Friday, August 6, 2004

What She Said. Go check out Libby's post at Last One Speaks about Kate Bradley, a former police officer who suffers from multiple sclerosis and has become an advocate for medical marijuana. 'The first time I took it I was terrified because I really didn't know what the effects were going to be. But when I did I just couldn't believe it. Within half an hour the pain had started to fade for the first time in years. I just couldn't grasp the fact that there was something so much more effective than all the conventional medicine I had tried, yet it was not available on prescription. It didn't make any sense...The government seems to be blase about our fate.' I also love Libby's conclusion to her post, which reflects my view perfectly: The prohibition profiteers like to tell you that medical marijuana supporters have a hidden agenda to legalize the plant altogether. Not true. What is true is that the drug policy reformers like myself who forthrightly admit our goal is to eventually legalize all use completely also support the chronically ill in their quest to find relief now. 10:32:05 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

A brief interlude I'm taking a little time off -- up to Chicago this weekend as usual with my show (which got a nice review in the Sun-Times this week) and then a few days just having fun in the city with a friend. I'll be checking in occasionally to see what's going on. I'm curious to see if Alan Keyes decides to be the GOP senate candidate in Illinois, or whether they'll have to fall back on former drug czarina Andrea Barthwell. Either way, that candidate won't be getting my endorsement. Remember that I'm looking for some assistance in preparing my voting guide. No knowledge required, just a matter of cross-referencing existing data from vote-smart and some other sources I provide. I'm ready to go ahead with California, Maryland, Arkansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Kentucky, and Idaho. If you're interested in working on one, let me know. Check out this excellent recap of the potential and confirmed marijuana ballot issues this election cycle by Paul Armentano of AlterNet (of course, you already know about the win in Detroit) (thanks, Scott). As always, check out the current issues of Drug War Chronicle and Drug Sense Weekly Read a couple of enlightening posts on the Drug War in Afghanistan at Media Crapola and Last One Speaks. Here's conservative and a liberal who both agree that the U.S. drug policy is a failure. Why can't our government see it? 12:48:46 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []