Thanks to Dev Meyers who announced the PA HHS decision on Examiner.com we’re now given these details:

Hi – It’s Dev Meyers -Cannabis Revolution Examiner.com – I am the one who telephoned Stanley Mitchel at Oliver’s office. I had telephoned Mark Cohen. who sponsored the bill. I have been speaking with him every couple weeks. You can look through the articles on my site. Cohen told me now that PA HB1393 has moved into the hearing phase it is an important step forward. Everyone needs to testify. Stanley wants to hear more from groups. So it is important to channel your testimony if you have one through a group. PAMMJ or Medical Movement and so forth.

I will try to get more details about the hearings but everyone should go and let them know there is support for this – the perception is that there is not enough support to pass the bill in Pennsylvania. The politicians think that Pennsylvanians are too conservative to vote for the bill. [sounds like a challenge to me! lol] Everyone of them has told me that. Also the doctors are afraid to go on record because of their employers – for example mine wouldn’t go on the record because he is employed by UPMC. So the problem is that everyone is afraid to speak up.

It is really important to support this hearing because these politicians – Cohen, Mitchel, all of them down the line have been absolutely flabbergasted to find their phones ringing off the hook on this issue. Cohen’s right hand advisor had tried to steer him away from sponsoring the bill. Now the two of them joke – “Why didn’t we do this 10 years ago.” Cohen told me he never expected this much interest or activity when he introduced the bill in April.

If you want to visit Cannabis Revolution Examiner you can see a list of my recent articles and the text of this weeks AMA ruling.

So everybody in PA, this is YOUR opportunity!!

And to clarify the names used in the article – Stanley Mitchel is Rep. Frank Oliver’s Chief Legal Counsel.  Rep. Oliver is the Chairman of Health and Human Services. And Rep. Mark Cohen introduced HB1393.

Unable to convey the full horror of the acts being committed with normal words, the Mexican media invented new ones. This is their glossary (Los Angeles Times):

Levanton: the kidnapping of one or more members of a rival gang, or other enemy. Unlike traditional kidnappings, the point is not ransom, but to torture and kill a foe. Victims of a multiple levanton may end up fusilados.

Fusilados: from the Spanish for rifle, to be executed in the style of a firing squad, or with a shot to the head, known as a tiro de gracia. This occurred in an attack at a Ciudad Juarez drug-treatment clinic in early September.

Encajuelado: Based on the word for “trunk,” a body dumped in the trunk of a car. This is a common method of disposing of victims of a drug hit. Often, the bodies are bound and gagged with packing tape or are encobijados, wrapped in blankets. Sometimes they are accompanied by a handwritten narcomensaje.

Narcomensaje: A scrawled drug message, often rambling or peppered with misspellings. Such missives are typically meant to threaten rival drug cartels or government security forces. Messages sometimes take the form of banners, known as narcomantas, and hung from bridges or in other public places to demonstrate a gang’s audacity.

Plaza: Not the quaint public square you see in nearly every Mexican town, but rather any defined drug marketplace, such as a smuggling point. Much of the violence since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug cartels, is due to fighting among gangs over coveted plazas, or turf, including street-level sales taking place in tienditas.

Tiendita: Any place where drugs are sold in small quantities on the street — a house, apartment building or even a little store. Tienditas, or “little stores,” play a big role in what Mexican officials say is a worrisome increase in domestic drug use and addiction in Mexico, which once served mainly as a pipeline to the United States with little local consumption.

Halcones: To guard strongholds, trafficking groups rely on a network of street-level informants — taxi drivers, fruit vendors, teen boys — known as halcones, or falcons. Halcones provide early warning of the arrival of federal police or soldiers that have been dispatched around Mexico as part of Calderon’s drug war.

Cuerno de chivo: “Goat horn,” nickname for the AK-47 assault rifle, a favorite of cartel gunmen. The name refers to the curved shape of the magazine. Hit men are increasingly making use of even more powerful weapons, including .50-caliber machine guns and 40-millimeter grenade launchers. Authorities also report a rise in the use of potent pistols, able to fire through body armor, that are known here as matapolicias, or cop killers.

Narco-(anything): It’s handy for headline writers and coiners of terms that narco combines with almost any noun. Alone, narco can refer to a trafficker or the entire illegal drug trade, as in, “The government’s war against el narco.”

A little creativity yields narco-fiestas (opulent, drug-laden parties featuring foreign dancers or big-name musical groups), narco-zoologicos (narco-zoos, collections of exotic animals that, for some reason, are collectors’ items for traffickers) and narco-candidatos (politicians reputed to be in cahoots with drug gangs).

Attorneys who defend suspected capos are narco-abogados, or narco-lawyers.

Narco-policias are cops on the take.

And representing the drug war’s next generation: Narcojuniors, the well-heeled children of traffickers accused of helping run the criminal enterprises.

Well, it doesn’t get much more stupid than this! The UK Drugs Policy Commission has finally recognized that busting drug dealers is counterproductive. However, instead of proposing that they undercut dealers’ prices with marijuana legally grown and sold to adults by licensed businesses, they’ve instead suggested that “police allow some dealers to ply their trade – and merely ask them to move away from residential neighborhoods“.

Apparently the advantages of licensing reputable businesses to produce and sell marijuana to adults is lost on the commission. Instead it thinks a better option is to allow criminals to illegally sell marijuana grown by other criminals to uncarded customers in an environment void of legal recourse.

What, dear commission, is the advantage of that?

Police should turn a blind eye to drug dealers if they want to stamp out street crime, a controversial report says.

Locking them up does no good and could even lead to violence as new villains fight it out to fill the gaps, experts warned in a report yesterday.

Instead, they said, police should allow some dealers to ply their trade – and merely ask them to move away from residential neighbourhoods.

The UK Drugs Policy Commission’s paper suggested crime-busting crackdowns can be counter-productive.

The group’s chief executive Roger Howard said police work should not be “limited to the traditional role of arresting as many dealers as possible in anticipation of reducing supply”. He added: “Drug markets will inevitably remain.”

The report said: “Drug enforcement efforts have focused on arrests and seizures with the aim of reducing supply. But markets are quick to adapt.”

The study said a better strategy would be “seeking to displace a market to another area where it will have less impact“.

Dismissing the report, the Home Office said “tough enforcement is fundamental”.

But Lib Dem spokesman Chris Huhne said: “The Government’s current enforcement policy barely scratches the surface when measured by the availability or street price of drugs.

“The enormous rise in cocaine use last year shows its negligible impact on the drugs market. We need to focus on what works.”

Last week figures revealed cocaine use rocketed by 25% in England and Wales in 2008.

And one question to the UK government, “tough enforcement is fundamental” to what? ..the security of your jobs? God knows it doesn’t keep drugs off the street and it doesn’t prevent children from buying them!

A recent court case in San Diego has revealed some California police officers are basing their sworn court testimony in medical marijuana cases on badly outdated, legally inaccurate information. The cops’ own “medical marijuana training materials” tell them that — contrary to the law —  there’s no such thing as medical marijuana, and that all marijuana is illegal!

Officers are basing their expert testimony, as far as “medical marijuana training,” on a handout from something called the Narcotic Educational Foundation of America, “Drug Abuse Education Provider of the California Narcotic Officers’ Association.” http://www.cnoa.org/NEFA.htm

This misinformation has real-life consequences. Californians who legally use and provide medical marijuana are faced with hostile police and judges who have only heard or choose to believe information which is plainly wrong regarding medicinal pot’s legal status here, and inaccurate regarding its effectiveness as medicine, as supported by thousands of doctors and hundreds of studies.

I guess it’s not really a surprise to hear that cops are trained to believe that marijuana has no medicinal value and that all use is illegal. However it is still a little surprising to see that they produce a pamphlet dedicated to this message.

And if the “pro-drug legalization lobby” (us) is so “well-financed and organized” then when do we get our cut? 

(http://www.isria.com/pages/17_July_2009_70.php) The US anti-drug agency supported the Mexican government’s position of rejecting any dialogue or pact with organized crime.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) approved the Mexican government’s position of not negotiating with drug traffickers or criminal groups, whose only possible destination is prison.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón “Is right not to make agreements with criminals. Criminals must be put in prison, period,” declared DEA Head of Intelligence Operations Anthony Placido.

“From our point of view, President Calderón is a hero who is fighting head to head with criminals, said Placido, adding: “We are going to help.”

At the same time, Placido expressed the DEA’s concern over the violence carried out by the drug cartels who feel threatened by the operations undertaken by Mexico’s police and military forces.

The DEA officials described drug cartels as a threat to both Mexico and the United States, adding that the increase in violence reflects the advances of both countries in “interrupting the activities” of these organizations.

The DEA may inadvertently be speeding an end to the prohibition by encouraging the Mexican government to not negotiate with the cartels. Apart from legal, low-cost marijuana sales to adults, the only thing that could bring about an end to the cartel murders is a deal made with the Mexican government to turn a blind eye to cartel operations.

While the government refuses the possibility of this, the murders will continue and the pressure on non-smokers in the U.S. to demand an end to the murders in any way possible will continue to grow. The DEA’s support for the Mexican government’s position will serve to minimize the possibility of the government rescinding on this. The only element left now is for non-smokers in America to see that the prohibition is causing the cartel murders.

Reputable organizations need to be encouraged to conduct sound research into the connection between the prohibition and the cartel murders, with the purpose of generating studies proving a statistically significant correlation between the two. Findings like this from reputable sources will make front-page news across the country and become a powerful weapon in generating support amongst non-smokers for bringing an end to the prohibition.

Widespread knowledge of this connection among the general public will give non-smokers a compassionate reason to support an end to the ongoing suffering and brutal murders of so many people. It’ll also reveal to them just how the prohibition is putting their own families in danger, not only from errant SWAT raids but also from being the accidental target of home invasions and revenge killings by the cartels.

Three THOUSAND people alive right now will be tortured, murdered and beheaded by the cartels before Christmas as a direct result of the federal marijuana prohibition.

The Los Angeles City Council has scheduled 28 medical marijuana hardship exemption application hearings for their Tuesday July 14, 2009 meeting.

Council will be hearing the 28 applications that appeared before the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee on June 29, 2009. The PLUM Committee denied all 28 applications and has recommended that council do the same.

The term hearing is actually a misnomer in this case as City Council is not required to debate or take any further comment on any of these 28 applications since public hearings have already been held on these items (The PLUM Committee hearing was the public hearing on these items).

Normally if people come down to the Council meeting and fill out a speaker card for a specific item that has already had a public hearing the Council President will usually ask that that item be called as “special” and additional comment may be allowed. But again, the Council is not required to take any further comments on these items even if people fill out speaker cards and request time to speak.

Just part of the kangaroo court that these hearings have been up until this point. When someone challenges the rulings in these hearings in court down the road (and someone will) is when it will get interesting and people will then have an opportunity to speak.

The meeting begins at 10:00 AM Tuesday July 14, 2009 at Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles.

You can also view the City Council meeting live via the internet at:
http://lacity. org/lacity/ YourGovernment/ CityCouncil/ CouncilMeetings/ LIVE\andON-DEMANDVideo/ index.htm

You can listen live via telephone: COUNCILPHONE, A dial-up system which allows the public to listen to live coverage of the Los Angeles City Public Meetings from any phone. The numbers may be used from any location, not just in Los Angeles. Dial up and listen in. Use any of these 4 numbers- (213) 621-CITY, (310) 547-CITY, (310) 471-CITY or (818) 904-9450.

[These "hardship exemptions" are the loophole that has led to the explosion in dispensaries in LA county, so that there are now over 1,000, even after the county put a moratorium on more dispensaries.  This is no fault of the people trying to open the dispensaries, rather the inevitable result of lax regulation and oversight, Attorney General Holder's pledge to end DEA raids, and entrepreneurial spirit.  The problem for the movement, however, is now the floodgates are open for the unscrupulous dispensary owners to make the genuine compassionate collectives look bad, right in the middle of the 2nd-largest media market in the United States.  I believe in patient access as much as anyone, but 1,000 dispensaries in one county, even in a county of 10,000,000 where only a minority of those folks are medical card holders, seems a bit much even to me.  --"R"R]

I was replying to the claim that “establishing a legal marijuana supply will substantially increase use”. I disagree. The person I was replying to had claimed that demand for personal computers and iPods did not exist until after they were invented and put on the market…

Before the invention of personal computers there most certainly *did* exist a demand for a personal computing and communications device that allowed people to easily access news articles and debate issues. To fill this demand people turned to what was available – newspapers, writing letters to editors, talk radio etc.

And if you look at what people did before iPods were invented you’ll see that demand for a mobile personal entertainment device able to hold thousands of songs and allow users to easily navigate through those songs *did* already exist. That’s why iPods sold so well when they were invented.

Just because a product hasn’t been invented doesn’t mean that demand for it doesn’t already exist. Good marketers are able to identify this pre-existing demand and create suitable products to fill it.

And regarding your cigarette example, I hope you don’t seriously believe that prohibiting cigarettes would eliminate their supply. If that were an accurate assumption then after *seventy years* of marijuana prohibition we’d have NO marijuana left in our country at all. ZERO supply would equal ZERO demand, right? But we *don’t* see zero demand for marijuana – kids, adults, medical patients, spiritual people, doctors, lawyers, students and politicians all seek out marijuana in order to meet a need in their life. Making a product illegal doesn’t make the demand for it go away, all it does is divert it to alternative products and illegal suppliers. Demand drives supply.

Demand for a safe, mild intoxicant has always existed in people. Look back in history as far as you want and you’ll always find evidence of this demand. In fact take a look at wild animals and you’ll find evidence of this demand there too. Caribou, cats, insects and birds all go out of their way to take substances that allow them to put aside reality for a time and let them experience altered states of consciousness.

Demand drives supply. Demand for marijuana will ALWAYS exist in our society. We can either allow marijuana to be legally produced and sold to adults or we can do nothing to fill this demand and watch as drug dealers move into our neighborhoods selling to children and protecting their interests with violence. Your support for the prohibition puts non-drug using families in danger!

[There is also the concept espoused by Ryan Grim in his new book that says a demand for consciousness-altering is a constant, though the choice of drugs to achieve that is modified by prohibitions.  It's possible that legalized marijuana may see an increase in use, some people too timid to break the law trying it for the first time and those of us who use it already but often go without because of "dry spells" being able to have a more reliable supply.  However, if the constant demand theory is correct, increased marijuana use may lead to a decrease in the use of alcohol and other hard drugs.  More pot smoking may end up being better for the country and its people in the long term. -- "R"R]

We need them to know that there is only ONE option to rid us of these people and prevent them from returning – end the prohibition and license reputable businesses to legally produce and sell marijuana to adults with prices low enough to undermine the cartels.

These videos make this point graphically clear. Be aware that they contain extremely disturbing but very real images of what’s happening right now as a result of our prohibition. Every day the cartels brutally murder an average of 17 people.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Officials with the Gwinnett County Police Department said they seized 457 pounds of marijuana and a cache of guns from a Lilburn home

Investigators with the department’s drug task force said they received an anonymous tip from a citizen who was concerned about possible drug activity at the house.

457 pounds of marijuana worth $2,118,293.00 was located and seized, according to police. Five weapons including a M16 and AK 47 assault rifle were also confiscated along with a large amount of ammunition.

I can’t write like Russ so I’m just going to post what I commented on the article and what I’m currently sending to my legislators and all the community and family groups I can find in Atlanta and Georgia:

Wow, this is right here in Atlanta! These people are here in our city, they make pot easy for kids to buy and they bring guns and violence and home invasions right into our communities.  It’s only a matter of time before it’s our door that gets kicked in and it’s us who are tied up and brutalized and killed.

What are our legislators doing about it? The police made one lucky catch here but there are many more of these people in our city right now with their pounds of weed and their guns. They’re here to make money. They’re here because the federal prohibition on marijuana has driven the price of pot up so high that these people can come here and get filthy rich selling their weed to anyone with money. And they don’t care how young their customers are or who gets injured or tortured or killed in the process.

We HAVE to take action on this. The prohibition was supposed to keep us safe but it does not. It’s been in place for seventy years and it does NOTHING to reduce the amount of marijuana smoked by teenagers and it does nothing to prevent violent people from coming here and getting rich from selling pot. If the prohibition worked then after seventy years stuff like this wouldn’t be happening!

The prohibition itself is the reason they’re here. They come because there’s no competition for what they’re selling. And every arrest by our police officers, and every bust of every illegal seller just clears the way of competition for new people to come here and do the exact same thing!

The prohibition HAS to go. We have to force these people to leave and we have to prevent new ones like them from wanting to come here. And the ONLY way we can do this is by ending the prohibition and issuing licenses for reputable businesses to legally produce marijuana and sell it to adults with after-tax prices set too low for these people to compete.

That’s what we have to tell our legislators! Senator Chambliss, Senator Isakson, Representatives Price, Kingston, Westmoreland and all the rest. We must write to all our legislators and the candidates running for next year’s elections and tell them that they must act NOW to make our families safe.

Don’t let your kids get arrested for buying pot from these people and don’t leave your family in danger of being beaten or killed by them. Tell our legislators that they have to end the prohibition and take control of the marijuana market, that they have to allow it to be legally produced and sold to adults and that they have to regulate it and tax it. The prohibition is an archaic failure, we must end it before it ends us.

A new study published by University of Leicester researchers has found “convincing evidence” that cannabis smoke damages DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of cancer development in humans.

Using a newly developed highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method, the University of Leicester scientists found clear indication that cannabis smoke damages DNA, under laboratory conditions.

They have now published the findings in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

If cannabis really does “alter human dna” and cause cancer then, after more than **5,000 years** of continuous use we’d know all about it by now. We wouldn’t be needing “highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods under laboratory conditions” to find it out now!

I’m going to bet that this exciting new discovery is discredited in the near future.

If cannabis truly is so deadly that we really do need a perpetual world-wide prohibition of it, causing more than 2,000 arrests in this country every day and more than 6,000 brutal murders a year, then it’d be blatantly obvious every time we looked in the faces of the poor saps who use it. We wouldn’t be needing hair and pee tests just to determine whether a person has consumed cannabis or not!

But it’s not obvious at all. Law enforcement can’t tell whether a driver is under the influence of cannabis or not – they don’t have puss oozing from the face or are drooling green stuff from the mouth. They don’t have open lesions forming over 90% of their bodies or are tearing at their faces to remove the imaginary spiders that are crawling over them. There are no signs at all, apart perhaps from a sweet smell in the air and possibly diluted pupils. Big deal!