Florida

[budman]

Area Briefs

Harris vote protest

The Bradenton Herald
Posted on Thu, Jul. 06, 2006

The Florida Cannabis Action Network staged a protest at the district office of U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Longboat Key, on Wednesday to speak out against Harris' recent vote against a bill that would have supported those states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes.

According to Anthony Lorenzo, FLCAN spokesman, a group that advocates for the regimented legalization of marijuana, Harris has now voted four times against a bill that would prevent the Drug Enforcement Administration from using funds to prosecute people who use and provide marijuana for medical purposes.

Lorenzo said Harris' vote stood "in stark contrast to the (Republican) Party's position of supporting states' rights." Harris was scheduled to be in Ft. Lauderdale on a campaign stop for her U.S. Senate race and was not present at the protest.

Lorenzo said his group wasn't looking to speak with Harris because it had done so before without producing any change in her viewpoint.

Cannabis has a documented track record aiding cancer patients with symptoms such as nausea, and helping people with diseases like ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, by slowing down or stopping the neurodegenerative effects of the ailment, Lorenzo said.

He said Manatee's other member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, had previously opposed the DEA bill but changed his stance after talking with FLCAN.

Gerry Fritz, Harris' spokesman, said the congresswoman is opposed to the legalization of any illegal drug, for medical purposes or otherwise.

[palmspringsbum]

Guest columnist: Arrests for marijuana use ruins lives needlessly

By GEORGE W. ILIFF
guest columnist
August 12, 2006
TCPalm

Our war on drugs literally makes me nauseous with disgust. On June 20th, 18-year-old Eli Strunk of Fort Pierce was arrested for having less than an ounce of marijuana in his car. He faces a felony conviction that will follow him for the rest of his life and a possibility of spending five years in prison.

Each year, there are 700,000 marijuana arrests made in this country, mostly for possession or low level sales. As a result, hundreds of thousands of young people are sent to prison and their lives ruined. Our justice system and our police should hang their heads in shame for this injustice.

I am not alone in my views. Walter Chronkite has declared that "The war on drugs is now causing more harm than the drug abuse itself." Other sources, including many newspapers, the mayor of Chicago, the former governor of New Mexico, federal judges, police officials and even Dear Abby have expressed dismay over our war on drugs.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial on March 7 stated: "Its (the war on drugs) collateral damage is fostering anti-Americanism throughout the globe, particularly in South America, and at home, it has trashed the Fourth Amendment and is filling our jails with people whose only crime is to find pleasure in ways that other people don't like."

The Arizona Republic Newspaper in Phoenix did extensive research on illegal drugs and reported that "Alcohol is the most widely used and most commonly abused drug in the United States. It's detrimental impact on society is far greater than that of illegal drugs."

Canada and Mexico were close to making small quantities of drugs legal but changed their minds because of intense pressure from the United States. The Netherlands has virtually no drug problem even though it has legalized drugs. Alaska has legalized the use of marijuana. Rhode Island just became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana. And last November, Denver citizens voted to make possession of small amounts of marijuana legal.

John P. Walters, our current drug czar, has said that 16 million Americans regularly use marijuana. Thus, if the horrible effects claimed for this drug were true, we should be seeing our hospitals filled with desperately ill addicts. We should be seeing thousands of highway accidents due to crazed addicts driving under the influence. We should be seeing untold amounts of violence by the pot-heads.

But this is not happening.

The truth is that virtually all of the government's adverse claims about marijuana are false or greatly exaggerated. Of interest, one of Dr. Peter Gott's columns stated "Marijuana is now viewed by many authorities as being a relatively minor hazard to health."

Yes, there is violence associated with illegal drugs but that is simply a result of their being illegal. Our $50 billion drug appetite fuels the criminal aspects of the drug trade resulting in clashes between rival drug cartels and the dealers and the police. From our experience with prohibition, we know this would end if drugs were legalized.

A long-term review of the "police blotter" in the Port St. Lucie News shows that more arrests are made for simple non-violent "drug possession" than for theft, assault, rape, murder or other violent crime. No wonder there is overcrowding in our jails. No wonder we don't have the resources to protect abused wives. No wonder we don't have the resources to investigate child abuse. No wonder we don't have the resources to keep track of sexual predators.

Now for a serious question for you to ponder: If the police suddenly were able to prove marijuana use by the 16 million people referred to by Mr. Walters, would you want all of them arrested and sent to jail?

Would you want Bill Clinton sent to jail because he admitted smoking pot?

If not, why should Eli Strunk or any other young man be the fall guy?

Iliff, a retired engineering manager and a member of MENSA, is a Port St. Lucie resident. He is author of the handbook, "The War on Drugs, or Rx for Failure."

[palmspringsbum]

September 21, 2006

Crowd packs Stetson chapel for marijuana debate

By NICOLE SERVICE
Staff Writer
The Daytona News-Journal

DELAND -- Only at The Great Debate: Heads vs. Feds could an announcer warn -- "Remember, no lighting up."

About 700 people poured into the Elizabeth Hall Chapel at Stetson University on Wednesday night for the great debate that pitted Bob Stutman, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent, against Steven Hager, former editor of High Times magazine.

The event put on by the Stetson Council of Student Activities drew so much attention that the two-story chapel was packed upstairs and downstairs with people lining the back walls and sitting in the aisles.

Marijuana -- which has been used by humans for more than 4,000 years -- remains the most popular of illegal drugs, according to the federal government's 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Despite the rise of club drugs and pharmaceuticals among today's college students, more than half of the 19.7 million people who used illicit drugs in the month before the survey said they used marijuana exclusively.

There has long been a debate about benefits and disadvantages of legalizing the drug, and Wednesday night the debate was brought to Stetson.

Hager kicked things off by pointing out five reasons why marijuana should be legalized -- from "it's good medicine" to "it's a sacrament" to his "hippie" culture.

"Saying that there are no major medical benefits to marijuana is standing in a major hurricane and having the American government tell you wind ain't blowing," he said.

Stutman countered that it would create more accidents and that about 14 percent of people who use it become dependent on the drug.

He compared the legalization of marijuana to the 21st Amendment, which lifted the prohibition on alcohol in 1933, and said there are currently 170 million people consuming alcohol and 14 million people using marijuana.

"If we legalized it, we would have far more users," Stutman said.

There were even a few friendly jabs between the speakers, with Hager inviting Stutman to a Cannabis Club celebration in Amsterdam, while pointing out some of the feel-good side effects of the drug. Stutman declined.

As for which side the crowd was on -- let's just say there were lots of cheers when Hager was introduced and when he spoke.

nicole.service@news-jrnl.com

[palmspringsbum]

September 20, 2006

Straight talk

Drug war's dogmas are bankrupt

The Daytona Beach News-Journal


Stetson University is experimenting with reefer reasoning. Good thing somebody is, because reefer madness -- official federal, state and local policy across the United States -- isn't working.

A university-sponsored debate tonight is squaring off the editor of High Times magazine (the current issue is featuring "The First World Marijuana Film Festival" and the "Beginner's Guide to a Closet Garden") against a retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent. Don't expect surprises. Bub Stutman, the ex-DEA agent, argues against anything like legalization of marijuana. Editor Steven Hager argues for it. The debate is noteworthy for being held at all: For all the drug war's staggering costs (it was estimated to have exceeded the half-trillion dollar mark in the late 1990s), its four-decade longevity and its history of futility, the war generates little debate, the legalization of drugs even less so. The federal government forbids most research on the matter, yet doesn't hesitate to pronounce, year after year, that marijuana is a scourge and that legalization would send the nation to pot.

No wonder the government's dogmas are mostly myth, beginning with the sensational one it pushes on students and parents whenever one of those "drug awareness" programs makes its appearances in schools -- that marijuana is a lethal drug and a "gateway" to worse drugs. Both claims are flat-out wrong.

As a drug, marijuana is not known to have killed anyone by "overdose." Ever. That's because -- as a Time magazine report described it in 2002 -- a person of average weight would have to smoke 900 joints in a single sitting to reach a lethal dose of poisoning from marijuana's main "psychoactive" chemical. In comparison, and by Stutman's estimate, alcohol kills 300,000 people a year. That's not to say that alcohol prohibition doesn't have its advocates to this day. But not enough to out-argue history's judgment on Prohibition in the United States, a period dismal for its rampant crime, black marketeers and false virtues.

Government begs for disaster when it imposes temperance by law. Drug prohibition is replaying the failures of alcohol prohibition with similar results. Prisons and jails are filled with drug users whose "infractions" ought to be treated either as personal matters in most cases, or, as with alcoholics, as medical matters. Treating drug users like criminals only damages them personally for having to contend with a generally abysmal incarceration system. It damages society for subtracting otherwise productive individuals from the work force. It damages families and communities for taking away fathers and mothers, and in some cases children, from their support system. And it drains government coffers to no end. More than half of all federal inmates and almost a quarter of all state prison inmates are being held on drug convictions among a total prison and jail population exceeding 2 million.

Yet the drug war goes on, sustained by such falsehoods as the gateway myth. That marijuana is a gateway drug is demonstrably false -- as false as suggesting that because an individual will have a beer, he'll eventually turn to whiskey. About 6.5 percent of Americans use illegal drugs in one form or another (according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health) -- from the "hardest" kind like heroin to marijuana. More than half of those, or about 10 million, only use marijuana, and most of those do so on a recreational basis: Only 9 percent of marijuana users develop an addiction (compared with 15 percent of drinkers). If the gateway argument held any truth, 10 million marijuana users would eventually become 10 million users of crack, meth, heroin and other drugs. Of course, they don't, except in the imagination and propaganda of government agents more addicted to the war on drugs than the average user is to marijuana.

The government isn't willing to debate or research the matter. At least in places like Stetson, the smoke and mirrors can give way to a necessary debate -- for an evening.

[palmspringsbum]

September 25, 2006

Marijuana link to lethal behavior

By BILL JANES
COMMUNITY VOICES
The Daytona Beach News-Journal

The Sept. 20 editorial on marijuana legalization ("Straight Talk") continues the misinformation campaign of past years. It resurfaces many of the same points that have been scientifically refuted years ago.

While marijuana is not a lethal drug, using it can lead to potentially lethal behaviors. Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substance Act for a reason: It has a high potential for abuse and no medical value. The Supreme Court (U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Club) and the Food and Drug Administration have determined that marijuana has no medicinal value. The FDA confirmed this position again in 2006.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the American Medical Association have documented the substantial risks of using marijuana. Marijuana use can lead to respiratory diseases, increased heart rate, cognitive impairment, poor school performance, automobile accidents and dependence.

Smoking marijuana can promote cancer in the lungs due to 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke. Marijuana admissions to drug treatment have increased from 8.6 percent of total drug admissions in 1994 to 15.9 percent in 2004. The average age of those admitted to treatment was 24. Of all teenagers in drug treatment, about 60 percent had a primary marijuana diagnosis.

Clearly, marijuana, the most widely used illicit drug in America, is endangering our children and young adults. This editorial perpetuates an all too frequent, unfounded assertion that smoking marijuana is acceptable and harmless. It is not; it is illegal, dangerous and unhealthy.

The discussion on incarceration is also misleading, as it lumps all drugs and drug offenses together. As presented in the editorial, the statistics lump together distribution, trafficking and manufacturing, as well as a variety of drugs, including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Quite to the contrary, however, according to Bureau of Justice statistics, only 2.2 percent of federal inmates in 1997 were sentenced for marijuana possession.

We should also not dismiss the "gateway drug" aspect of marijuana. A 2003 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association states that while an exact causal relationship has not been established because of the inability to scientifically control all variables, the clear association between marijuana use and subsequent use of cocaine, heroin or other illicit drugs "has been well established" much as smoking and cancer have been causally established.

Government and medical science have participated in debates and presented the research evidence. The editorial gives false hope for those who seek any justification to smoke pot or to bash all levels of government that are charged with protecting our youth and society. The author clamors emotionally for marijuana legalization but, like those who have similarly argued over the years, presents no scientific evidence to support his assertions. The result is dangerously misleading at a time when our youth and society need clear, strong messages against illicit drug use.

Janes is director of the Florida Office of Drug Control.

[budman]

Library volunteers just say no to drug testing



By KAREN VOYLES

Sun staff writer
October 07. 2006 6:01AM
The Gainseville Sun

BRONSON - Levy County's public libraries are struggling to get books checked out or reshelved because retirees who usually handle many of those chores have balked at a requirement that they "pee in a cup" as part of a mandatory drug test for all county volunteers.

"It's not like we are a high-risk group for coming in drunk or high or stoned or whatever," said one volunteer. "This is just a common-sense issue - why are we spending tax money to test 75-year-old grandmothers for marijuana? We should be using that money to buy more books and computers."

The situation has gotten to the point where the pool of 55 volunteers has dwindled to two and the number of hours worked by volunteers in the county's five libraries plunged from 330 in September 2005 to 11 this September, according to county library records. None of the former volunteers contacted by The Sun wanted to be publicly identified in a story about drug-testing.

"A large part of the problem is how the test is administered - it is an affront to some people's dignity, especially people who grew up in another generation," said the county's library director, Bonnie Tollefson.

Most of the volunteers are between the ages of 60 and 85. Under the county's year-old contract with First Lab, all drug tests are done on urine samples that are collected in plastic cups while a lab employee stands within hearing distance of the person providing the sample.

County officials said they realize that some people may find the test intrusive.

"But our public risk management insurance says we should treat volunteers no differently that any other employees," said Levy County Coordinator Fred Moody. "This is just the days that we are in and we know that there are some people who aren't happy about this, but it is something we are requiring if anyone wants to volunteer."

Moody said the drug-testing as well as background checks required for library volunteers are identical to what is required of all county employees and volunteers, including dozens of unpaid firefighters and hundreds of Community Emergency Response Team members from among the 36,000 county residents.

In Alachua County, where the library district has more than 250 employees who donate 17,500 hours a year, adult volunteers undergo a background check, but no volunteers, adults or teens, undergo drug tests.

Levy County pays the $33 cost of testing and background checks for all its volunteers. The process began about a year ago on an agency-by-agency basis for current volunteers and just recently got around to the libraries.

Tollefson, who said that as a county employee she supports the policy, understands that a large part of the resistance is the test the county contracted to use.

"We have a number of volunteers who are older, and I think about how my mother - who is 83 - would react to a test like this," Tollefson said. "She would find it degrading, be totally offended and find it an affront to her dignity. Many of our volunteers feel the same way."

Additionally, the volunteers were initially told they needed to drive to Gainesville to provide a urine sample at a specific medical laboratory.

"And I told them that the only way I am going to be driven into Gainesville these days is in an ambulance," said a former volunteer. "When you get to be my age, driving in that much traffic is a hazard to me and everybody around me."

To overcome the transportation concerns, the county arranged for the testing to be done at each of the county's five public libraries later this month.

Moody said that when the county signed the contract with First Lab to provide drug-testing a year ago, urine samples were the only means considered.

"We didn't know that there were other options," Moody said.

On Friday morning, he told The Sun he would begin looking into alternative, less-intrusive tests, such as the mouth swabs now used by the Florida Department of Corrections and other government agencies.

Karen Voyles can be reached at 486-5058 or voylesk@gvillesun.com

[palmspringsbum]

The Florida Times-Union

October 19, 2006

Harms takes on Crenshaw


By GREGORY PIATT
The Times-Union

For the first time since being elected to Congress in 2000, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., has a Democratic competitor.



Bob Harms, owner of a mortgage lending company in Jacksonville, said his views are diametrically opposed to those of Crenshaw, who is part of the House Republican leadership.

It is those ties to the leadership and the scandals that have plagued some of the leaders during the past year that have Harms on the attack.

Harms, who is funding his own campaign for the Nov. 7 election, has questioned the three-term congressman's judgment on trips paid for by lobbyists and campaign contributions to other House members, such as former Rep. Mark Foley. He also has called Crenshaw a gay-basher and said the anger between the two parties needs to stop.

"One of our goals is to make government work for everyone, not for the rich and powerful," Harms said.

Crenshaw dismissed his challenger's attack, pledging to run a "positive and issue-oriented campaign."

Crenshaw said he plans to stress his leadership background and his experience in Congress. He said that, during his time in office, he has helped keep the Veterans Affairs hospital open in Lake City, saw Jacksonville through a successful federal base-closing process last year, started the process to accommodate a nuclear carrier at Mayport Naval Station, brought new construction and upgrades to the area's military bases, and worked with other members of Congress to bring a new VA cemetery to Jacksonville.

Besides that, the House's deputy majority whip said, his office has helped constituents with immigration problems, passports, veterans benefits and other personal matters.

Crenshaw said he's against abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia and legal marijuana.

Harms said he faces an uphill battle but expects to get the district's Democratic vote, minority vote, gay vote and some independent votes.

The challenger wants to extend health-care benefits to everyone; offer free college education; stop the Iraq war and bring the troops home; dismantle the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; decriminalize marijuana, especially for medical reasons; and improve the environment.

One of the first things Harms said he would do is introduce legislation to make it harder for developers to build within the Timucuan Preserve and to expand the preserve's boundaries into Nassau County.

Harms supports gay marriage, separation of church and state, the right to an abortion and the right to die. He is opposed to prayer in schools.

"I'm against the attitude that if you aren't a Christian, then you are wrong," he said.

greg.piatt@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4169


<hr class=postrule>
<table class=posttable align=right width=75><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg src=bin/crenshaw_ander.jpg></td></tr></table><span class=postbold>Ander Crenshaw</span>
<span class=postbold>U.S. House Representative, District 4</span>

<span class=postbold>Party:</span> Republican
<span class=postbold>Age:</span> 62
<span class=postbold>Residence:</span> Jacksonville
<span class=postbold>Occupation:</span> Congressman

<span class=postbold>Education:</span> Law degree from the University of Florida; undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia; graduate of Robert E. Lee High School.

<span class=postbold>Family:</span> Wife, Kitty, and two daughters

<span class=postbold>Background:</span> Former president, Florida Senate; former member, Florida House of Representatives.

<span class=postbold>Web site:</span> www.andercrenshaw.com

<span class=postbold>Do you support the reopening of Cecil Field?</span> I said earlier that, if Cecil Field would become a master jet base, Northeast Florida would become the cornerstone of naval aviation. But it is up to the local community to decide if the jets return. Am I going to vote for their return? Yes.

<span class=postbold>What would you do to preserve the military's presence on the First Coast?</span> Mayport Naval Station is vital to our national security. It is a deep-water port capable of stationing a nuclear aircraft carrier. Mayport is vital because the East Coast aircraft carriers can be in two different ports. There needs to be 12 carriers, and Mayport should have a nuclear carrier or big-deck amphibious ships. When we are bringing troops home from overseas, the carriers are needed more than ever. Their presence at Mayport affects the local economy and the industrial base of the local ship-repair companies.

<span class=postbold>What should be done on immigration reform?</span> I support the House position that we need to stop illegal immigration because they are breaking the law. It's also a national security issue. Amnesty like in the 1980s-era immigration plan isn't the answer. We need a guest worker program, but let's seal the borders.

<span class=postbold>What would you support in an energy policy?</span> We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We need to do a better job refining because we haven't built a refinery in 30 years. The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is an untapped resource. Other states should take an example from the JEA clean-burning coal facility we have in Jacksonville. It's world class. We also have to look at alternative sources of power like nuclear, wind, solar and ethanol.





<table class=posttable align=right width=75><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg src=bin/harms_bob.jpg></td></tr></table><span class=postbold>Bob Harms</span>
<span class=postbold>U.S. House Representative, District 4</span>

<span class=postbold>Party:</span> Democrat
<span class=postbold>Age:</span> 65
<span class=postbold>Residence:</span> Jacksonville
<span class=postbold>Occupation:</span> Small business owner, president of mortgage lending company TST Harms Inc.

<span class=postbold>Education:</span> Bachelor's degree in education, Southeast Missouri State College, 1965; master's degree in education, University of Missouri, 1966.

<span class=postbold>Family:</span> Divorced father of three grown sons

<span class=postbold>Background:</span> Schoolteacher and guidance counselor in Missouri before moving to Miami in 1969. Served as an assistant principal in the Dade County school system. In 1972, joined Southeast Mortgage Co. as a loan officer and was eventually transferred to Jacksonville. Opened his mortgage lending company in 1982.

<span class=postbold>Web site:</span> www.harmsforcongress.com

<span class=postbold>Do you support the reopening of Cecil Field?</span> No.

<span class=postbold>What would you do to preserve the military's presence on the First Coast?</span> Mayport is valuable real estate, and would support the military if it wanted to shut down the naval station. Mayport could be a cruise ship terminal. The Navy wants 11 carriers, but I don't know if we really need that many. It costs $5 billion to build a carrier; that money could be spent on something else. Wars of the future will be more like the one in Iraq and we won't need as many carriers.

<span class=postbold>What should be done on immigration reform?</span> I would vote for building a fence on the border, but I am not in favor of making 12 million people felons. We need to hire more border guards, because the National Guard members who are sent to the border aren't armed and the border guards have to protect them.

<span class=postbold>What would you support in an energy policy?</span> Alternative fuels, especially from hemp. Biofuels from corn cost too much to make; possibly soybeans are better. I support mass transportation. Commuter trains in Florida would be good.



This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/s ... 1472.shtml.

[palmspringsbum]

Broker's book to tout pot's healing qualities

By Eliot Kleinberg

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
The Palm Beach Post
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

On Monday, Irvin Rosenfeld started his 25th year of smoking nearly a dozen joints a day. Getting busted is the least of his problems.

His more than 200 bone tumors were supposed to continue to grow until they left him paralyzed or caused a clot to break loose and kill him. Without his "medicine," which he's received since 1982, "I definitely believe that would have happened by now," the stockbroker with offices in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale said Monday.

He is the longest surviving member of a group of 13 people - eight have since died - who, as early as the mid-1970s, began receiving marijuana from the federal government. They were given it for ailments ranging from glaucoma to multiple sclerosis to AIDS to the combination of maladies that has affected Rosenfeld, and no one else nationwide, since he was 10. He's the only one of the 13 able to lead an active life. And the tumors have not grown in 32 years.

"I feel fantastic," Rosenfeld said.

A longtime national proponent of controlled medical use of cannabis, Rosenfeld is now writing a book, a combination of autobiography and advocacy. He hopes to have it out by the spring.

In response to telephone inquiries, the Food and Drug Administration on Monday forwarded an April 2006 press release in which it concluded that "no sound scientific studies supported medical use" and that FDA-approved alternatives exist.

According to the advocacy group Patients Out of Time - Rosenfeld sits on its board - 11 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medicinal use, and some three dozen states have allowed limited use, but the Drug Enforcement Administration has remained opposed. In 1982 and 1999, the group says, the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, found marijuana to be "moderately well suited for particular conditions."

As a young adult, Rosenfeld bought pot wherever he could. Now the U.S. government grows marijuana on a farm in Mississippi and provides it in cans of 300 cigarettes. Rosenfeld has often said an effective cannabis pill would prevent a lot of hassles, and companies have created marijuana extracts and synthetic components of the drug, but none has been approved for use in the United States.

Rosenfeld's book will detail his numerous difficulties. He was arrested while smoking on an Orlando balcony. He was detained while smoking at Walt Disney World. A policeman once pulled a gun on him. He was barred from a Delta flight; the federal government later ruled Delta was wrong but declined to penalize the airline. He was disqualified from a Chicago sailing regatta for the disabled because he was "doping." And as recently as June, he had to go without pot for four days when the Bahamian government wouldn't let him bring it to a weekend seminar. It was his longest stretch since a similar predicament in Canada in 1990.

"For the first 18 hours I did remarkably well," Rosenfeld said. "By the 36th hour I was hurting. I started popping pills; pain and muscle relaxant."

[palmspringsbum]

Police Blotter

The Palm Beach Post

Oct. 18

At 3:12 p.m., dispatchers received a 911 call from the 800 block of Sanctuary Cove Drive, just north of the village community center. The caller, a 50-year-old man, said someone broke into his apartment and stole several marijuana plants. He said he wanted officers to write a report. The officers went to the apartment, where the resident showed off his elaborate marijuana-growing operation in one of the bedrooms. The resident said he'd been growing and using the marijuana for three years to fight the effects of a gallbladder operation. He was arrested and charged with sale or possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a community center, marijuana production, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The plants were placed into evidence, and the grower was placed in the county jail.

[Herbie]

"MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN"
. . . . STAR ARRESTED !
. . . . . .
At least, he did better than many arrested actors of late
looking unshaven and scraggly, in his booking “mug shot”
he still managed to face the camera wearing a sunny 'illegal smile.'

“Married…With Children” star David Faustino, who played Bud Bundy on the hit sitcom,
was partying with his favorite “bud” when
he got busted on May 12 in New Smyrna Beach, FL.

It’s not the first time the 33-year-old actor has dabbled in doobie – ENQUIRER readers were the first to learn that he bought into the Natural care Collective medical marijuana clinic in Reseda, CA, just so he could get his hands on the very best Silver Kush “wacky tobaccy.”

Faustino, who filed for divorce from Andrea Elmer, his wife of six years, in February of this year, saw his good time in Florida go “up in smoke” when he was busted by New Smyrna Beach police and charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and “disorderly intoxication,”
police sources told the ENQUIRER.

At 1:58 a.m., cops spotted Faustino climbing out through the passenger window from the back seat of a car his ex-wife was driving, “yelling profanities” at her and appearing to have struck her on his way out.

Andrea, who works in a Daytona Beach tattoo parlor, insisted he didn’t hit her, but cops noticed both had been drinking. When they frisked Faustino, they found a bag containing “a green leafy substance that tested presumptive positive for cannabis” in Dave’s pocket. Faustino spent four hours behind bars at the Volusia County Jail and was released on his own recognizance, charged with the two misdemeanors. His arraignment is set for July 6.

'Source'

`H

[Herbie]

By Michael Wells of The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 27, 2007

Members of a highway cleanup crew collected some intriguing litter along Interstate 4 this morning, the Florida Highway Patrol says.

At 7:30 a.m., the crewmen were near McIntosh Road when they spotted two large, plastic trash bags on the side of the highway that were filled with approximately 60 pounds of marijuana, Trooper Larry Coggins said.

Coggins says the plants, valued at more than $54,000, apparently fell out or were thrown out of a passing vehicle. They appeared freshly cut and some had intact root balls. Investigators suspect the plants were harvested within the last 24 hours from a grow-house operation, he said.

Today's discovery was not the largest amount of marijuana found alongside a highway, "but it certainly isn't an everyday event," Coggins said.

Anyone missing their bags of marijuana or knows how these bags made their way onto the roadside is asked to contact the Florida Highway Patrol at (813) 631-4020.

Reader Comments
.. Posted by ( sparkle24 ) on November 27, 2007 at 12:53 p.m.

I can't wait to see what morons claim these...


.. Posted by ( bbh509 ) on November 27, 2007 at 12:53 p.m.

"Anyone missing their bags of marijuanaor knows how these bags made their way onto the roadside is asked to contact the Florida Highway Patrol at (813) 631-4020."

Yeah sure whose gonna be that stupid to claim it was theirs.


.. Posted by ( ajanello ) on November 27, 2007 at 12:53 p.m.

The Highway Patrol scores another great press release for their brilliant work! How about cracking down on reckless driving and other dangerous stuff instead of bragging about this 'find'?


.. Posted by ( keepingitreal ) on November 27, 2007 at 12:53 p.m.

dang...Christmas came early for the police department

... [clic pic for article and even more comments]

Merry Christmas To All ...

`H

[Herbie]

[Clic pic for article and all of its humorous comments]

Here's a 'humorous follow-up story' and some of its initial comments ...

`H


Picture from the Florida Highway Patrol.
An I-4 cleanup crew found 60 pounds of pot on the side of the highway Tuesday.

Troopers Deal With Reefer Madness After Pot Find
By Josh Poltilove of The Tampa Tribune
Published: November 28, 2007

TAMPA - Prank calls and conspiracy theories have been rolling in since the Florida Highway Patrol reported that about 60 pounds of marijuana were found along Interstate 4 west of Plant City on Tuesday.

The patrol has said that anyone who has lost bags of marijuana should call (813) 631-4020. The patrol also asked that people call if they know anything about how the bags wound up at I-4 near McIntosh Road.

"This is law enforcement. Nothing surprises us," Trooper Larry Coggins said. "We get all kinds of crackpots and nut cases with their theories. We sift through the ones that are legitimate and take care of them."

One caller claimed to have broken down on the side of the road, high on marijuana, when someone stole the drugs.

"The caller said, 'They took my pot, and I want it back,' and then the caller hung up, laughing," Coggins said.

At 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, a highway cleanup crew spotted two large plastic trash bags on the side of the highway. They were filled with about 60 pounds of marijuana. Coggins said the pot, valued at more than $54,000, apparently fell out of or was thrown from a passing vehicle.

The marijuana appeared freshly cut, and some of the plants had intact root balls. Investigators suspect the plants were harvested from a grow-house operation, he said.

This was not the largest amount of marijuana found alongside a highway, "but it certainly isn't an everyday event," Coggins said.

Coggins said he has fielded media calls from across the country, Europe, South America and Australia.

Conspiracy theories called in to troopers include the possibility that people threw out the marijuana while being chased by police and intended to return.

No theories have been substantiated, Coggins said.

Coggins recalled other odd tales involving drugs, such as people griping about not being paid for drugs and Phillip Williams of Tampa telling police last year that he wasn't convinced the crack cocaine he bought was real.

"All kinds of crazy things can happen," he said. "But that's what drugs do to people."


Reader Comments
Posted by ( Bobo ) on November 28, 2007 at 10:58 a.m.

I think if nobody claims it by the end of the year then it should be shared by the public at a New Years Eve party.


Posted by ( Mako ) on November 28, 2007 at 11:06 a.m.

I think it should be shared with all the inmates! It would put a smile on there faces and they would be very calm and sleepy! The only drawback would be they wouldn't have enough snacks to go around.


Posted by ( scottfwtx ) on November 28, 2007 at 11:07 a.m.

LOL @ Mako

[palmspringsbum]

Pot's potential

<span class=postbigbold>Medical marijuana could relieve many in pain, if we'll let it</span>

BY ROBYN CHAKY
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BANNER
September 23, 2007


Imagine you are forced to put on a pair of short shorts every morning when you wake up because if long pants were to lightly brush your skin during the day, the sensation would be similar to a thousand spiders crawling up your legs.

Imagine your eyesight is stranger than you remember it, as there is excess pressure on your eyes forcing you to use mainly your central vision. Imagine that every sensation you feel is a bit off, your body twitches because of unknown sources. Imagine that no matter how good food may smell, you never want to taste it.

All the strange sensations mentioned above are just a few effects of a debilitating nerve disease, multiple sclerosis. Then, imagine that you can feel better, almost normal, but the only way for you to regain your senses is illegal, as the drug that would ease most of your ills is marijuana.

Marijuana was legal - even approved by a panel that sets standards for pharmaceutical drugs in the United States - until political pressure forced the criminalization of it in 1937. Although a few states have passed new regulations permitting use of "medical marijuana," which is not as effective and much more costly than the other kind, politicians simply refuse to endorse a so called "gateway" drug.

But is this drug really that harmful? We hear about the side effects and overdoses of currently prescribed, even over-the-counter, medications daily. Can marijuana be much worse than these?

Scientific evidence indicates it is not.

John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in March 2002 that "smoked marijuana damages the heart, the brain, lungs and immune system. It impairs learning and interferes with memory, perception and judgment. Smoked marijuana contains cancer-causing compounds and has been implicated in a high percentage of automobile crashes."

He voices the stereotypical judgments of the drug made by most people who oppose its legalization. However, many of the myths have been debunked by studies that have been ongoing for decades.

Based on a 30-year research project, editors of The Lancet, a British medical journal, established that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

The cognitive, information processing and memory effects of the drug are true but only while the individual is under the influence of the drug. Individuals in a study had no problems remembering things they already knew, although they did find it difficult to take in new information. But this effect is temporary and there is not adequate evidence to prove that even abundant daily use of the drug can cause any permanent damage.

Studies performed on drivers show that marijuana may make them "more cautious," but not necessarily dangerous, and the capability of a person to operate a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana showed no major impairments of these drivers. Alcohol, though legal, has been proven to drastically deteriorate a driver's ability.

There is also no substantial evidence that marijuana is a "gateway" drug, that it can lead to the use of more dangerous drugs, such as heroin and cocaine.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States, therefore, people who have used less popular drugs are very likely to have tried marijuana as well. To abolish the "gateway drug" theory, consider that many people who smoke cannabis do not use other drugs on a regular basis. "Pot smokers" are not heavy drug users who party all night on cocaine, ecstasy and heroin; they are simply people who smoke marijuana.

For more than 20 years, the Netherlands has allowed its citizens to purchase and use cannabis. For most age groups studied, marijuana use in the Netherlands is comparable to that of the United States. Crime has not risen, and neither has the use of illicit drugs.

The Netherlands modifies its regulations periodically, but overall this country seeks to "normalize rather than dramatize cannabis use," according to this study.

Marijuana foes also claim it is highly addictive, even dangerous. But of the 1 percent of Americans who smoke marijuana on a daily basis, the number who become dependent is minimal. In contrast to opiates, alcohol and nicotine, it is impossible to develop a physical addiction to marijuana - if individuals claim as much, their minds have convinced their bodies that they "need" it. This type of dependence can happen with anything.

A survey on drug dependence showed marijuana scored the lowest of tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, heroin and anxiolytics, making marijuana's addiction equivalent to that of coffee. A study performed on rats and monkeys revealed that an adult would have to consume several thousand marijuana cigarettes in a day to risk a lethal overdose. "It is simply impossible," the study said, "to kill oneself by smoking or eating too much marijuana."

We must also consider our overcrowded court system. Arrest rates for marijuana possession are higher than arrest rates for violent crimes; they represent an astonishing 45 percent of all drugs arrests, yet these people have committed victimless crimes.

Meanwhile, there is a mindset among opponents of marijuana that "pot smokers are lazy." However, this notion, having been subjected to 25 years of studies, has no evidence to support it. In fact, employed adults who smoke marijuana tend to have higher wages and stricter work ethics than those who don't. The only correlation with what's known as "amotivational syndrome" is that people who are routinely intoxicated by any means (marijuana, pills, alcohol, or other drugs) are routinely less productive members of society.

The medicinal uses of marijuana are the main reason we should decriminalize it. Right behind that is taking an enormous burden off our judicial system. Last but not least, scientists have proven marijuana is not the type of drug it has always been thought to be.

Life for people facing terminal illnesses, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and AIDS - to name a few - could be greatly improved and more comfortable if marijuana were legalized.

The Netherlands offers a wonderful and encouraging study. We should consider this and other new studies, as the drug has been used as medicinal treatment for thousands of years with no serious consequences, and since scientists and health officials have discredited the cons to decriminalizing marijuana.

Now all we need to do is convince our government of the potential benefits of doing so.

<hr class=postrule><center><small>Robyn Chaky is a student at Webster College and majors in criminal justice. She lives in Belleview.</small></center>

[palmspringsbum]

Local bust highlights medical marijuana debate

<span class=postbigbold>Wilton Manors man says drug relieves his HIV symptoms</span>

Express Gay News
December 6th, 2007


<table class=posttable align=right with=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg src=bin/redman_robin.jpg alt="Wilton Manors resident Robin Redman was arrested for possession of marijuana. He is challenging the charges, claiming medical necessity."></td></tr></table>It was a warm day Jan. 9, 2007, when police came to Robin Redman’s apartment. It was so warm, in fact, that Redman was sunning himself by the pool of the complex of his former residence in Wilton Manors.

Police had received complaints that Redman was dealing narcotics. For almost 20 years, Redman, 48, has been using marijuana to alleviate symptoms related to AIDS.

Wilton Manors Police officer Robert Rohr approached Redman with an agent from the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. The officers escorted Redman from the pool to his apartment, where they told Redman the reason for their visit.

According to the police report, detectives had been observing Redman for drug dealing, but when detectives found no suspicious activity, police went to his residence. He remembers police looking inside drawers and sifting through pockets of his jacket and jeans.

Once inside the apartment, the agents began searching the apartment, Redman recalled.

“They told me they were looking for meth,” he said. “What they found was a lot of little nuggets (of pot), and they put it all together.”

After nearly 90 minutes, the police found 56 grams — nearly two ounces — of marijuana in Redman’s room.

According to the incident report, police easily spotted marijuana residue and seeds Redman left in plain view near his computer. Police also found several baggies full of the drug, but there were none of the telling signs that Redman was dealing. No scales were located, and neither were there any smaller-sized baggies that are usually associated with dealers. Agents seized the stash, but they did not arrest Redman.

“Due to Redman’s medical condition an arrest was not made at the time,” reads the police narrative of the incident. Instead, Redman was informed that the charges would be presented to the State Attorney’s Office.

It wasn’t until Nov. 5 — nearly 10 months after police searched his apartment — that Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Redman on felony charges of possession. According to BSO, the agency got an arrest warrant for Redman’s arrest March 31. BSO’s fugitive squad attempted to arrest Redman in April and in June, but Redman had moved and police could not locate him. Police were not able to track him down until Nov. 5, according to a BSO spokesman.

That morning, as Redman was getting ready to take his morning meds, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies appeared at his door. The deputies told Redman they had a warrant for his arrest. They handcuffed him and took him to jail, where he stayed until he posted bail at 6:30 the next morning.

Redman appeared at an arraignment Nov. 29. His attorney, Norm Kent, the former publisher of the Express and a well-known proponent of medical marijuana, is arguing medical necessity. Kent successfully used the argument in the 1988 case of Elvy Musikka, a woman who suffered from glaucoma who was arrested for possession.

Redman is like many PWAs and cancer patients who smoke marijuana to increase appetite and alleviate some of the symptoms such as night sweats, diarrhea and aches associated with peripheral neuropathy.

Caren Woodson, director of Americans for Safe Access, a pro-medical marijuana organization, said that as many as one in four people with HIV use marijuana therapeutically.

“It doesn’t matter if you live in a state with or without marijuana laws,” she said. “Without access to a safe and consistent supply, users of medical cannabis are putting themselves in potentially dangerous encounters with underground drug dealers or with police.”

Aside from alleviating aches and nausea, there are studies that find that marijuana is effective in helping PWAs to adhere to drug regimens.

But opponents say that medical marijuana is a ruse used to legitimize recreational drug use and dealing. They dispute the beneficial medical claims, pointing out that marijuana use leads to respiratory problems. Marijuana smoke, they argue, carries three times as much carbon monoxide as smoke from tobacco cigarettes.

Opponents of medical marijuana advocate the use of a synthetic form of THC in the drug Marinol. But for many patients, Marinol is too strong.

In 2005, the Food & Drug Administration issued a statement saying there are no scientific studies that support the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The Drug Enforcement Administration has long held that marijuana should not be legalized for any reason. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities could prosecute patients in states that have approved its use.

Eleven states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — permit medical use of marijuana with certain legal requirements. But Federal law still classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 narcotic that has no medical use.

Florida has some of the harshest penalties for people caught with nominal amounts of marijuana. In Florida, a person can get a year in jail and be fined $1,000 for possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana.

Fort Lauderdale investment broker Irvin Rosenfeld is one of five people in the U.S. who can legally smoke marijuana for medicinal uses. Rosenfeld suffers from multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses, a condition that produces bone tumors. He lobbied the FDA and won approval from the federal government to use marijuana in 1982.

Since then Rosenfeld has been on the front lines of the movement to change the classifying of cannabis from a schedule 1 narcotic to a schedule 2 drug.

Rosenfeld discovered pot relieved the pain caused by bone tumors that grew outward and strained his muscles. He said marijuana acts as an anti-inflammatory agent that helps his muscles and veins relax.

Michael Rajner, national community organizer for the National Association for People with AIDS, said that while he supports medicinal use of marijuana, the use should be controlled so as to dissuade recreational use.

“It depends on how sick a person might be,” Rajner said. “If you can’t eat, it’s a matter of life and death. While smoking pot is a criminal behavior, if it means saving one’s own life, then it’s not so wrong.”

Rosenfeld sees smoking pot as no different than taking HIV meds.

“[Marijuana] is a medicine,” he said. “It worked for me and it causes no ill effects.”

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008

Local group pushes for medical marijuana

The Bradenton Herald
By BETH BURGER
bburger@bradenton.com


BRADENTON --Cathy Jordan credits marijuana for keeping her alive.

The 58-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease when she was 36, has begun to lose control of her voice and hands.

She and her husband, Bob, have become advocates for the legalization of marijuana.

"We don't know why it works, it just does," said Bob, sitting next to his wife Wednesday evening at a meeting held at the Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. "We're in this to fight till the end."

Cathy Jordan smokes about one or two marijuana cigarettes per night. Without them, she says, she will die.

The couple was among a dozen supporters who met Wednesday to advocate the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Noelle Davis, a federal policies consultant for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the Jordans are not alone.

Davis has traveled throughout Florida and other parts of the South speaking to groups, encouraging activism and awareness.

"We can break the shame and the silence of this issue," she said.

The vision of Davis's group is to legalize marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use. The meeting on Wednesday focused on medicinal purposes.

Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube said he's not against the federal government growing and dispensing the drug for medical uses, but his experience in law enforcement has led him to believe it should not be legalized for everyone.

"I understand those on the other side of the fence will argue that it's good for glaucoma or cancer because it eases pain," Steube said. "I am not against the U.S. government growing and dispensing through a prescription."

The prolonged smoking of marijuana leads to it being stored in the fatty tissues of the body such as the brain and reproductive organs, which can lead to health defects, he said.

He said he doesn't remember ever arresting anyone on drug charges who claimed the drug was for medicinal purposes.

According to Davis, there are only a handful of people who have legal prescriptions receiving 300 marijuana cigarettes. She would like to see legislators both at a state and federal level make it so those with medical conditions can qualify for use.

"There are people who need this to survive. This is not about having a party," she said.

Marijuana is considered the No. 2 drug of choice in Manatee County, he said. Cocaine is the most popular.

Most of the marijuana found by investigators is imported from Mexico

[palmspringsbum]

Event calls for medical marijuana reform


Author: Darius Engel
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 02/22/08 09:26


They call it wacky tobacky. Hydro. Chronic. Trees. Mary Jane. Those who partake in marijuana consumption for pleasure have many a fond nickname for the illegal herb. Those who have suffered from terminal illnesses; both physical and mental, and found relief in the calming clouds of smoke call it something else: medicine. There’s nothing wacky about that. The therapeutic benefits of cannabis have been proven, but still go overlooked by the federal government. This year the organizers of the 10th annual Medical Marijuana Benefit Concert think they can smell hope wafting in the air.

“It’s a human issue; it shouldn’t be political. Sick people have enough to deal with without worrying about being judged or jailed for the thing that makes them feel better,” says an organizer of the annual fundraising festival – now officially the largest and longest-running medical marijuana event in Florida.

“The left has made healthcare a major issue, but only time will tell if they make real change on medical marijuana. We can’t do worse than we’re doing now,” the organizer says.

The event featured live music, dance, poetry, social satire, and true stories from Irv Rosenfeld and Elvy Musikka, two of the five still-surviving legal medical marijuana patients. Besides the shows and speeches, there were crafts up for grabs from an array of local vendors; There was also a great selection of information and material from NORML (National Organization for the reform of Marijuana Laws and co-sponsor of the event).

A wide variety of musical styles including jazz, rock, reggae, folk, experimental, hip hop, and psychedelic grooves were featured. Troops of artists from various art communes presented short plays, and experimental art.

The event’s main goal was to raise finds for Florida NORML medical marijuana campaign and the protection of patient’s rights. Previously, a person’s right to use medical necessity as a defense to marijuana charges have been upheld in several appeals courts in Florida.

Marijuana has proven therapeutically useful in treating numerous medical conditions including muscle spasticity, arthritis, depression/anxiety, and the nausea and loss of appetite related to AIDS and cancer chemotherapy.

Currently there are 11 states that have laws allowing marijuana to be used as medicine, but federal enforcement has been a constant harassment.

[palmspringsbum]

[quote="Treasure Coast & Palm Beaches"]
Letter: Florida behind other states on marijuana laws

By TCPalm Staff
TCPalm
Friday, March 21, 2008

This spring, Minnesota is expected to become the 13th state to legalize medical marijuana. Efforts are underway to make medical marijuana legal in six other states, including New York.

This progress is understandable since marijuana is a valuable treatment for the nausea and lack of appetite of people with AIDS or undergoing chemotherapy.

It can alleviate pain in a number of illnesses. It is advocated by many medical associations, nurse associations and the like.

And, in New York, 76 percent of voters favor legalizing medical marijuana.

To date, 11 states have decriminalized marijuana and four other states are considering this option.

Again, this progress is understandable because marijuana is a benign drug that has been used by nearly 100 million people and has never killed even one person.

In fact, according to government statistics, roughly 16 million people currently smoke marijuana without any apparent adverse effect.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed Pennsylvania Gov. Ray Shafer to lead a Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. After months of testimony from medical experts, lawmen and health officials, the report concluded: “Marijuana use in and of itself, is neither causative of nor directly related with crime.”

It found no basis for the gateway theory.

Alcohol, it said, was probably a greater danger and recommended that personal use of marijuana should no longer be a crime.

This report, as with many similar reports, was ignored by the government, which continues to portray marijuana as an extremely dangerous drug.

Our Gov. Charlie Crist does not want to change Florida’s draconian marijuana laws even though he himself smoked marijuana when younger. (Hypocrisy is alive and well.)

As a result, 700,000 marijuana arrests are made each year; our prisons are filled to overflowing; many young lives are ruined and medical marijuana is denied to the sick.

George W. Iliff

[palmspringsbum]

The Florida Times-Union

March 27, 2008

Group advocates for medical use

By Special to the Times-Union


JAX NORML Inc. is now organizing as an affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The purpose of the group is to facilitate what we believe is a long overdue debate as to the efficacy of this country's long-standing criminal prohibition of marijuana and to advocate for the right of seriously ill patients to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

Twelve states have decriminalized marijuana since 1973. Twelve states now permit the medical use of marijuana.

Medical marijuana legislation and ballot initiatives are now pending in several states. A number of municipalities have enacted decriminalization ordinances. Possession of small amounts of marijuana is a ticketable offense, punishable only by a fine in these areas.

JAX NORML supports the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. We submit that the criminal prohibition of marijuana has been a dismal failure. Although the number of arrests has risen from 342,314 in 1992 to 829,629 in 2006, no significant decrease in availability or rates of usage followed.

In fact, marijuana is now the largest cash crop in the United States. The continuation of prohibition will result in nothing more than the wasteful expenditure of public funds and law enforcement resources, and the entanglement of otherwise law-abiding citizens in the already overburdened criminal justice system.

About 89 percent of marijuana arrests in 2006 were for nothing more than simple possession.

The laws, as they now stand, neither deter nor prevent anyone from accessing or using marijuana.

Moreover, the discordant state of the laws has led to tension between the federal and state governments, as federal law enforcement agencies have continued to prosecute seriously ill medical marijuana users under federal law.

In order to better inform the public and lawmakers, a bipartisan congressional commission should be formed to objectively study the issue and to make recommendations to the president and Congress.

Among the notable reports that support decriminalization of marijuana are the findings of the LaGuardia Commission (1944), the Institute of Medicine (1999) and the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (1972).

Any objective scientific inquiry will yield a similar result.

Lawmakers should follow the recommendations of any commission that may be empaneled to advise them.

FORD BANISTER,
president,

JAX NORML Inc.,
Jacksonville

[palmspringsbum]

March 30, 2009

Orlando mom begins crusade to legalize marijuana as medicine

By Jim Ash
news-press.com Tallahassee bureau

TALLAHASSEE — A self described stay-at-home mom from Orlando who wants better treatment options for her ailing father is launching a drive to put medical marijuana on the 2010 ballot.

Kim Russell, a third-generation Floridian and founder of People United for Medical Marijuana, (PUFMM,) said she is not a marijuana user and is not trying to get pot legalized in Florida. She just wants her 62-year-old father to get the most effective drug for his Parkinson's disease.

"It breaks my heart that he could not get medicine that could help him avoid brain surgery," she said.

Russell estimates that there are 1.7 million seriously ill Floridians who could benefit from the medical use of marijuana, everyone from breast cancer patients to people suffering from glaucoma and chronic pain.

Using that population base, an average $5,000-per-year prescription cost and an 8 percent sales tax, Russell estimates the industry could generate $200 million a year in direct revenue alone for Florida.

Russell said her group has set a "budget" of $1.5 million to get the initiative passed, but declined to say how much she has already raised. Collecting the more than 676,000 signatures necessary will be difficult, she acknowledged, but she is encouraged by recent news from the Obama Administration.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department would no longer target medical-marijuana dispensaries in 13 states that have medical-marijuana laws, a departure from the Bush Administration, which contended that the states are violating federal statutes.

The proposed state constitutional amendment would permit, "the cultivation, purchase, possession and use of marijuana," to treat a host of ailments, "or other diseases and conditions when recommended by a physician."

Russell said the group may use paid petition gatherers.

"If we have to," she said. "Right now, we're using volunteers."

[palmspringsbum]

Group pushing for legalization of medical marijuana in Florida

The Cape Coral Daily Breeze
By MCKENZIE CASSIDY, mcassidy@breezenewspapers.com
POSTED: April 1, 2009

Advocates across the state are trying to legalize medical marijuana in Florida.

More than a dozen states have enacted laws that legalize medical marijuana, yet the contentious nature of the issue could put a wrench in the People United For Medical Marijuana's statewide campaign.

Kim Russell, chairman of PUFMM, said organizers are circulating a petition for the 2010 electoral ballot asking residents to legalize medical marijuana. They are looking for signatures to expand the right of growing, purchasing and possessing marijuana for medical needs.

"Patients need a safe, affordable and effective medication. We hope Florida will lead the nation in marijuana research to further its uses as a medicine," she said.

According to Russell, marijuana was made illegal in 1970 under the Controlled Substances Act, but scientists continued researching its effects.

A lawsuit later brought the creation of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Study, a program that doles out FDA-approved medical marijuana to patients struggling with glaucoma and other disorders.

Russell said public opinion polls PUFMM has consulted have shown that 72 percent to 80 percent of respondents are in favor of legalizing medical marijuana.

"There is absolute support, we just have to get everyone organized," she said.

Besides the ballot initiative, PUFMM is asking people to write their representatives in hopes of getting a bill pushed through the Legislature rather than a full ballot amendment.

The group is conducting most of its marketing campaigns online.

"We are hoping they will submit a bill rather than a ballot initiative," Russell said. "The Internet is a huge resource for us."

Not only would legalizing marijuana for medical purposes reduce health care expenses, she said, but it would supplement another $1 billion into the tax base - funds that could be used for education or health-related investments.

If the petition is successful, there could be far-sweeping changes in state laws related to marijuana.

The Florida Office of the Attorney General stated that it could not provide any analysis of the initiative because the office had not yet received the petition.

While many parts of Florida are more conservative than progressive areas of the United States that have approved the use of medical marijuana, Russell said she is not concerned that her initiative will bring forward a backlash of negative sentiment.

"I am not concerned," she said. "We have so many sick people who are willing to stand up, put their faces on camera and show what a sick person looks like."

Russell started the initiative after her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and denied medical marijuana, even though it would have prevented him from receiving brain surgery.

"This isn't an option for him," she said. "He had an option of moving to one of the 13 states where it's legal."

The states that have legalized medical marijuana include Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Though the use of medical marijuana has not been legalized, Maryland allows medical use defense in court and Arizona allows physicians to prescribe marijuana.

Advocates have suggested that medical marijuana is a treatment for a number of disorders. It is most well-known for cases of glaucoma, where it relieves intraocular pressure, but it has also been tied to treatments for Alzheimer's, arthritis and cancer.

According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, there have been no studies to support the effectiveness of marijuana for these patients and the risks associated with addiction or regular smoke inhalation outweigh the results.

[palmspringsbum]

Printed on page A1

A medical marijuana face-off

By Anna Scott
The Herald Tribune | Published: Monday, April 6, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.


<table class="posttable" align="right"><tr><td class="postcell"><img class="postimg" src="bin/jordan_bob-and-cathy.jpg" width="300" title="Bob and Cathy Jordan of Parrish. Cathy has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. She says marijuana relieves muscle spasms and boosts her appetite."></td></tr></table>Marijuana is the only drug Cathy Jordan says helps her fight Lou Gehrig's disease. The 59-year-old mother smokes two joints every night to relieve depression and muscle spasms, and to boost her appetite.

"It's keeping me alive," said Jordan in an interview at her home in Parrish. "Anti-depressants made me a zombie and other drugs had bad side effects. The crime is that people like me can't get it legally."

Floridians could vote for the first time next year to allow marijuana for medical use. A petition drive, started last week by an Orlando woman whose father has Parkinson's disease, would make the drug legal for any condition as prescribed by a doctor.

The last time such an organized effort to legalize marijuana occurred in Florida was 1997, just one year after California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana. But in Florida the petitioners fell hundreds of thousands of signatures short of getting to a state referendum.

This time the movement faces some of the same roadblocks, such as opposition from law enforcement and a lack of support by the majority of the medical community.

But the climate has become more favorable in ways that could shift the balance.

A dozen other states have approved medical marijuana since Florida last tried to get it on the ballot, and four state legislatures are currently considering proposals.

Federal law, while it has prohibited marijuana since 1937, is also shifting: Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder said the federal government would stop raiding marijuana distributors in states where it is legal.

And Florida's proponents, People United For Medical Marijuana, hope they can make the argument that legalizing the drug could create tax revenue and jobs to lift the state economy. Kim Russell, the founder, suggested $200 million a year could be gained in tax revenue.

In every state where medical marijuana has been on the ballot it has been successful, with the exception of South Dakota, where it barely lost with 48 percent of the vote. The challenge in Florida will be slightly steeper because the state requires a 60 percent majority vote.

Getting the proposal on the ballot remains the biggest concern for proponents. The state political action group, People United for Medical Marijuana, needs to collect 676,811 signatures from registered voters in 10 months.

Jordan and her husband, Bob, collected signatures back in 1997 on Manatee Avenue and said it was "nearly impossible" to get even 25 a day, and that many people were scared to sign their names to a document linking them to marijuana.

Instead of relying on sick people or patient advocates to get the word out, Russell is focusing on college students and social networking Web sites such as Facebook -- a tactic that could either help mobilize a statewide army or provide an easy target for opponents.

One of the main arguments against legalizing medical marijuana is that the effort is a veiled move to improve access to the drug for anyone who wants it. Bill Janes, director of Florida's Office of Drug Control, and the Florida Sheriff's Association have already come out against it.

"When we increase the availability of marijuana we increase the availability for young people," Janes said. "What this petition doesn't address is how the marijuana will be controlled. Will we just allow random growing of marijuana?"

More than 4,800 people, many of them college students, have joined the Facebook page in support of the petition, which the Florida Division of Elections recently approved, and Russell said hundreds of students at campuses around the state have agreed to pass petitions. The campaign manager is Joshua Giesegh, a 20-year-old who said he is taking the year off from University of Central Florida to focus on marijuana advocacy. He is also a proponent of legalizing the drug for recreational use.

"I used to be one of those people who believed all the lies about marijuana that you learn in D.A.R.E," an antidrug program offered in schools, Giesegh said in a phone interview. "Then I watched my grandpa die of cancer. He wouldn't eat anything. I don't want anyone else to suffer like that."

People United For Medical Marijuana is not affiliated with national or professional fundraising organizations, and Russell said raising money will be the biggest challenge. She estimates they need up to $5 million for advertising and administrative costs, declining to say how much has been raised so far.

In the drive for signatures, state government leaders could potentially pose a threat, as they have generally grown less tolerant of marijuana. Last year the Legislature voted to strengthen laws against illegal growers. Janes said the tax revenue estimates by the petitioners were overblown and assumed use of the drug would become widespread.

Florida's petition leaves it to the Legislature to decide how to regulate distribution and sale of the drug. While California's bare-bones law has led to what some critics say is overprescription of marijuana, more current laws, such as the one that recently passed in Michigan, have guidelines meant to ensure only the truly ill will be able to get it.

In California, marijuana is sold in private shops called dispensaries. In other states patients with prescriptions for marijuana are required to carry ID cards, and it is only allowed to be grown by the patient or a designated caregiver.

Medically speaking, studies have shown benefits from marijuana, particularly for glaucoma and tremors. It has also been shown to increase appetite and alleviate the nausea caused by cancer treatments.

But the major medical associations have stopped short of endorsing it. The American Medical Association in November reconfirmed its decade-old policy that more research was needed. But it did assign a task force to take a closer look.

Dr. Jameel Audeh, a Sarasota oncologist, said back in 1985 when he was in training, marijuana was one of the best ways to relieve nausea in cancer patients. But now there are legal drugs he said work as well, including a legalized pill containing a synthetic version of the ingredient found in marijuana, THC. The potential health problems caused by marijuana, such as lung damage, outweigh the need for it, Audeh said.

"For cancer patients, this would only be needed for a very narrow group, if anyone, and I'm not sure that justifies making it legal because of all the other problems it would cause," Audeh said.

A terminally ill cancer patient in Sarasota, who asked not to be identified because he does not want to be targeted by police, believes marijuana has kept him alive two years longer than doctors expected. He does not grow it himself because of the risk of getting caught.

Instead he relies on gifts from friends or dealers who charge up to $100 a week. Mainly the drug helps with his mood and appetite, he said. The cancer started in his esophagus and spread to his lungs, stomach and liver. When smoking marijuana became painful because it made him cough, a friend made a vaporizer from a heat gun and a plastic bag.

"Cancer is a fight against appetite and keeping weight on," he said in an interview at his home. "If you can keep the weight on you can stay alive longer."

To anyone who thinks it should be illegal, he urges compassion. He is 61 and has two children. At just over 5-foot-10, he weighs only 145 pounds.

"It gives me a quality of life I wouldn't have without it."


This story appeared in print on page A1

[palmspringsbum]

OrlandoSentinel.com

Medical marijuana? Orlando woman wants question put to a vote

Mike Thomas

<span class=postbold>COMMENTARY</span>

April 9, 2009

I used medicinal marijuana at the University of Florida.

It was the only medicine that could cure a tequila hangover. I would wake up, run three very miserable miles to speed up the flushing process, and then fire up the bong.

I'd go from violently retching to eating an entire bag of Oreos within an hour.

Alka-Seltzer couldn't touch that.

And so it wasn't surprising years later to learn that cancer patients used pot to mute the nauseous impact of chemotherapy, and that AIDS patients used it to stimulate hunger to ward off wasting syndrome.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C., stated the obvious: "For patients, such as those with AIDS or undergoing chemotherapy, who suffer simultaneously from severe pain, nausea, and appetite loss, cannabinoid drugs might offer broad spectrum relief not found in any other single medication."

Researchers are finding marijuana may have other benefits.

The Scripps Research Institute says the marijuana chemical THC is more effective than any known drug in blocking the formation of brain-clogging Alzheimer's plaques. Imagine: smoking pot to improve your memory.

The California Pacific Medical Center reports that pot chemicals significantly slow the progress of ALS ( Lou Gehrig's disease) in mice. The European Journal of Neurology says a pot-based medicine significantly reduced spasms and stiffness in multiple sclerosis patients.

I could go on and on.

What got the attention of Orlando homemaker Kim Russell were reports that marijuana could help relieve symptoms of Parkinson's disease. She has a relative with the affliction. A doctor mentioned the potential value of marijuana, but her relative will not take it because it is illegal.

So Russell wants to make it legal. Months of research led her to the amendment referendum process. She has registered with the state Division of Elections as a one-woman political action committee. And she has started the process of raising 700,000 petition signatures, the number required to get on a statewide ballot.

So far, she has 5,000.

"You would not believe the outpouring of compassion and care from people from around the country," Russell says. "I am absolutely confident we are going to get this done."

I wish her luck.

Marijuana is no cure-all. There are conflicting studies on its effectiveness.

But there are no reports of anyone overdosing on it or dying directly as a result of using it. That differentiates marijuana from any number of other drugs, including Viagra.

Unfortunately, the medical establishment likes to precisely measure its drugs and administer them in exact doses and in exact time frames. This works out well for pharmaceutical companies, which control production of the drugs.

But marijuana doesn't fit this mold. It comes in a wide variety of potencies, so you can't measure it or control dosage.

So a guy dying of AIDS feels lousy, can't eat and takes a few inhalations from his smokeless vaporizer. Who cares how much THC he's ingested? He feels better, eats a sandwich and maybe lives a bit longer.

The only victim is the pharmaceutical companies that aren't getting a cut of the action.

Alas, thousands of drug-enforcement jobs depend on the image of marijuana as a dangerous drug. They warn that giving the suffering and dying easier access to marijuana would give kids easier access to it.

Please, like any motivated high-school student couldn't score a bag of pot in two days.

I find it amusing that cops and politicians feign horror at the thought of a cancer patient getting some relief from pot, while at the same time drug companies and doctors shove any number of dangerous and addictive synthetic opiates into the same patient's IV tube.

Exactly whom are we kidding here?

What would you rather find under your kid's mattress — a few joints or a bottle of OxyContin?

I agree that much remains to be learned about the medicinal benefits of marijuana. That is why the American Medical Association is one of many medical groups advocating more research. Until then, pot has been proven capable of bringing relief to a lot of suffering and dying people, without the side effects of many pharmaceutical drugs and at a fraction of the cost.

The decision to use it should be left to the doctor and the patient, and nobody else. If you agree, download Kim Russell's petition at www.pufmm.org.

Mike Thomas can be reached at mthomas@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5525.

Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel