With the recent article published on May 12, 2013, “Mont.  goes its own way on pot,” it seems like the perfect opportunity to provide some clarifying facts about marijuana.

There is no scientific basis for using smoked marijuana as a medicine, no sound scientific studies supporting the medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supporting the safety or effectiveness of marijuana for general medical use.  The Food and Drug Administration ruled that smoked marijuana does not meet the modern standards of medicine in the United States.  Marijuana is NOT approved nor endorsed by the FDA, the American Medical Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Glaucoma Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Cancer Society or the American Pediatric Society.  The National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine has concluded that smoked marijuana should “not be recommended for medical use.”

Marijuana has over 500 components ( THC, CBD, etc.  ) that have been proven to increase the risk of cancer, lung damage, and poor pregnancy outcomes.  In comparison, most prescription medication contains a single compound in a standardized dosage.

The use of marijuana under the guise of “medicine” has given rise to numerous problems:

Affected youth drug use patterns.

States with “medical” marijuana laws had marijuana abuse/dependence rates almost double the states without such laws.

There is a direct correlation between “medical” marijuana and decreases in perception of harm and social disapproval.

Individuals who begin using the drug in their teens have approximately a one-in-six chance of developing marijuana dependence.  In fact, children and teens are six times likelier to be in treatment for marijuana than for all other illegal drugs combined.

Addiction rates among 12- to 17-year-olds are among the highest levels nationally in states that have “medical marijuana” programs.

Marijuana use negatively impacts adolescent brain development.  A recent study found that those who used cannabis heavily in their teens and continued through adulthood showed a permanent drop in IQ of eight points.  A loss of eight IQ points could drop a person of average intelligence into the lowest third of the intelligence range.

“Medical” marijuana could negatively impact employability.  More than 6,000 companies nationwide and scores of industries and professions require a pre-employment drug test.

Twenty percent of crashes in the U.S.  are caused by drugged driving.  Marijuana is the most prevalent illegal drug detected in impaired drivers, fatally injured drivers, and motor vehicle crash victims.

States that have fully implemented “medical” marijuana programs, to include dispensaries, are experiencing public safety issues.  They have seen first-hand that dispensaries lead to increased crime and adversely affect the quality of life in their communities.

The total overall costs of substance abuse in the U.S., including loss of productivity, health and crime-related costs exceed $600 billion annually.  This includes approximately $235 billion for alcohol, $193 billion for tobacco, and $181 billion for illicit drugs.

Marijuana is much more powerful today than it was 30 years ago, and so are its mind-altering effects.  Average THC levels rose from less than 1 percent in the mid-1970s to more than 6 percent in 2002.  Sinsemilla potency increased in the past two decades from 6 percent to more than 13 percent, with some samples containing THC levels of up to 33 percent.

Legalizing marijuana would significantly decrease the price of the drug and could result in an up to 50 percent increase in use.  This can have widespread ramifications in areas such as adolescent brain development, the academic achievement of our nation’s youth, employability, highway and public safety, as well as the economy.

The average “medical” marijuana user is a 32-year-old white male with a history of alcohol, cocaine and meth use, but NO history of a life-threatening illness.

Marijuana is not a harmless natural compound.  The “medical marijuana” movement is a well-developed strategic plan to dupe the common man into believing that an illicit, illegal drug, with no proven medical benefit, should be used as medicine.  Take a stand.  Become better informed.  Help the efforts to make our community a safe, healthy, drug free community.

Source: Montana Standard (Butte, MT)
Copyright: 2013 Montana Standard
Contact: editor@mtstandard.com
Website: http://www.mtstandard.com/
Author: Pat Prendergast

For the activists who led the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Washington state last fall, Jamen Shively was one of their biggest fears: an aspiring pot profiteer whose unabashed dreams of building a cannabis empire might attract unwanted attention from the federal government or a backlash that could slow the marijuana reform movement across the country.

With visionary zeal, the 45-year-old former Microsoft manager described his plans to a conference room packed with reporters and supporters last month, saying he was tired of waiting for a green light from the Obama administration, which still hasn’t said how it will respond to the legalization of recreational pot in Washington and Colorado. Shively vowed to quickly raise $10 million and eventually build his company, Diego Pellicer, into an international pot powerhouse.

Though he promised a “cautious and measured” expansion, Shively’s approach nevertheless contrasted with that of state regulators who want to avoid repeating the national experience with Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol, industries that profited wildly on addiction and abuse. Mark Kleiman, who heads the team hired to be Washington’s official marijuana consultant, responded on his blog: “It was inevitable that the legalization of cannabis would attract a certain number of insensate greedheads to the industry.”

Shively’s ambitions – “We are Big Marijuana,” he proclaimed – don’t merely raise questions about what marijuana legalization might look like in the long run and whether large corporations will come to dominate. He also risks getting himself indicted.

The Justice Department has said while it doesn’t intend to prosecute sick people for using marijuana, it will go after those who try to get rich from commercial sales. It hasn’t said yet whether it will sue to block Washington and Colorado from licensing pot growers, processors and stores.

The legalization votes in Washington and Colorado have created a fever for cannabis-related investing, to an extent. Conferences have focused on the parameters for legally investing in “ancillary businesses” – those that supply equipment needed by pot grows, for example – without financing the actual production or distribution of marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law.

Shively isn’t skirting the edges of the nascent industry, but diving right in, in a way that few other entrepreneurs are. Some companies that make high-end marijuana-infused products, such as Colorado-based Dixie Elixirs, are planning to make their brands available in other states, but it’s not clear anyone else is taking steps to create a pot empire.

“Developing a national brand in an industry in which it is illegal to move the core product across state lines presents some serious logistical challenges,” said Betty Aldworth, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

Diego Pellicer’s business plan estimates $120,000 of pure profit per month, per recreational pot store. Shively said he plans dozens of stores in Washington and Colorado.

At the May 30 news conference, Shively announced Diego’s first corporate deal – an arrangement with a Seattle medical marijuana company called the Northwest Patient Resource Center. He said Diego would be starting in the medical marijuana market in Washington and Colorado, and then transitioning some dispensaries to recreational pot stores once the states begin issuing licenses.

Shively said the arrangement was “not in violation of either federal or state law,” but it was troubling enough to one of the dispensary company owners that he’s walking away from the deal – and the company he helped found – because he fears it puts everyone involved at risk of federal prosecution.

“I’m not an activist. I’m just a businessman,” said the part-owner, Thomas Jun, a 42-year-old father of three. “I can’t afford to do any federal time.”

According to Shively, Diego Pellicer has acquired the option to buy Northwest Patient Resource Center, but does not actually own it. That’s what gives Diego Pellicer some protection and allows it to position itself for the time when more states legalize pot and Congress changes federal laws, he said. No marijuana will be moved interstate.

“We don’t touch cannabis. We don’t have ownership of cannabis,” he said. “It’s not a perfect insulation or buffer, but it’s the best possible mechanism that we can come up with.”

Through his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, Jun provided the AP with internal company documents, including a draft of the $1.6 million agreement dated May 30. The deal directs monthly payments of up to $50,000 from Diego be used to “to further develop and enhance NWPRC’s customer locations and to otherwise grow its business as currently conducted.” Former federal prosecutors say that could be seen as a conspiracy to violate federal law.

“It certainly would make me nervous to be involved in anything like this,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School-Los Angeles and a former assistant U.S. attorney.

Shively called the draft provided to AP “an obsolete document,” but declined to provide further details. He also declined to discuss a $10,000 check he wrote to the dispensary company May 27.

The deal highlights the tension between the varying degrees of acceptance of marijuana by the states and the outright prohibition by the federal government, which makes banking and other business functions problematic. For example, beyond the growing and sale of marijuana constituting federal crimes, the movement of money related to marijuana sales likely constitutes money laundering.

Dixie Elixirs won’t be directly involved in the growing, processing or sale of pot in multiple states, said Tripp Keber, its managing director. Instead, it will license its technical know-how and recipes to people in Washington or elsewhere who want to produce products under the Dixie Elixirs brand – and try to avoid the attention of federal prosecutors by adhering to state laws.

“Big public federal indictments are going to do the industry a disservice,” Keber said.

If Shively’s model is endorsed by the regulators writing rules for Washington’s pot industry, “then we would be increasing the risk of intervention by the federal government,” said Alison Holcomb, the Seattle lawyer who drafted Washington’s law.

Shively said investors are advised that the company and those involved could face federal prosecution. A copy of Diego’s business plan includes 11 bullet points listing risks the company faces. None specifically suggests those involved could be prosecuted.

Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Author: Gene Johnson, Associated Press
Published: June 17, 2013
Copyright: 2013 The Associated Press

The Sensible BC campaign for marijuana reform launched an ad campaign in West Vancouver for a province-wide cannabis referendum

A quarter-million commuters crossing the North Shore this week will have likely noticed the new greenery along Marine Drive near the Lions Gate Bridge.

It’s not in the bushes or trees but rather, um, higher.

The new ad campaign for marijuana legal reform was launched Monday by the folks at Sensible BC.

Their electronic billboard ad lighting up the border between North and West Vancouver features a giant cannabis leaf on a blue background and the words “Join the Sensible BC Marijuana Referendum campaign.”

It’s right now the only ad of its kind from the group promoting a fall referendum on the policing of marijuana in B.C.  But depending on the response it garners, it likely won’t be the last.

“If things go well, we’ll get other billboards in other cities and regions around the province,” said Sensible BC director Dana Larsen in an interview with The Outlook this week.  “It’s not specific that we’re necessarily targeting West Van more than anywhere else, but it’s a high-traffic area and a lot of folks go through there on their way to other places and we wanted to get some excitement and some interest in our campaign.”

While the campaign doesn’t actually begin in earnest until September, it’s of a kind that requires significant public awareness about its intentions beforehand if it’s to see any kind of success.

Similar to the successful Fight HST campaign of yesteryear, Larsen and his Sensible BC colleagues will have 90 days to sign up approximately 400,000 British Columbians – 10 per cent of voters from each provincial riding – to their Sensible Policing Act petition which aims to stop police in B.C.  from searching or arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens in possession of any amount of marijuana.

“Obviously that’s a monumental effort and it’s only ever been done once before, by the anti-HST campaign,” Larsen said.

If the campaign proves successful, a province-wide referendum to decriminalize marijuana and implement the Sensible Policing Act will be held in 2014.

Because drug laws in Canada are under federal jurisdiction, the Sensible Policing Act would go a step further than telling B.C.  police to stand down on marijuana offences.  The second part of the act would also call upon the federal government to either remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, or to give B.C.  a Section 56 “scientific exemption” to explore legally taxing and regulating marijuana use within the province.

Sensible BC already has teams of volunteers canvassing B.C.  communities for supporters, including in North Vancouver.  By September, they hope to have about 2,000 volunteers to fan out across the province and gather signatures.

“This campaign got started on my credit cards and certainly those are still maxed out,” Larsen said.  But since getting off the ground last year, the campaign has received generous donations from across Canada, most notably, perhaps, from longtime pot activist and last year’s lottery jackpot winner, Bob Erb of Terrace, who is using some of his $25-million winnings to match dollar-for-dollar every donation to the Sensible BC campaign, on top of his own lump contribution.

Larsen said the roughly half-million-dollar referendum campaign is also getting logistical help from a few of the former Fight HST folks.

“I’ve met with them a few times,” Larsen said, indicating a few of the Fight HST leaders and online organizers.  In fact, anyone who visits the Fight HST website today – admittedly, few British Columbians still are – will see a Sensible BC registration button right at the top of the homepage.

“Also, when I go and speak, people often show up and say, ‘I helped get signatures for the HST campaign and I want to help you guys,’” Larsen said.

As for his own motives in sparking and carrying the torch for marijuana reform in this province, Larsen said the reasons are manifold.

“The cannabis issue touches on many areas of social policy; whether it’s health care and medical marijuana access, whether it’s the environment and the benefits of growing industrial hemp, whether it’s our budget and the amount of money we’re wasting on prohibition and the amount of money we could be generating from tax revenue, or whether it’s civil liberties and policing…  all these things I think will be greatly benefited by changing the marijuana laws,” he said.

Source: Outlook, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Black Press
Website: http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/northshoreoutlook/
Author: Todd Coyne