RainDog
RainDog's Journal1947 Epilepsy/Cannabis Report
DeSwiss posted a TedTalk from one of the Stanley brothers, the growers of Charlotte's Web, the CBD-bred cannabis used for children with severe seizure disorders (more than one of them.) In the video, he talks about the things we've discussed here - cannabis as medicine for a variety of disorders. I'll repost the ted talk from this link - http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017171541
He also talks about a 1947 report that appeared in the news in the U.S. that noted Cannabis stopped seizures from epilepsy.
http://antiquecannabisbook.com/chap03/Epilepsy/Epilepsy-P1.htm
The below newspaper article, taken from the “Salt Lake City telegram [May 20, 1947], was located via the National Archives (College Park, MD). It belonged to and was integrated into the files of Harry Anslinger’s old Bureau of Narcotics, today known as the D.E.A. We believe that it was the first that Anslinger knew about the study, and thus was too late to CENSOR or put a stop to it.
The full article is at this link: 
This is the same marijuana which so many people fear as a habit-forming drug and which is noted for the opium-like dreams it produces in those who partake of it.
The drugs being used are synthetic substances related to cannabinol, which is contained in marijuana, but does not produce the same effects. Dr. Jean P. Davis, faculty researcher at the University of Utah medical college, has done considerable research with the drugs in treatment of minor and convulsive epilepsy.
She reports that the drugs have been found effective about 50% of the time. Future for epileptics appears “very bright,” she said, “because of not only one new drug, but a whole field of new compounds to combat epileptic seizures.”
The Stanley brother who presented the Ted talk noted that a child in Indiana, who suffers from Dravet's Syndrome epilepsy died. His parents could not move and they could not legally request the plant extract from the Stanley brothers.
Charlotte's mother, who is part of a foundation for families who deal with childhood epilepsy, noted they get 4000 calls per week from people seeking information about relocating to CO in order to provide this medicine for their children.
Here's the story of one of them (x-post DeSwiss) - http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024385993
Thankfully we are moving into a time of cannabis acceptance. But these children and their families can't wait. It's impossible for some people to move. Your state of residence shouldn't be a death sentence because some lawmakers refuse to act to correct the lies they have been telling for 80 years regarding cannabis.
Poll Shows Majority Of Georgians Favor Legalizing Pot
http://www.peachpundit.com/2014/01/21/poll-shows-majority-of-georgians-favor-legalizing-pot/Note again that this is Georgia voters. Here. In the Bible belt.
So I guess we’ll assume that PPP polls oversampled millennials? Nope, they’re 9% of participants. Two thirds of the participants in the poll were over the age of 45.
That’s a significant change in public opinion over the last decade, even here in Georgia. And it is already starting to show up in policy. The Governor’s criminal justice reform packages have specifically talked about the costs to taxpayers as well as the cost in future lost income for those with minor criminal charges on their “permanent record”. Meanwhile, other states are starting to cultivate an industry which employs people, pays taxes, and draws tourists. It appears some of Georgia’s voters are taking notice.
Oklahoma: Marijuana Legalization Measure Introduced
Go to this link to sign a petition in support: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51046/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12848
“I think we need to accept the realities that alcohol is a dangerous drug, prescription drugs are dangerous. Marijuana has not killed anyone," stated Senator Johnson.
Oklahoma presently possesses some of the strictest marijuana penalties in the nation. A second offense for minor marijuana possession is classified as felony, punishable by up to ten years incarceration. Cultivation of any amount of cannabis is also classified as a felony and may be punishable by up to life in prison.
According to a 2013 ACLU report, Oklahoma arrests over 10,000 individuals for simple marijuana possession every year, at the cost nearly 30 million dollars. These arrests disproportionately impact minorities. Despite only constituting 7.6% of the state's population and having similar use rates to their white counterparts, African Americans account for 20.8% of the state's marijuana possession arrests.
Florida: medical marijuana petition for 2014 ballot validated
cross post from here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024383630 (with embedded links from excerpt, below)
With the help of a massive infusion of money from backer John Morgan, the petition to put medical marijuana on Florida’s Nov. 4 election ballot squeaked past the deadline to get enough petition signatures to qualify for a spot on the state’s Nov. 4 election ballot.
As of Friday, state election officials had verified 710,508 valid petition signatures, with 683,149 needed by Feb. 1 to qualify. That doesn’t make it certain Floridians will get to vote on the measure, however -- one major hurdle remains. The state Supreme Court must approve the legality of the measure and its ballot language. Attorney General Pam Bondi has challenged the language as unclear and misleading. Oral arguments were heard on the challenge in December, and the court must issue a decision by April 1.
If the court approves the language, the result a hard-fought campaign could result. Polls have shown strong public support for the idea of allowing marijuana to be used for medical purposes when prescribed by a doctor -- a Quinnipiac University survey last fall showed Florida voters favored it 82-16 percent. That sounds like a comfortable margin, considering it takes a 60 percent vote to amend the state Constitution.
cont'
http://tbo.com/news/politics/medical-marijuana-has-enough-signatures-for-florida-ballot-20140124/
Waking Life
Watch the full film here (I can't embed from daily motion)http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhalb0_waking-life_shortfilms?start=3
Preview:
wiki: Waking Life is a 2001 American animated drama film directed by Richard Linklater. The film focuses on the nature of dreams, consciousness, and existentialism.
The film was entirely rotoscoped, although it was shot using digital video of live actors with a team of artists drawing stylized lines and colors over each frame with computers, rather than being filmed and traced onto cells on a light box. The film contains several parallels to Linklater's 1991 film Slacker. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their characters from Before Sunrise in one scene.
Waking Life was the first digitally rotoscoped animated feature. Animators overlaid live action footage (shot by Linklater) with animation that roughly approximates the images actually filmed. This technique is similar in some respects to the rotoscope style of 1970s filmmaker Ralph Bakshi. Rotoscoping itself, however, was not Bakshi's invention, but that of experimental silent film maker Max Fleischer, who patented the process in 1917. A variety of artists were employed, so the feel of the movie continually changes, and gets stranger as time goes on. The result is a surreal, shifting dreamscape.
Texas and Louisiana consider "softening" marijuana laws
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/24/two-states-in-the-deep-south-consider-legislation-to-soften-marijuana-laws/Republican governors in the traditionally conservative states of Louisiana and Texas have issued statements to the effect that they are willing to soften their stance on marijuana.
On Thursday, Texas Governor Rick Perry told an international panel on drug legalization at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that “I have begun to implement policies that start us toward a decriminalization.”
Perry did not address the medicinal use of marijuana in his statement, but his Republican compatriot to the east, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, told The New Orleans Times-Picayune on Wednesday that he would be “open” to the idea of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.
According to his spokesman, Kyle Plotkin, the governor “would be open to making medical marijuana available under strict circumstances,” but would be opposed to all other forms of legalization. He made his statements in response to a meeting by the Louisiana House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice in which they discussed the state’s harsh penalties for marijuana possession.
Holder announces bank regulations for cannabis industry
The Obama administration will soon announce regulations that allow banks to do business with legal marijuana sellers, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday.
"You don’t want just huge amounts of cash in these places. They want to be able to use the banking system," Holder said during an appearance at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. "There’s a public safety component to this. Huge amounts of cash—substantial amounts of cash just kind of lying around with no place for it to be appropriately deposited is something that would worry me, just from a law enforcement perspective."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/01/holder-feds-to-let-banks-handle-pot-money-181777.html
Paris Blues (1961)
wiki: Paris Blues (1961) is an American feature film made on location in Paris, starring Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz musician Eddie Cook, and Paul Newman as trombone-playing Ram Bowen. The two men romance two vacationing American tourists, Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) and Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward) respectively. The film also deals with American racism of the time contrasted with Paris's kinder treatment of African Americans. The film was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Harold Flender.
The film also features trumpeter Louis Armstrong (as Wild Man Moore) and jazz pianist Aaron Bridgers; both play music within the film. It was produced by Sam Shaw, directed by Martin Ritt from a screenplay by Walter Bernstein, and with cinematography by Christian Matras. Paris Blues was released in the U. S. on September 27, 1961.
The soundtrack, by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, features performances by Ellington's Orchestra with Louis Armstrong guesting on two tracks.
Ellington was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.
1959: The Year that Changed Jazz
This is a great program for anyone who loves music.
Colorado Recreational Marijuana Sales Exceed $5 Million In First Week
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08/marijuana-sales-colorado_n_4552371.htmlColorado, the first state to allow retail recreational marijuana sales to adults age 21 and older, has projected nearly $600 million in combined wholesale and retail marijuana sales annually. The state, which expects to collect nearly $70 million in tax revenue from pot sales this year, won't have its first official glimpse at sales figures until Feb. 20, when businesses are required to file January tax reports, according to Julie Postlethwait of the state Marijuana Enforcement Division.
Denver's 9News was first to report statewide retail sales on New Year's Day, the first day legal pot shops were allowed to operate, exceeded $1 million. Interest dropped in the days that followed, according to shop owners, but many reported customers still waiting in lines out the door.
Owners of larger shops told HuffPost they sold from 50 pounds to 60 pounds of marijuana in the first week. Smaller shops sold 20 pounds to 30 pounds, proprietors said.
Edible marijuana sales shattering sales projections in Colorado
http://www.10news.com/home/tablet-showcase/edible-marijuana-sales-shattering-sales-projections-in-colorado-01202014
A one-month supply of marijuana edibles, gone in the first three days of January. That's what the area's largest supplier of marijuana edibles is saying about the incredible demand for the product since recreational sales were legalized in Colorado on Jan. 1.
New job creation is shattering previous projections.
"We're looking at upwards of 10,000 new jobs being created over the next few years," said Hodas.
There's also a new crop of courier services catering specifically to the marijuana industry, in large part because marijuana is still prohibited by the federal government.
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