The definition of the word, IRIE is total peace with your current state of being. It is the way you feel when you have no worries. Today’s musical hit, “Dizzy (Herb Smoker)” from MIKEY DREAD sings about the mystical state of mind when one is dizzy. We know what that means. Michael Campbell will always be known as Mikey Dread to his legions of fans around the world. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music. His abilities, technical expertise, and unique vocal delivery created a unique sound that lets you know it’s “Dread at the Controls”. (the name of his radio show) Mikey was a technical wizard and held degrees in engineering and electronics. He started his career as an engineer for the Jamacian Broadcasting Corporation in 1976 and that led to him hosting the most popular Jamaican radio program of all time and the first to play only reggae music. He has played alongside reggae greats Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Inner Circle, and Third World. He has shared the stage with Bob Dylan, UB40 and Carlos Santana. He produced music for and toured with The Clash, and he has won more awards than I could list here. Mikey was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October of 2007 and died on March 15th earlier this year. It is not too late to get to know this amazing artist through the legacy of music he has left here for us to enjoy. If you visit his web page at mikeydread.com you will hear his famous voice, thick with Jamaican accent, welcoming you to his page and inviting you to look around. If you haven’t already, I would take him up on that invitation. Thanks Mikey for making us feel so Irie for all these years!
[The latest upgrade to WordPress 2.5.1 has wiped out my style sheets. So that’s why the Stash site looks funny today. I’m working hard on getting it fixed, please be patient.]
It’s Thursday, May 15th and it’s 4:20 somewhere in the world. I’m your host, “Radical” Russ Belville and this is your NORML Daily Audio Stash.
Don’t forget to get on the phone and call your Congress at 202-224-3121. Tell your representative to support Ron Paul’s HR5842, the bill to end DEA raids in medical marijuana states, and Barney Frank’s HR5843, the bill to end federal penalties for personal possession of marijuana.
Today on the Daily Audio Stash we’re speaking with NORML Founder and Legal Counsel Keith Stroup, who will update us on the outcome of his trial in Massachusetts on charges he smoked a doobie in public at the Boston Freedom Rally.
Cannabis Karri brings us more island beats with some reggae from Mikey Dread. This Jamaican dub hit is called “Dizzy (Herb Smoker)”. Though he passed from this earth in March, his music lives on and infuses us all with that irie vibe.
Then we’ll finish up with Charles Thomas from the Interfaith Drug Policy Alliance. He’s here to tell us about support for medical marijuana in Minnesota from the clergy of many denominations and their efforts to convince the governor to not veto the upcoming medical marijuana bill.
We’ve got a lot to cover, so sit back and relax with Bong Crosby and your favorite strain and enjoy your NORML Daily Audio Stash…
[The latest upgrade to WordPress 2.5.1 has wiped out my style sheets. So that’s why the Stash site looks funny today. I’m working hard on getting it fixed, please be patient.]
Inmate in ’severe pain’ without medical marijuana | KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington | News
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — A 35-year-old Shelton man is fighting for the right to use medical marijuana. The problem is that Alex Morris is in the Snohomish County Jail. The state’s Medical Marijuana Act does not cover inmates of jails or prisons. Alex is in jail for 30 days.
His wife says those 30 days will make him very, very sick.
“He’s in severe pain, unbearable excruciating pain because he’s not able to eat to keep things down,” said Kim Morris. “He’s lost ten pounds in the last eight days.”
Alex has Crohn’s disease and as a result suffers severe headaches. The law covers that and Alex has his doctor’s permission; he’s registered as a user of medical marijuana.
“It allows me to eat, to hold food down, to come out of my dark hole I’m in,” said Alex, speaking from jail.
“Alex has tried all the other medications for Crohn’s and, for him, they don’t work,” said Kim.
But jail officials say Washington law clearly states that permission to use medical marijuana does not include correctional facilities.
“At this point in time we do not allow people to have medical marijuana in the jail,” said Deanna Dawson, executive director for corrections in the Snohomish County Executive’s Office.
Dawson says it would take an act of the Legislature to approve use of a drug not available in the jail pharmacy, specifically marijuana. The present law does not actually authorize prescriptions; it authorizes medicinal use.
“I don’t have a problem with people being in custody, the question is: is it cruel and unusual punishment to keep a person incarcerated and not provide them with the vital medications they require?” said Alex’s attorney James Kovac.
This is a story that has been told before, regrettably ending in the deaths of patients like Peter McWilliams. No operational state medical marijuana law allows the prescription for marijuana (cf. Arizona), because that runs afoul of the federal government’s regulations regarding drug scheduling and any doctor who prescribes marijuana will lose his license to prescribe any drug.
So states have set up recommendations for marijuana, and the Clinton administration tried to intimidate doctors to not even recommend marijuana, but the Supreme Court ruled that would violate doctors’ right to free speech.
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The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Law Prof Argues Marijuana Trial
Most marijuana users who get caught smoking a joint summarily pay a fine, but when an undercover police officer detained Richard E. Cusick and R. Keith Stroup, the two chose instead to challenge the constitutionality of Massachusetts laws banning marijuana for the first time in 30 years.
Arrested for sharing a marijuana cigarette at the annual Boston Freedom Rally in September, Cusick and Stroup turned to Harvard Law School professor Charles R. Nesson for legal counsel. Nesson and his clients acknowledged that they had used the illegal drug, and decided upon an unusual defense: they argued that the statute outlawing marijuana in Massachusetts has no “rational basis,” and that the jury has the power of jury nullification, or ruling a defendant innocent while recognizing that he or she had violated a law.
Both co-defendants built their careers around marijuana: Cusick is associate publisher of the well-known marijuana magazine, High Times, and Stroup is the founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. They said that they do not believe marijuana to be a social ill.
Nesson said he had hoped that several experts—including Lester S. Grinspoon, an associate professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School, and Jeffrey A. Miron, director of undergraduate studies in economics—would be allowed to testify to the harmlessness of marijuana.
But the defendants were not granted an evidentiary hearing, and the jury found them guilty of marijuana possesion after deliberating briefly. The judge sentenced them to one day in prison, which they had already served the day they were arrested.
“The idea that they were found guilty of a crime was just crushing to me,” Nesson said in an interview yesterday.
Although Nesson plans to file an appeal, it is unlikely that an appellate court will rule to change the verdict.
Be sure to download today’s Daily Audio Stash for my conversation with Keith Stroup about his sentence and conviction.
[The latest upgrade to WordPress 2.5.1 has wiped out my style sheets. So that’s why the Stash site looks funny today. I’m working hard on getting it fixed, please be patient.]
This is in response to yesterday’s story on Barack Obama, campaigning in Oregon, stating he would base medical marijuana policy on “sound science” and end the DEA raids in medical marijuana states.
“Barack Obama’s pledge to stop Executive agencies from implementing laws passed by Congress raises serious doubts about his understanding of what the job of the President of the United States actually is. His refusal to enforce the law reveals that Barack Obama doesn’t have the experience necessary to do the job of President, or that he fundamentally lacks the judgment to carry out the most basic functions of the Executive Branch. What other laws would Barack Obama direct federal agents not to enforce?”
Judging by public opinion, which overwhelmingly supports medical marijuana, trying to bash Senator Obama for his pledge to end DEA raids seems to me a political loser. While today’s Republican party may officially denounce medical marijuana, classic conservatives have always favored regulation of cannabis and many feel that a federal government that interferes in a doctor-patient relationship has overstepped its bounds. Fifteen Republicans voted for Hinchey-Rohrabacher in its last offering and Republican Ron Paul is sponsoring the latest incarnation of the bill to end DEA raids in medical marijuana states.
The latest upgrade to WordPress 2.5.1 has wiped out my style sheets. So that’s why the Stash site looks funny today. I’m working hard on getting it fixed, please be patient. — “R”R
Pass the Stash: win 311+Snoop tix; Dr. Mitch Earleywine on teens + marijuana = nature?; Paul Armentano on "whole plant" Italian medmj study; music by Dubmatix.
Massachusetts: Pot Decrim Initiative Qualifies For November Ballot Measure Would Replace Criminal Penalties With A $100 Fine; Congress Moves Forward On Cannabis 'Candy' Crackdown; Rhode Island: Governor Vetoes Bill To Study Feasibility Of State-Licensed 'Compassion Centers'; Hawaii: Governor Vetoes Medical Marijuana Task Force Measure.
US Leads The World In Illicit Drug Use; US Drug Enforcement Administration ‘Celebrates’ 35 Years Of Failure; Marijuana, Cocaine Have Contrasting Effects On Driving Performance, Study Says; Loretta Nall on AL judge's son's special treatment for felony drug charges.
Oral Pot Preparation Effective For Depression, Journal Reports; New Zealand: Most Pot Consumers Not Frequent Users; Cannabis Agonist Reduces Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Tumor Growth, Study Says; California: County Officials Finalize Mendocino Vote Count; Interview with Mason Tvert on proposal of cannabis smoking lounges in Denver airport to combat air rage incidents with alcohol.
John Wesley Hall, president-elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, describes the case precendent in roadside traffic stops and search and seizure.
Seattle, Washington attorney Doug Hiatt explains the latest medical use issues in Washington State, including denial of transplant organs for medmj patients.
The definition of the word, IRIE is total peace with your current state of being. It is the way you feel when you have no worries. Today’s musical hit, “Dizzy (Herb Smoker)” from MIKEY DREAD sings about the mystical state of mind when one is dizzy. We know what that means. Michael Campbell will always be known as Mikey Dread to his legions of fans around the world. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music. His abilities, technical expertise, and unique vocal delivery created a unique sound that lets you know it’s “Dread at the Controls”. (the name of his radio show) Mikey was a technical wizard and held degrees in engineering and electronics. He started his career as an engineer for the Jamacian Broadcasting Corporation in 1976 and that led to him hosting the most popular Jamaican radio program of all time and the first to play only reggae music. He has played alongside reggae greats Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Inner Circle, and Third World. He has shared the stage with Bob Dylan, UB40 and Carlos Santana. He produced music for and toured with The Clash, and he has won more awards than I could list here. Mikey was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October of 2007 and died on March 15th earlier this year. It is not too late to get to know this amazing artist through the legacy of music he has left here for us to enjoy. If you visit his web page at mikeydread.com you will hear his famous voice, thick with Jamaican accent, welcoming you to his page and inviting you to look around. If you haven’t already, I would take him up on that invitation. Thanks Mikey for making us feel so Irie for all these years!
“Dizzy ( Herb Smoker)” (mp3)
