Wednesday, February 4, 2009

72% want Obama to end DEA raids According to a California NORML press release: While the DEA continues to stage medical marijuana raids in California, nearly three-quarters of voters think President Obama should honor his campaign pledge to end the raids, according to a poll of 1,053 likely voters by Zogby International. In a question sponsored by NORML, voters were asked: During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said he would stop federal raids against medical marijuana providers in the 13 states where medical marijuana has become legal. Should President Obama keep his word to end such raids? Response: Yes - 72% No - 21% Not sure - 7%. Yes votes outnumbered No by over 2 to 1 in all geographic, political, and demographic groups. The poll, conducted Jan 29-31, had a margin error of +/-3.1%. The question is, of course, designed to encourage a "Yes" vote (that's not unusual in commissioned polls), but it's still an impressive number and very useful to make a good point. 6:18:14 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Self-defense = voluntary manslaughter If you're attacked by cops, that is. The verdict is in on the Ryan Frederick case. The jury deliberated over two days before convicting Frederick of voluntary manslaughter and finding him not guilty of more serious homicide offenses, including capital murder. [...] The jury also convicted Frederick of simple marijuana possession, which carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a fine. The jury acquitted him of a more serious manufacturing and distribution charge. As always, the best place for all the info on this case is The Agitator. 5:55:11 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Michael Phelps - the good stuff Yes, there have been a lot of ridiculous columns by entertainment and sports journalists about how Michale Phelps "shames us all" for his horrible action in taking a bong hit, but it's been entertaining to me to read the comments to most of these articles and see the journalists being torn a new one by the public. Some of them have been quite astonished that their readers weren't supporting them in their ritual condemnation of Phelps. Hilarious. Here's a couple of delightful instances where the writers got it right. Andrew Stuttaford at National Review Online's the corner Look, I don't blame Michael Phelps for apologizing. He has a living to earn, so he did what he had to do. In the meantime, I merely note that this broken wreck of a man's failure to win any more than a pathetic fourteen Olympic gold medals (so far) is a terrifying warning of the horrific damage that cannabis can do to someone's health--and a powerful reminder of just how sensible the drug laws really are. And then, a clear must-read is Kathleen Parker in today's Washington Post: Phelps Takes a Hit She's on fire: And the law is the law. Therein lies the problem. Our marijuana laws have been ludicrous for as long as we've been alive. Almost half of us (42 percent) have tried marijuana at least once, according to a report published last year in PLoS Medicine, a journal of the Public Library of Science. The U.S., in fact, boasts the highest percentage of pot smokers among 17 nations surveyed, including The Netherlands, where cannabis clouds waft from coffeehouse windows. [...] Other better-known former tokers include our current president and a couple of previous ones, as well as a Supreme Court justice, to name just a few. A complete list would require the slaughter of several mature forests. [...] One recent ad produced by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says: "Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren't many jobs out there for potheads." Whoa, dude, except maybe, like, president of the United States. Once a kid realizes that pot doesn't make him insane -- or likely to become a burrito taster, as the ad further asserts -- he might figure other drug information is equally false. Thanks, Michael, for jump-starting a national conversation by taking a hit on a bong. If it were only that easy for the rest of us... Update: Joe Klein at Time Magazine jumps in: Legalize it, already Kathleen Parker has the precisely correct reaction to the Michael Phelps flap. Marijuana should be legalized and taxed. It's costing the society way too much in terms of law enforcement and hypocrisy. 8:50:31 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Change.org suggestions and NORML videos It appears that change.org is moving into its next phase and for their Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana idea, that Marijuana Policy Project will be working with them on implementation. You can contribute suggestions, or comment on them. I find it a bit chaotic -- the few really practical suggestions as to how to build a campaign are getting buried by meaningless statements of the "why isn't the government doing anything" or "Return our Constitutional Rights" nature and a few people are dominating by posting ad nauseam. NORML has been running their third annual Marijuana Law Reform Ad Contest with individuals creating and submitting their own TV ads for $10,000 in prizes. They've narrowed it down to the final 25 ads for you to vote on. Pick your three favorites. It's an interesting group. Some were handicapped by the amateurishness of the production values, and others were way too deeply buried in "the culture" to ever reach anyone who didn't already have a bong in their hand. But I found it difficult to finally narrow down to three. None were perfect, but 5 or 6 had some real potential. Check them out and vote. 7:58:08 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []