Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 10:52 am | By: Radical Russ
(Denver Post) Leo Cisneros was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for selling marijuana out of his family’s Denver apartment, nearly two months after a jury found him not guilty of child abuse resulting in the death of his daughter, Auralia.
Cisneros, 31, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and having a gun while dealing drugs.
Three men tried to force themselves into the Cisneros family home the night Auralia was killed and they exchanged gunfire with Leo Cisneros. Auralia was shot in the face in the crossfire.
The intruders — Trivi Trujillo, Joshua Rojas and Juvencio Hernandez — all pleaded guilty in the case and are serving between 16 and 24 years in prison.
I’m not saying it’s a good idea to deal a pound of weed per week out of your apartment when your little girl is living there. What I’m saying is that it is unjust to sentence a man who was selling a non-toxic substance to willing customers to one year less than a man who violates the sanctity of your home, guns blazing, and kills your child.
Of course, I’ve always had a problem with how we sentence pre-meditated violence in our country compared to other crimes. To me, there is no greater crime than assaulting or killing another human being. There should certainly be some temperance when we’re talking about spontaneous or emotional violence, but when someone coldly plans to physically harm another person, I’ve got a “one strike and you’re out” policy.
For example, take Bernie Madoff. A really rich guy suckers some other really rich people into throwing away more money than I’ll ever see on a too-good-to-be-true Ponzi scheme. The really rich people who were snookered lost a lot, but it’s not like you’re going to see Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon standing with a “Will Act for Food” sign at a freeway onramp anytime soon. And it’s not as if once this was all revealed, Bernie Madoff was going to be able to pull it off again. But for the sake of preserving society and punishing Madoff, he’s sentenced to 150 years and will never see the light of day again.
But if Bernie Madoff were just Bernie the Child Molester or Bernie the Rapist or Bernie the Murderer, depending on the circumstances he would likely be out of prison in three-to-six years. We have mandatory minimum sentences for people who sell drugs to other people who willingly buy them, but no such mandates for people who rape, assault, and kill innocent others. We have jails and prisons that are at 200% capacity, being ordered by federal courts to release tens of thousands of prisoners, but they can’t release the non-violent drug offenders because of the mandatory minimums, so thieves and violent offenders must be set free.
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm | By: Radical Russ
AMSTERDAM, Nov 5 (Reuters) – The Dutch are among the lowest users of marijuana or cannabis in Europe despite the Netherlands’ well-known tolerance of the drug, according to a regional study published on Thursday. Among adults in the Netherlands, 5.4 percent used cannabis, compared with the European average of 6.8 percent, according to an annual report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, using latest available figures.
A higher percentage of adults in Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and France took cannabis last year, the EU agency said, with the highest being Italy at 14.6 percent. Usage in Italy used to be among the lowest at below 10 percent a decade ago.
The policy on soft drugs in the Netherlands, one of the most liberal in Europe, allows for the sale of marijuana at “coffee shops”, which the Dutch have allowed to operate for decades, and possession of less than 5 grams (0.18 oz).
The full report is available here. Some interesting stats of note:
While 41% or 102 million Americans have tried cannabis in their lifetime, only 22% or 74 million Europeans have. Interestingly, there are about the same number of Europeans as Americans who will use cannabis this year (about 22 million) and this month (12 million), but of course that represents a lower percentage of population since America has 304 million and Europe has 491 million.
While cannabis represents 49.8% of all drug law arrests in America, it represents between 55% and 85% of all drug offenses in the majority of European countries.
While 25% of American 15-16-year-olds have tried cannabis in the past year, only 15% of European 15-16-year-olds have. The same percentage of 15-16-year-olds in the Netherlands used cannabis in the past year as in the USA, 25%.
The greatest decrease among European countries in the prevalence of cannabis use among young adults aged 15-34 has occurred in the United Kingdom since 2003, where past year use has dropped by a third. Incidentally, 2003 was the year the UK downgraded cannabis to a Class C offense, essentially decriminalizing it.
“It seems up until this point, we’ve been working against the wind in a way, pushing our goals to hard opposition,” Brown said. “But there’s now a rapid growth of support. The winds have changed, and we’re riding with them now.”
It’s an exciting time for marijuana advocates, and Brown, a 19-year-old sophomore and Eagle Scout, feels even more motivated to push his cause.
I wonder if there are Boy Scout merit badges for joint rolling? Seriously, though, what a great opening to this article in Baltimore’s alt-weekly, the B. Good work, Zach, and all you NORML Terps, and thanks for showing that even Eagle Scouts think marijuana prohibition is wrong.
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 8:49 pm | By: Radical Russ
(WHIO) DAYTON, Ohio — A 7-year-old boy led officers to his father’s marijuana grow operation, police said.
The father in question, Oliver McGuire, was arrested and taken into custody.
According to police reports, McGuire’s son told his school counselor about marijuana growing in the basement of his home.
Officers said they went to the Stewart Street home and found four pounds of marijuana, along with two plants and grow equipment.
“Thanks for your honesty, little Joey*. You were right to tell us about those funny plants your daddy was growing. Now we’re going to take your daddy away until you’re a teenager. But it’s all for your own good, you see, because your daddy’s gardening could have seriously hurt you. It’s OK, Joey, don’t cry, you can visit your daddy every week in a big scary building. Your mommy will be fine, though she’ll probably have to take another job to keep you fed, housed, and clothed, so you might not see her as much, either. You’ll be all right, we’ll see to it that we get your mommy some Food Stamps and other public assistance to make up for your daddy’s missing paycheck. Then, in a few years, when your daddy gets out, he can go get another job to help support you and mommy, though he won’t make nearly as much money since he’ll have to put ‘ex-con drug felon’ on all his applications. Yes, Joey, I know it is sad and scary, but remember, you did the right thing, because police officers like me are here to protect you.”
The next time some prohibitionist wants to scream “What About The Children!?!” in response to marijuana legalization, bring up Joey McGuire and ask, “Yes, indeed, what about the children?” Prohibition of marijuana ruined Joey’s family life far more than marijuana ever did.
*I don’t know that the kid is named “Joey”, but it’ll do.
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 4:46 pm | By: Radical Russ
(FOX 12 Oregon) OREGON CITY, Ore. — An Oregon City man was held at gunpoint and his three children were locked in a closet after three intruders invaded their home in search of medical marijuana.
At about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the man heard someone knocking on his front door and proclaiming that his girlfriend had just sideswiped their vehicle, according to Oregon City police. When the man answered the door, three masked men, at least one of them armed with a handgun, rushed through the door, police said.
The victim said the three men ransacked the home, demanded money and took about 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana. At one point, the victim’s 12-year-old daughter witnessed her father on the floor while one of the intruders held a gun to his head, police said.
No one was injured during the robbery, but police said the children were shaken up by the home invasion.
The victim told police it was the first marijuana grow he had harvested.
How do the invaders know the man has a girlfriend? If you’re a complete stranger, a criminal staking out a suspected treasure trove of medical marijuana, and you see a man, a woman, and three children living there, don’t you assume a female leaving the home around morning commute time is a wife?
Loose lips cause rips. I’m betting these criminals know someone who knows this man. Who stages a home invasion at 8:30am on a weekday? Who takes such a risk without knowing there is medical marijuana available within? I don’t mean to play “blame the victim” in this case, but to whom did the victim brag about his first marijuana harvest? Did he take precautions to eliminate the smell from harvest time? Did he make public the fact that he is a medical marijuana patient and grower?
Of course our opponents are quick to condemn the victim for having a pound and a half of marijuana in his home in the first place. They condemn the medical marijuana law that supposedly puts people like the victim and his children at risk. To them I say that the criminals are to blame, not the patient and not the marijuana. Criminals commit violent acts to steal valuable goods for resale on the black market. The victim’s home could have been invaded over a collection of fine art or gold coins; it’s the value of the theft that attracts the criminals, not the nature of the item stolen.
Marijuana prohibition is the only thing that could make it worth enough money to break into someone’s home to steal a weed. That prohibition also prevents legitimate medical patients from reliably buying small amounts of marijuana, so they tend to hoard large amounts to get through crop failures and seizures. That prohibition also creates a lucrative black market where stolen weed can be trafficked. That prohibition also prevents non-medical users from buying marijuana legitimately so they will support a black market.
Or to but it more succinctly: I’ve never heard of three masked men breaking into someone’s home at gunpoint to steal Budweiser.
Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 6:03 pm | By: Radical Russ
I’m happy to announce the formation of three new college chapters of NORML at the University of Virginia, Arizona State University, and Minnesota State University. Contact information for the three new chapters will be online at http://norml.org/chapters tomorrow morning if you wish to contact them.
If you would like to form a new college chapter or community chapter of NORML, just send me an email at stash@norml.org. You just need five members to form your board and we’ll send you the instructions from there.
And if you are unable to contact one of the existing chapters on the NORML website, please let me know. I am working to cull the inactive chapters from the listings and your help will make that task easier.
Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 4:21 pm | By: Radical Russ
(The Daily Titan) When Eden Gonzalez, 21, first arrived at California State University Monterey Bay, she wanted to take her doctor-prescribed medication. Her resident adviser said no. The reason? Her medicine was marijuana.
“The biggest problem we were having at CSUMB was the issue with Residential Life,” Gonzalez said. “Campus police were actually pretty cool and I’ve had friends whose med-stash was returned after showing medical proof. But with Res-Life, you can have your medical marijuana, but you can’t smoke it, which is the problem.”
Because of the dorm rules, Gonzalez had to either give up marijuana or her convenience of living on campus. She eventually moved out of the dorms and into an off-campus apartment nearby. Gonzalez now serves as the executive director of CSUMB’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Gonzalez is one of many students trying to figure out how state, federal and university law applies to the use of medical marijuana.
CSUF police continue to stop students from smoking marijuana,”It’s still a federal offense,” [Sergeant Nigel Williams of CSUF police department] said.
CSUF police Lt. Don Landers concurred with Williams, “it is in violation of campus policy and if students bring marijuana with or without a prescription it will still be confiscated,” Landers said.
CSUF police officers would probably not arrest a medical marijuana user. “However the individual will be subject to a judicial citation and referral to the judicial affairs officer on campus,” Landers said.
When asked why it would be a problem at all, Landers answered, “It is against federal law and the university receives federal funding, not just state.”
Isn’t nice to know the fine college cops of the California State University system have been entrusted to enforce federal law?
Oh, wait, they aren’t charged with enforcing federal law. See, this case called City of Garden Grove v. Kha was denied review by both the California and United States Supreme Courts, which let stand the lower court ruling, which, in a nutshell, said “it is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws.”
Now if it is a violation of campus policy, then students, please, organize to change these campus policies! If you do not have a NORML chapter on your campus fighting to protect on-campus medical rights, then contact me at stash@norml.org and I’ll help you get started.
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 3:57 pm | By: Radical Russ
Click here to read the actual marijuana booklet produced by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World
Right off the bat, you’ve got to distrust anyone called the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Might as well be called the Coalition for an Ice-Free Antarctica or the Alliance for a Sand-Free Sahara. Not only is it a completely unattainable goal, but also an undesirable one. Do we really want a world without Lipitor, OxyContin, or Prozac? (Not good drugs, silly, they mean the bad drugs.)
This is one of thirteen little booklets, similar to the “Man or Monkey” and “Are You Saved” cartoon booklets you find left by religious proselytizers in phone booths, that you can order for free from the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. The 24-page booklet on marijuana may just set an Anslinger Rating record.
Let’s start with Page 7, displayed above, which compares alcohol and marijuana.
Alcohol consists of one substance only: ethanol.
Which, we should note, is a poison that is toxic to healthy cells and organs. When metabolized by the body, it produced acetaldehyde, an organic chemical linked to cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract. Recent studies show that lifetime use of alcohol corresponds to a greatly increased risk of cancer.
Marijuana contains more than 400 known chemicals, including the same cancer causing substances found in tobacco smoke.
Yes, which makes marijuana much like every other plant that also contains hundreds of chemicals. The carcinogens are found in marijuana smoke, but also found in marijuana smoke are cannabinoids that seem to mitigate the carcinogens. In thirty years of study, Dr. Donald Tashkin tried to find a link between marijuana smoke and cancer and instead found a protective effect against cancer.
Alcohol is eliminated from the body in a few hours, but THC stays in the body for weeks, possibly months, depending on the length and intensity of usage. …the chemicals in marijuana, some of them cancer-causing, remain in the body long after the drug is taken.
Main metabolic route for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Alcohol is eliminated from the body by the liver, which over time with drinking can no longer do the task, one gets cirrhosis, and one dies. Meanwhile, THC is actually metabolized by the body within hours, and the remaining inactive metabolites, THC-COOH and glucuronide, are neither impairing nor carcinogenic.
THC damages the immune system. Alcohol does not.
These studies purporting that marijuana harms the immune system are ridiculous and achieved by using impossibly high doses of THC to cells in a lab. No studies have shown that pot smoking among humans has any effect on the immune system. HIV patients using cannabinoid therapies have actually seen increases in their T-cell counts. However, it does seem very clear that acute and chronic alcohol exposure causes severe immunosuppression in humans.
That’s just one page in a 24-page mini-booklet, and already we’ve found five distortions or outright lies. Won’t you join me for some more debunking after the break?
Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 5:43 pm | By: Radical Russ
I’m editing and compressing audio from our NORML National Conference last month in San Francisco as fast as I can. Here are five items from the conference that are already up at the Special Events feed at http://www.norml.org/rss/normlevents_podcast.xml
Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 1:20 pm | By: Radical Russ
In a two-part article called, “Why I Give My 9-Year-Old Pot”, writer and parent Marie Myung-Ok Lee talks about using cannabis as a therapy to treat her nine-year-old son’s pain, irritable bowel, and other effects from his autism. You should really read Part One and Part Two in full, but I will just give you some snippets of the positive responses this little boy named “J.” has experienced from medical marijuana:
My son J has autism. He’s also had two serious surgeries for a spinal cord tumor and has an inflammatory bowel condition, all of which may be causing him pain, if he could tell us.
We made the cookies with the marijuana olive oil, starting J off with half a small cookie, eaten after dinner. J normally goes to bed around 7:30 p.m.; by 6:30 he declared he was tired and conked out. We checked on him hourly. As we anxiously peeked in, half-expecting some red-eyed ogre from Reefer Madness to come leaping out at us, we saw instead that he was sleeping peacefully. Usually, his sleep is shallow and restless. J also woke up happy.
[S]ince we started him on his “special tea,” J’s little face, which is sometimes a mask of pain, has softened. He smiles more.
[My mother] remarked that J seems calmer. As we were preparing for a trip to the park, J disappeared, and we wondered if he was going to throw one of his tantrums. Instead, he returned with Grandma’s shoes, laying them in front of her, even carefully adjusting them so that they were parallel and easy to step into. He looked into her face, and smiled.
Pre-pot, J. ate things that weren’t food. There’s a name for this: pica. … His pica become so uncontrollable we couldn’t let him sleep with a pajama top (it would be gone by morning) or a pillow (ditto the case and the stuffing)…. The worst part was watching him scream in pain on the toilet, when what went in had to come out. I had nightmares about long threads knotting in digestive organs. (TMI? Welcome to our life!)
Almost immediately after we started the cannabis, the pica stopped. Just stopped. J. now sleeps with his organic wool-and-cotton, hypoallergenic, temptingly chewable comforter. He pulls it up to his chin at night and declares, “I’m cozy!”
Next, we started seeing changes in J.’s school reports. … At one parent meeting in August (J. is on an extended school year), his teacher excitedly presented his June-July “aggression” chart. An aggression is defined as any attempt or instance of hitting, kicking, biting, or pinching another person. For the past year, he’d consistently had 30 to 50 aggressions in a school day, with a one-time high of 300. The charts for June through July, by contrast, showed he was actually having days—sometimes one after another—with zero aggressions.
When J. was in his dark phase, we spent our time out of sight, out of mind, inside our house with a screeching, violent, food-and-dish-flinging J. The sounds were contained by double-paned windows (when they weren’t broken). Now, within our family, we’ve reached a lovely homeostasis: household goods unbroken, our arms and J.’s face unscratched.
Fortunately for Marie, she lives in Rhode Island, one of the thirteen states that allow parents to use this non-toxic therapeutically active herb for their severely ill child. Marie also tells of her life with J. prior to cannabis and how doctors were quick to prescribe Risperdal (”Thorazine for kids”, she calls it,) a drug that has never been studied for long-term safety in children and has a list of nasty side effects. Almost a quarter million children under age 12 were prescribed Risperdal last year and from 2000-2004, 45 children died from it and five other popular “atypical antipsychotics”. Fortunately for J., his mother and his doctor chose a much safer and more effective alternative in cannabis.
MrSpof: Maybe Dr Mitch could comment on the efficacy of reasonable amount of weed like that consumed (smoked) quickly mitigating migraine effects. I know the lowering of blood pressure would be [...]
MrSpof: Had the onset of a migraine yesterday. Immediately took 8 , moist cool washcloth on eyes, heating pad on neck and upper back, turned off lights. Migraine gone in [...]
MrSpof: As you personal non-accredited doctor, I advise the rest of you to smoke/vape/eat heavily
slash5city: frickazee'd.... Mr. Spof, thank you very much
MrSpof: Risen and roasted How the hell are you?
RevRayGreen: always Fidget......always.
Adam: Maybe in WA, judges are starting to think about the true cost of a Drug charge...
Adam: Tim Lincecum, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants will pea to a paraphernalia charge/ Possession charges DROPPED
Adam: Add some cottage cheese to your pancake batter, replace the maple with a fruit syrup! f-ing killer, YES I was stoned...
Fidget Truittelli: Good morning from beautiful Arizona! I hope you all have a happy, fun day. Remember to 'pay-it' forward. Do something nice for someone.
BenJaMin: Go NORML!!!
BenJaMin: Russ Is Tha BEst! :smokin:
SneakerPimp: oh there it is thanx russ
SneakerPimp: so whats up with today stash?
RevRayGreen: Barney Frank Present When Partner Arrested for pot-- http://bit.ly/1XpM2R
RevRayGreen: KMK 11/17/09 VAL AIR ballroom DSM
bullbog: that's crazy. I had a NORML black t-shirt on. It was hell of a show
RevRayGreen: dude I was probably 4-5 seats from you then
bullbog: 4th row center. I wish I was closer.
RevRayGreen: were in in the orchestra pit 4th row? or 4th row center, that's where I was bu slightly to the right
RevRayGreen: our show ______v'''''''
RevRayGreen: catch our chow tomorrow online Carl'sCannabis Corner
www.macswordlive.com 12-2 PM you can go there now and find archived shows
bullbog: revraygreen after looking at your pic from last nite. I'm pretty sure I seen you. I regonize you from the march in May
Just Legalize It: nothing really cool dealing with marijuana happens in massachusetts.... it sucks.... other than the boston freedom rally... but one thing a year isnt enough! i want to move to [...]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
Maine: Voters To Decide Next Week On Medical Marijuana Expansion Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters To Decide Next Week On Eliminating Pot Penalties; California: Lawmakers Hold Historic Hearing On Marijuana Legalization; New Hampshire: Senate Fails To Override Medical Marijuana Veto. […]
Gallup: Majority Of West Coast Voters Back Marijuana Legalization; Pot Arrests Responsible For Majority Of Marijuana Treatment Referrals; DOJ To Federal Prosecutors: Do Not Focus Resources On Medical Marijuana. […]
Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today's pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do. Moderator: Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com * Toby Grear, MMA fighter * Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmm […]
Cannabis Law Reform's Missing Link: Law Enforcement Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper; LEAP and NORML Advisory Board; Author of Breaking Rank Putting the Mexican Cartels Out of Business Mexican drug cartels now employ over 100,000 soldiers and are responsible for nearly ten thousand deaths per year. Their largest source of income is marijuana. […]
Convicted pot dealer sentenced to slightly less time than home invaders who killed his daughter
Seriously, though, what a great opening to this article in Baltimore’s alt-weekly, the B. Good work, Zach, and all you NORML Terps, and thanks for showing that even Eagle Scouts think marijuana prohibition is wrong.
, moist cool washcloth on eyes, heating pad on neck and upper back, turned off lights. Migraine gone in [...]
frickazee'd.... Mr. Spof, thank you very much
and roasted 
Russ Is Tha BEst! 
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