourself, and learn to distinguish fact from propaganda, and truth from lies. It is time to end this failed prohibition, and give Americans back the freedom to do what they wish in the privacy of their own homes.

Josh Lillie

Normal
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008 ... 129866.txt

Medical Marijuana: New Mexico Paraplegic Sues Over Seizure of Plants, Grow Equipment
1/25/08

One of New Mexico's first registered medical marijuana patients is suing Eddy County Sheriff's deputies for seizing his marijuana plants and grow equipment and turning them over to the DEA. Leonard French of Malaga received a license to grow and use marijuana for pain resulting from a spinal cord injury, but that didn't stop the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, headed by Dave Edmundson of the Eddy County Sheriff's Department, from seizing his plants and equipment shortly after he began growing last summer.



California medical marijuana bags (courtesy Daniel Argo via Wikimedia)

Now, with the help of the ACLU of New Mexico, French has filed a lawsuit in state court seeking a declaratory judgment that the task force's actions violated the state's medical marijuana law, the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, as well as its asset forfeiture statute; an injunction to stop the task force from again raiding French and his garden; and compensatory damages for his stolen property.

"The New Mexico state legislature, in its wisdom, passed the Compassionate Use Act after carefully considering the benefits the drug provides for people who suffer from uncontrollable pain, and weighing those benefits against the way federal law considers cannabis," said Peter Simonson, ACLU executive director, in a press release announcing the lawsuit. "With their actions against Mr. French, Eddy County officials thwarted that humane, sensible law, probably for no other reason than that they believed federal law empowered them to do so."

When at least four Eddy County deputies acting as members of the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force showed up at French's home last September 4, he thought they were checking his compliance with the medical marijuana law, so he presented them with his license, and showed them his grow, which consisted of two small plants and three dead sprouts. They then turned the plants and the grow equipment over to the DEA, which does not recognize medical marijuana or the state laws that permit its use. French has not been charged with any offense under either state or federal law.

"With the Compassionate Use Act, New Mexico embarked on an innovative project to help people who suffer from painful conditions like Mr. French's," said Simonson. "The law cannot succeed if the threat of arrest by county and local law enforcement hangs over participants in the program. With this lawsuit, we hope to clear the way for the State to implement a sensible, conservative program to apply a drug that traditionally has been considered illicit for constructive purposes."

And maybe teach some recalcitrant cops a lesson about obeying the law.



stopthedrugwar.org