RainDog
RainDog's JournalPrettyman Commission (1963)
Harry Ansligner found a friend in Eisenhower, who, in the spirit of the age, viewed marijuana use as akin to opium or heroin and saw all of them as part of the Communist Menace...because the reality was that Anslinger found any excuse he could on which to hang his hatred.
Anslinger started out talking about cannabis making people go crazy and kill. Then he decided it made white women associate with black men because of evil jazz music. Then it was unAmerican to smoke marijuana, even though its use, after black and white musicians first desegregated their profession, was often associated with soldiers returning from war, especially those stationed in the Philippines.
The Boggs Commission, put together in the 1950s, was used in the south to execute black men for possession of marijuana. Think of that. Execution for possession of a substance safer than alcohol or cigarettes. Of course, in the south someone can still be sentenced to life in prison for three possession convictions. Some things don't change, they just change their form.
After Eisenhower, Kennedy had other opinions.
Anslinger retired in 1961. Some "rumors" note that Kennedy forced this retirement. As far as I know, this has never been confirmed. Another rumor was that JFK used marijuana to help ease his back pain.
One of his mistresses, Mary Pinchot Meyer, claimed she turned him on to LSD, and others who knew her at the time (Timothy Leary, for instance) said she regularly brought marijuana to Kennedy when they were together. Prior to her affair, she was married to Cord Meyer, of the CIA. Mary was the daughter of the left. Her parents were both journalists. One, also a lawyer, helped to start The New Masses. The other wrote for The Nation, among other publications.
McCarthy accused Cord Meyer of being a communist (...but who wasn't, according to McCarthy), and the FBI had a file on Mary because of her work for nuclear disarmament. Cord was involved in Operation Mockingbird, the CIA attempt to use the media as a propaganda tool (they didn't have Fox back then), and some claimed he had been spying on liberal American organizations since the 1940s. Richard Helms informed Cord that McCarthy had made accusations of communism against him... After Mary divorced Cord, she chose not to remarry and instead focused on her art. She was considered a "daredevil" because she didn't conform to the conventions of the day.
Anyway, Kennedy established a Drug Commission to look at the issue of marijuana and other drugs. LaGuardia had already done his own studies with doctors in the 1940s and had come to the conclusion that marijuana was not a dangerous substance. An American sociologist, Lindeman, had conducted studies in the 1950s and done work for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that emphasized drug abuse, in general, was a medical and psychological problem, not a criminal one (and Anslinger came after him with the FBI, and tried to destroy the man and his work.)
The Prettyman Commission isn't well known.
After an eight-week fact finding commission was done, Prettyman, in 1963, wrote a report that said marijuana was relatively harmless, that penalties against it were too harsh (this was after the Boggs Commission made marijuana possession a crime worse than rape or murder), and the nation should rethink its attitude toward the herb.
Allen Ginsberg was appearing on television talk shows - and he always talked about legalizing marijuana at that time. Anslinger hated Ginsberg, of course (and spied on him, as Anslinger did with all jazz musicians of the 1940s and 1950s - and arrested them whenever possible - even on trumped up charges - see Monk, Thelonious.)
Then Kennedy was assassinated. Mary Meyer contacted Leary, in fear of her life, too, because, she said, Kennedy was changing and changing things in this nation (and she saw herself as part of that with the LSD sessions). She was shot at point blank range in the back of the head in 1964 while out for a walk. A black man with no weapon was charged with her murder. Case closed.
The only Democrats to oppose liberalization of marijuana laws since Kennedy have been from the south - but one man from the south, Carter, tried to open the door to this discussion. The sort of Democrat who heads the party matters, in other words. Hopefully Obama and current Democrats will be able to end this shameful legacy of lies regarding marijuana in the U.S., which will reverberate around the world.
Just rambling, but I'm looking up information about the Prettyman Commission and thought I'd share. If anyone here has information about it, please post.
update: PASSED the House! Medical mj law passes first hurdle in NY state!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/nyregion/assembly-backs-use-of-marijuana-for-illnesses.html?_r=0For the fifth time in seven years, the State Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill legalizing medical marijuana, backing a measure that would far surpass a program Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced this year.
But with less than four weeks left in the legislative session, the prospects for passage in the State Senate remained uncertain.
The bill allows the possession and use of up to two and a half ounces of marijuana by seriously ill patients whom doctors, physician assistants or nurse practitioners have certified. It permits organizations to establish dispensaries to deliver the drug to registered users and their caregivers, part of what advocates call a “seed to sale” system meant to prevent abuse or illegal use.
Katrin Haugh, left, and Carol Thompson, of the Absentee and Petition Office in Anchorage, processed signatures that supported the effort to put marijuana legalization on the ballot.Pivotal Point Is Seen as More States Consider Legalizing MarijuanaFEB. 26, 2014
“There are tens of thousands of New Yorkers with serious, debilitating, life-threatening conditions whose lives could be made more tolerable and longer by enacting this legislation,” said Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, a Democrat from Manhattan who heads the Health Committee and sponsored the bill.
New Yorkers: PLEASE contact your Senators to support this bill.
here's link for you: http://www.nysenate.gov/
Earlier Post:
ALBANY A bill to legalize medical marijuana in New York narrowly survived its first major hurdle Tuesday, keeping alive the possibility of a full Senate vote.
The legislation now heads to the Senate Finance Committee, where its fate remains uncertain.
"This is step one. It's a huge victory," said Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, the bill's sponsor. "It's historic for all of us, but now we go on to the next step. We are by no means at the end of the line yet, so we have to work doubly hard."
A crowd of about 50 advocates crammed into a cramped, sweaty conference room on the Capitol's first floor for the vote. As the committee clerk read the results, the crowd erupted into cheers.
The only Democrat to vote against the bill was Sen. Simcha Felder, a Democrat who caucuses with the GOP (aka DINO).
William Larkin, a Republican, crossed party lines to pass the bill. Thank you, Senator Larkin!
(the link goes to Larkin's page - you can thank him yourself.)
Sen. Bill Larkin on medical marijuana: "I voted my conscience"
Progress!
Feds Block Water For State-Legal Marijuana Grows
More Federal Agency pushback toward states that have both legal recreational AND medical marijuana laws. When you can't override the will of the voter at the ballot box, you do it through other means. Local agencies contract with federal water projects to obtain water for their counties.
Again, Congress needs to address this issue. If they want to force states to adhere to law that makes no sense, they need to be upfront about it - especially in an election year. Tell parents of children with epilepsy you want to put them in jail and deny them the right to choose the best medication for their children because... reefer madness.
Don't hide behind federal agencies because you know the American people don't support you.
An agency (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees management of federal water resources) within the U.S. Department of the Interior announced Tuesday that state-legal marijuana grows are banned from using federal water on their crops.
"Certainly every indication we are hearing is that their policy will be that federal water supplies cannot be used to grow marijuana,” said Brian Werner at the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which handles approximately one-third of all water for northeastern Colorado and is the Bureau of Reclamation's second-largest user in terms of irrigated acres.
Washington's Roza Irrigation District, which supplies federal water to approximately 72,000 acres in Yakima and Benton counties, had already issued a "precautionary message" in early April to water customers who may be involved in state-legal cannabis growing back.
"Local irrigation districts operating federal irrigation projects have recently been advised that under Federal Reclamation Law, it is likely project water cannot be delivered and utilized for purposes that are illegal under federal law," wrote Roza district manager Scott Revell in letters to the Yakima and Benton county commissioners. "Presumably growing marijuana would fall into this category."
Despite change in law, arrests more likely than fine (Chicago)
Study: Despite new law, pot arrests still likelier than finesIn addition, because different municipalities have different laws and policies, the way the cases are handled is inconsistent and unfair, researchers said.
Arrests for the violation are down, but about 93 percent of misdemeanor marijuana possession violations resulted in arrest in Chicago, according to an analysis conducted by Roosevelt University's Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy.
That means that instead of issuing tickets and fines — considered an easier and more efficient process — police chose to take people to jail, said Kathleen Kane-Willis, the lead author of the study.
House to Vote on Budget Amendment to Defund Medical Marijuana Raids
via norml
Twenty-one states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington -- as well as the District of Columbia have enacted laws protecting medical marijuana patients from state prosecution. Yet in all of these states, patients and providers still face the risk of federal sanction -- even when their actions are fully compliant with state law.
It is time that we allowed our unique federalist system to work the way it was intended. Patients, providers, and their state representatives should have the authority to enact laws permitting the medical use of cannabis -- free from federal interference.
Please write your members of Congress today and tell them to stop using taxpayer dollars to target and prosecute state-authorized medical marijuana patients and providers...
The link, above, provides a form letter you can send if you so desire.
Slavery by Another Name
The history of discrimination against African Americans that extended into the 20th century...including the discovery by ancestors of the whites who did this that these family members were not "self-made, hard-working, up-by-their-bootstraps" individuals that were part of 20th century lies.
Crime Still Isn't Devouring Denver 4 Months After Legal Pot
It's a given that correlation isn't causation - but the reality from data indicates law enforcement predictions to expect more crime has not proved true - EVEN as businesses had to keep large amounts of cash on hand because they had no access to banking services. This would be, imo, the biggest enticement to crime with the change in laws.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/13/marijuana-crime-denver_n_5319298.html
Overall violent crime in Denver for the four-month period that includes January to April fell 5.6 percent from the same period a year earlier. Crime is down in the four main categories of violent crime -- homicide, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crime dropped 11.4 percent from the first four months of 2013.
The crime data stands in stark contrast to statements made by law enforcers in 2012, before Amendment 64 legalized marijuana in Colorado for recreational sale and use. Multiple members of the state's law enforcement community warned legalization would bring bleak and "harmful" consequences. “Expect more crime, more kids using marijuana and pot for sale everywhere," Douglas County Sheriff David Weaver said in a 2012 statement . "I think our entire state will pay the price."
Denver's crime statistics during the first four months of retail marijuana reflect findings from a recent report published in the peer-reviewed PLOS ONE journal showing that legalizing medical marijuana causes no increase in crime, and may reduce some violent crime, including homicide.
Colorado: Over $25 Million in Marijuana Revenue Since Legalization
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2014/32018/colorado-over-25-million-in-marijuana-revenue-since-legalization/Marijuana has already generated Colorado nearly $25 million in revenue since legalization, between taxes, licenses, and fees.
And in the first three months of this year alone, Colorado’s raked in nearly $22 million — over $16 million of that was in taxes, the rest in license and application fees — according to a report from the Colorado Department of Revenue.
...the tax revenue so far continues to climb month to month, as recreational sales jumped to $19 million in March — up nearly a third from $14 million in February.
...In a report issued in February, Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) predicted a combined $1 billion dollars in sales between medical and recreational cannabis, and estimated the state could stand to bank up to $134 million in taxes and fees during 2014-15 fiscal year.
Old and Out-of-Touch Republicans in DC - what century is this?
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/05/09/congressional_hearing_on_d_c_marijuana_law_ends_with_no_conclusion_some.html?wpisrc=burger_barHe predicted today's hearing, which was inconclusive. Rep. John Mica, who's 71, chaired the subcommittee's probe of the bill, taking testimony from local law enforcement and giving Republican peers time to debunk the idea that marijuana is harmless—which isn't even part of the reason for decriminalization.
Over 10 minutes, (Louisiana Rep. John Fleming) challenged the city for rejecting the science that showed marijuana "modifying" brains (as basically any activity does) and warned that in Colorado, the legalization of weed had led to "fourth-graders" selling drugs. Plus, legalization was expensive, and libertarians ignored the costs.
AS PREDICTED, the bogus study released last month, which was roundly debunked by science editors and scientists interviewed, and other persons not still fighting to find trumped up reasons to arrest black folks (who are, as Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton noted, four times as likely to go down on marijuana charges in Florida, eight times as likely in D.C.) was used by the racists in the Republican Party to argue against weakening their ability to use the same old drug warrior racism to uphold laws that anyone who has a functioning brain knows are based upon lies.
Fleming, using this bullshit argument, plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn the DC law. This would, in turn, require Senate and the President's approval. Louisiana has some of the worst drug laws in the nation - and, frankly, the rest of the nation doesn't want to have to suffer the fools that get elected there.
This was the third such hearing so that Fleming and Mica, et al, can score political points with their voters at home by showing how tough they are on
Fleming also brought up that whoary propaganda about marijuana as a gateway drug... aka the lie that will not die... because somebody makes money every time they tell it.
After holding multiple hearings on the administration’s approach to enforcing the federal prohibition on pot in the states that have legalized the drug, Mica emphasized he was not “singling out” D.C., but wanted to look at the potential conflicts that decriminalization could create. On Friday, the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations heard testimony from law enforcement officials representing the Metropolitan Police Department, the Department of Justice and the Park Police on those issues.
At the hearing’s conclusion, Mica said he was still unsure if Congress would intervene to stop the bill during the 60-day review period that lasts through mid-July.
“We will continue this series …” he said, later telling reporters that he wants to know, “Has the narcotic changed in its potency? Does it pose an even greater risk?” Mica intends to look at all of that, and says his views on decriminalization are still evolving. “I’m learning as we go through these hearings.”
http://blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/hazy-outlook-for-d-c-s-effort-to-decriminalize-marijuana-following-house-hearing/?dcz=
Michael Backes of Abatin Wellness Center says...
and I can only quote, not respond as someone with direct knowledge (but Backes is very involved with cannabis-based MS medicine and very science-based, not anecdote-based, in response to the doctor who has talked about juicing...
...if someone is not harvesting the cannabis fresh and consuming it immediately, then there is a risk of significant THC intoxication.
...so he says raw cannabis THC is not as available as when it's already been chemically activated by heat extraction, it seems.
beyond that, it's interesting that, upon heating, THCA decarboxylates to THC - if this is done by smoke, the effect is immediate. If this is done by cooking/ingestion, the effect takes up to an hour - and the intoxication is different because, in the liver, delta-9-tetrahydracannabinol is metabolized into 11-hydroxy-tetrahydracannabinol (a metabolite), while smoking converts THCA into delta-9 and acts directly on the nervous system without liver metabolization - tho, immediately after smoking, THC, too, begins conversion to 11-THC as a metabolites in the bloodstream - which is noticeable an hour after, just as eaten cannabis takes about an hour to take effect. 11-THC is further broken down to the non-psychoactive 11-COOH-THC - which is the metabolite that stays in the body for days or weeks as it is slowly excreted - and this is the metabolite that identifies marijuana use in urine tests.
11-COOH-THC also mediates the effects of THC itself - which is one possible explanation for differences in intoxication between heavy/long time users and those who use cannabis infrequently - iow - the reason people feel higher if they use less often is because their body does not contain the metabolite 11-COOH-THC to dampen the effect of THC itself. This slow release (and dampening effect) is also why THC does not act upon people in the way something like heroin does - physiologically, cannabis provides its own "weaning" - unlike drugs of addiction - while the psychological desire would have to do with the pleasure of the effect of THC, but not, again, from a physical impulse - but the psychological desire would have lesser returns with more use, so there's no reward for such desire through increased use - and, in fact, such reward would be thwarted by constant use.
(This may also explain why those who are heavier users of THC are better drivers than those who use cannabis infrequently.)
At low levels, 11-THC produces drowsiness/a good night's sleep. At high levels, 11-THC can produce hallucinations. It's more likely that eating would produce these high levels because people are more likely to eat larger doses because they can't titrate as accurately as they can with smoked cannabis.
As a metabolite - 11-COOH-THC continues some anti-inflammatory action in the body
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