RainDog
RainDog's JournalRepeal of Amendment 64 (recriminalize mj) failed in Colorado
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/amendment-64-repeal-fails_n_3229337.htmlA last-minute effort by some Colorado lawmakers to repeal Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana for recreational use in the state last November, was abandoned late Monday night, dying on the calendar.
Sponsored by 24 senators including Senate President John Morse, Senate Concurrent Resolution 13-003 would have put two measures on the 2013 state ballot for voters to decide on regarding legal marijuana. First, voters would decide on the 15 percent excise tax and the 10 percent special sales tax rates, as outlined in House Bill 1318. If that measure failed, the second measure would ask voters if they wanted to halt recreational marijuana sales in the state.
The Denver Post's John Ingold reported that the resolution was introduced around 6 p.m., cleared a Senate committee less than an hour after it was introduced, but ultimately faced a midnight deadline for approval, a filibuster threat and nearly certain defeat in the House so Morse backed off of the plan around 9:30 p.m., Monday evening.
Morse says the repeal effort was just an attempt to get the attention of the marijuana industry and to encourage industry support for the marijuana taxes which will still be voted on in November. "Here is the inherent problem: The marijuana industry has no incentive to support a tax increase it promised voters," Morse said, The Associated Press reports.
Conn. Mother of Two Risks Arrests to Deal with Cancer
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57580651/conn-cancer-patient-fights-marijuana-loophole/make sure to view the video in the link, above.
"I use medicinal marijuana," she said. "I am breaking the law right now because we don't have growers and distributors here in Connecticut." In 2006, Fanning, then the mother of a 4-year-old and 18-month-old, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Racked by seizures, debilitating headaches, and oppressive pain medication she spent much of her time in bed -- until she tried marijuana. "The first time I ever did it," Fanning said. "It gave me my life back."
Actually, I think she is a typical mom. She is a criminal because the laws of this land are repulsive and seek to harm people in order to create a criminal class out of people like her, or people who use marijuana without a doctor's prescription.
We put people in jail for doing the equivalent of drinking a beer.
The for-profit prison system is one of the biggest supporters of marijuana criminalization.
WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Do you support Americans like this women, or do you support the move to make imprisonment a profitable enterprise for right-wing capitalists?
If you want our laws to change, contact your representatives and our President.
The War on Drugs is a Failure
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/opinion/gregory-brothers-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-failure.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0The War on Consciousness
this is a link to a TED talk that was taken down because it was too controversial. I haven't watched all of it yet, but wanted to share with others if anyone wanted to discuss this - since the points I've heard thus far are things that have been discussed here.
...I'm talking about the use of plant-based medicine/substances for addiction - but the talk caught my attention, as well, because of the initial mention of the idea of the evolution of human consciousness with the use of consciousness-altering plants (and the ceremonies associated with them.)
Since some studies have indicated some of the plants shut down one part of the brain, while others may flood the brain, temporarily, with one or more neurochemicals, such as seratonin - it's an interesting idea to ponder if humans developed their abstract intelligence via their plant environment.
when people talk about evolution and environment, they focus, often, on big issues, like climate changes, that create difficult situations for humans (or other species, for that matter.) Are we so indoctrinated by an ideology of struggle and competition that we overlook the possibility that our evolution has also been influenced by the plants that existed in a complementary relationship with humans?
I know I will always come down on the empirical side of most any argument about the whys and hows of something - but I don't think, in this case, the empirical is lost in the points the speaker makes, while acknowledging the tensions between his thesis and some aspects of empirical evidence.
http://evolverlearninglab.com/collections/courses/products/the-war-on-consciousness-what-it-means-for-you
Study of psilocybin as treatment of depression halted by drug laws
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/07/magic-mushrooms-treat-depressionTrials of psilocybin blocked by drugs law red tape, says Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London
However, a bid by British scientists to carry out trials of psilocybin on patients in order to assess its full medical potential has been blocked by red tape relating to Britain's strict drugs laws. Professor David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, will tell a conference today that because magic mushrooms are rated as a class-A drug, their active chemical ingredient cannot be manufactured unless a special licence is granted.
"We haven't started the study because finding companies that could manufacture the drug and who are prepared to go through the regulatory hoops to get the licence is proving very difficult," said Nutt. "The whole field is so bedevilled by primitive old-fashioned attitudes. Even if you have a good idea, you may never get it into the clinic, it seems."
Research by Nutt has found that psilocybin switches off part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex. It was known that this area is overactive in individuals suffering from depression. In his tests on healthy individuals, it was found that psilocybin had a profound effect on making these volunteers feel happier weeks after they had taken the drug, said Nutt – who was sacked as the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after repeatedly clashing with government ministers about the dangers and classification of illicit drugs.
iow - profit and prohibition are again driving issues of health care.
why doesn't he do the study anyway? oh yeah. see above.
Where have societies' views of women come from?
What single source has done the most to skew a variety of societies' views of what women are like, how they should be treated, what their value is to society, etc?
I can't think of any source beyond religion that has done more work to maintain sexism.
But maybe that's because of my own bias.
So - can anyone think of anything that has contributed more to the repression of females?
Indiana's Marijuana Laws: Job Creation Through Imprisonment
Silly me.
I posted that Indiana's Transvaginal Rapist Supporter Mike Pence did not want to attract business to Indiana based upon the many extremist measures Republicans have put forth.
WRONG.
Republicans want to make Indiana your destination for prison! Yes, tourists can flock to Indiana with the knowledge that the Hoosier state hopes to make possession of marijuana a felony with a large prison sentence attached! And, to add to your visit, Pence wants to make sure you serve up to 75% of any sentence received!
Imagine the adventure! Pretend you are visiting a third world nation with all the chills and thrills of theocratic shills for repression waiting to welcome YOU to their for-profit prison complexes!
You'll have your own toilet in your room. Dining is a return to the days when community mattered - you can share your meal with others who have been arrested for possession charges and share the story of your descent into the hell hole that is Pence's Indiana!
Enjoy that Old Buttermilk Sky while you visit the exercise yard and learn about the history of white supremacists movements in Indiana. Past and present - all in one panopticon experience!
GEO specifically contributed $12,500 to the 2012 Mike Pence campaign, making the private prison company one of the Governor's top 30 contributors.
The group has also thrown money at Republican Brian Bosma, Speaker of the Indiana House, who has been quoted as saying "As an entry drug, I think marijuana is more powerful than it's given credit for. I know some states have taken that step (to legalize it), but I don't find it advisable at this point."
When GEO built a 23,416-bed prison in New Castle, Indiana, the state signed a contract guaranteeing the for-profit prison company that 90 percent of the beds would stay filled.
http://hemp.org/news/content/indiana-governor-signs-bill-increasing-penalties-marijuana
You've got be carefully taught
Child protester yells for homosexuals to die outside of pro-LGBT church on Easter
A child in North Carolina spent part of his Easter Sunday morning protesting outside a Winston-Salem church that has vowed not to host any wedding ceremonies until same sex marriage is legalized.
Kelly Carpenter, the pastor of Green Street United Methodist Church, said last month that no weddings were being scheduled because his congregation was becoming more diverse and the heterosexual members wanted same sex couples to “share a sense of the love that they have found.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/01/child-protester-yells-for-homosexuals-to-die-outside-of-pro-lgbt-church-on-easter/
Indiana Senators Increase Penalty for Marijuana to Appease Extremist Gov.
Mike Pence, the transvaginal rapist governor of Indiana, has decided he doesn't want to encourage new business to locate within the state by continuing a hard right turn. This follows a voucher program in which one Christian school with an "F" ranking for performance is receiving tax payer dollars to continue their program of indoctrination that is, apparently, so bad they cannot even get a mercy "D." This follows Indiana's intention to make abortion unsafe.
Or, maybe he just wants to appease Eli Lily corporation, located in Indianapolis.
Considering all the other crap Pence and other Republicans are bringing up - I think the reality is that they're just too fucking stupid to recognize how out-of-touch with reality they are. Which would lead you to wonder what drugs they're taking - but it's probably abuse of religion, not a pharmaceutical, but maybe it's both.
Indiana residents, from both sides of the political aisle, overwhelmingly support legalization of medical marijuana and 56% support legalization of all marijuana.
Whose interests is Pence representing? Obviously not the voters in his state.
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/senators-marijuana-penalties-appease-governor-47265/
One of the goals of the criminal code revision legislation is to reduce penalties for low-level, first-time drug offenses in an effort to focus more on rehabilitation. But Pence waded into the debate last week, expressing concern the bill was not tough enough on drug crimes.
After changes by a Senate committee Thursday, the bill still reduces overall sentences for low-level drug crimes, but it reduces marijuana penalties less.
Sen. Mark Stoops (D-Bloomington) says the marijuana sentences were set at the bill’s original levels to keep them proportionate to other crimes.
Stoops is rightly concerned about singling out penalties for marijuana, considering his city is the home to approximately 40,000 students, and those students overwhelmingly support legalization. The parents of those students, or the students themselves, might want to reconsider sending their child to a university in a state that wants to treat the possession of marijuana, a substance less harmful than alcohol, as a criminal offense while the trend, across the nation, is to revise marijuana law to reflect reality, not prejudice.
Students might mistakenly believe that attendance at one of the public ivies would shield them from such laws. They might be right, since Mitch Daniels sold LSD at Princeton and was let go with a slap on the hand. Dan Burton's son, also, was arrested for carrying LSD across state lines, a federal offense, but because his daddy (and another family's daddy at the same time) was Dan Burton, he got off with a slap on the wrist.
Which gets to the real issue: the law is racist in its application and is used as a political tool by right-wing extremists.
Indiana is the only state in the nation that seeks to increase penalties for mere possession of marijuana.
If Indiana wants to know why others think the state is, generally, a backward hell hole, well, here's your answer.
Cali Lawsuit: Police Brutalize Dispensary Employee
http://hemp.org/news/content/california-lawsuit-alleges-long-beach-police-brutalized-marijuana-dispensary-employeeThe footage also shows police officers trying to destroy a security camera after the attack.
When Brooks -- who posed no visible threat to the officers -- cried out in pain from the weight of the cop standing on his neck, officers roughly handcuffed him, according to the complaint, and said, "You're a black drug dealer; you should be used to this."
When officers battered down the security camera -- allegedly trying to destroy evidence of their misbehavior -- debris from the camera fell on Brooks, and he again cried out in pain. At that point, one of the officers told him, "Shut up, you dumb nigger," according to the complaint.
So much for the claim that California doesn't need legalization.
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